Dead or Not Dead

I remember this rumor as much because of the number of people who wanted Hendry burned at the stake even for allowing the rumor to exist:

Mark Prior (plus some combo of Pie/Cedeno/Hill) for Tejada and Bedard back in the 05/06 offseason.

Mark Prior still hasn't pitched any meaningful innings since then. Tejada would have be a major upgrade from the Ne!f!/Cedeno combo and Bedard had 2 really nice seasons before being traded for most of Seattle's farm system.

I think the Cubs would have been pretty happy had they found a way to make that work. Baltimore, not so much.

Jim Frey kicked around the idea of trading for Dave Winfield and the package would have included Dunston or Sandberg and I don't remember who else.

If I'm not mistaken, there was some discussion as to whether to trade Mark Grace instead of Rafael Palmeiro in the deal to Texas, circa 1988.

This altered timeline gives me visions of Gracey with Canseco, followed by MG becoming muscle bound and homer happy.

December 5, 1988: Rafael Palmeiro traded by the Chicago Cubs with Drew Hall and Jamie Moyer to the Texas Rangers for Mitch Williams, Paul Kilgus, Steve Wilson, Curtis Wilkerson, Luis Benitez (minors), and Pablo Delgado (minors).

The Cubs almost had Piazza in 1998, but the Mets outbid Lynch.

ATLANTA What would it have taken for the Cubs to get Mike Piazza instead of the Mets? It may have been pitcher Jeremi Gonzalez, minor-league catcher Pat Cline and one of their last two first-round draft picks - pitchers Todd Noel and Jon Garland.

But despite several conversations between Florida Marlins general manager Dave Dombrowski and Cubs general manager Ed Lynch, the Mets came out of nowhere Friday to get Piazza with outfielder Preston Wilson and minor-league pitchers Ed Yarnall and Geoff Goetz.

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edit: Pat Cline, who was going to be the next Johnny Bench. hahahahahahahahahah

Steve Wilson...
__________________

is the Cubs current lead Far East/Asia scout.

not a trade, but didn't McFail say something like the Cubs wouldn't be outbid for Mike Hampton...and promptly were by the Rockies.

tag lines can change (thankfully)

from Phil Rogers sundapy notes (whispers):

The sports book at the Bellagio lists Boston and the Cubs as favorites to win the 2009 World Series.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-14-rogers...

and Rogers continues to make inane comments:

If the Cubs could trade Alfonso Soriano, Ramirez would look good in left field at Wrigley Field.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-081213-ph...

Santo almost traded to Angels...

Santo was the first player to invoke his privilege under the "Ten and Five" rule, which states that a team cannot trade a player who has been in the league at least 10 years and been with that club for at least five, without his permission. In December, 1973, the Cubs wanted to trade Santo to the Angels for two young pitchers, but Santo refused. Less than a week later, the Cubs dealt Santo to the White Sox for Steve Stone, Ken Frailing, Steve Swisher and Jim Kremmel (December 18, 1973). Santo agrees to the deal.

http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/santoro01.php

Pictures of Wrigley from the few days ago, covered in snow.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/gallerylanding.htm?id=7149&...

There are also some artist renderings of how it'll look with ice on the diamond.

Dug up some more on the Winfield to the Cubs trade rumors. From the NY Times, December 7, 1988:

"With chances of making a trade with Minnesota or Toronto growing highly unlikely, the Yankees turned to the Cubs and, a source familiar with the talks said, offered a package that included Winfield and Rick Rhoden for Rick Sutcliffe and either Shawon Dunston or Ryne Sandberg."

I'd call that a blockbuster.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940...

Eric Karros and Mark Grudzielanek for none other than Todd Hundley. Hendry's first Triumph. At the time it was our garbage for their garbage...who woulda thunk Grudzielanek would be still around. I'm surprised the Dbacks haven't knocked on his door yet.

Gerald Perry talks Milton Bradley.

Edit: Can't get it to link, go to here:
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/index...

and then click on it.

Rick Morrissey from the Tribune now wants players (Bradley and Randy Johnson) who will punch him out and break his fingers. Cool, what a good idea!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs...

Given the club's glee-club image, that unpredictability is exactly what the psychiatrist ordered for the Cubs...

I want you to understand the personal sacrifice I'm willing to make here. Do you see the risk a sports columnist takes by championing a Bradley signing? One moment your faithful scribe could be writing a column that says Wrigley Field is a dump, and the next Bradley could be breaking all of said faithful scribe's fingers. All I do is give...

I know how all of this sounds, especially coming from someone who regularly has bemoaned the crime-and-punishment motif of professional sports. But I'm not talking about the Cubs' need for thugs here. I'm talking about attitude...

Johnson might be 45, but it's a mean 45...

One rumor I remember was the Orioles offering Milt Pappas to the Cubs for Billy Williams shortly after Leo Durocher was named Cubs manager post-1965, but Leo (who was the de facto player personnel boss) said no, and so the Orioles ended up trading Pappas to the Reds for Frank Robinson instead.

Then F. Robinson proceeded to win the Triple Crown and A. L. MVP and led the Orioles to a four-game sweep over the Dodgers in the 1966 World Series (and I'm sure the Orioles were very grateful that Leo declined the deal!).

Bradley = Carl Everett

Good for a year or 2, then see ya before he loses his cool...

It's MB's injury history that worries me more so than his anger issues. As a hitter, he'll be a nice addition particularly as a switch hitter in the middle of the lineup.

Career numbers...

Everett (14 seasons): .271 .341 .462

Bradley (9 seasons): .280 .370 .457

and career RH vs LHP splits: .303 .387 .504 .890; LH vs RHP splits: .270 .362 .436 .799

Bradley is coming off of one of his best seasons (Arlington Stadium probably was helpful); But Everett in addition to anger management issues entered the realm of the really bizarre whereas MB's issues are mostly anger management. There was the incident with Jeff Kent (when he was with the Dodgers) questioning Kent's off field leadership.

"At no time am I going to let somebody question my hustle, my injury or question my motivation for playing," Bradley said. "I watch him on the field, and I follow in his footsteps and the things he does on the field. As far as off the field, he has no clue about leadership.

"If you're going to be the leader of the team, then the need to mingle with the team and associate with the team. I mean, you can't have your locker in the corner, put your headphones in and sit in the corner reading a motocross magazine. He's in his own world. Everybody else is in this world."

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2141482
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and I found this interesting blog for the NY Times Bradley wrote last year. It's about a really good moment in his life last year.

http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/07/milton-br...
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from Wiki (on Everett):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Everett

Everett is an outspoken man... (you think?)

Perhaps the best-known of these was his denial of the existence of dinosaurs. He was quoted as saying, "God created the sun, the stars, the heavens and the earth, and then made Adam and Eve. The Bible never says anything about dinosaurs. You can't say there were dinosaurs when you never saw them. Somebody actually saw Adam and Eve. No one ever saw a Tyrannosaurus rex."

Everett has also made controversial remarks about homosexuality. He once said that if he had an openly gay teammate that he would consider retiring, or, at the very least, "set him straight." In the 2005 season, he told Maxim that he has had gay teammates and accepted them, but, "Gays being gay is wrong. Two women can't produce a baby, two men can't produce a baby, so it's not how it's supposed to be. … I don't believe in gay marriages. I don't believe in being gay."

In 1997, Everett and his wife Linda were charged with abusing their two children, Shawna and Carl IV. The criminal charges, which stemmed from allegations that Linda had applied "excessive corporal punishment" and that Carl had chosen not to intervene, were ultimately dropped. A judge in New York Family court, however, placed Shawna in the care of her maternal grandmother, where she currently remains.

Everett is currently on the roster of the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. Through July 22, 2008 Everett was hitting a remarkable .342 with 15 HR and 52 RBI in only 67 games.

Ken Rosenthal on finalists for Bradley. Cubs vs Tampa Rays.
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For Bradley, the choice appears simple. The Rays' Joe Maddon almost certainly would be a better manager for him than the Cubs' impatient Lou Piniella, and staying in the American League would allow him to protect his oft-injured body by serving as a DH.

With the Rays, Bradley could bat cleanup between Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria, offer above-average defense in right field and fit well on a young, high-energy team.

The question is whether the Rays will meet Bradley's price.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8938060/Yanks-s...

Brewers trying to downgrade from Cameron to Melky Cabrera and the Yanks trying to send Igawa their way too (according to Rotoworld). Sounds great to me. Get that done, Melvin.

Seriously, I mean wow, how fast have the Brewers taken it on the chin? For most of 2008, they're the NL's 2nd best team, now for 2009, they'll be fortunate to post a 500 record. This team now looks like a repeat of the 2006/2007 bunch, only with Ben Sheets and a bullpen subtracted. Prediction: Pain.

Pittsburgh can have the Indian flame throwers, Cubs can sign the Middle Easterner who throws with sole-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWt3-kPBQ4A

Is Willie Taveras a possibilty now that he was NT'd? He stole 67 bases last year, in a down year for him.

San Diego Writer, Tom Krasovic who covers the Padres, describes what gap in the players discussed lead to the Braves leaving the Peavy trade talks...then he gives this about LouPa:

– By one unofficial count, Cubs manager Lou Piniella, amidst his wanderings throughout the Bellagio hotel at the winter meetings, said at least 23 times that getting a left-handed hitter was far more important to the Cubs than getting Peavy.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2008/dec/13...

I hope Lou gets his LH hitter soon.

Submitted by Charlie on Sun, 12/14/2008 - 11:39pm.

If you could have any left-handed or switch hitter in baseball, who would you want?

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Hamilton?

"One rumor I remember was the Orioles offering Milt Pappas to the Cubs for Billy Williams shortly after Leo Durocher was named Cubs manager post-1965, but Leo (who was the de facto player personnel boss) said no, and so the Orioles ended up trading Pappas"

Durocher confirmed the almost Williams trade to the Orioles (in his autobiography, "Nice Guys Finish Last"), but stated that Earl Weaver (also the de facto GM of the club at the time) backed off at the last minute. Durocher cornered him at the Winter meetings, called him an SOB, but later thanked the heavens that Weaver backed out.

playing for Team Japan in WBC via Rotoworld

Anyone heard if there is any progress with the Peavy talks?

there is a shocking lack of "sizemore" in that whole "what lefty would you want" fantasy question.

he is 26, ya know.

"The Cubs peaked too early and lost swagger when their top two pitchers talent wise (Zambrano and Harden) went down in August..."

I don't understand the premise here at all - are you saying that even though they wound up winning their division, all of a sudden they started on a precipitous slide? Granted, they didn't look like world - beaters at the end of September, but they didn't look like they'd fold immediately in the first round, either.

Abreu seeking 3 years\$48 million according to Rosenthal.

Good for him if he can get it, but some scouts apparently feel that while he still has a RF arm, he has lost RF wheels.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/12/cubs-to-sign...

Isn't Gathright Pie equivalent?

Cubs dump Fukudome (after eating some money) and Gathright becomes one of the two reserve OF-ers? Count me in.

Pie has speed, but has not learned to translate it into successful SB ability. Gathright can. He's also a fine defensive OF, not quite Pie level, but reasonably close. He'd be a fine bench player.

skim82 posted this insight on Gathright (on mlbtr.com)...

As a Royals fan who has seen Gathright play for the last few years:

pros
-he's really fast
-he can jump over cars (youtube him) it's amazing

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=20080611289...
(two great catches, ranked him #2)

-he's a great guy
-he puts pressure on the opposing infield (shift)

cons
-he takes bad routes to the ball in the outfield
-his OBP is horrible
-he's a slap hitter with no power
-although he's really fast, he can't really steal many bases.

He's a great 4th outfielder or 5th outfielder. That's about it. We gave up J.P. Howell to the Rays for Gathright..DOPE!

wscr has been covering monday night football so if they did a report it must have been before 7pm cst tonight...

for those with XM, Gary Hughes is going to be interviewed by Holden Kuchner momentarily.

Gathright mention on Cubs.com now...just that he's on their radar screen and that he played for Piniella in Tampa

http://cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081215&...

Gary Hughes (special asst to the GM) interview on XM:

Disappointed over the Peavy non-deal. Can't get into names on the table but overwhelming as to what they were being asked to give up.

LH bat, Milton Bradley... tremendous talent. Hughes seen 2 of Bradley's most famous games including when he tore his ACL and threw a plastic bottle.

LH bat, hopes we'll get the Fukudome he scouted back. Doesn't know what it was that went wrong, he just didn't finish well.

Bullpen, How ready is Marmol? He will be an outstanding closer but Kevin Gregg will be a factor. Also resigned Chad Gaudin, expect him to be a big factor for us. Loves Sean Marshall. Neal Cotts also a factor.

Reed Johnson, GH grandson dove for a ball reminding him of the Reed Johnson play. He was a great pickup for us.

Micah Hoffpauir, he'll take DWard's role. Some time at 1B backing up DLee plus OF on occasion. UnGodly year at Iowa. Another LH bat.

We're going to add a speed guy too (Joey Gathright reference?)

Discussed scouting players with declining skills (ie. Garrett Anderson, Omar Vizquel) Is there a lineup he can fit in? What happens if he can't hit, Vizquel certainly can still field.

Felix Pie, often youngest guy on any team he's been on. 23 yrs now. Felix needs to separate himself on the positive side.

Playoffs. Bang we hit a wall. Block that out of your mind for next year.

Shark. Starter role? He could be a starter or reliever based on our need. He could even start at Iowa until the team needs a starter.

...sorry, interview was Joe Castellano on XM

I like Hughes saying Fukudome finished poorly. To me, finishing poorly means maybe a bad September or final six weeks. But to stink from Memorial Day until October, two-thirds of a season, is one hell of a bad finish. One might even say it makes for a shit season. Although finishing poorly does sound more hopeful.