Saturday, April 24, 2010

Moves Could Be Coming.....

- First rumored by Ken Rosenthal, the Cubs could decide to move Tom Gorzelanny for a relief pitcher but now David Kaplan said the Cubs are working on some "major trades." This could be to improve the middle infield some or more than likely an upgraded bullpen. Many rumor sites are reporting that a deal could involve Heath Bell. According to sources of mine I am hearing a the Cubs want both Heath Bell and Luke Gregerson and the Padres want Josh Vitters in any deal involving Bell but also want a pitching prospect in return. I am also hearing that the Cubs want to "pawn off" Ryan Theriot in the deal so the money swap is about even (only 1.4 million dollar difference). It should be noted that the Padres are 10-6 and might want to hold onto Bell until they decide if the are a contender to pretender. One thing for sure the trade and rumor talk has heated up recently. I will keep you updated.



- Ted Lilly will be activated today, no word yet on who will be sent to Iowa. You have to believe it will be Shark.



- The Cubs have strong interest in Juan Cruz who was released from the Royals yesterday. Cruz pitched for the Cubs from 2001-2003 and the Cubs maybe looking to bring the fireballer back to strengthen their pen. Cruz numbers this season are not that bad, a 3.38 ERA in 5 innings of work. Although he has walked 4 and gave up 9 hits, but he is better than Shark and Grabow.



- Last night the Cubs looked like a playoff team but we will have to see what team shows up tonight. According to Bruce Levine, the Cubs may bring up Castro and Cashner sooner rather than later. He even stated that if Castro still hits like he has been (.426/.455/.705) he WILL be called up in May. Bruce said the Cubs are more reluctant to call up Casher, worried he may develop into a pitcher like Shark.



Until Next Time....

5 comments:

Nick I Cub Fan said...

Allan JB here is my reason for moving Wells. First know body will take Z, second Silva and Gorzelanny
have not been consistent in the past so know one will offer much for them. ( otherwise i would trade one of them ) third Hendry will not let Jackson, Diamond, or Cashner go to the pen. So if you trade Wells one of the three could start. Right now Cubs have Marmol and Marshall in the pen thats it. Look at all the quality starts, and the pen blows it. Theriot, Fontenot, Nady, Tracy they will not get you any one thats good for the pen. The pen is the weakest part of this team, and you have to trade quality for quality. Thanks for disagreeing we need more of that on this site.

Anonymous said...

Why do you wanna see Theriot gone? He shows up everyday to play hard and is actually doing a decent job, better than others anyways. I'd rather keep him and put him at second when the young guy comes up. Baker has value, trade him and move fontenot to the bench or vice versa.

Anonymous said...

Nick I... I agree that Wells is the piece teams will seek instead of Silva and Gorz, but I don't believe that Hendry should make that move. I would rather deal a prospect than a member of our starting rotation at this point. I wonder if Shark's potential upside and youth is enough for teams to over look his "veteran" salary. I only deal Vitters if we get at least two proven pen arms and even then its kind of not worth it as pen arms can be so inconsistent from year to year (see Grabow).

I love the idea on taking a flier on J Cruz since it will only cost min salary. I understand the idea of not wanting to rush Castro and Cashner (although Theriot is starting to hit, so the cry for Castro may be on hold for now), but if the pen continues to struggle, we have to keep digging around the minors for one of the up and coming arms, to see if they can plug the hole in the pen. The Yanks did it with Joba and Hughes. If these young kids can't handle it, I would prefer to find out about their mental make up now rather than later and then be able to know they are not untouchable if we need prospects to swing deals in June. In hindsight we should have traded Rich Hill after his break out season. I know hindsight is 20 20, but just looking at the kid's face made you wonder if he was mentally strong enough for the big stage.

Joe

Anonymous said...

Juan Cruz has been awful. His ERA isn't terrible but he's allowed all 6 of his inherited runners to score which is why the Royals had had enough of him.

Tanner said...

I say bye to the riot and the shark. Hello to a bull pen and to Castro! Man, Wells has to stay in that rotation. He is the second most dependable guy out there, Ryan is the first.