Thursday, October 30, 2008

Baseball Offseason has begun, the Cubs hot stove is hot!

- Lou expects the Cubs to acquire a left handed RF via trade rather than signing one. I am still in favor of signing Abreu or Dunn. I think the Cubs could draw in Dunn with a 2-3 year deal worth about 30-40 million. That way they do not commit so many years on a power hitter and gives Dunn another chance on a big payday, with him dreaming of hitting 60+ homeruns as a Cub and getting paid 15+ million a year is very appealing I think. Some other guys that are more likely are Jeremy Hermida( Not Bad), Randy Winn(BOOOO!), and Brian Giles( Yes) according to MLBTR.

- Bruce Miles reminds us Aram and Lee do have no trade clauses and does not expect them to be traded.

- Ken Rosenthal says the Cubs will re-sign Ryan Dempster and Kerry Wood. He also thinks that a 3 year deal from another team could take Wood away from the Cubs. The Mets could be interested but his health history could scare them.

- The Padres want 5 players for former Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy. I find it really odd that guys like Rosenthal and Onley continue to talk about the Dodgers( even though according to sources they are all but out of it considering their in the same division) and Braves ( considering they do not want to give up any of their young guns, even labeling them "untouchable") and yet the Cubs do not even come out of their lips. Damn East and West Coast bias. By the way, here is my 5 players for Peavy- Marshall, Cedeno, Pie, Hart, and Ceda.

- Junichi Tazawa, 22, was not selected by a team in Japan which means he is eligible to become a free agent. He will have no problem getting a multi year deal worth millions in the US. The Cubs are among the teams that have scouted him and are very interested. Other teams involved are Red Sox, Mets, Braves, Dodgers, Tigers, Pirates, and M's. Here is some video of him- Good stuff- Great Fastball!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVM75ch2FAo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxRKY_Xg5tQ

-Casey McGehee was claimed off of waivers by the Brewers. I am sad to see Casey go but maybe he will make the team in MIL.

2 comments:

Nick I Cub Fan said...

Lets remember this team had the most wins in the NL, second best team BA .278 third best pitching ERA. 3.87. They don't need alot. MIL. the second best in our division is going to lose Sabathia and Sheets. I would go all out for Furcal thats it. I think Fukudome will go back home and learn how to hit the low inside pitch. Hill will be back and pitch great. Pie (who is out of options) will platoon in CF. Pie batted 241 (he's still only 23 yrs. old) last year and Edmonds 235 And if Fukudome doesn't learn how to hit Kroeger who is a lefty and can play CF or RF batted 307 in AAA and is hitting 441 in winter ball would fill in nicely. Not that i wouldn't welcome some big name power hitting leftys.

Anonymous said...

Trib says Cubs decline option on Blanco, but hope to bring him back at a lower salary and maybe make him a minor league manager one day.

McGehee seems like he can have a good bat, but he would have had trouble breaking through on this team. I just wonder why wouldnt couldnt deal him for something instead of just waiving him.

You guys are starting to get Dunn to grow on me with this 40+ HR, high OBP talk. But his defense will be a problem and we cant have that on both corners in the OF.

I hope Ken Ro is right in that we are trying to resign Wood cause I read earlier in the month that Demp was a priority over Wood.

I hope we can lower the price for Peavy if no one else is able to meet the Pads demands.

And who is this Japanese dude? How come no Japanese teams picked him up? They could at least cash in on a transfer fee. Makes me wonder how this came about and if he is really any good. Unless his a Japanese rookie that chose not to sign in Japan in hopes to jump straight to the US.

Joe