Cubs rumors

Bumping this back up top as I think we all know that they've crushed Santo's little heart again.

10:34 PM CST UPDATE: Bruce Levine was on ESPN-1000 AM, from his hotel room (soaking his feet) at the Bellagio. All he added was that any Jake Peavy deal might include either the Orioles or Marlins as the additional teams to make the deal happen but he didn't sound like he had info that was recently updated on this. --Cubster

10:04 PM CST UPDATE: Corey Brock on mlb.com says the Peavy trade legwork is done. "There's a package there that will satisfy us. There's a deal in the way of names. It comes down to does Jim (Hendry) have the wherewithall to make it happen?" said Towers. It could be as extensive as a 3 or 4 team transaction possibly including one or both of the Phillies/Orioles. Not much in terms of specific names other than Peavy but at least there are some quotes from Kevin Towers that sound like a transaction is possible, at least meeting the Padres threshold for a deal.  --Cubster

8:53 PM CST UPDATE:  Last one before I call it a day, Scott Miller at CBS also talks about the Phils being involved in the Peavy talks.  Miller says Vitters, Hart and possibly Marquis would go to the Padres with Phillies prospect, J.A. Happ going as well and possibly catcher Chris Coste. What the Phils would get is unclear, although they do apparently like Mark DeRosa and are interested in an established veteran starting pitcher which makes you wonder if Miller misheard about Marquis going to the Padres instead of the Phils in this deal.

Miller states the obvious that the Padres wouldn't be thrilled with getting Marquis in the deal but the Cubs would have to pay almost half the contract and I assume the Padres would look to move him eventually. The Padres and Cubs have also talked about Cedeno and Angel Guzman and Miller says the Cubs are "leaning against" moving Sean Marshall.

8:27 PM CST UPDATE: More from Stark that the Padres are only talking to the Cubs and that progress needs to be made by Thursday or Towers is pulling the plug. Stark mentions it possibly ending up being a three-team, 10-player "extravaganza".

7:55 PM CST UPDATE: ESPN saying the Cubs met with Milton Bradley on Sunday.

6:53 PM CST UPDATE: Rosenthal says the Phillies "have emerged" as the possible third team in the Peavy to Cubs trade talks.

The Denver Post says the Rockies don't have the cash to trade for Marquis.

5:49 PM CST UPDATE: O's are interested in Felix Pie and if I read it correctly, it sounds like the Cubs will only trade him for Garrett Olson if they can immediately flip Olson as part of the deal for Jake Peavy. As has been discussed, Lou isn't too keen on Pie's strike zone judgment.

5:33 PM CST UPDATE Lou is in Vegas apparently, showing off that he's still got his pulse on the game asking a group of Seattle reporters if Ibanez can play right field? Shouldn't Lou be answering that question? Lou seemed intrigued that J.J. Putz is only making $5.5M next season.

5:00 PM CST UPDATE: MLB Hot Stove Blog also talks about the Rockies, Marquis and Jeff Baker and makes it sounds like there isn't much of a match at the moment.

Kansas City is focused on Sean Marshall and Mike Fontenot in talks with the Cubs about Mark Teahen. …

That is according to a Phil Rogers article.

That's great, I'm focused on solving world peace after I cure cancer, which will all happen after I retire at age 35 because the charming widow across the street is really the heir to the Buffett family fortune and appreciates when I roll her garbage can up her driveway on Tuesdays.

The Kansas City Star says the Cubs are making a play for Mark Teahen. This on the heels of a radio report that the Cubs are very interested in Milton Bradley. The KC Star article also says the Cubs have interest in Raul Ibanez, but his cost may be prohibitive.

- Kevin Towers did a radio interview and basically said the Cubs are the only team the Padres are talking to right now. The Braves are out, he hasn't spoken to the Angels at all and has barely spoken to the Yankees. That's the good news. The bad news is the Cubs do have some interesting pieces but not exactly what the Padres want, so a third or possibly fourth team will be needed to finish the deal.

UPDATE: Apparently the NSBB story guy(DonnieD) was vacationing in Puerto Rico, not that he lives there. Apperently some folks at NSBB think this is vital information. I think it's inconsequential. I also think most of the folks on that board have an extra chromosome, especially this genius who thinks Chad's bit of information has anything to do with the NSBB story.

On the heels of the Cubs acquiring Kevin Gregg, reader "jacos" heard on WSCR that Jim Hendry has said that Kerry Wood is pretty likely to have played his last game as a Cub.

I'll keep this brief...

- Jerry Crasnick says the Cubs will be in on Ben Sheets if they lose out on Dempster and Peavy. I suppose that could be an and/or since the Cubs were considering both.

- It seems someone in the mass media has finally gotten around to mentioning that Jake Peavy is a huge injury risk.

- Rosenthal says the Braves are growing impatient and may pull their offer by Friday when free agency opens up. USA Today says "one team" is demanding a resolution by the 14th (let's take a guess on which team).  Rosenthal goes on to say the Padres have sent counter-offers to the Cubs and Braves, although he doesn't think either team will up the ante.

Since the last time I used "Hates the Cubs" in a headline it got a bunch of extra hits from the interwebs, I thought I'd try it again (never underestimate how much the Cubs are despised by the rest of the world). The good folks at Chicago Cubs Online did a pretty thorough rundown of Bruce Levine's radio show yesterday and it's chocked full of information. I covered the rumors in this comment but there's the little tidbit where the Cubs had a deal in place for Brian Giles before last year's trade deadline and he turned it down.

Rosenthal says the Braves are growing impatient...

The Padres are still weighing offers for right-hander Jake Peavy, and on Friday discussed the possibility of keeping the pitcher if they fail to receive a satisfactory proposal, according to a major league source. The Braves, after weeks of discussions, are growing impatient, another source said, and soon might push for a resolution. The Braves and Cubs remain the front-runners, with the Yankees and Dodgers on the backburner. ...