Bruce Levine had his chat over at ESPN.com yesterday. Here is a breakdown on what he had for us....
- Wells says he is working really hard so he does not have a sophomore jinx and Ryan Theriot say he has no problem moving to 2nd base for the Cubs.
- If Rick Ankiel's value continues to fall the Cubs will consider signing him. I would love to get Ankiel on a one year deal worth 3 million or less.
- The Cubs see Jermaine Dye as their fourth outfielder because of the power he brings. They view Reed Johnson as a small ball type player, which they have in Sam Fuld.
- The health of Angel Guzman scares the Cubs and he is getting a lot of interest from other teams so the Cubs could trade him for a reliever or maybe fourth outfielder.
- The Cubs view Spilborghs as a fourth or 5th outfielder but prefer Dye over him.
- Contreras is still on the Cubs radar. Smoltz is a better fit in my opinion.
- Levine thinks Ricketts will give Jim more money around the trade deadline to make an impact move or two. Maybe an upgrade at 2nd base?
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Other Things...
- It is curious that Levine would mention Rick Ankiel because we at Hot Stove Cubbies are hearing they could actually sign Dye and Ankiel both for under 8 million combined. This would make Micah Hoffpauir start in AAA or traded, it would also force Fuld to AAA. The move would really strengthen the bench but I think the Cubs would have to trade some players like Guzman, Shark, Fontenot, or players with a contract right around a million or above to make the Dye and Ankiel signing happen.
Until Next Time...
1 comment:
I was just curious on why you always put Samardzija's name in the trade talks...he is a very good talent but just young, don't give up on him so early like Hendry has done with so many other young Cubs' players in the past. Also, while a move should be made to strengthen the bench it would be strange to me to have Jermaine Dye come in and be a bench player but a very good move if we could make it happen.
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