Winter Meetings Eve
'Twas the night before the Winter Meetings, when all through the hotel
Not a creature was stirring, not even Rosenthal.
The writers hung out by the bar with care
In hopes that a GM would soon be there.
Anyway, the Rumor Mill goes full tilt tomorrow as the Winter Meetings begin in Nashville. According to Kapman, the Cubs are searching for a starting pitcher and a right fielder. They also want a third baseman, but pickings are slim.
The Cubs are allegedly close to adding to their bullpen, signing Japanese reliver Kyuji Fujikawa according to Ken Rosenthal. The Cubs have yet to confirm the deal and we've been burned enough times by this point that it's probably best to wait for the offiial word. If he does sign, it's a 2 year deal for an alleged $9.5M guaranteed ($1M bonus, $4M each for 2013 and 2014 and a $500K buyout). There'se a 2015 vesting option worth $5.5M or up to $6M depending on games finished. If the option doesn't vest, Cubs hold a club option for $5.5M. You can see his impressive arsenal of pitches from this Youtube clip. It appears he has "closer" stuff, so even if he's not used in that role immediately, it seems like a reasonable enough deal. Many are speculating this means the end of Carlos Marmol as a Cub and I'm sure the Cubs will listen on offers. But nothing wrong with having more than one option for the late innings, regardless of who pitches what inning so I doubt it's anything imminent.
The other bit of news is John Sickels Cubs' Top 20 list. It contains the usual suspects with Baez, Almora, Soler, Vogelbach and Vizcaino leading the group. You can see past lists at Wiklified and I noticed that Javier Baez was the first "A" grade by Sickels since I started tracking in 2005.
d.barney 2/2...breaks the .200 mark (.208)...should be over .300 ob% with that, too.
i would be impressed with more walks if he wasn't hitting 8th so much (all but 4pa this year).
Hurry up and trade Garza
AZ Phil - have there been any trades yet using the new International Signing Bonus cap space in the trade? Would you mind explaining the rules again?
sorry if 3/44, but Rule 5 Flaherty optioned to the minors over the weekend...
garza 4 Ks in a row to end the 2nd (1 to end the 1st).
garza 2rbi double...cubs up 3-0, top 2nd...lulz
garza time...
Stop those walks and you got a player.
Cubs claim RHP Eduardo Sanchez off waivers from Cardinals, assigned to Triple A
In addition to those you mention, I'm sure the Cubs will aggressively market Soriano and Marmol including salary relief. Clearly they will not command the prospects of those you mentioned, although Soriano might if he heats up again. Marmol can hopefully be disposed of for insert fringe prospect here.
Great update Phil. It is appreciated. Great to see the hitting over the last ten games. Looks like some of these guys are coming around.
I see Feldman and DeJesus as the most tradeable assets, with Shierholtz somewhere behind them, and the asking price for Garza being more than teams want to give up by a pretty good margin. Garza would still be likely to bring back the best haul, though. I mean, even in a good year, what are you really willing to give up for a Feldman or DeJesus?
It appears that Albert Almora is on his way to Kane County.
r.vogelsong (SF) broke the hell out of his pitching hand getting HBP on a swing tonight. the trainer threw a towel over his hand as soon as he saw it...already scheduled for surgery tomorrow...expected to miss 6 weeks.
True.
just when you think the Cubs are starting to look like a major league team, they go and lose 2 of 3 at home to the Mets.
Scott Feldman though looking good as trade bait.