Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Cubs needs: Back Up Catcher, 5th starter, bullpen help?

Well we know that the Cubs need to fill the spot of back up catcher to Geovany Soto. Here's a list of all the catchers that are still free agents (from MLB trade Rumors.com):

Brad Ausmus (40)Paul Bako (37)Gary Bennett (37)Henry Blanco (37)Johnny Estrada (33)Sal Fasano (37)Toby Hall (33)Robby Hammock (32)Paul Lo Duca (37) - Type B, not offered arbAdam Melhuse (37)Ivan Rodriguez (37) - Type B, not offered arbJavier Valentin (33)Jason Varitek (37) - Type A, offered arbGregg Zaun (38) - Type B, not offered arb

Not a lot of guys left. Only 14 catchers in all. The Cubs best option of those guys might be former Cub Paul Bako whom we've heard the Cubs have interest in. Jose Valentine, Toby Hall, and Gregg Zaun would also be good ideas in my opinion. Personally, I want them to just resign Henry Blanco, but for whatever reason it doesn't seem like they are going to.

Here's a list of all the FA starting pitchers:
Matt Belisle (29)Kris Benson (33)Paul Byrd (38) - Type B, offered arbRoger Clemens (46)Bartolo Colon (36)Shawn Estes (36)Josh Fogg (32)Freddy Garcia (33)Jon Garland (29) - Type B, offered arbTom Glavine (43)Charlie Haeger (25)Livan Hernandez (34)Orlando Hernandez (43)Chuck James (27)Jason Jennings (30)Kenshin Kawakami (34)Jon Lieber (39)Braden Looper (34) - Type B, not offered arbRodrigo Lopez (33)Derek Lowe (36) - Type A, offered arbPedro Martinez (37)Mark Mulder (31)John Parrish (31)Odalis Perez (32)Oliver Perez (27) - Type A, offered arbAndy Pettitte (37) - Type A, not offered arbSidney Ponson (32)Mark Prior (27)Tim Redding (31)Kenny Rogers (44)Curt Schilling (42)Ben Sheets (30) - Type A, offered arbJohn Smoltz (42) - Type B, not offered arbKoji Uehara (34)Kip Wells (32)Randy Wolf (32) - Type B, not offered arb

I think the Cubs should have interest in Ben Sheets, Jon Garland, Curt Schilling, Oliver Perez, and Randy Wolf. It depends how much money they will spend and if they trade for Peavy.

More Posts to come....

3 comments:

  1. The Backup catcher i wouldn't mind would be either Toby Hall or gregg Zaun. AND for a SP i would obviously want Jake Peavy, but FA wise i wouldn't mind Ben Sheets, Jon Garland, Braden Looper, Derek Lowe (to much money), Oliver Perez, or Randy Wolf.
    but that's me.

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  2. I thought all the Cubs needed to complete the club was a good left handed batter?

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  3. Now that the Cubs have traded Marquis, they could sign a free agent starting pitcher to take his place. I think Hendry will make a few more moves before pitchers and catchers report on Feb. 14.

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