The Hill is Gone
Reports are out that Andy McPhail is adding to his Cubs minor league collection, much like I use to collect G.I. Joes. The latest acquisition looks to be left-hander Rich Hill.
One industry source said it's a "strong possibility" that Hill will
wind up with the Orioles, perhaps as early as next week. The Orioles
will likely give up a player to be named who could be contingent on
Hill's success in Baltimore.
The O's just need to make some room on their 40-man roster for the deal to go down. This would also clear a spot on the Cubs 40-man roster for the new Jose Macias that the Cubs have been in search of lately.
Also, Bruce Levine did a guest spot on XM radio that I heard on my drive home. He said that the Paul Bako signing should go down tomorrow, mentioning $725K as the contract amount. The only other revelation from the interview was Levine saying that Felix Pie was the big hang-up in the Cubs not getting Brian Roberts last offseason.
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#1 Things are not going well for Barry Bonds...
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5...
Estalella, who was on the San Francisco Giants with Bonds in 2000 and 2001, is expected to testify to firsthand knowledge that Bonds used steroids, the Web site said, citing an unidentified source with knowledge of the evidence. The Web site attributed knowledge of the subpoenas to two unidentified sources.
#2 Re: The Hill is Gone
now that we don't have to use Juan Uribe in the Macia$$ role, my guess is Rich Aurelia is the next target. He wanted to go back to the Giants but Uribe beat him to their roster spot.
Aurelia last yr in SF at age 36: 407 AB, 10 HR, .283 .332 .413. Righty pinch hitter.
82 games at 1B, 63 games at 3B
me no likee, but he can back up ARam which is the one issue trading DeRosa they forgot to address.
#3 Re: The Hill is Gone
There's been some XM radio discussion about Juan Cruz being a perfect fit for the Yankee bullpen because he's a type A free agent and most teams don't want to part with a first round draft pick for a middle reliever no matter how good. Or what about them adding Ben Sheets or just to irritate Redsox fans, maybe even signing Manny.
The Yankees by signing Tex-Burnett-CC have given up their first 3 rounds so in theory it would have been a 4th rounder to sign Cruz. But no...they've reached their free agent quota.
Under the rules, "if there are from 39 to 62 [Type A and B] players [during a given offseason], no team can sign more than three."
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090129&c...
#4 Re: The Hill is Gone
Torre's book leading to non-disparagement clause in future contracts. Can a sanity claus be far behind?
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090129&c...
#12 Re: The Hill is Gone
You canna fool me. There's a-no such thing.
#5 Re: The Hill is Gone
Wow, the big hang up in not getting Roberts was Pie? Who has turned into half of Heilman? One year sure changes things...
#6 Re: The Hill is Gone
Rich Hill agrees. Let's hope Soto doesn't have quite the sophomore slump.
#8 Re: The Hill is Gone
"Wow, the big hang up in not getting Roberts was Pie? Who has turned into half of Heilman? One year sure changes things..."
I second; what a devestating loss in Pie's value in one season, though it is hard to quantify the true lost opportunity, considering additional Cubs players would have been involved in Pie+ for Roberts.
Fwiw, I like Heilman. Pre-2008, I remember him being VERY strong as a Mets reliever. Here's hopin' he's successful transitioning to starter.
#10 Re: The Hill is Gone
I hope Heilman understands that he can compete to start but it's no sure thing. Not with Gaudin, Marshall, and maybe Samardzija also around to compete for it. Of course, if Peavy somehow arrives, they're allo going to the pen.
#13 Re: The Hill is Gone
Prospects are just prospects. Don't over-value them.
#15 Re: The Hill is Gone
Just to be clear, the Cubs didn't turn down Pie-for-Roberts. Sean Gallagher was the centerpiece of that deal. The Cubs could have gotten a lot of people for Gallagher, including Jake Peavy more recently. Gallagher and whoever else for Roberts was a good deal for the Orioles and the Cubs didn't want to just throw in Pie.
I'm also not sure why Pie's value would plummet in the last twelve months. He had a decent year--for him--in Iowa. He had a good September in Chicago and he made the playoff roster. This winter he hit .300 in fifty at bats for Licey. There was that statistical blip (.362 BA) of a partial season in Iowa in 2007 that may have helped his trade value last year, but other than that he's the same guy.
#16 Re: The Hill is Gone
Pie's performance at Iowa last season was pretty good but not a massive improvement over the previous 2 seasons. And he did not exactly tear down walls in Triple A. My guess is that other organizations saw the lack of confidence that Lou, and eventually Hendry, had in his services, and just sat back and watched his market value tumble because of it. It might have only taken one GM to overvalue and pursue Pie to get what the Cubs felt they should get for him, and that just didn't happen.
Then again maybe the advance scouts just watched him flail at left handed pitching and continue to pursue the sharp breaking sliders he couldn't reach, and figured, "This guy ain't as good as advertised."
#31 Re: The Hill is Gone
"I'm also not sure why Pie's value would plummet in the last twelve months."
Here's my take. Pie's value plummeted when Piniella soured on him. Cubs don't value him, no one else values him. Hendry and Piniella's mistake was showing their hand (and possibly souring on him, but that was understandable).
#7 Re: The Hill is Gone
Among Hendry's strengths, selling high is not at the top of the list, Bobby Hill being the one exception I can think of, and even then we pretty much knew he was toast.
#9 Re: The Hill is Gone
Perhaps he's too high when he's selling. That would explain the munchies.
#62 Re: The Hill is Gone
the list of successful guys the cubs let go in trade vs. what they picked up that did the cubs good.
do that math.
#11 Re: The Hill is Gone
Hendry sold high on Hee Seop as well, and the talent in the Nomar trade turned about to be almost nothing. But point taken.
#14 Re: The Hill is Gone
Choi hit a very Pie-like .218 as a rookie in the season before he was traded. Trading him a year earlier would have been selling high.
The Marlins simply sold low on Lee, as a salary dump, I guess.
#18 Re: The Hill is Gone
I forgot about Choi, who I still thought at the time of the trade had a chance to be pretty good. One more season and he would have gotten nothing in return. Where the hell is he now?
#20 Re: The Hill is Gone
Last I heard he was playing in South Korea.
#17 Re: The Hill is Gone
As busted up as Harden is, Hendry probably got decent return on Gallagher and Patterson too. Josh Donaldson is the guy who may come back to bite them.
#35 Re: The Hill is Gone
"Decent return"--one half season of Harden so far. If the tear in his shoulder had been a smidge longer and he needed surgery--which he probably still does--they wouldn't have signed him for 2009 and that would have been the end of his Cub career.
If that's a decent return for your top pitching prospect, I think you've found the right rookie-hating/baiting blog.
#36 Re: The Hill is Gone
Does anything make you smile? A flower? Spring rain?
#49 Re: The Hill is Gone
Just being ornery. A lot of guys on this blog I find quite funny, you certainly among them.
#69 Re: The Hill is Gone
Ha! Ok, you're on my friend list now.
#38 Re: The Hill is Gone
If they considered him their best pitching prospect at the time, you can say they got shorted. I'm not so sure they held him in that regard last season - right or wrong.
They sent Jose Ceda, who appeared to many to be their best bullpen prospect, to Florida. Shortly after all the hoo-ha about that move, there was sentiment expressed that they considered Caridad better than Ceda.
#43 Re: The Hill is Gone
Shortly after all the hoo-ha about that move, there was sentiment expressed that they considered Caridad better than Ceda.
Bruce Miles had a post saying some Cubs folks passed along that Marcos Mateo had passed Ceda up (hence his addition to the 40-man)...is that what you're thinking?
Not that Caridad isn't too bad...
#44 Re: The Hill is Gone
Any word on where Mark Pawelek is on the topem pole?
#46 Re: The Hill is Gone
elephant clean-up duty...
#45 Re: The Hill is Gone
Juan Mateo's brother?
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