Saturday, July 05, 2008

Good and Bad News on the Cubs Front

Got some good and bad news today-

- The bad news is it seems that the Brewers will land C.C. Sabathia. According to Doug Melvin they have a package of players on the table for Sabathia and the Indians have been scouting the AA team of the Brew Crew. They have been rumored to offer Matt Laporta, Taylor Green, and Lorenzo Cain. That is quite a package and the Cubs I do not think have the goods to land him if the Brewers are indeed offering that package. That is quite a bounty for a 3 month rental.

- Some of the good news is Jim Hendry has been in constant contact with J.P. Ricciardi, Kevin Towers, and Billy Beane. The Cubs have Rich Harden, Justin Duscherer, AJ Burnett, Randy Wolf, and Greg Maddux all on their list of potential pitchers that could be pitching for the Cubs in the next 3 weeks or so. The Cubs have still kept in contact with Mark Shapiro but the Brewers are making a lot of progress to acquire the hard throwing lefty. It has also been rumored that the Jays want a young shortstop with upside in a deal for Burnett. I think Ronny Cedeno could be the center piece of a deal for A.J.

- Rich Hill maybe back in Chicago before we know it. The once project #2 starter for the Cubs lost his command and mind this year and last we heard was sent to AA ball and pitched awful, but now their is great news.

He no longer tilts his shoulder and head back to the exent he had been doing (a la Fernando Valenzuela), which allows him to keep his eyes on the catcher's target... [Hill] was absolutely unhittable today.

The curves literally buckled the knees of the young AZL Cubs hitters, and (probably more importantly) he was able to consistently throw his fastball for strikes And maybe most importantly, Hill looked relaxed and he even was able to crack a smile at one point. (One of the telltale symptoms of Steve Blass Disease is the inability to smile).

This is great news and I suggest you all read the article on thecubreporter.com-

http://www.thecubreporter.com/2008/0...ll-turn-corner

This would be good news for a lot of reasons. He could be a trading chip for a top line pitcher or he could fill out the rotation in the #4 spot. Either way this is great news for all cubs fans!


IN OTHER NEW-

- Soriano is on the mend and ready to start swing the bat! He could make a couple of rehab starts in Iowa next week or he could jump in the lineup right before or after the all start break. I for one thinks he should see some live pitching down in the minors before he is inserted in the lineup in Chicago.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Man... have some hope stain66. The Brewers getting CC isnt the end of the world.

Of course CC is the top SP on the trade market, but one of the sports sites had an article which said it best. In short, teams that pick up a SP this late in the season only get an impact player that can play every 5th day. If CC gets traded before his next start, he is in line to make 16 starts on the current rotation and maybe 18 if they work with off days.

This is where everyone can have their own opinion, but worst case scenario is CC pulls a Sutty and goes 15-1 in those starts. I'm not an expert on the Brew current rotation, but if they are able to hang around this long, I think its safe to say that the 15 CC wins would be about a 10 game upgrade over their current number 2 SP.

So basically the Brewers get less than a dozen "extra" wins they wouldnt have got other wise.

The Cubs currently have a 4 game lead over the Brew? With three sets left with Mil, CC at most pitches 3 times against us.

So add those up and its about an 11 game "addition".

And that is assuming the injury prone Ben Sheets is able to stay healthy. And the Gallardo kid is already out.

And most importantly, thats assuming the Cubs stand pat, which they are not.

Dont get me wrong, the Brew gettin CC will definitely make things harder. And its a double whammy considering the Cubs at least have interest in him, but I still think the Cubs can hold them off.

Anonymous said...

Sabathia will not give them an extra 11 wins. in reality it will be around 4ish id say. but i dont know look on the bright site. laporta is going to be a BEAST in the majors and atleast now he wont be player who will haunt us. honestly id say screw sabathia. i am kinda of warming up to the harden idea but im just scared of his injuries. just keep in mind though. in a playoff series Z can match up with anyone and yeah we dont have the advantage of a dominate number 2 but our 3 and 4 pitchers are better than most teams in the playoffs.

Anonymous said...

yes i understand all that. But usually i hear rumors that jim hendry is going hard for someone, but it just seems that he is not going hard for anyone...it seems right now he is sitting on his hands. I don't have inside info, but if someone does and is reading this, tell me you know for sure the cubs are doing something to get another pitcher or a solid bullpen guy, cuz what i watched today made me want to throw up!

Unknown said...

Well rumors are just that, rumors, until something does or doesnt happen.

I was still pissed off when news broke that the Brew got CC.

I dont have any inside info, but I definitely dont see Hendry just sitting around. He is workin the phones and something will happen.

I'm still surprised there are no Oswalt rumors. Hou has dropped to the bottom of the Central. Shouldnt they be looking to deal? I dont see them being able to turn it out in 09 with FAs.

At the very least, we should be able to get AJ Burnett for Ronny Cedeno and maybe one other kid. Because the Jays are lookin for a long term answer at SS, and by trading Burnett, they are basically calling it a year. So they can let Cedeno get his playing time and continue to develop and by the Cubs throwing in one more kid, its basically what the Jays would get in terms of draft pick compensation if AJ opted out of his deal.

I also think we can make a push for Fuentes of the Rox. Maybe send Cotts and some kids for him.

We'll see. There is still time Cub fans.

Anonymous said...

looks like the brewers have gotten Sabathia tonight. tough luck. i guess we need to focus on Bedard or harden now. harden is the most intriguing because he is straight up filthy, but his history scares me a little. if he comes at a reasonable price i say go for it. he has been somewhat "durable" this year.......get it done jim!

Nick I Cub Fan said...

Stain66 i said it here before the Cubs minor league players are not rated as high as other teams players. As per baseball America. Now lets look at Mets they got Santana, he's pitching great, but he's W-7 L-7. Mets team B.A is .261.Sabathia's pithing good he's W-6 L-8. Mil. B.A. is .254 a lot worse than the Mets. If Cubs stay healthy We will be O.K. even if we can't make a trade. Looks like Hill found his control again down in mesa. Soriano and Erye are coming back after the all star game. Sabathia will not pitch 16 complete games teams will get into the Brewers bull pen. And the Brewers still make alot of errors. I agree with Joe relax and enjoy the rest of the season.