DeRosa Taken To Hospital

Mark DeRosa was taken to a local Mesa hospital today, he was experiencing an irregular heart beat while taking ground balls in practice. DeRosa has had this happen to him before, and usually he does some breathing exercises and it goes away, but today it didn't. DeRosa, fortunately is alright, but it is always scary when something goes wrong with someones heart. Mark is easily a fan favorite and I am sure everyone, including me, want him to get better and out on the field as soon as possible.

Cubs Notes

It is official, Ryan Dempster will start the Cactus League opener next Thursday against the San Francisco Giants. "'Z' said he didn't want it any more," Dempster said, jokingly, about Zambrano.

Lou Pinella was recently on the Mike North show and confirmed he is considering hitting Kosuke Fukudome 3rd and moving Derrek Lee back to 4th and Ramirez to 5th. I am not opposed to this projected line-up, but if we get Roberts to we hit Soriano 6th? Or maybe Second?

Speaking of Roberts talks between the Cubs and the Orioles, about the all-star second baseman, have cooled in the past couple of days. The Orioles are asking for Gallagher, Ceda or Veal, and a couple more lesser players for Roberts. At this point the Orioles are just being unreasonable and I hope we never do buisness with them again.

It looks like the talks between the Cubs and the Rangers about Marlon Byrd are diminishing as we speak.

The poll for this week looks pretty unanimous, so who do you think we are going to get before the end of the offseason?

Roberts Update

With signing of Alex Cintron I am thinking, hmm... why would we sign an old back up shortstop when we have a young shortstop in Ronny Cedeno? The only thing I could come up with is, there has to be a new development in the negotiations with the Orioles about Brian Roberts. It may just be me, but to me it makes sense. My thinking is we should trade Gallagher, as much as I don't want to give him up, Colvin, Cedeno, Marshall, and Murton for Roberts and if we can get Jay Payton we get him, but if we can't we settle with Brian Roberts.

Cubs Sign Cintron

The Cubs made a minor move today by signing infielder Alex Cintron to a minor league deal. This move kind of makes sense. If we only got him to be able to trade Cedeno for Roberts, I like it, but if it was for any other reason I am not a fan of it.

Kyle Kendrick Gets Punked

Wow, this will be the best prank in baseball this year. Kendrick's face is priceless.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0nKKqPOiJxI

Zambrano Declared Opening Day Starter

It is official. Carlos Zambrano, "Big Z", will get his fouth straight opening day start. Zambrano says he was just kidding when he said he did not mind not starting on opening day this season. It is great to start hearing news about opening day. Hopefully he can start the season out with a bang and hopefully he is not only pitching in the opening day, lets hope he is pitching in the final game for the Cubs in 2008, which would be what we hope is the World Series.

2008 Cubs Projections

Spring training is now among us, so here are our 2008 Cubs projections!
(As the roster stands now)

BATTING ORDER

LF Alfonso Soriano
.291 AVG, 34 HRs, 86 RBIs

SS Ryan Theriot
.273 AVG, 4 HRs, 36 RBIs

1B Derrek Lee
.321 AVG, 26 HRs, 102 RBIs

3B Aramis Ramirez
.303 AVG, 36 HRs, 121 RBIs

RF Kosuke Fukudome
.287 AVG, 13 HRs, 78 RBIs

2B Mark DeRosa
.297 AVG, 12 HRs, 62 RBIs

C Geovanny Soto
.282 AVG, 19 HRs, 69 RBIs

CF Felix Pie
.268 AVG, 9 HRs, 46 RBIs


PITCHING ROTATION

Carlos Zambrano
17-9, 3.42 ERA, 201 K

Ted Lilly
14-8, 3.83 ERA, 162 K

Rich Hill
12-9, 4.18 ERA, 186 K

Jason Marquis
10-11, 4.78 ERA, 102 K

Jon Lieber
9-8, 4.92 ERA, 84 K

Bedard To Mariners Finalized, Roberts To Cubs Next?

The Mariners and the Orioles have finally completed a deal that sends Erik Bedard to the Mariners in return for Adam Jones, George Sherrill, Chris Tillman, Tony Butler and Kam Mickolio. This most likely means the Orioles will now shift their focus to trading Brian Roberts. There is two offers i could see. One, Marshall, Murton, Cedeno, and probably Marquis, for Roberts. The second one would involve George Sherrill. I would think something like, Gallagher, Colvin, Cedeno, and Murton and Marshall would maybe get it worked out. Hopefully something can get done and will be able to report to spring training the same day as Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, etc. report.

Giants Are Super Bowl Champions

Congratulations to the New York Giants. They beat the New England Patriots 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII. Eli Manning was named Super Bowl MVP, with 255 yards 2 touchdowns and 1 interceptions. Again congrats, and thank god the Patriots finally lost!

Roberts Trade Update

Bruce Levine had an interesting update on the Brian Roberts deal, Saturday. Levine mentioned that a deal for Roberts could be done in the coming weeks. Levine also noted that Andy MacPhail has extended his deadline for a trade for Roberts to, Febuary 15th, when the Orioles report to camp. So a deal is imminent, and should be done soon, if it happens at all.
Updates hopefully soon.

Marquis To Be Traded?

Jason Marquis is on the block, according to an AL executive. The Cubs aere looking to trade Marquis for a reliever and a few prospects. A report is also saying that since the Orioles traded away Bedard, so we think, they would like to acquire another inning eater to replace him. Some think a deal would get done faster for Roberts if the Cubs included Marquis in a deal along with a young pitcher like Gallagher or Marshall, along with two other position players. The Cubs are not going to just give Marquis away for no one, we are looking to trade for someone that is actually good and would provide something to this team.
More Info Later

Cubs Made Last Minute Bid For Santana?

Jim Hendry did at least try to aquire Johan Santana. Dave Kaplan said that Hendry called the Twins about Santana earlier this week, but were informed that Santana only wanted to play for a team whose spring training facilities were located in Florida, and that an extension would be needed for Santana before the trade would be approved. With the impending sale of the Cubs, Bud Selig would likely not approve any signing of this caliber; at least until a new owner was appointed.

There is really nothing new on the Roberts deal as of now. It appears that Bedard will need to be traded before Roberts goes anywhere. Angelos is looking to destroy the farm of every team he does buisness with, and so far, he is succeeding.

Bedard To Mariners? Roberts Next?

The drama may end soon, Cubs fans. According to a report out of Seattle the Mariners have traded top prospect Adam Jones, George Sherill, and Chris Tillman for Orioles ace Erik Bedard. This is a good thing a for Cubs fans. The reason it is good, since the Mariners traded Jones to the Orioles that means Baltimore has acquired their outfielder, and would no longer ask for Pie in a trade for second baseman Brian Roberts. This now lets the Orioles focus on trading Roberts. The Orioles have reported they would like to trade Roberts by the end of the week. Now hopfully we can find a way to get Khalil Greene and Brian Roberts. Roberts would mean a 4 to 5 win increase in '08. Greene has insane numbers aaway from Petco, and in my opinion would excel in a hitter friendly park like Wrigley. Greene would also add a 25+ home run hitter in the 6 or 7th spot in the line-up. Hopefully we can work something out and at least get one of the two.

A Quick Update

• Jim Hendry has admitted to be actively shopping Left Fielder Matt Murton. The team who has shown the most interest is the Padres. Maybe we can pull Khalil Greene off their hands?


• The deal for Brian Roberts is rumored to be back on, again. Phil Rogers reports, through a very highly placed source, that the 7-2 rumor involving Bedard and Roberts is back on. Sources say that there could be a 3 team blockbuster in the works that would send Marlon Byrd, Erik Bedard and Brian Roberts all to the Cubs. The Baltimore Sun thinks the Cubs do not have the farm system to give the Orioles what they want. Reports indicate that it would have to match the caliber of players the Tigers gave up for Willis and Cabrera. The Cubs have said they would be willing to trade Rich Hill for Bedard and Roberts.


• Marlon Byrds name has popped up again. The Rangers have a ridiculously high price tag for Byrd. It is reported that they have asked for Sean Gallagher in return for Byrd. Which in my opinion is completely ridiculous.

Hopefully we get a deal done soon for someone

Weurtz Avoids Arbitration

Michael Wuertz avoided arbitration with the Cubs Monday. The deal is worth $860,ooo over one year. Wuertz went 2-3 last season with an ERA of 3.48, rather solid in my opinion. Wuertz was the only arbitration eligible player for the Cubs this year. Great deal, he is a quality reliever and we got him for a cheap amount, which is awesome these days.

Angelos Nixes Trade

According to Rotoworld, Peter Angelos nixed a 7-2 trade, that involved Brian Roberts and Erik Bedard coming to the Cubs for seven prospects. The rumored prospects in the deal are Sean Gallagher, Sean Marshall, and Felix Pie. The other four are not specified. I want Brian Roberts, but I don't think it is worth trading seven people for both. I would obviously want both, but I am not interested in trading our entire farm system for just two players.
-JC

Byrd Talks Pop Up Again

According to MLB.com's T.R Sullivan, the Cubs have contacted the Rangers about a possible swap for outfielder Marlon Byrd. The trade could cost a fan favorite, Matt Murton. Sullivan cautions that these talks are only in there first stages. Byrd,30, recently avoided arbitration with the Rangers. The deal was only worth $1.8MM, and Byrd would hit free agency in '09.
The thing I do not like is that we would have to give up Murton. I am a fan of him and would like to see him develop some more and become a star. He is only 26.

Cubs Sign Shingo Tukatsu

The Cubs made a rather minor move today by signing pitcher Shingo Tukatsu, to a minor league deal. Takatsu, 39, spent all of 2004 and part of 2005 in the south side of Chicago. In 99 games in the majors with the Sox and the New York Mets, Takatsu collected 27 saves over 98 2/3 innings, with an ERA of 3.38. Terms of this deal were not released. Like I said a rather minor move, but he could perform in Spring Training and earn a roster spot in 2008.

Cubs Sign Lieber

According to Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal, the Cubs have signed pitcher Jon Lieber to a 1 yr/$3.5M deal. Lieber, who turns 38 on April 2,played four seasons with the Cubs, before signing with the Yankees in 2004, then with the Phillies in 2005. He spent the past three seasons with the Phillies, but missed the second half of last season after suffering a ruptured tendon in his right foot. Since Lieber missed half the season, last season, he managed to go 3-6, with a 4.73 ERA. When healthy, like he did with the Phillies in 2005, he is capable to win about 15 games and average an ERA of about 4.20. With the signing of Lieber could mean a trade for Marquis could be in the works. Or it could mean Dempster would just simply move back into the bullpen.

I really like do not like this signing unless we move Marquis. My reasoning is this. I think we need to give Gallagher the fifth starter role if he is ever going to get developed. I think

this is an ok signing.

Not So Fast...

...The talks with the Orioles are back on; or maybe they were never actually off. Anyway, Phil Rogers over at the the Chicago Tribune has reported that the Orioles will remain in talks with the Cubs and the Mariners for players Brian Roberts and Erik Bedard. Phil Rogers believes that the holdup in the Rogers deal may exist over Tyler Colvin and Felix Pie. Rogers thinks that if either player is involved in a trade, it will be for both Roberts AND Bedard. I say send over Colvin in a package for both of them and call it done. Easier said than done probably, but this would solve two pretty big needs and would help the club immensely. Hopefully this happens soon, to turn speculation into fact.

-NC