According to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune and Chris De Luca of the Sun Times, both stated that the Cubs are looking to add a lefty to their lineup. De Luca thinks that Brian Roberts and Raul Ibanez would be the guys Hendry goes after.
The Cubs would more than likely have to put a lefty bat in RF or CF considering pretty much every position is covered. Right field is hard to play at Wrigley and a guy like Ibanez might not handle it too well. There has also been talk about Milton Bradley but that is the same situation. What the Cubs should do is not worry about defense in RF and just get Adam Dunn. Sure he will strike out a ton and not hit for average but he will hit 40+ homers and have an OBP over .375. He will drive in 90+ and would be the ideal middle of the lineup type guy! Another player I would strongly consider is Brian Giles, he has a 9 million dollar club option for next season with a 3 million dollar buy out. It is unknown whether the Padres will exercise his option or not. Either way he might be a good fit for RF, he has really good defense and a good bat. He is a lifetime .294 hitter and has a lifetime OBP of .404. His power numbers have decreased over the years but that may contribute to playing at Petco and switching to Wrigley may make him a 20+ homerun hitter again. He could be a very valuable option to this team and the ideal #2 hitter in the lineup.
Another player that could be a great fit for RF is Bobby Abreu. Bobby is getting up there in age but he can still play defense well and really swing the bat. He is a lifetime .300 hitter, with a lifetime OBP of .405, so very similar to Giles but better power numbers. He would look great in RF at Wrigley and also in the #2 hole!
The Cubs could also go the trade route and try to pick up some guys like Chone Figgins, Brian Roberts, Reggie Willits, etc but I think free agency is the key.
My ideal situation- but unlikely-
1.Sign Dempster
2. Sign Wood
3. Exercise Blanco's option
4. Sign Abreu
5. Trade Soriano to someone for salary relief and young players
6. Sign Furcal
7. Trade Lee and Cedeno for Matt Cain
8. Sign Dunn
9. Trade Marquis for salary relief
1. Furcal SS
2. Abreu RF
3. Aram 3b
4. Dunn LF
5. Soto C
6. Hoffpauier 1b
7. Derosa 2b
8. Fukudome/Johnson CF
Blanco C
Font IF
Theriot IF
Johnson/Fukudome OF
Pie OF
1. Zambrano
2. Dempster
3. Harden
4. Cain
5. Lilly
Wood CL
Marmol
Samardzija
Marshall
Cotts
Gaudin
Guzman or Weurtz
I know, only in my dreams! A balanced lineup, lots of power, good speed at the top of the lineup, and really good pitching adding Cain to that rotation. If the Cubs traded Lee, Marquis, and Soriano and the teams they traded to took responsibility for their contracts for just next season, it would take 39 million off the books for 09. They could then use that 39 million a distribute it across Abreu, Dunn, and Furcal signings. It is not going to happen but it is my wish list!
4 comments:
Can we please start being realistic. This stuff is starting to get out of hand. Soriano is going no where, his contract is immovable. We just all have to learn to love him (or tolerate him), I in fact enjoy him. Cain is never going to get traded for Derek Lee and Ronny Ceden-Blo. Cain is one of the best young arms in the game, this would only happen if Hendry held the Giants GM at gunpoint, so please can we put that "rumor" to rest. Peavy is unrealistic now that I look at it, we just don't have the goods to do it. Now lets look at some realistic possibilities. Resign Dempster and Wood. I think that two of the three lefties you mentioned could be had. Obviously one as a middle infielder and the other as a corner man. I think the Cubs should go with Dunn in right field for many reasons as you stated. I could care less about the defense in right field right now, I want production from the left side of the dish coming from right field. We need lefties and I don't care what the price tag is. Abreu is solid but he is 35, Dunn is 28 and in the middle of his prime. Get it done Hendry. Furcal is a consideration but I think he will stay in LA. Lets stop the Roberts rumors b/c McFail is a d-bag and will ask for a ransom. My hoping is that Pie finally steps up to be that top prospect he was and takes over in center. He looked good after he came up in September, hopefully he can build on it. We would also need his range in center if we have Dunn and Soriano patrolling right and left respectively. So hopefully the line-up will look as follows:
1.) Theriot/Furcal
2.) DeRosa/Font(get him more at-bats pleassse)
3.) Dunn
4.) Ramirez
5.) Soriano
6.) Lee (protection for Soriano)
7.) Pie (lefty to break things up)
8.) Soto (best 8th hitter of all time)
This line-up is not final, so changes could be made????
Bench: Hoffy, Johnson, Font, Fukuworthless, Theriot.
This is realistic and possible. So what if payroll goes up some, its only money(and its not mine).
now I'll leave it off for comments from the only other engaging blogger Joe.
p.s.-I know u hate soriano batting fifth lol.
acw
I would do this
sign dempster and wood and pick up option on blanco
sign burnett if opts out
trade marquise for 1 or 2 average prospects
trade pie cedeno hart and ceda for roberts
trade 1 to 3 prospects for fuentes to be a seventh inning man or try to get the guy from the cardinals
starting line up
Roberts 2B
Lee 1B
Soriano LF
Ramirez 3B
Soto C
Derosa RF
Johnson/Fukudome CF
Theriot SS
Bench
Fontenot
Blanco
Johnson/fukudome
Hoffpauir
Mghee
Pitching rotation
Zambrano
Burnett
Dempster
Harden
Lilly
Bullpen
Wood CL
Marmol 8th inning guy-set up man
Fuentes same as marmol
Marshall LH in bullpen
Gaudin
Guzman
Wuertz
so that is what i want to happen and what do you guys think wouldnt that be a hell of a team.
Odds are we cant move Sori. But if possible ideas must be discussed, someone at Trib mentioned a "sign and trade" with LA for Manny. My idea is if Manny doesnt re up with LA, once he lands somewhere (I'm dreaming of the Cubs), see if any of the "losers" want to take him on. In terms of regular season numbers, Soriano would be up there and for teams that were willing to try to snag Manny obviously have money set aside for acquiring a power OF. I can see the Angels being a trade partner if they dont land Manny (assuming they even want him) and if they cant resign Teixera, who I believe is a FA. They also have a crowded OF with contracts they can "dump" back at us, most notably Sarge, Jr. Not that his name excites me, but it would make the move more attractive for the Angels. Then of course other names would have to be added.
But most likely we are stuck with Sori and I'm willing to accept that as long as he is pushed down to the 6th spot.
The names mentioned dont really excite me. But of the bunch I would put Giles at the top of my wish list. Gets on base, dont know much about his defense, but I dont remember him being tabbed as a liability, and even if he can just hit 10 HRs hes basically being the player we wanted Fuku to be, a lefty contact guy with some pop. I'm also willing to take a risk on Abreu's health assuming the money is reasonable. Because we have Pie and Fuku off the bench as defensive late game defensive replacements. If we are going the trade route, I would rather shoot higher than go for Ibanez because talent wise we may end up over paying. If we are going to trade some kids, trade a few of them and go for a better name. The reason why I hate on Dunn is because our offense was broke in the playoffs and I want a guy that can get on base and put pressure on the opposing P. Doesnt necessarily have to be speed pressure, but a group a guys that can string some hits together vs trying to launch the ball. Plus I dont know how much he helped ARI in their playoff push. The only positive for me is that we just have to pay him money vs paying a team young talent. Most you of you regulars know my stance that for a team like the Cubs, money should be more expendable than kids.
I dont see how the Angels deal Figgins to us without cover at 3B, unless they go after Crede? But I would like him if its realistic.
I agree, I'll risk getting surprised than sitting around hoping a Roberts trade goes through. Dont even put in a call. If McFail comes calling, just put on the table what we offered last year and let him know where he can find you.
We should go after Furcal hard. We basically had him a couple years ago until LA stepped in matching the annual salary but lesser years. Furcal jumped at that because he wanted one more shot at FA. The only way I see him going back to LA if money is not the issue is if Manny stays in LA and Furcal feels his best shot at a ring is staying.
I hope we bring back both Demp and Wood because local papers are starting to whisper that Demp is a priority over Wood. Yeah we got Marmol, but after the "slumps" he had late this past season and I think in 07, I dont know if he is quite ready yet. Not that Wood was perfect, but if I had to bet on who could forget the previous game's blow up out of their mind better, I would bet on Wood over Marmol. And with the Angels closer hitting the market, resigning Wood for to a generous but not ridiculous deal is definitely possible.
We definitely need to snag a trusty lefty reliever. I like Marshall assuming we dont deal him and dont have to put him in the rotation, but I dont trust Cotts.
I agree with acw, I hope Pie can finally start to reach his potential. He doesnt need to be a superstar, just hit for avg and rack up SBs. But at the same time if we can get a proven player in a deal, I'm ready to part with him.
Realistically we probably are not going to put in a lot of money into free agents this year. But I wonder if trading Lee would free up enough cash to sign Texiera. He can be that elusive power bat in the middle of the lineup who can bat from the left side! From the early rumors it seems the Lee is only going to waive his no trade clause for a west coast team and losing Texiera, could the Angels use DLee? If we could get Figgins for Lee and sign Tex it would give us speed, power, and balance in our lineup! I would imagine seeing something like this:
Figgins CF
Theriot SS
Soriano LF
Texiera 1B
Ramirez 3B
Soto C
Derosa 2B
Fuku/Johnson RF
This would give us a leadoff guy in Figgins (.367 OBP vs. Sori's .344 in '08 w/ lots of speed), a power lefty bat in the middle of the order, plenty of protection for Soriano for him to still see those fastballs (even though he'd prob let those go and chase the slider in the dirt anyway but that's another story).
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