Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports provide the latest Cubs rumblings…
- Morosi reported Wednesday that the Cubs were "engaged in negotiations" with free agent reliever Kiko Calero. However, he now says their interest has waned. A right-handed setup man is still a primary item on the Cubs' shopping list.
- Previous reports have connected the Cubs to outfielders Xavier Nady, Jonny Gomes, Rocco Baldelli, and Reed Johnson. The FOX writers say Nady is the Cubs' top choice unless Dye's contract demands come down.
- The Cubs seek rotation insurance, but the FOX writers confirm ESPN's Jayson Stark Saturday suggestion that Ben Sheets is unlikely. Perhaps Mark Mulder, linked to the Cubs Tuesday by Morosi, is more feasible.
- Though the Cubs have looked into Adam Kennedy and Orlando Hudson, adding a second baseman is not a high priority.
They are so right handed…Why are they looking for a right handed backup outfielder? And also…Orlando Hudson would be the perfect fit for the Cubs. He’s a tremendous player but he also brings a great presence.
The Cubs are very right handed. They want a righty to fill in for Fukudome. When you look at the current Cub bench, it does not matter righty or lefty. There is not much to get excited about so far.
The right handed/left handed jibber jabber is what caused the Bradley fiasco…the Cubs, as they should be, have relaxed their obsession with LH/RH. Clubhouse chemistry and on-field performance are the bottom line _____…
i can see it now…2011:
“The clubhouse chemistry jibber jabber is what caused the Marlon Byrd fiasco…the Cubs, as they should be, have relaxed their obsession with chemistry. __________ and __________ are the bottom line.”
you guys fill in the blanks…
The Cubs have limited money to fill a 4th OF spot, a BP arm and maybe a SP. They are bargin shopping like many other teams. The names that pop up every few days get more interesting.
Sign Orlando Hudson..Have Sam Fuld, Tyler Colvin or Eric Byrnes be the 4th outfielder. Then have Fontenot be Hudson’s b/u and Jeff Baker as the super sub.
The only way I wouldn’t do that is if Castro is close to ready for the Bigs..then forget about Hudson and have Castro play SS and move Theriot to 2nd. This would clear up room to sign one of those outfielders.
castro will be up no later than September. So i say forget about 2B. Theroit is a much better 2B than SS so its a win win situation
Wo. It really seems like the cubs will likely fall further behind in the NL central. Brewers add two decent starters. The Cards bring back Holliday.
At least the Cubs off season is probably better than the Astros.
brewers also added a very good set up man at a good price. (la troy hawkins)
and dont leave out the reds, they got the hottest prospect this offseason in chapman
hell even the pirates made some good improvements in their bullpen
but watch out! the cubs got Grabow and Byrd!!
But no team has done anything to really seperate themselves so I’m not worried about it. Even with disastrous years by Zambrano, Soto, Soriano and Bradley, the Cubs still managed to finish in second and contend all the way into September. The Cubs success will depend on how well those guys rebound and whether they can stay healthy. I’m not particularly optimistic that will happen but if it does, the Cubs will have as good a shot as anyone of taking that division.
crunchy, agreed. Looking at the big picture and ignoring the negativity that surrounds the Cubs due to all the attention they get for the things they do wrong it does look like the division is wide open. Yeah, the Cards brought back Holliday, but that means they didn’t so much improve themselves as treaded water. Hard to call Doug Davis a “good” starter btw, he’s more a league average type. And the Reds may have gotten Chapman but he’s probably at least a year away, if not more, if he makes it at all. The Cubs may not have made any big splashes but they’re essentially still the team that’s won the division two out of the last three years and finished second in the other year. With reasonable bounce back seasons from some of the players that had poor years in 2009 and it’s not unreasonable to expect the Cubs to be strong contenders in 2010. Unless you just don’t like the Cubs, then, you know, nothing they ever do will be good enough.
zambrano did not have a disastrous year last year—in fact by many measures had the best year since 2005—the only category that was disastrous was the w/l column, which is a function of the the offense taking leads, bp holding leads and a hell of a lot of randomness. that said, i’m inclined to agree with you on the other three, especially soriano.
You’re right. Disastrous is too strong a word for Zambrano. Peripherally he was much the same pitcher as we are used to seeing. But we need him to be in better shape and be the 200+ inning pitcher we’ve come to expect. Despite the money he’s paid, he’s not an ace and he’s more valuable to the team when he supplements his good (but not great) numbers by also being a workhorse/innings eater…those same peripherals are less valuable to us when he’s pitching barely over 6 innings a start and less than 170 overall. Let me re-phrase…we need a healthier year from Zambrano.
They could always try to put Hoffpauir in right with Fukudome and save that cash to spend on Hudson, doubt they will though
Well hopefully we don’t end up missing out on everyone. There’s only a little over three weeks to go till st and we hear names being linked to the cubbies but no action. Hopefully Jim is going to get something done to try and redeem himself a little, and Xavier Nady would be a good start.
Hoffpauir is a left handed bat.
I just hope the Cubs win the World Series
it’ll happen eventually. Maybe not in our lifetime but eventually
It didn’t happen in my grandmother’s lifetime.
I agree. It’s just a minor statistical anomaly that haven’t one a WS for so long.
sometime in the next 3 weeks there is going to be a free for all in terms of FA signings. It should be interesting to see how the cubs assert themselves when this happens. There is a relatively large pool of mediocre talent out there that will be signed prior to S.T. . Hope we can find a few bargains!
Mark Mulder?!?! LOL. But seriously, no. I dont’ why interest has waned in Calero?? That would be a great fit. Nady would be good too. As would Hudson. I’d be happy if we’d be able to sign one of those. I doubt Dye will happen.
This would fill such a big need for the Cubs. It seems like it’s been talked about forever but nothing ever seems close. On one hand, I’m glad to see the Cubs not rushing into things and overpaying players just to sign them quickly — on the other hand…let’s get this done already!
O dog would be an unbelievable addition…not sure it’s in the cards though payroll wise. Also, I like the platoon possibilities of Baker (RH) and Fontenot (LH). Still wish would have taken a stronger line on Chone Figgins, but I realize that monetarily that it may not have been feasible.
Cubs fans all knew that Ricketts wasn’t going to come in and land a big fish in FA/trade, but I expect that he does want to make some type of splash on the field with his new team (no, Byrd doesn’t count). My hope is that as ST nears, the Cubs will get better value from the remaining players and should be able to pick up a Dye/Nady and Sheets/Garland.
My guess is that while we all knew that Ricketts wasn’t going to come in and sign a big fish, I do think it’s wise for him to make some kind of splash on the field in his first year as an owner. As we near ST, he can get better value in picking up a combination of Dye/Nady and Sheets/Garland possibly for under $8M and incentives.
If they can’t find there 4th and decide to go with fuld or colvin i wouldn’t mind kennedy being brought in decent left hand bat usually hits for average,i think he would be a nice fit plus he would insurance also in case something happened to aramis he can play some third if needed and certainly be a better bat at second.
Why didn’t Hendry go after Hudson last year? Top of the order hitter, pretty good glove, good guy in the clubhouse(Heaven forbid the Cubs sign another “meanie” who’ll offend sensitive ass Cubs fans). Somebody should slap Lou Piniella for thinking that Fontenot could handle 2B everyday and Hendry twice for signing Aaron Miles, as if he’s a feasible backup.
I think we are a couple of good signings away from being a legit playoff team. I also think Soto and some of those other guys will have a better year, as far as the FA signings are concerned this is how it should go as far as importance;
1. Calero
2. Nady, and only Nady. If i have to watch Dye out there, I will throw up.
3. Ben Sheets, I watched him throw, he’s got a lot left in the tank.
After that, we probably wouldnt have money to do anything else, but if we can get those three guys this could be a seriously good team.
I’ve always said Hudson Would be a great pickup and i’ve said calero would be as well. I wonder if their interest has dropped due to concerns about his shoulder? Nady would be awesome but I think he could get more playing tome elsewhere… How about Fernando tatis? I just hope the cubs don’t rely on hoffpauir to provide much this year
I don’t want to believe that some combination of Fontenot/Baker is the plan for 2nd base. It didn’t work last year, so why would it work this year?
Orlando Hudson would fit in perfectly. If not him, lets make a trade.
A quality 4th outfielder is also a huge priority for this team. Between Soriano/Byrd/Fukudome, there will be several trips to the D.L., prolonged slumps and whatever else. Hendry should be able to promise 300 at bats to whoever is interested.
Lets hope some big moves are on the way.
A 2nd baseman isn’t necessary, but a Felipe Lopez signing would be good if the price was right. Jeff Baker, when given an opportunity has been pretty productive. The Cubs need to go after Calero, then sign one of the free agent bench bats. I was a fan of Sheets being a Cub, but I think the Cubs need to leave themselves some payroll flexibility come mid season trade time.
Also, Akinori Iwamura will be trade bate for sure. He would be a great addition to the Cubs roster.
“Previous reports have connected the Cubs to outfielders Xavier Nady, Jonny Gomes, Rocco Baldelli, and Reed Johnson. The FOX writers say Nady is the Cubs’ top choice unless Dye’s contract demands come down.”
This better be priority number one!
If we didnt get a BP arm, it might turn into a good thing. If we didnt add another starter, it wouldnt destroy the club. Adding a 2B would create as many issues as it would solve at this point, so that isnt something we should hold our breath over. But if we go into 2010 with our current bench, we will be in for big trouble.
So Hendry, will you please just focus on upgrading the bench first before the remaining good options are gone and we are stuck using our current 4A filler. That is what we need above all else right now!
All i’m gonna say is that we really should have done Bradley for Burrell. That would have given us the bench bat we needed and, more importantly, wouldn’t have put Carlos Silva in our bullpen. Of course, that was then and this is now. Now, I’d hope the Cubs end up signing Nady, Calero, and hopefully a starter (Sheets would be awesome, but I’ll take Garland if it comes to it).