Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Wednesday Edition- Jake Peavy Rumors and a Cross Town Swap??

Lets start off with the latest Jake Peavy rumors shall we-

- Peavy rejected already one trade to an American League team with a small ballpark. My guess is the Red Sox.

- Good news Cub fans! According to Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Pads think the Braves, Cubs, and Dodgers are potential matches for a Peavy trade. Towers is down the road with 2 of the clubs listed. It is rumored that it is the Cubs and Braves, but nothing is imminent. We have heard the rumor that Towers likes Pie, Marshall, and Cedeno and while the Braves are talking trades with the Pads GM that does not involve Tommy Hanson. It also appears that the Dodgers are fading away, as well as him going to the AL. So good news!

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-On a different front, the White Sox are actively shopping both Javier Vazquez and Nick Swisher. While Javier Vazquez is not a huge name, it may interest the Cubs if they do not re-sign Dempster or get Jake Peavy. 2nd tier healthy pitchers are hard to find in this free agent class, so keep tabs on this rumor.

-Nick Swisher is also a very interesting scenario. Swisher is a switch hitting First Baseman and Outfielder that could really benefit the Cubs. The Cubs had a lot of interest in Swisher last year then the Sox picked him up and the Cubs landed Fukudome. Swisher is a great clubhouse guy and fan favorite both in Oakland and Chicago. He does not hit for a high average, just a .244 lifetime hitter, but does have a decent OBP of .354 throughout his career. He is a good power hitter( hitting 21+ homers since 2005) that would look nice batting anywhere in the lineup. He is a decent fielder with a .991 fielding percentage throughout his career. Ichiro's is .993 to do a comparison. He would be a solid addition to this team and the Cubs should add him to their list of guys that consist of Giles, Hermida, Abreu, and Ibanez. It should be noted that Swisher is owed-
09-5.3M
10-6.75M
11-9M
12- 10.25M club option (1M buyout)

This is not bad for a 20+ homerun guy!

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- Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News stats that Aaron Heilman is available via trade and that the Cubs along with Rockies, Cards, and Dbacks are potential destinations. Hendry has always like Heilman and even tried to trade for him 2 years ago. It should also be noted that Jim viewed him as a starter not a reliever. Heilman would be another "Dempster type project" for the Cubs(hopefully it would turn out as good). Heilman could interest the Cubs regardless of Dempster staying or going elsewhere. His stock is somewhat low and could be a nice low risk high reward guy. I wonder if a Jason Marquis for Aaron Heilman swap would work?? Since the Mets are looking for a couple of starters. Here is a link to his career stats-

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7065/career;_ylt=At1aaBcuZMeVo0hhKEtRqqqFCLcF

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Uhhhhhh.......noooooooo! I will take a definite pass on Swisher. He is pretty worthless, much rather have DeRosa in right field over him. His production was just way too volatile the last few years. Also, Marquis is far more valuable than Heilman. Heilman was god awful this year (he had a Howry type year), Marquis at least will give you 200 innings, 10+ wins, and a respectable ERA as a fifth starter (I think he was in the 4.50 range).
BIG FAT NO ON BOTH IDEAS.

Cubs will be ok. We need to make a hard push at Furcal (won't cost us draft picks bc he doesn't qualify as a type A or B, or prospects in hope that we can somehow land Peavy). If we sign Demp and Peavy and unload Marquis for a decent return, that would be a pretty good offseason. Maybe go out an get another lefty at-bat for the bench. We need to play Fontenot full time at second and move DeRosa to right.