Joe : November 2008 Archives

The countdown is on.....business is about to pick up in the world of free agency!! Teams have until midnight (EST) to offer arbitration to any of the Type A or B free agents in order to get compensation draft picks if they sign elsewhere, and also to offer arbitration to players not under contract and not eligible for free agency.

Once offered arbitration, players have until December 7th to accept or decline the offer.

Not so coincidentally, the winter meetings begin on December 8th....the day after all of the arbitration matters sort themselves out. Teams will know who has accepted the offer of arbitration and thus will be back with the team, and who is certain to leave.

The horrible economy is making things quite interesting this year. Players may be willing to accept one year deals with their old team, putting off a long-term deal until next season when the economy hopefully will be better and the market a bit looser.

Typically, not many ranke ...

Happy Thanksgiving to all the CCO faithful!! It'e been a pleasure sharing thoughts amongst fellow Cubs fans....whether we disagree or agree! The one thing we all agree is on we love our CUBS!!!

I wanted to share an article that is not baseball related. It is actually related to me. The Orange County Regsiter did a story on me after I helped recently during their wildfires....it's kind of cool......

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/spencer-help-pillows-2241384-brea-shelter

Everyone have a safe Turkey Day.....enjoy football.....and of course dreaming of the Cubs!!

With the continued dialogue on the CCO about potential players for the Cubs to acquire, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at "potential" free agents as we approach another MLB deadline.

Teams must offer arbitration to eligible players by December 12th. Attached is a list from Cot's Contracts that lists eligible players team by team. Though most of these players will be offered arbitration, there will be a few suprise names to not be offered and thus become free agents.

**Note: Existing Free Agents may also be offered arbitration, but they must be offered it by December 1st in order to receive draft pick compensation if the player signs elsewhere. If any free agents are offered arbitration, he must accept by December 7th. Could we see Kerry offered and accept arbitration by then??

Also keep in mind the winter meetings are December 8-11 in Las Vegas....could be the start of trading activity out there.....

Continue reading Other Possible Free Agents??

According to a report in the San Diego Union Tribune Saturday, Jake Peavy wants to be traded to the Chicago Cubs. Can Jim Hendry make it happen? It does state the Cubs will likely have to find a third team to get involved....

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2008/nov/15/padres-s16padnotes/?padres

From The San Diego Union Tribune:

The Padres have been unable to line up a suitable trade with one of Jake Peavy's preferred teams and now may turn to another club in an attempt to move Peavy's four-year, $63 million guarantee.
"We've had advanced discussions with the Cubs and Braves, which are Jake's priority teams," General Manager Kevin Towers said Thursday night, "but at this point in time, I do not see a potential deal with either club."
The Yankees and Angels could be next in line. At season's end, Peavy said he doesn't want to go to an American League team, but during the GM meetings at Dana Point last week, Towers said Peavy might be open to going to the Yankees and Angels.
If the Yankees and Angels become viable trade partners, Towers' leverage would increase, but because Peavy's consent is needed for a trade, that leverage is contingent on Peavy reversing his position. Barry Axelrod, Peavy's agent, gave no indication Thursday night that Peavy s ...

If the trade for Florida Marlins closer Kevin Gregg were not enough of a sign, the Chicago Tribune reports that Cubs GM Jim Hendry says the Cubs and Kerry Wood are parting ways.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/11/kerry-wood-and-cubs-split.html

Although I was ok with Kerry leaving. I CERTAINLY expected an upgrade at the closer spot and not a downgrade. I'm hoping that Gregg was acquired to go to the Padres in the trade for Peavy, although he was probably acquired as insurance if Marmol is not ready for the job.

Time will tell......In any event thanks for the memories Kerry. Your rookie year and the 20 strikeout game will never be forgotten!

I made a post on the main page replying to the fact someone mentioned whether we should trade 3B Josh Vitters, our best prospect. He was our number one pick (and number three overall).

I contemplated this question. He is only 19. Yes he was the number 3 pick in the draft, but is that a guarantee he will succeed? Looking back over the last decade of draft picks you can see that some names make it and some never pan out to be what you thought.

In the 2000 draft the Cubs also had the third overall pick. I think this draft best illustrates my point of...you never know.....

In 2000 we drafted shortstop Luis Montanez. Yeah that worked out well, now didn't it.

This draft stood out because of the lack of superstars that developed from it. The number one pick, 1B Adrian Gonzalez sure did blossom. Not many more did. Although, if you look down the list the Cubs could have drafted 2B Chase Utley instead of Mr. Montanez.

Here is the list of f ...

In a bizarre more the Padres have pulled their offer from the table for Trevor Hoffman. There's not alot of details to this yet....but it is very bizarre to say the least. The San Diego Media is up in arms about it. Trevor has pitched the majority of his career here and is probably second to only Tony Gwynn in popularity.

The contract was reportedly only for one year and four million dollars.

I think I'd love to see Trevor throw for the Cubs! Although we'd need to upgrade the sound system at Wrigley so Hells Bells could play loud when he enters the game.....

I was just reading a report in the Chicago Tribune that talks about baseball perhaps changing the tie-breaking game procedure which determines the home team by the flip of a coin. Owners want to determine the home team by head-to-head record during the season. This in part stems from this years tie-breaking game between the Twins and the White Sox which had the Sox as the home team as the result of a coin-flip despite the Twins having won the season series against the Sox, 10-8. Nice job thinking outside the box, boys! Always good to stay ahead of the curve.

That brings me to another issue that MLB just can't seem to figure out. Instant Replay. We have obviously entered an age that allows us to utlize modern technology. The other sports have long figured out how to effectively use instant replay. Finally this year MLB jumped in with a limited use of replay, only for disputed home run calls. What? There are so many other ways that replay could be utilized in basebal ...

According to the Chicago Sun Times, MLB will not approve Mark Cuban as an owner for the Cubs.

I hope baseball is not that narrow minded......but then again it is Bud Selig and fellow idiots we are talking about......

Hopefully Cuban gets enough support from around sports and NBA Commissioner Stern.