Blue Jays are close to signing Kevin Gregg.

Precursor to them trading Frasor...to, say, the Chicago Cubs?????

I like Frasor, he was very solid (7-3 11 saves 2.50 era last season) and is a career 3.78 reliever in the AL and in the toughest division in the AL to pitch in with the high powered Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, and Orioles offenses.

He seems to be the best option over Gregerson etc. I say move on him for Hoffpauir and whoever (fontenot?)

Bullpen-

Marmol

Grabow

Guzman

Frasor

Caridad

Marshall/Gorzelanny/Gray/Cashner/Shark/Gaub/Berg/Silva can fight it out for the remaining spots if Marshall is dealt.

That is a pretty solid bullpen with a nice mix of youth and a few vets as well

Joel...I echoed your thoughts on the thread above...but Frasor had a career year last year...and the price may be

Guzman plus.

Do you think with those considerations he's still worth it?

Suzy... I am not sure... I mean I really would expect a mid to low 3's era at worst outta Frasor and would also be another potential closer candidate if Marmol flakes or gets hurt

But I dont want to get rid of Guzman and if we do, it should be for someone of a much higher pedigree. Guzman was a stud and a workhorse last season and it seems that we stuck with him through so many injuries as a big prospect that there is absolutely no reason to give up on him after he first begins to show returns.

I think we could get Frasor for something like Hoff or Fontenot or Marshall and a prospect... I mean the guys not like a Heath Bell or a proven stud closer so I dunno why he would cost so much

The Jays have no use for Hoff or Fontenot. Why would they deal a decent bullpen arm (you can never get enough of them) for guys that won't help? I could see the Jays dealing Frasor for prospects ... its just a question of who the prospect(s) would be. It might be very hard for the Cubs and Jays to reach agreement on the level of prospect given that the Jays will to value Frasor based on 2009 and the Cubs will want to say he's worth less. I would be surprised to see them work something out here.

I feel the same way.

Agustin, It's a nice thought...that JH would try not to project his moves.

I won't fault JH for projecting on Bradley...Bradley made himself untenable

to the Cubs...publicly last summer. Npmatter what Hendry said or did...everyone knew he had to go.

But things like Byrd/Roberts/Peavey etc

were projected way too much....I don't know if that's Hendry or the media's fault.

Theriot appears heading for arbitration hearing

http://blogs.suntimes.com/cubs/2010/02/on_shortstops_stalemates_and_i.html

Just a reminder to all ... check the CCO Twitter updates for news from the wire during the day.

Widgets on both sides of the main site.

Good article, Neil. Besides shedding light on the arb process...iy was interesting to note that the Cubs plan on carrying 5 outfielders...and only 2

back-up infielders...with Lou penciling

in Blanco for one of the spots. The other infield backup being the non-starter of Baker/Fontenot.

From the sounds of that article...Tracy and LaHair really have their work cut

out for them.

Still, considering the payroll situation,

I expect a trade or two to shed some $$$.

SuzyS, I would rather think that they are telling the other teams that the excess of luggage in the likes of Fontenot, Blanco, Baker, Fuld and Hoffy are valuable to this team and that they are in "no danger" of losing their jobs in spring training....which is not a dumb move if you plan to trade off some of theese kids. I say smart because JH usually backs himself in to a corner going "too" public with his plans...The Milton Bradley issue come to mind where every gm was aware of JH determination of moving him at any cost....he could have done soooo much better there by just being quiet. Same with Miles and others.

I think he did good in the Aaron Heilman trade.

One of my favorites too, Neil...but it is a new day.

Reed Johnson did sign with the Dodgers.

He was possibly one of Hendry's best pick ups in recent times.

Suzy, I meant to respond earlier. Rosenthal said the deal was done on Sunday ... just pending a physical.

Johnson was one of my favorites.

Thank you for posting earlier.

we dont have a gapping hole at 2nd theri is gonna be there starting and castro gonna start at ss thjats why hendry not goin after anyone he expects castro to make team

Cowboy up!

Suzy and Neil- thanks for the welcome- I am geige38-

This site is great- I wad an avid contributor at another site previously-but this is my main site now thanks too the intelligent fans here and the solid reporting

All Time favorite Cubs- Mark Grace, Kenny Lofton and Todd Walker

Leat favorite- Jerome Walton (after his rookie season, gave zero effort), Mel Rojas, and Danny Jackson

Die Hard since 1987 - and like the rest of us- still waiting

Every year I save my vacation time to be in Chicago in the fall for some magic- been rolling it over since 2003

Once had Beers with Dan Serafini(remember him, probably not) in Pittsburgh after an away game- he hit on my wife and claimed he lost his wallet when the bill came- Stay Classy journeyman releiver

Ozzie, thank you. And as before, welcome to the CCO!

Keep those relievers away from wives, especially the southpaws ... just ask Shaun.

Don't blame Theriot & Marmol for the great bank hiest. That was taken care of when we over spent for Soriano & Fukodome. Hendry & Lou got upset with Marmol & played Gregg...wow it took 5 months of fan punishment & it was too late. Bobby scales playing over Fox last season was another slap in the face to the fans. Susy...it is a C-. Theriot can play 2b with ease, we have 2 young top notch ss ready to go. We have Vitters almost ready to replace Ramy at 3b if he bolts. We need a starting pitcher not a relief pitcher. Nothing is wrong with Marmol, Guzman, Grabow, Caridad, Berg etc. If Lilly can't come back, who takes the blame. Oh, does anyone on this board love Rothschild as pitching coach because I think Maddux needs to help out Big Z (patience) & Marmol (contol). I think Ryno is ready for 2011 & Cubs nation better hope Jaramillo can pull some miracles. The Cards & Brewers made upgrade deals because their hands weren't tied by poor mismanagement decisions. Ricketts will be judge next October when he will be under the gun to make changes & tough decisions. I would have any faith if Hendry is in charge pulling the trigger.

While I am usually one of the first to pile on Big Jim....this is not one of those times.

This is a minor deal, and can't hurt. Now had he signed him to a 3 year contract with a NTC...then we can get fired up.

Agreed with Suzy's C grade... would add a minus to it, only because I grade hard :)

I don't get the "fire Hendry" comment either. There's plenty of good reasons to fire him, with another example popping up today when the A's took Aaron Miles and shipped him off to the Reds for two players when we needed to bundle him in with a good player just to get two players in return. That's a good reason to can him because his inability to sell players to teams has been a glaring weakness since he started. But signing a good clubhouse guy to a minor league contract? Pssh.

hahah dude... the athletics did not just ship him for two good players... they had to pick up a horrible contract (Taveras who they just DFA'd and will have to eat like 3 mill) and some prospects.

And we also got Jeff Gray back who has a decent shot to make the team and looks to have some decent upside in the MR role. And I wouldnt exactly call Fox a 'good' player, he is a solid bench player or cheap DH option for a low budget team that is not likely to have WS aspirations.

Call me crazy, but my reaction to that scenario is: sign Taveras. That's a low risk investment I could warm up to.

Taveras has what this team lacks - real speed. He's also a far better outfielder than anyone on the current roster. And at 28 years old, he's still got a chance to become the player the Astros thought they had when he took over CF in Houston in 2004 - especially with a good hitting coach.

I can see that there's no chance of this happening. The Cubs don't value players who can run and play stellar defense - even as a fourth or fifth outfielder. And please dont give me any of that Sam Fuld smack. I like Sam Fuld, but he can't play CF like Willy Taveras, and he can't steal bases like Willy Taveras. Fuld may be a better hitter, but I don't think he's better enough to overcome the value of a truly great CF glove and blazing speed.

I don't understand the great upset...at a very minor, minor league signing.

If any of you have read my posts...I'm not a great fan of Hendry. At 32, is Bobby Scales going to be our savior? Of course not...neither is Millar...it's against most odds that he's even with us on opening day.

So far this offseason...I'd give Hendry

a solid C...mostly due to elimination

rather than addition.

Now if he could get someone to take some of Silva's salary off our hands...then I'm grading him higher. The finalgrades won't comein until we see what happens with Nady.

I suspect if we upgrade 2nd base now...it's because they are ticked off at Theriot...and I really don'tsee that happening just now.

i'd give JH a B. realistically, no one should of expected a big FA signing this year; there were only 3 players(bay-holliday-lackey) who were anyway.

so let's grade him on what he could do.

(yes the payroll is bloated; but fukunuts had higher offers, big Z has similiar stats(see a prior post of mine when lackey signed) to lackey and lackey signed in 2009(bad economy) compared to 2007(good economny) and big Z is 3 yrs younger, sori's deal was too long; but mcdonough was just a reason for that to make a big "splash" as was JH.

*signed the best hitting coach in baseball (supposedly)

*got rid of bradley; got 9M back for a savings of 6M. forget silva; no good player could come back for bradley; the money was worth more.

*got rid of miles; saved 1.7M

* got rid of heilman; saved 1.5M

*signed nady; cheap money

*tracy or millar are good bats off the bench and good clubhouse guys

*signed bryd; similar full time stats at this age to derosa; both disciples of jamarillo and we have jamarillo now.

*jeff gray will have value in bullpen.

the bad:

*traded jake fox

*had to trade MB

*due to high payroll could not get felipe lopez(apparently) or hudson or a innings eater like garland.

and this was done when tix prices got increased for bathrooms instead of payroll, which after 101 yrs of no championships is a questionable decision.

JH has made errors as do all GM's; but nady-byrd-tracy-baker improve the bench and nady-byrd are great clubhouse guys.

SuzyS, I read in a Sun Times article that Hendry thanked the Ricketts and Crane for letting him add the Nady salary. I mention this because I too wonder if they are a little upset with Theriot because that could be holding up what they want to spend on some pitching. Of course Marmol is just about the same amount different than Ryan's. I guess until settled they would have to proceed as though the player gets his amount. I read some where else that the Cubs are now done outside of some minor signings.

Paul S...that's pretty interesting. The numbers weren't adding up in my mind...

in that we didn't really gain that much

salary relief in the Bradley trade...and the eight arb eligible players.

Still...Theriot has been a mainstay and steady performer the last 3 years...on the cheap. I don't fault him for wanting to get paid now...he's probably at his ceiling...and knows it.

But I do think he wouldwant to avoid the hearings.

It's a minor league signing. Why do people care so much? If Millar gets one key pinch hit for the Cubs in September then it's worth it.

This is the Dumb and Dummer move...JH every time I think you couldn't do anything dummer, you make a move like this and totally

redeem yourself !!!??? I mean Tracy great, Nady super... Millar?

Smells like JH has Hoffy packed in a trade. Maybe to the padres ?

Menso y mensoer

Very cool Aaron! Nice catch lol! Great translation

there Jim TP :)

Oh sir those are the IOU's lololololololol!

hee hee...nice Dumb & Dumber reference. You gotta love when Jeff Daniels (Harry) is sitting in the cornfield with his butt crack showing, and Jim Carrey (Lloyd)comes riding along on the little bike,

Harry: Where'd you get that?

Lloyd: Traded the van straight up. I get 70 miles to the gallon on this hog....

LOL...that has to be one of the funniest movies ever. I can quote that movie all day long.

Harry: Where did you get those?

Lloyd: I bought them when we filled up.

Harry: We are supposed to talk about all expenditures Lloyd! We are

on a very tight budget.

Lloyd: This didnt come out of our travel fund.

Harry: Oh.

Lloyd: Yeah, I was able to raise 25 extra bucks before we left.

Harry: Where did you get 25 extra bucks?

Lloyd: I sold some stuff, to Billy in 4C.

Harry: The blind kid?

Lloyd: Yeah, ha ha! Yeah.

Harry: What did you sell him Lloyd?

Lloyd: Stuff.

Harry: What kinda stuff?

Lloyd: I dont know, a few baseball cards, a sack of marbles, [cough]Petey.

Harry: Petey? You sold my dead bird to a blind kid? Lloyd! Petey didnt even have a head!

Lloyd: Harry, I took care of it...

very funny Agustin...it seems I was the only one that caught that reference...LOL

I wonder if Hoff is going to be part of a trade for a RH reliever, since it sure seems like they are giving themselves some options for his role. I wonder if the Blue Jays have interest since he could DH with them too. Seems like Overbay would be in the way, but Hoff does still have an option.

I don't understand why we sign 412 (small exaggeration) 1st basemen to the roster and never address our gaping hole at second base...

Lets take a look at our depth chart at first base now to examine all the wasted signings-Lee, Tracey, LaHair, Hoffpauir are 4 actual 1st basemen. And I would rather see us parade Baker, Nady (to save his arm and get his bat in the everyday lineup), Soriano (to get him out the outfield) or our bat-boy rather than Kevin Millar... Next are we going to bring back Paul Bako and his .226 average for competition in Spring Training at catcher...??? Wow.

Kyle

I agree with you, I wish they would focus on getting more athletic. I realize given the payroll situation that the Cubs are unable to sign impact players, but isn't there any more athletic options out there?

Kevin Millar loooooolz.

What's wrong with the hoff? This guy has been useless on the field for a couple of years now

I understand it is low risk - but why even spend the time on this guy- this guy could barely hit in his prime- this is not Edmonds lightning in a bottle - this guy was Barely Kevin Orie in his prime

Are you kidding me , fire Hendry now

ya know......ronnie reagan had an excuse....he was ill w/ a terrible disease (alzeihermers)........what's your excuse..........just plain dumb!

every move JH makes is a fire him now response...........what's walt jockety's today then after trading for aaron miles?

if u have nothing good to say ever..cork it.

Please stop with the name calling. You can disagree without calling another reader out.

Our motto here is 'Stay Classy Cubs Fans'

One of the things that has kept me coming back over the years is the respect that posters on this site have for the game and each other. Neil has done a great job of keeping it classy over the years, so lets help him out and not call anyone names.

Easy tiger...why do you let other people's comments get you so upset that you have to resort to name calling? It's really not worth it.

why would you make a comment like 'fire hendry now' based on a MINOR LEAGUE DEAL SIGNING lol...ridiculous!!!!

Ronald... it aint like hes signing Millar to start at 1st and hit cleanup... It seemed even after the Tracy signing (who I'd much rather have than Hoff) that Hoff was likely gone in a deal for a middle reliever. Millar is a great clubhouse guy and if he has a rough ST then hes gone with no reprecussions... Dont be irrational.

Hendry has had a bunch of good offseason and a really bad one after 2008... He has done well to rectify his issues (miles, Heilman, Gregg, Bradley) and the Cubs have already been ranked as one of the offseason winners for 2010...give it a chance...if this team was half as bad as some of you guys make it out to be then we may be aight

Long time lurker here, time to start posting

Low risk here, but this guy has been done for years, he can't hit

I wish the Hoff could get a fair shake with this team

Welcome to the CCO!

geige38...my friendly lurker...welcome to the world of posting.

While my heart agrees with you re Hoffpauir...(I like him) all signs are pointing to his exit. Lou mishandled him last year...and probably would again.

I don't the signing, but a minor league deal can't hurt. Are we still thinking about getting Frasor?

Jason Frasor is still in the mix...so is Luke Gregerson.

get^

With Millar's lack of versatility, and Nady and Tracy in camp, I think it is extremely unlikely Millar will make the Major League roster.

We already have a younger, more talented Kevin Millar. His name is Jeff Baker. I don't understand this deal--it might make more sense if Hendry includes Baker in a deal for...Gregerson/Frasor?