Saturday, March 07, 2009

Peavy Talk, Roster Cuts, etc...

-Thanks to Phil Wilson of Chicago Cubs Blog for this-

According to Karl Ravech from Baseball Tonight (9:00AM, NEW due to WBC) he expects the Cubs do restart the Peavy talks or for another player during the season. He expects the Cubs do something this year in the playoffs, the Cubs were in his top 5 storylines on the Major League Season.

Check out all my other "Hot Stove Friends" about half way down my page on the right hand side.

- Andrew Cashner, Rocky Roquet and Ed Campusano were sent to minor league camp.

- The USA beat Canada today 6-5 thanks to two big 2 run homers by Dunn and McCann.

More to Come!

Friday, March 06, 2009

Rosenthal's Latest. Battling for Spots.

-Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports days the Cubs are "content with their bench players" even though Lou has said he wanted an extra infielder who can play first and third. Boy! Do the Cubs miss Mark DeRosa?!?!

Ken also says that the team's new ownership may not be willing to assume the remaining 63 million dollars on Peavy's contract during the economy decline. It is also said that the Cubs ownership situation will not be resolved by opening day but near May according to sources.

- Rich Harden will get his first start Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners. Harden has not had any set backs and is expected to make 6 starts before the regular season begins. He is slotted to be the 4th starter in the rotation.

- The Cubs will have some decisions to make regarding the roster and positions in the next 25 days or so. The Cubs will have to decide if Sean Marshall, Aaron Heilman, or Jeff Samardzija will be their 5th starter. I think Aaron Heilman will get the nod as the 5th starter, Marshall will be the other lefty in the pen, and Jeff will start in Iowa.

The Cubs will also have to determine who will be the Cubs next closer, Marmol or Gregg. My bet is on Gregg because of how important Marmol is in the set up role.

The rest of the pen will need to be decided as well. Early word is Guzman may be traded before opening day or DFA because he is out of options.

Koyie Hill or Paul Bako will be the backup for Soto this year. My bet is on Hill!

The Cubs will also have to decided whether to carry an extra outfielder or infielder on the roster. You have infielders like Hoffpauir, Fox, Koskie, Scales, and Barney battling and Gathright and Fuld battling in the outfield. If they just carried 11 pitchers they could go with Hoffpauir, Koskie, and Gathright but with 12 they need to pick two out of the three.

That is it for now, more to come!

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Reported on My Site First!

My faithful readers pointed this out to me today. MLBTR, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Chicago Tribune are all saying what today what I posted yesterday at 5:30 pm CT. That is that the Cubs are interested in suddenly available Bobby Crosby.

I want to thank my readers for tipping me on the links and letting me know that my source is in fact correct ( even though I do not really doubt him considering he tipped me off on Soriano and Marquis signing). I really appreciate the kind words and how you feel I deserve the credit for breaking this rumor first.

Thank You!

Aramis Wants To Finish As a Cub.

Here is a great article on Aram wanting to finish out his career being a Chicago Cub. It is really nice to see players now showing loyalty to their clubs like Aramis is. We heard Chipper Jones, Adam LaRoche, and a few others make the same statement.

I would love to have Aram finish his career here!

LifetimeCub

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

New Names on Cubs Radar.

The Chicago Cubs have three new names on their radar. The first one is Joe Beimel. The Cubs have gained some interest in free agent relievers since the market is making them very affordable. The Cubs may go for Biemel, but only if Marshall is inserted in the rotation according to some Cub sources. Biemel would be a nice late inning lefty reliever for the Cubs and now is said to only cost 1 year about 1 million dollars. The only downfall is that he is a type B free agent so the Cubs could try to swing a sign and trade deal for him.



Another name that suddenly appeared on the Cubs radar is Bobby Crosby according to sources. This is very surprising considering his low Avg. and OBP but for the right price I can see it. The Cubs are keeping their eye out on a lot of players that could be on the block and Crosby is just another one on the Cubs radar. The Cubs view Crosby as a super utility guy even though he has said he wants to be the starting SS somewhere. The other thing is curious is that he has only played SS in his career and somewhat injury prone. If the Cubs could get him for a PTBNL and have the A's pay almost all of the 5.5 million he is owed this season, I do it. Otherwise I do not understand it.



The Cubs are also keeping an eye on Ryan Raburn. Raburn could be the ideal guy for the Cubs considering he can play everywhere and basically has. He does not have tremendous speed but does have a good glove, young, and cheap. He could fit the bill for the utility guy on the Cubs 25 man roster.

Monday, March 02, 2009

Peavy Talk Won't Die

- Just when you thought it was safe to visit a Chicago Cubs Blog, Peavy talk strikes again. Peavy said he never sang "Go Cubs Go" at a Vegas bar. There has also been no new talks since the Winter Meetings but that could change when new ownership takes over.

- Sullivan heard that Padres CEO Sandy Alderson could take a similar role with the Cubs once Tom Ricketts takes over. Alderson declined to comment but getting him would be a good move by the Cubs. He once mentored Billy Beane.

- In none Peavy news, Curt Schilling still has not decided whether he will pitch next year. If he does it will be for the Rays or Cubs. Lou thinks getting Schilling is a good idea. Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times finds it a long shot that the Cubs would go for him and Paul Sullivan thinks the Cubs would take a flier on him. I certainly would!