Weekend Quick Hits: The Rumor Mill is Heating Up

• Phil Rogers and the Chicago Tribune have put together their All-City team, which is released each year just before the Crosstown Showdown. Despite the better record for the White Sox, the North Siders have claimed five of the eight spots on the All-City squad.


• Ken Davidoff tweets that Carlos Zambrano is not likely headed to New York. This week there have been several reports that the Yankees are not interested.


• Zambrano will waive his no-trade clause if he is asked to, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX. Big Z complained to Rosenthal yesterday that he was quoted out of context. He emphasized that he loves Chicago and wants to remain a Cub.


• Alfonso Soriano expects to stay with the Cubs, but if the team wants to trade him then he is willing to go.


• The Yankees have an eye on Ryan Dempster, but right now it is unlikely that Demp will be dealt.


• As Carrie Muskat mentioned on her blog, if the Cubs win today they will take back-to-back series for the first time this year.


• Jake Peavy will come off the DL and pitch Wednesday against the Cubs.

Tonight the Cubs and Yankees play the rubber match of the three game series, with CC Sabathia pitching against Randy Wells on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball! Tomorrow I will have a Crosstown Showdown special post!

Peavy News

Barry M. Bloom thinks the Peavy deal will get done! Bloom is a reported for MLB.com and he talked about the Peavy deal in an interview with MLB.com and in this article on Cub.com.
A few Notes from Barry:

• His sources tell him that the Peavy deal is definitely in place.
• Once ownership changes, he thinks Peavy will become a Cub.
• Barry says the Cubs have put themselves in position all winter to make a Peavy deal.
• He says that there is "no question" that the deal will get done.
• Barry doesn't see a need for a 3rd team to get involve.
• He doesn't think that the Cubs would have made the Pie/Olson trade if the Peavy deal wasn't on the horizon.

I think adding Peavy would be amazing but I'm ready for the saga to be over! I think we all have doubt in our minds because last winter we spent the whole off season thinking about Brian Roberts and he never came.

New episode of Cubscast today!

I'll keep you posted.

Cubs Live Chat Info

Big News: My blog will be having its first live chat! I will be having the live chat this Wednesday night at 7:00 Central Time. So mark your calendars, Wednesday January 28, 2009 at 7:00.

I will be having 1 chat every week here on this blog, and Phil Wilson will have one each week on his blog. Thanks to Phil for including me in his great idea!

Phil had the first chat on his Cubs blog today. It was great! Click here to read the chat from today. That should give you an idea on what I will be talking about.

The next chat on this other Cubs site will be on Saturday at noon.

I hope you can join us for both chats! This is perfect for all of us who are counting down the days until Spring Training. Get your questions ready, I'll answer anything; if you want info, opinions, or whatever. I would prefer Cubs questions, but if you have anything you want to ask about the rest of baseball or Chicago sports that's fine too. Also feel free to tell me your opinions on the Cubs, this off season, Peavy, the new owner, or anything else Cub related.

Shifting gears, Let's take a look today's Cubs rumors and news:

• Bruce Levine reported yesterday that the Cubs might be looking at Juan Uribe as an infield back-up.
• The Mariners are interested in Ronny Cedeno, and according to Levine, he could be traded for Aaron Heilman.
• Ken Rosenthal says that Brian Roberts is looking for a 4 year extension to stay with the O's.
• Levine thinks that the Cubs could be looking at Kevin Millar/ Rich Aurlia type players that can back up first and 3rd.
• Bruce mentioned a Peavy package that would send Vitters, Castillo, Olson, Hart, and Stevens to San Diego.
• XM Radio says that the Angels could be in the Peavy mix.
• Lee Hamilton says that the Peavy talks are back on.
• Cubs assistant GM Randy Bush was named the Executive of the Year by the Pitch and Hit Club of Chicago at their 63rd annual awards dinner.

Remember: Wednesday night Cubs Chat 7:00 spread the word! Comment with your thought!

I'll keep you posted.

Numbers Breakdown: Zambrano VS Peavy

How does Jake Peavy compare to Carlos Zambrano. I broke this down into career ERA, 2008 ERA, career record, 2008 record, BB for 2008, K's for 2008, BB/K's for career, and also looked at these 2 guys at the plate.

Career ERA:
Carlos: 3.48
Peavy: 3.25
point Peavy

2008 ERA:
Big Z: 3.91
Peavy: 2.85
point Peavy

career record:
Big Z: 96-61
Peavy: 86-62
Point Zambrano

2008 record:
Carlos: 14-6
Peavy: 10-11
Point Zambrano

Walks/K's 2008:
Z: 72/130
Peavy: 59/166
point Peavy

Walks/K's for career:
Big Z: 62/172
Peavy: 407/1256
point Peavy

Hitting (2008 BA/career BA/ 2008 HR/ career HR):
Zambrano: .337/.239/4/16
Peavy: .265/.168/0/2
point Zambrano

So, the final score is Peavy 4, Zambrano 3. It think you get the point.

I'll have another numbers breakdown tomorrow (Sun.) that will compare Paul Bako and Henry Blanco.

Please comment with your thoughts! Also, please add this blog to your favorites because I will have Cubs posts everyday leading up to opening day and then everyday all season long. And if you haven't voted on the poll on the right side of the main page, please do so, only 1 day left of the poll.

By the way, I'll have numbers breakdown every Saturday and Sunday until Spring Training.

Check out my past numbers breakdowns:
Lead off man
Miles, Fontenot, and DeRosa
Manny Ramirez

I'll keep you posted.

New owner coming, Signs pointing toward Peavy

WSJ.com is reporting that the Cubs are planning on naming their new owner by the middle of this week. I hope finally the ownership situation will be over.

I've avoided talking about nothing but Peavy on this blog like some sites do, but there are a lot of signs that point toward the Cubs trading for Peavy. Here's a list:

• DeRosa traded for 3 minor league pitchers.
• Pie traded for Olson who interests Padres.
• Marquis traded for Vizcaino.
• Hendry says things like, "Don't judge my moves until opening day."

Hopefully, when the ownership thing is finally over, we'll get the news that Peavy will be wearing blue pinstripes.

A few other notes,

• Ken Rosenthal says that if the Cubs make another big move it will be Peavy. They are not interested in Orlando Hudson.
• Sources say that the Cubs are 1 of 8 teams interested in Andruw Jones.
• Pitcher Kris Benson will work out for the Cubs and 3 other teams next Saturday.

I'll keep you posted.

Cubs avoid arb. w/ Kevin Gregg, A Look at the Bullpen Mix

The Cubs avoided arbitration with Kevin Gregg today by agreeing to a one year 4.2 million dollar contract. Gregg will be a free agent at the end of the year.

There's a lot of guys in the mix for the Cubs bullpen going into spring training:

• Jose Ascanio
• Mitch Atkins
• Justin Berg
• Neal Cotts
• Chad Gaudin
• Kevin Gregg
• Angel Guzman
• Kevin Hart
• Rich Hill
• Carlos Marmol
• Sean Marshall
• Marcos Mateo
• Garrett Olson
• David Patton
• Jeff Samardzija
• Jeff Stevens
• Luis Vizcaino
• Randy Wells
• Mike Wuertz
• Chad Fox

To break it down a little here are the guys definetly in the bullpen in my opinion:

• Jeff Samardzija
• Carlos Marmol
• Neal Cotts
• Kevin Gregg

That leaves 3 spots open. I think Marshall will be in the rotation, Olson and Hill will be on other teams. So for me it comes down to:

• Bullpen spot 4; probably Chad Gaudin in middle relief.
• Long Man: . Kevin Hart, Angel Guzman, Jeff Stevens, and David Patton are all in the mix.
• A second lefty?: The Cubs could take 2 of the guys mentioned as possible long men, but they might want a second lefty in the pen. There is a possibility that southpaw will be Olson, Marshall, or Hill. It could be someone not on my list who's in the organization like the guy from the DeRosa deal or Carmen Pignatello. Or the Cubs could add a left handed pitcher to the mix.
• Luis Vizcaino, the guy the Cubs got in the Marquis deal, could fill that 7th spot in the rotation instead of another left handed pitcher or another long man.
• Jose Ascanio, Mitch Atkins, Justin Berg, Marcos Mateo, and Randy Wells will almost certainly begin the year at AA or AAA. Chad Fox and Mike Wuertz could be headed back to the minors or could part ways with the team.

There's a lot of possibilities for the bullpen. Later in the week, I'll have a breakdown of the outfield.

Also, with the Cubs aquiring Garrett Olson the Peavy talk is heating up again. Olson is a guy that the Padres do have interest in. It is hard to say whether this deal is so the Cubs can trade for Peavy or if it is just to add an arm to the 5th starter/ bullpen mix. Some sources say Peavy is on his way out of San Diego, others say that he will be with the Padres on Opening Day. We can only wait.

The World Baseball Classic Roster Special is tonight on the MLB Network. I'll have post later with full WBC rosters.

I'll keep you posted on everything as always.

Dawson, Lee, and Grace fall short of Hall

Andre Dawson came up short again. This was his 8th year on the ballot. He received 67% of the vote, 75% is needed. Dawson should be a Hall of Famer. I find it unbelievable that Dawson and Ron Santo are not Hall of Famers.

Rickey Henderson (94.8%) and Jim Rice (76.4%) are the 2 players that will go into the Hall in July. Dawson was 3rd in the voting. Lee Smith was 5th in the voting with 44.5%. Cubs bench coach Alan Trammell received 17.4%, Mark Grace only got 4.1%, and Dan Plesac got 0 votes.

Will The Hawk and/or Ronny ever be Hall of Famers? It's hard to say.

Cubs Rumors:

• Cubs.com and Partrick Newman of NPB Tracker are reporting that the Cubs are close to signing left handed pitcher Ken Takahashi. This make sense because the Cubs can add a lefty to help Cotts out in the pen, get a guy who could spot start, and help Kosuke feel more comfortable by signing a Japanese player. However Takahahi is 40 years old, and his stats are not amazing.
• Cubs officials deny the reports that say they are close to a deal with Takahashi.
• John Moores will likely be the majority owner for the Padres, and he will have to cut the payroll from 73 million to 40 million before opening day. This could increase the chances that Peavy will be traded to the Cubs.
• People in San Diego think that Peavy is on his way out.
• Bruce Levine doesn't seem as confident that he was a week ago that the Cubs will get Peavy.

Lots of good stuff coming up this week. More posts later...

Cubs Rumors

• The Cubs could be interested in adding Aaron Heilman to their bullpen. The Mariners are looking for middle infield help and Ronny Cedeno could be traded in a deal for Heilman according to Bruce Levine.
• Levine also reported during Talking Baseball today that the Cubs could pursue Randy Wolf.
• The San Diego Union Tribune says that if Jake Peavy is traded he could skip the World Baseball Classic so he could train with his new club.
• The Cubs are hoping to get 25 starts from Rich Harden in 2009.
• Bruce said that Sean Marshall will be used as a "Super 6 Starter".
• Milton Bradley is not worried about receiving taunts from the Wrigley crowd like Jacque Jones and LaTroy Hawkins got.
• The Cubs may sign Henry Blanco to be the backup catcher once the ownership situation is resolved. The Cubs have talked about Henry been a coach in the organization once he retires.
• Barry Rozner of the Daily Herald believes that Tom Rickets might increase the Cubs budget, which would allow Jim Hendry to acquire Peavy if he becomes the owner.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted.

Cubs Rumors

• Fred Mitchell said that Hendry seems to be open to anything. "There are some GMs you deal with who are all paralyzed by their caution and analysis. Jim is willing to get out there and make things happen."
• Kevin Towers said that the proposal from the Cubs for Peavy would fill several holes for the Padres.
• Jim Hendry said that his product shouldn't be judged until opening day.
• The Sun Times says the Chone Figgins is available via trade.
• Bruce Miles doesn't think that the Cubs will try to land Derek Lowe, Andy Pettitte, Tim Redding, or Ben Sheets.
• Derek Lowe could end up with the Cubs according to the Daily Herald. His name has popped up a lot in the last 7-10 days.
• The Baltimore Sun says that Roberts and O's have discussed a contract extension, but the 2 sides are far apart.
• Ken Rosenthal reports that there is a growing possibility that Roberts will be traded.
• Hendry said, "You deal with what you have on the wall now until somebody else is added. We'll still look at some possibilities."

The MLB Network crew talked about the Bradley signing today:

• Harold Reynolds thinks that Lou will keep Bradley under control.
• Joe MaGrane thinks the Cubs would have been better off with Bobby Abreu.
• MaGrane thinks Milton will impress Lou with his competitiveness.
• Jon Heyman is a big fan of what Jim Hendry has been doing the past few years.
• Jon says there are 2 issues with Bradley; clubhouse issues and injuries.
• Heyman thinks the Chicago media will give Milton a chance.
• He thinks Bradley should be more positive not just say he wants to be positive.

Milton Bradley was on Boers and Bernstein on 670 The Score today. Here the recap:

• Bradley says it's an "honor" to be in Chicago.
• He felt the Cubs had everything in place. They are a team that wants a championship just as much as he does.
• Bradley feeds off the energy of the fan. He plays every game with a passion.
• Bradley looks forward to playing under Sweet Lou.
• He says that gelling with teammates is the easy part for him.
• There are people in the media that have a lot to say about how he is in the clubhouse. He says talk to any guy that he ever played with not media members.
• Milton said that he will go out on the field every day with a passion and give every thing he's got but would not give his word that no outbursts will happen in Chicago.

More post to come...

Mark DeRosa on Sports Central, More Cubs Rumors

Last night former Cubs second baseman Mark DeRosa joined David Kaplan on WGN radio to talk about being traded to the Indians. Here's the highlights:

• DeRosa said that on one hand he's disappointed and said he didn't even know how much he was going to love Chicago when he signed.
• Mark was on the golf coarse when he got the call to say that he was traded. DeRo said that he followed the whole Peavy sage online and says he thought his time in Chicago would continue when the Peavy trade fell through.
• He said that when he saw that Jim was calling him he knew he got traded.
• Mark is exited about playing 3rd base with the Indians.
• Kap asked if DeRosa would ever come back to the Cubs if he got offered a contract. Mark sounded like he definitely would.
• He said that Lee, Lilly, Dempster, and other team mates have called him since the trade.
• Mark says he thinks he did his job for 2 years.
• Overall I would say DeRosa was very disappointed.

I'm very sad that DeRosa is leaving and even more upset after listening to Mark talk to Kap.

Well, here's other Cubs rumors for today:

• The Cubs seem set to officially sign Milton Bradley in the coming weeks.
• The Tribune says that Ryan Dempster would welcome Bradley with open arms.
• Bruce Levine expects the Jason Marquis trade to be made official on Sunday or Monday.
• Levine thinks there is an 80% chance that the Peavy deal will get done.
• Players Bruce is hearing could be involved include Wellington Castillo, Jeff Stevens, Kevin Hart, and Josh Vitters.
• Kaplan mentioned on Sports Central last night that the Cubs are interested in signing Rich Aurillia to back up 1st and 3rd base.
• The Cardinals were prepared to offer Aaron Miles about the same as what he got with the Cubs but the more sincere interest by Cub management drew him to the Cubs.

I'll keep you posted.

Sullivan's Opening Day Lineup, The MLB Network, and a few rumors

Well, Paul Sullivan of the Tribune thinks the Cubs opening day lineup will look like this:
1. Aaron Miles 2B
2. Joey Gathright CF
3. Derrek Lee 1B
4. Aramis Ramirez 3B
5. Milton Bradley RF
6. Alfonso Soriano LF
7. Geovany Soto C
8. Ryan Theriot SS
9. Carlos Zambrano

I disagree. I think that there is no chance that Gathright will start. Here's what my lineup would be:
1. Ryan Theriot SS
2. Alfonso Soriano LF
3. Derrek Lee 1B
4.Aramis Ramirez 3B
5. Milton Bradley RF
6. Geovany Soto C
7. Mike Fontenot 2B
8. Reed Johnson CF
9. Ryan Dempster P

The MLB Network was great! The Hot Stove show that aired first was awesome! It made it feel like opening day even though it's only January.

Here is the latest Cubs Rumors:

• The Sun Times reports that Sean Marshall is the top in house candidate to be the Cubs 5th starter. Jeff Samadzija is next in line.
• The Tribune thinks that a combo platter of Ronny Cedeno, Felix Pie, Kevin Hart, Josh Vitter, and Jeff Stevens for Jake Peavy could interest San Diego .
• Jon Heyman says that the Cubs next move will be to sign their right field target Milton Bradley.
• The Washington Nationals have also made a push for Bradley.

I'll keep you posted.

Could Cubs Use Prospects to Get Roberts

While most experts are saying that the prospects gained in the DeRosa trade will be used to try to get Jake Peavy, some sources think that the Cubs could use them for Brian Roberts. I would say that the Cubs could trade the 3 pitchers they got from the Indians, Cedeno or Fontenot, and another prospect or 2 and get a deal done for Roberts.

Which deal would you prefer. Trade for Roberts or trade for Peavy?
Feel free to comment with your thoughts.

Everyone have a fun New Year's Eve tonight and I'll have tons of updates tomorrow about all these rumors, any breaking news, the Winter Classic, and the MLB Network.

CUBS MAKING BIG MOVES.....DEROSA TRADED!

The Cubs are making moves left and right! Here's the latest:

• The Cubs have signed switch hitting infielder Aaron Miles to a 2 year deal. Miles is 32 years old, batted .317 with 15 doubles, 4 HR, and 31 RBIs in 2008 for the Cardinals. Miles can play tons of positions. He appeared in 7 different ones last year: 85 games at second, 27 at shortstop, 11 games at 3rd, 4 in left, 1 in center and 1 in right. Miles played for the White Sox and Rockies before becoming a Cardinal in 2006.
• Bad News if you like Mark DeRosa; the Cubs have traded him to the Clevland Indians for Jeff Stevens, John Gaub, and Chris Archer. All 3 are minor league pitchers.
• Here's the stats for Stevens, Gaub, and Archer.
• The Marquis trade to the Rockies for Vizcaino is a done deal and will be announced sometime over the next few days according to sources including Bruce Levine of ESPN Radio and David Kaplan of Comcast Sports Net.
• Levine thinks that with the money the Cubs will save in the Marquis deal they will end up using on Milton Bradley and goes as far as calling it a "done deal".
• I'm also hearing the the Cubs will rework the Peavy talks using the players they got in the DeRosa deal and adding other prospects.

I don't know what to think about the DeRosa deal. I really like DeRo, but if it is what the Cubs have to deal to end up with Bradley and Peavy then that's fine. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. I expect either Fontenot or Miles will be the starting second baseman in 2009.

I'll keep you posted.

UPDATE 2:25 CT- David Kaplan says that he thinks bringing in prospects for the DeRosa is the start of the getting the Jake Peavy deal set up. He also reports that the Marquis deal is not done yet because Jason is out of the country.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that since the Cubs have traded for 3 pitching prospects and traded away our 5th starter, the Peavy deal could be back on.

Kap had Paul Sullivan on the show to talk about the Cubs news.

• Sullivan says that he thinks it's amazing how everything is happening at once.
• Sully says it seems that Miles could move into the leadoff spot.
• He hates to see DeRosa go.
• Kap asked about Milton Bradley. Paul said that he talked to Frank Thomas and Frank said he was intense and smart and just needs to be left alone. If Bradley can stay healthy and out of trouble this could work out good. Paul is willing to give Bradley the benefit of the doubt.
• Paul says he sees no need for Rich Aurillia. He thinks Pie and Cedeno will be traded and would like to see another lefty in the bullpen.

The Cubs have a conference call coming up, so I'll keep you posted.

The Latest Cubs Rumors

• The Rockies remain interested in Jason Marquis. Tracy Ringolsby says that the Cubs are anxious to move him to ease their rotation overload.
• XM Radio says that the Cubs could receive pitcher Jason Hirsh for Marquis.
• Paul Sullivan says that the Cubs are considering inviting 2 Japanese left handed pitchers to compete for jobs in spring training; Ken Kadokura and Shigeki Noguchi.
• Bleacher seats for the Cub-Yanks exhibition games will cost only 25 cents and it will be 1.10 to sit in the grandstand. Yes you read that right. Click here for the full story from the Daily Herald.
• Bleed Cubbie blue likes the idea of Adam Dunn going, I agree with what they say.
• Tom Krasovic says that Jake Peavy will likely remain a Padre despite the many trade rumors this off season. He added that Kevin Towers will still listen to offers and said that a potential deal with the Cubs has fall through.
• The Len and Bob Bash is set, but Len and Bob won't be singing this year! Len talks about the Bash in his recent entry to his blog on the WGN website.

This week schedule for my blog:

Sunday- will be busy, might not get a chance for an update

Monday- Will return, update any new links, news, and rumors; will have a CD recommendation for Cubs Fans; and Will have Trivia answer from the question earlier today.

Tuesday/Wednesday- Get Set for the Launch of the MLB Network and the Hawks game at Wrigley.

Thursday/Friday- My thought on Winter Classic and MLB Network

So, thanks for reading, please comment and vote on our new poll!

Cubs sign Joey Gathright

The Cubs have agreed to a 1 year 800,000 deal with Joey Gathright who was non-tendered by the Royals last Friday. Gathright adds speed off the bench and can play all 3 outfield positions. It seems that Felix Pie is out of luck because he is out of options which means that he can not be sent back to AAA and Gathright is a similar player to him except Joey is a better hitter. Gathright is a left handed bat, but the Cubs will continue to pursue a middle of the order, left handed bat for right field.
Quotes from Jim Hendry:

• "We set out to find a real speed guy for the club and a left handed hitter and he makes a lot of sense."
• "He's a world class speed guy who can do a lot of things for us."
• "If he's not starting, he's a tremendous piece off the bench every day."
• "We're a long way from opening day, a lot of things can happen."
• "I feel confident that we'll end up with a good left handed hitter, there's still a lot of things to do."

In my opinion, the Gathright move does add some speed and depth, but this isn't going what we were hoping for. I would expect that the Cubs still acquire 1-2 more left handed hitters that are everyday players, not just bench guy. I don't think the Cubs really needed another backup outfielder because we already have Reed Johnson (or Kosuke if Reed starts) and DeRosa or Hoffpauir can back up the corner outfield spots to give Soriano and our new right fielder days off.

More Gathright Info:

• 27 years old
• Bats: Left, Throws: Right
• Played for Tampa Bay 2004-06, KC 2006-08
• .263 Career average
• 1 Career HR, 78 SB
• Drafted by Rays in the 32nd round of the 2001 Draft
• 22 RBI & 21 SB in 2008.

Other Cubs Rumors:

• According to Ken Rosenthal, Fucal is headed back to the Braves.
• Bobby Abreu is seeking a 3 year, $48 million dollar deal.
• Kevin Towers said he will listen to all offers on Peavy, but is no longer actively trying to trade him.

What do you think of the Gathright signing?

I'll keep you posted.

Recap of Talking Baseball

First of all, thanks to Byron from http://www.cubsblogarmy.com/ for adding my blog to his site.
Secondly, the Cubs have agreed to terms with Reed Johnson on a 1 year deal with a $3 million base salary and incentives. The Cubs have now avoided arbitration with Johnson, Cotts, and Gaudin but still need to agree to terms with Kevin Gregg, Ronny Cedeno, and Michael Wuertz. Also Kerry Wood has passed his physical and will be in an Indians uniform next year.

Every Saturday morning on ESPN Radio is a show with Bruce Levine and Carmen DeFalco starting at 10 AM CT. They talk Cubs and Sox the whole show all year around. Here's the link to the web page. http://stations.espn.go.com/stations/espnradio1000/show?showId=talkinbaseball It's a great show but in case you don't have time to listen to it or don't what to sit through all the commercials and Sox talk, then I'll have a full recap of the Cubs talk on many Saturdays.

• Bruce says that the Peavy situation is not over.
• Crane Kenney had to answer questions on Wednesday to talk about the Cubs involvement with Governor Rod Blagojevich.
• Levine still believes that unless Peavy is traded or the Cubs start making other deals then this deal could still be made.
• Towers has to move this guy and has to do it soon.
• A caller asked if not being able to move Marquis effected the Cubs Peavy deal. Levine says that the main road block was that the Cubs would lose 7 or 8 players that a role that would need filled for 1 guy.
• Levine thinks Milton Bradley will be in a Cub uniform by the new year.
• Carmen says that the Peavy deal is not dead forever.
• Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel joined Bruce and Carmen to talk baseball;
• Carmen asked about the Phills bring in Raul Ibanez. Charlie says that he should do well in their ballpark and says he look forward to having Raul on the club.
• Manuel says the Mets did a great job inproving their bullpen and says that the Mets could create a lot of problems next year for the Phillies.
• He says the Atlanta's real close to being good and suffered lots of injuries last year and he thinks the Braves are going to be pretty good next year.
• Charlie says the off season is a lot more relaxing being the World Champion manager.
• Manuel said Gavin Floyd of the White Sox can be a real good pitcher someday. (Floyd came up with the Phillies and then was traded for Freddy Garcia)
• Charlie said Scott Eyre was good pick up and by the end of the year their bullpen was very strong.
• Carmen says it doesn't make any sense that nobody else is made any offers to CC Sabathia besides the Yankees.
• Bruce said he met with Jim Hendry in his nice suite each day throughout the week in Los Vegas at the Winter Meetings.
• Bruce says that 2008 was an even better year for the White Sox than it was for the Cubs because the Sox rebuilt, got younger, and won on the fly.
• A caller asked about Adam Dunn and wondered why the Cubs would be more interested in Milton Bradley than Adam Dunn (I was wondering the same thing). The guys said Bradley had the best OBP in the league last year, and is a switch hitter. Carmen says that having Dunn and Soriano would be "brutal" as your corner outfielders defensively.
• Bruce says Dunn would have no chance in right field and says he can't run the bases. Bruce just isn't a big Adam Dunn fan.
• The Cubs are going after 2 left handed bats and Levine says that Bradley is already going to be one of them.

I'd like to thank everyone who has read the blog so far. Please leave your comments and scroll down to the bottom of the page to vote on our poll. As always, I'll keep you posted.

Gordan Wittnemyer talks with Memelo

Gordan Wittnemyer of the Chicago Sun Times joined Jim Memelo on Sports Central tonight to talk about the latest baseball news. Here's the recap:

• Gordan says that he has no problem with what Hendry said about Peavy not being a priority. The Cubs have depth with Marshall and Samarzija that could come into the rotation if there is an injury.
• Wittnemyer said the unbalanced lineup should be the priority.
• Jim asked if Marquis would be traded. Gordan says that he doesn't expect Marquis to be in camp next year, but he wouldn't be shocked. He says the Cubs could make a run at Randy Johnson.
• He said that Milton Bradley is the Cubs clear number 1 option for right field. Gordan says that with Ibanez off the table he would be surprised if a Bradley deal doesn't happen soon.
• Gordan says Bradley will give him something to write about with his running mouth. He says it'd be nice to see another guy like Z out there who wears his emotions on his sleeve.
• He said he'd be interest to know how DeRosa feels about being involved in the Peavy deal this year, after the Brian Roberts talk that would have took his position last season.
• Gordan and Jim both seem to think that Hendry made the right call on not trading for Peavy because the Cubs would have lost too many important pieces.

Raul Ibanez signs with Phillies

Today Raul Ibanez signed a 3 year deal with the Phillies. Milton Bradley is now clearly at the top of the Cubs list for left field, even with his bad temper. Also, today the Cubs resigned pitchers Neal Cotts and Chad Gaudin to one year contracts avoiding salary arbitration. The team also announced that it would tender the contracts of a group of players including Ronny Cedeno, Reed Johnson, Michael Wuertz and Kevin Greg.

Len Kasper and Bob Brenly will hold the 3rd annual Len and Bob Bash on January 15 at the House of Blues. They will raise money for charity.

Here's the Cubs rumors for today:

• The Cubs join the Rays, Dodgers, and Angels as the 4 teams interested in Abreu.


• Paul Sullivan says that Lou was upset at the thought of losing Mark DeRosa.


• Chris De Luca says that Kevin Towers kept putting Sean Marshall on the table, but the Cubs never agreed to it. He says that the 2010 Cubs payroll was the real sticking point.
  

That's it for Peavy, so the Cubs the Cubs will focus on acquiring a left handed bat. Feel free to vote at the bottom of the blog page on who you would like to see the Cubs aquire for right field. Let's hope they end up with a bat that can balance out the line up a little and has some power. Sources say the Cubs are still trying to trade Jason Marquis. I'd say if they do they'll end up with Randy Johnson. Who would you prefer Johnson or Marquis. I'd say the former. Anyway that's it for now, I'll keep you posted.

Kap talks with Barry Axelrod

Peavy's agent Barry Axelrod joined David Kaplan on Sports Central to talk Peavy

• He says he believes that the talks are tabled right know but says he doesn't think things are completely over.
• Barry says he's not in a position to comment on anything about the Jason Marquis salary being a problem in the deal.
• Axelrod said Jake is disappointed tonight, but not devastated.
• Barry said that things seemed to be moving along 24 hours ago and then all the sudden it was off.
• He said that Peavy loves to take the ball, compete, and is fun to watch. Peavy loves playing the game. Axelrod has a western mentality and is very personable and charitable off the field.
• Barry said Rick Suttclife's health is excellent. (Barry represents Rick)

Cubs Pull Out of Peavy Deal

Well after all that talk about San Diego right handed pitcher Jake Peavy, the Cubs have decided to pull out of the sweepstakes today. Here's quotes from Cubs GM Jim Hendry on the Peavy deal:

• "We knew going in we could line up tomorrow with a very good pitching staff"
• "It was one of those rare occasions that we thought it was worth going in to kick the tires and see if it was possible. As the week progressed, the volume of the depth of what we'd have to give up became the sticking point for me"
• "As the week went along, I could tell Kevin wasn't going to lower his stance on the talent which is his right. If he has the intention of keeping Jake then he has the right to get the best deal he can, or he has the option of keeping him."
• "I think the world of the pitcher and he would've made us better, but we were dealing from stength all along."
• "As much as adding Peavy would've been a great acquisition, for the good of the organization, I didn't think, today moving foward, it was the right thing to do."
• "He's a great pitcher, I would never close the door on trying to acquire him. He's one of the marquee guys in the game."
• "I never got comfortable with the volume of players it would take."
• "Besides the contract your taking on, you're also in a position where you're going to have to spend more money to replace some of the pieces you have, whether it's this year or the next. As the general manager of the club, you don't look at trying to make it work under the wire for '09."
• We just didn't get off the plane from Chicago and say, 'This is Jake Peavy week.'"

Padres GM Kevin Towers said "He said he's got other things going on, I respect his position.

So the Peavy saga comes to an end. Personally, I'm wish we would have got Peavy to build the Mega Rotation but I'm glad it wasn't streched out any longer. It was starting to get like the Brian Roberts thing last year. I trust that Hendry will do everything he can to make the team better for 2009.