Giving Some Up and Getting Some Back..

Jeff Globe of the Globe and Mail says the Jays are looking for a cost effective inning eater instead of an expensive top line pitcher. This explains why the Jays have been in contact with the Cubs about Wells and not Garza recently (which we reported Wednesday from our source).

It seems like Travis Wood is pitching himself to Iowa while Volstad and Shark are prepping for the rotation.

Lendy Castillo is not pitching well enough to keep on the 25 man roster which means he maybe offered back to the Phillies.

Ryan Flaherty is doing well this spring hitting .300 with a .364 OBP with a homer and 5 RBI in 20 Abs. The O’s obtained him in the Rule 5 draft and must keep him on their 25 man roster all year to keep him from going back to the Cubs. So why is he likely to be offered back to the Cubs??? Well, right now the roster looks pretty stacked at the positions he plays. They have Chris Davis, Wilson Betemit, Nick Johnson, and Mark Reynolds at the 1^st/3^rd. They also have JJ Hardy, Robert Andino, Brian Roberts and Ryan Adams for their middle infields. All 8 players are currently on the 25 man roster. Not to mention he is competing against some utility veterans on a Buck Showalter team (who favors Vets). To me it looks likely that Flaherty will be on his way back to the Cubs which would look like another good move made for the Theo and Company.

Sveum has a meeting with Marmol.

Sveum has been really aggressive on the base paths which is a welcome change.

The Cubs made some surprising roster cuts yesterday sending Josh Vitters, Junior Lake, Matt Szczur, Jeff Believeau, John Gaub, Alberto Cabrera, and Jason Jaramillo to minor league camp. The surprise is Believeau and Jaramillo because right now it says either Castillo or Clevenger will get the backup job while the Cubs favor the other lefties to Believeau which is curious because he has been pitcher pretty well.

Sveum says only Wood and Marmol are locks in the pen but has nice things to say about Mateo and Dolis.

The Cubs sent pitching prospect Aaron Kurcz to Boston to complete their end of the Theo acquisition. The Cubs still get their PTBNL. Not a great piece to Boston but a solid one. More than I thought the PTBNL would be.

The Cubs and Padres are likely to complete their compensation by the end of the month.

According to sources the Cubs are pushing to trade Soriano before Opening Day giving Brett Jackson’s recent success.

The Cubs would trade Byrd but like everything he brings on the field and off. Theo and Jed want the Opening Day outfield to be Jackson LF, Byrd CF, and DeJesus RF.

The Cubs have also take phone calls on Randy Wells. Two teams with rumored interest are the Jays and the Astros.

Until Next Time…