Other Cubs Rumors

Here's the non-Peavy Cubs Rumors from today:

• The Cubs are moving on from Peavy and are mainly focused on a left handed hitter.
• According to Jon Heyman, the Cubs and Mets are talking about a possible trade involving Jason Marquis.
• Most sources believe that Milton Bradley is at the top of the Cubs list.
• Paul Sullivan says Bradly along with Raul Ibanez and Bobby Abreu are still on the radar for left field.
• The Cubs and Angels have talked about Chrone Figgins.
• There's still interest in Randy Johnson from the Cubs.

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)

Rule 5 Draft Recap

The MLB Rule 5 draft is complete and there were 2 things involving the Cubs.
1. Cubs LHP Donald Veal was selected by Pittsburg with the 4th pick. The Cubs could get him back if the Pirates don't keep him on their 25 man roster for all of 2009 but he would have to clear waviers.
2. The Cubs aquired David Patton who was the Reds in exchange for cash considerations. Patton is a right handed pitcher who spent the 2008 season in the Rockies organization. Here's a link to hist numbers. http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=David%20Patton&pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=456029
The Cubs also lost 2 players in the Minor League portion; catcher Yusuf Carter and pitcher Mark Holliman.
Here's some notable past Rule 5 Draftees that went on to become all stars:
George Bell
Paul Blair
Bobby Bonilla
Jody Davis
Darrell Evans
Kelly Gruber
Josh Hamilton
Willie Hernandez
Dave Hollins
John Hudek (minor league portion.)
Dave May
Mike Morgan
Scott Podsednik (minor league portion.)
Bip Roberts
Johan Santana
Joakim Soria
Manny Trillo (minor league portion.)
Derrick Turnbow
Dan Uggla
and Roberto Clemente went on to become a Hall of Famer.

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.

Update: Peavy Talk

A quick update on Peavy-
MLB.com's Corey Brock says that Padres GM Kevin Towers told him that we should know one way or the other on the Peavy trade by the end of the meetings. Towers thinks a deal will take a 4th team. DeRosa and Marquis could be hand ups, especially Jason's contract. Kevin Hart, Josh Vitters, and Felix Pie are some of the names Corey Brock mentioned.

Accourding to Cubs.com a possible 3 team deal has been proposed that would send the following players to the following teams.
Phillies Get: DeRosa
Padres Get: Marquis, Jason Donald, and either J.A. Happ or Carlos Carrasco, Pie, and Vitters
Cubs Get: Peavy

Also the Cubs could loose Donald Veal in the Rule 5 Draft Tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

Radio Airwaves Monday- Wednesday

I'll also be recapping interviews that concern the Cubs once in awhile. Here are some interviews from so far this week.

Former Cubs broadcaster and current San Diego Padres broadcaster Andy Masur chatted with WGN Radio's David Kaplan on Sports Central on Monday:

• Andy said that he thinks Peavy will fit into the Cubs clubhouse perfectly.
• He talked about what he did for a Padre team that seemed like a AAA team.
• Andy says that he agrees that the ballpark in San Diego is harder to hit the ball out of, but he believes Jake is the kind of guy that can pitch anywhere.
• Andy says Khalie Greene is not that much of an impact guy but is one heck of a short stop.
• He would not be surprised if Peavy stayed in San Diego and starts opening day at Petco next year.

Ron Santo joined Waddle and Silvy on ESPN 1000 on Tuesday to talk about not being selected for the Hall of Fame.

• Ron said he was fine today but thought this was going to be his year because he was only 5 votes away 2 years ago.
• He wonders why they have a veteran’s committee if they never induct anyone.
• Ron says he doesn’t like the players voting because the players don’t look at stats.
• Ron thinks they should go back to a committee of 12 guys including hall of fame broadcaster, players, and media.
• He says that for him personally that he feels he deserves the hall and is proud that he put up Hall of Fame numbers with diabetes.
• They asked if he considered taking his name off the ballot. Ron says he has thought this was his best shot and next time he won’t even think about the election and if he makes it he makes it.
• Ronny added that he is over the 2008 Cubs season and the main reason the Cubs didn’t win is because they didn’t hit.

Bob Brenly was on Waddle and Silvy's show today:

• Bob says that if you throw Peavy into the one of the strongest rotations in the NL, you put yourself in the mix as a preseason pick to go to the world series.
• Brenly says that if the Cubs trade DeRosa, his place in the clubhouse could be picked up by someone else, but his versatility is hard to replace. He says that trading DeRosa would be worth getting Peavy.
• Brenly thinks that Fontenot can play second base every day.
• Bob says that he didn’t feel the Brewers and him as a manager were a good match.
  
• He says the Brewers are going in the wrong direction moving forward.
• Bob thought that Ron Santo would be in this year and described it as a disgrace for to the game of baseball that Ron’s not in the Hall of Fame.
• He doesn’t know if any one person (like Joe Morgan) has that much influence on who gets in.

My next Cubs update tomorrow will recap the Rule 5 Draft which takes place tomorrow and I'll get you up to date on all the latest Cubs Rumors. Will the Peavy deal ever get done? Will the Cubs make any moves on the final day of the winter meetings? We can only wait....

Names rumored to be on the Cubs radar

Well for my first rumors post I will list all the names that have been rumored to be on the Cubs radar this off season. I'll have an update coming up about what's going on with Jake Peavy and at the Winter Meetings in Vegas.

• Bobby Abreu
• Milton Bradley
• Adam Dunn
• Rafael Furcal
• Brian Giles
• Jeremy Hermida
• Raul Ibanez
• Randy Johnson
• Jake Peavy
• Brian Roberts
• Ben Sheets
• Mark Teahen
• and more

So Here's whats been going on with rumors and Cubs notes in Vegas this week at Baseball's Winter Meetings:

• Ron Santo was not elected to the Nation Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veteran's Committee on Monday. He received only 60.1 percent of the vote falling shy of the 75 percent needed to make it. I won't share many personal opinions on this blog but it's obvious that Ronny belongs in Cooperstown.

Most of the Cubs talk this week has been related to Padres pitcher Jake Peavy. Different sources have been reporting totally different things. I'll try to sort things out:

• Sources have said that the Cubs and Padres have discussed a 3 or 4 team deal involving the Baltimore Orioles and/or the Philadelphia Phillies.
• The Phills have interest in Cubs utility man Mark DeRosa. Rumors have said that DeRosa could go to the Phillies in a 3 team deal that brings Peavy to the Cubs.
• John Perrotto from baseballprospects.com said yesterday that the Cubs might shop Carlos Zambrano after acquiring Peavy. This was a crazy rumor and the Cubs shot it down today.
• Today Jim Salisbury from Philly.com said that Kyle Kendrick could be included in a deal for Peavy.
• The Twins were discussed as a possible 3rd team today.
• Carrie Muskat of Cubs.com say that the Cubs will not trade DeRosa
• Corey Brock of MLB.com said that the Phillies might want Scott Hairston from San Diego.
• Peavy's agent Barry Axelrod has left the meetings, but Buster Olney of ESPN.com says he still thinks the Cubs will get the deal done.
• Other guys that could be leaving the Cubs in the Peavy deal include: Jason Marquis, Ronny Cedeno, Felix Pie, Josh Vitters, Sean Marshall, Rich Hill, Angel Guzman, Jose Ceda, Mike Fontenot, and Wellington Castillo.
• Some sources say that the Peavy talks are being slowed down because of 3 factors: 1. The sale of the Cubs. 2. The Cubs want to dump Marquis salary before adding Peavy's big contract. 3. Some say that the Cubs would like to get a left handed bat that plays right field before adding Peavy.

Speaking of the Cubs looking for a right fielder....

• Jim Hendry met with Seth Levinson, who represents free agent outfielders Milton Bradley and Raul Ibanez today according to Bruce Levine of ESPN 1000.
• Bruce says that Lou Piniella told him the Cubs will add a left handed bat within the next couple of days.
• The Cubs seem to be closest to signing Milton Bradley.

Also former Cub Kerry Wood is close to signing with Clevlend. It will be hard to see Kerry in a different uniform and I think that was a big mistake by Jim Hendry. However, I do think Carlos Marmol will pitch well in the closers role next season.

Thanks For Reading and feel free to post comments.