Cubs Sign Gaudin, Tender Rest of Arbitration Eligible Players

If the Cubs signed Chad Gaudin on contract tender day, that means they have been negotiating with him, didn't want to go to arbitration with him, and were probably planning to non-tender him today if they hadn't come to an agreement. The deal probably involves performance incentives that aren't possible to get into a contract if it goes to arbitration.

Same thing happened last year with Neal Cotts and Mark Prior on contract tender day. The Cubs re-signed Cotts ($800K with $75K in incentive bonuses), but could not come to terms with Prior, so Prior was non-tendered..

WMVP says Cubs agreed to terms with Cotts at $1.1 million.

RE: RF - I suppose Hendry's decision between Abreu and Bradley would also come down to contract length. Reportedly Abreu wants at least a 3 year deal. If Bradley will take a 2 year deal Hendry might jump at that. Even though I really don't like him, I'd prefer Abreu as well.

In summary the off season is looking like...

Hendry's bringing "the gang's all back" except for Kerry Wood who had to be sacrificed (at least salary-wise) because Fukudome was a bust and we needed another Left handed hitting outfielder who can supposedly bat 4-5th. It looks like the payroll increase is just due to relatively predictable contractual raises (which I suppose includes Dempster in a free agent kind of way). I guess they could have dumped other salary to make more changes (hear that Jason Marquis) but that was more difficult than just dumping KW.

If Fukudome does reverse course (big if)...he just needs to have comps vs what Edmonds did last yr to break even now.

I guess that's why the Peavy possibilities were exciting as it would have made the predictability of "the gangs all back" not the case.

the Schoenweis for Marquis deal is dead...unless he's going to the DBacks now.

Schoenweis was just traded from the Mets to the DBacks for Connor Robertson in a salary dump (odd that the DBacks would take on salary though)

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_relea...

that makes no sense. Either the Dbacks are really high on Yusmeiro Petit for a 5th starter, or they really want to be rid of the Unit. Maybe the Unit really is a tool in the clubhouse and they don't want him around the all of their young guys.

Tribe thinking hard about Wood. Heh, hard ... Wood.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3766098

So, just how injured is Takashi Saito?

Any other non-tenders that could intrigue the Cubs (or other teams)?

Ibanez off the market, signs with Philly. Presumably means that Burrell won't be back.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3764268&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines

Jonny Gomes is as unsigned as Barry Bonds.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3766272

Could be a good gamble in a minor-league deal situation.

Reed Johnson brought back for $3 mill.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=257883

If nobody has already mentioned this, you can listen to Kevin Towers' interview yesterday on XX Sports Radio in which he, obliquely, blames the Cubs for blabbing everything about the Peavy deal to the media thus deleveraging his position.

Absolute bullshit! By all reports Towers was the one leaking everything to the press and it pissed off Hendry and the Cubs.

It's also pretty clear from the interview that he and the Padres put all their eggs in the Cubs/Peavy basket and now are in complete disarray with no clue what to do next.

You can listen in here

http://www.xxsportsradio.com/common/global_audio/4...

somehow,

The Cleveland Indians wasted no time this morning getting the news out that they've signed Wood... The Tribe braintrust must have pulled an all-nighter.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081212&c...

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/13293...

Wittenmeyer's Sun Times article covering Bradley...Reed Johnson, Gaudin, Cotts and the arbitration eligibles.

but Daniel Cabrera is an intriguing high-upside, long-shot non-tender guy.
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I agree that he's interesting. Control has been his downfall but I wonder if he could be reworked into a set up reliever, maybe scrapping a pitch. Probably not a fit with the Cubs but it will be interesting to see where he goes and if he rebounds.

on another note, it's been awfully quiet on the Hank White front. I guess the death of his brother might be the reason and the Cubs (or other teams) are giving him some time to support his family. Still, the backup catcher position needs to be addressed unless it's Koyie Hill or Wellington Castillo they plan on going with. Blanco just might get a starting job somewhere though.

If Arizona Phil sees this, I love to hear his thoughts on the Cubs backup catchers if Blanco moves on.

here is Kevin Goldstein's take on the Cubs acquistion from the Rule 5 draft (from a transaction with the Reds) David Patton (from Baseball Prospectus);

Patton is another reliever with a solid chance to stick. More of an organizational player entering the season, Patton's stuff significantly improved with a move to the bullpen, as his fastball consistently sat in the low 90s in shorter stints, and he also uses a sharp slider that projects as at least average. If there's a word of warning, it's that he got torched in the Arizona Fall League and then struggled with his command in Hawaii.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?arti...

What about offering John Bale a minor league contract? He may have Farnsworth's IQ, but he threw well in September after coming back from the DL. If Hendry can move Marquis, and Marshall covers the 5th spot in the rotation, then they could use another lefty in the pen.

Submitted by Cubster on Sat, 12/13/2008 - 10:19am.

If Arizona Phil sees this, I love to hear his thoughts on the Cubs backup catchers if Blanco moves on.

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CUBSTER: Having Henry Blanco around while the jury was still out on whether Geovany Soto could be a frontline catcher probably made sense to Hendry going into the 2008 season, but with Geo having won the N. L. Rookie of the Year Award and catching 125+ games, I suspect the back-up catcher roster slot is one area where the Cubs are going to want to cut costs in 2009.

As of right now (12/14), it looks like it's going to be a Spring Training battle between Zambrano-favorite Koyie Hill (who is on the Cubs 40-man roster) and veteran Mark Johnson (signed to a minor league contract by the Cubs last month). I sure wouldn't want to have to count on either of them if Soto were to suffer a season-ending injury, but as long as Geo catches 125+ games, I guess the back-up catcher isn't going to be much of a concern to Hendry. (Neither have much to offer offensively, but K. Hill is a switch-hitter who has the versatility to also play 3B and 1B in a pinch, while M. Johnson is a left-handed hitter with considerable MLB experience). 

There was talk somewhere recently that the Cubs were considering bringing back Paul Bako (like Mark Johnson, another below-average veteran MLB left-handed hitter) as their back-up catcher in 2009, and if that's true (and it definitely sounds plausible), it probably means the Cubs want to find a back-up who won't cost more than about $800K. (Of course, you get what you pay for!).

As for Welington Castillo, he is a very good prospect and he will play in the big leagues, but he's still raw (he won't turn 22 until April), and I would say he needs at least one more year in the minors (maybe two) before he's ready for The Show. He still makes too many mistakes (he had a ton of errors & passed balls in 2008), and I doubt that Uncle Lou will tolerate that on a contending team.

W. Castillo is eligible for the 2009 Rule 5 Draft, so he will certainly be added to the Cubs 40-man roster no later than 11-20-09, probably most-likely as the September 1st "3rd catcher" call-up. Castillo could get a shot earlier than that, though, if something bad happens to Soto and the Cubs need a right-handed hitting catcher to platoon with Bako (that's presuming the Cubs sign Bako) or M. Johnson. or K. Hill. Bottom line is, the Cubs better hope Soto stays healthy in 2009. Soto getting hurt (or having a "sophomore slump") would be difficult to overcome.

Thanks Az Phil...and Bako (as you mentioned) is a lefty bat plus he got the most playing time (299 AB's) he's had in awhile last year in Cincy. All that playing time didn't amount to much production though.

.217 .299 .328 6 HR (including one off of Lieber)

Ah, Dusty Dusty Dusty. That 'splains the near 300 at bats.