Who's on the Cubs Shopping List?

In honor of Black Friday, it is time for us to take a look at who the Cubs are looking at this winter. The Cubs are in need of relief pitching, a first baseman, bench depth and possibly a starting pitcher. Here is a list of names that have been associated with the team this winter.

• Lance Berkman: Ken Rosenthal lists the Cubs as one of eight teams interested in the former 'Stros first baseman.
• Javier Vazquez: The Cubs have taken a look at the starting pitcher, but Marlins are the frontrunners.
• Adam Dunn: Jim Hendry has not yet connected to slugger, but Carlos Zambrano has said that he would love to have Dunn on his side. Jayson Stark has indicated that the Cubs will look to go after a better defender.
• Andrian Gonzalez: It's a long shot, but Ivy Report believes that the Cubs need to strike fast and trade for the Padres star.
• Daisuke Matsuzaka: The Red Sox have no interest is swapping Japanese players in a Kosuke for Daisuke trade.
• Cliff Lee: Jon Heyman names the Cubs as a possible surprising suitor for the big lefty.
• Jon Garland: The former White Sox could be an option for the rotation after indicating that he was interested in pitching for the Cubs last winter.
• Kerry Wood: As most of you have said in our poll on the right sidebar, Cubs fans would welcome Woody back. It is unclear whether or not he would take less money to pitch in middle relief for the Cubs.
• Carlos Pena: Bruce Miles says the Cubs have been "keeping an eye" on Pena to fill the void at first base.
• Vicente Padilla: Still on the Cubs starting pitcher radar.
• Jason Frasor: Bruce Levine has been connected this reliever to the Cubs for the past three winters.
• Nick Johnson: A report from the Chicago Tribune earlier this month connected the Cubs to first baseman Nick Johnson. It is unclear whether Johnson would be the starter or serve as a backup to Tyler Colvin or another guy that the Cubs ink.

Let the shopping begin!

The State of the Bullpen

I covered the bullpen some in yesterday's post, but unfortunately technical difficulties prevented me from posting that story. So today, let's talk a little bit about the Cubs' relief core.

Carlos Marmol is the closer. He is of the utmost importance to this ballclub because they already lack bullpen depth. As of now, there would be nobody to take over for Carlos if he goes down or struggles.

But instead of thinking about "What ifs..." let's face the situation the pen is in right now. With the injury to Angel Guzman, the already thin bullpen lost a significant arm. Marmol will be the Cubs closer, John Grabow will be the primary left handed setup man, and beyond that there's a gray area. Lou Piniella has showed confidence in Esmalin Caridad, who pitched well late last year when he received a callup. Lou says that Caridad has made the club as a setup man. Whoever is left out of the rotation of the group of Samardzija, Marshall, and Gorzelanny will fill the 4th spot in the bullpen. That leaves three slots open.

Jeff Gray, who came to the Cubs in the deal that shipped Fox and Miles to Oakland this winter, is out with a groin injury and will probably not be ready to start the regular season.

So these final three spots could be filled with young pitchers that are in camp, or the Cubs could look to add a veteran presence to the bullpen by going outside the organization. Bruce Levine continues to report that Jason Frasor and Luke Gregerson are options for the Cubs. Frasor worked a scoreless inning in his only spring appearance so far for the Blue Jays. Gregerson has worked 2 innings so far for the Padres and has yielded just one base runner and no runs.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports connects the Cubs to John Smoltz and Pedro Martinez. Would it be worth the injury risk to try to bring in one of these post-prime legends?

Even if the Cubs fill 1 spot with a trade or free agent signing, there will still be at least 2 bullpen openings for younger guys. Bruce Levine says that Casey Coleman, John Gaub, Jeff Stevens, and James Russell are candidates. Carrie Muskat mentions Justin Berg, Mike Parisi, and Thomas Diamond. Muskat adds that David Patton will most likely start in the minor leagues now that the Cubs have kept him on the roster long enough to keep him since the Rule V Draft in December of 2008. Carlos Silva will also vie for a spot in the bullpen if he does not make the rotation. He could start the year hidden on the DL if he does not improve upon his Cactus League debut.

Let's take a look at how some of the Cubs competing for spots in the bullpen are doing in the Cactus League:

• Andrew Cashner: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 ER
• Casey Coleman: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER
• J.R. Mathes: 2 IP, 2 ER
• Mike Parisi: 2 IP, 1 ER
• Carlos Silva: 2 IP, 7 H, 6 ER
• Jeff Stevens: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER
• John Gaub: 1.1 IP, 1 ER
• Marcos Mateo: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER
• Jeff Kennard: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER
• Mitch Atkins: 0.1 IP, 0 ER

We'll see how it plays out!

Let's Catchup: Cubs Rumor Roundup

With the countdown to the Cubs Convention and Andre Dawson posts, we haven't had much of a chance to check to rumor mill and other Cub news this week. Let's do that now!

Bruce Levine Chat
Well, the best place to start for rumors is Mr. Chicago Baseball. He chatted Cubs and White Sox Tuesday as always on ESPN Chicago.com. Here are the Cub-related notes from the chat:

• Jim Hendry likes OBP guys, but he doesn't live and die with that stat.
• The Cubs have talked with Casey Close, who is the agent for Ben Sheets. He is looking for between $7 and $8 million. The Cubs would be interested in Sheets if the asking price went down a lot.
• Levine mentioned John Smoltz and Jose Contreras as guys that fit just as well as Sheets.
• Andres Blanco is the better defensive player than both Fontenot and Theriot. Bruce is sure he'll have a job as an infield backup on the Cubs Opening Day roster.
• Ideally, on a great team, Marlon Byrd is a fourth outfielder. At this point, the Cubs are not a great team.
• The Ryan Spilborghs trade that Levine has mentioned before is still on the table.
• Bruce doesn't ever see Fontenot as a full time starter calling him a part-time player that can be productive.
• When asked who would get the most playing time at second base this year for the Cubs, Bruce said that there might be someone who is not yet on the team. Ryan Theriot is also a possibility to move to second if Castro comes up. Starlin "isn't all that far away in management plans".
• The problem with Carlos Zambrano is not his offseason regimen, it's the way he let's himself slip away during the season.
• Hendry wants to add to his bullpen and add another start if he can. Bruce called a backup outfielder "a must", but he is not sure how much will get done before the Convention.
• Rudy Jaramillo should be a great addition to the team.
• The Cubs would consider guys like Contreras and Garland to fill in for Lilly to start the year in the rotation.
• The Blue Jays would want pitching in return for Jason Frasor. They've expressed some interest in Angel Guzman. No way!
• "I feel the Cubs' talent can pass St. Louis if people like Soto and Soriano return to form," Bruce said.
• Kosuke will probably be the Cubs lead-off man on Opening Day.
• How much more the Ricketts family will allow Hendry to spend this offseason is still up in the air.
• Brad Snyder has made a big impression on the Cubs. They don't think his major league career is that far off.

More Rumors & Other Notes

• Brandon Bianowicz has put together an excel spreadsheet taking a look at Jim Hendry's trade history as the Cubs' GM.
• Cubs manager Lou Piniella will receive the Thurman Munson Award on February 2 at the 30th annual benefit dinner to remember Munson.
• The Cubs Spring Training broadcast schedule should be coming out any day know. (Maybe today). Yesterday, the South Siders Spring broadcasts schedule was released on Whitesox.com. Sunday March 7 the Cubs VS Sox game will be on WSCR radio. The Cubs against the Cubs on March 13 (in Las Vegas) and March 19 will be Sox broadcasts on Comcast Sports Net. I'll update when the full Cubs broadcast schedule comes out.
• Andre Dawson is still waiting to find out what cap he will go in to the Hall wearing. Fred Mitchell has been told that he would prefer to sport a Cubs' hat.
• According to MLB.com, former Cubs reliever Scott Eyre has retired after 13 seasons in the big leagues.
• Chicago Cubs Online posted a very informative recap of Jim Hendry on XM Radio.
• We're planning on having a special Q&A here on Everything Cubs on Monday afternoon I will have a post up with more information tonight or tomorrow.

More later...