Sunday Funnies: What ARE they going to do at this year's Winter Meetings?

Submitted by CubbyBlue on Sun, 12/08/2013 - 11:55am

While not alot of the activity involved our favorite team, I'm dizzy from all the signings and trades that have already happened this winter.
So, just wondering what all the general managers could possibly talk about at the Winter Meetings in Orlando tomorrow...

(Usually, I can give credit for an illustration's idea to someone's comment here, and while that's what happened I couldn't find it. So anyway, whoever did make that comment wondering if the gms would have anything to talk about...thanks!)

Comments

Submitted by Charlie  on Sun, 12/08/2013 - 12:20pm  
I LOL'd and I thank you for that, sir, because it's snowy as shit where I am and I have been working straight through the past 10 days.

Submitted by CubbyBlue  on Sun, 12/08/2013 - 12:21pm  

Hi Charlie, it's just starting to come down in Chicago too. Yuck. And thank you.

Submitted by jacos  on Sun, 12/08/2013 - 4:32pm  
Hagahah

Submitted by Rob G.  on Sun, 12/08/2013 - 6:45pm  

well-played Tim.

Submitted by Rob G.  on Sun, 12/08/2013 - 6:47pm  

per a completely untrustworthy twitter souce..A's/Cubs have a meeting set-up for tonight

Some talk of Brett Anderson and A's have had prior interest in Schierholtz and Barney...

normally I don't bother with those, but it actually makes some sense, other pieces would certainly be involved, but sounds like a good starting point for talks.

Submitted by crunch  on Sun, 12/08/2013 - 6:55pm  
b.anderson for a bench OF (cespedes/crisp/reddick/c.gentry already in the OF) and a possible e.sogard replacement that's not a sure-thing would be interesting.

Submitted by jacos  on Sun, 12/08/2013 - 7:28pm  
Why would A's give up Anderson for spare parts?

Submitted by Rob G.  on Sun, 12/08/2013 - 7:41pm  

to be clear, A's at some point in the past may have asked about Schierholtz and Barney, doesn't mean they are asking now

I think Gentry possibly filled any OF depth issues, Barney may have some use to them and Anderson is certainly someone they'd deal to get out of his contract (they are the A's afterall), but no one knows exactly what they're looking for now. But they always have an eye on this season and the following seasons, so I'm sure there's some options out there.

they could probably use starting pitch depth, maybe a swingman like Villanueva or maybe a player that has more option years left than Anderson. Maybe they don't match up at all...

Submitted by QuietMan  on Sun, 12/08/2013 - 7:52pm  
Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette indicated Sunday that they are comfortable with Ryan Flaherty as the team's second baseman.

Submitted by Cubster  on Sun, 12/08/2013 - 10:20pm  
comfortable with Ryan Flaherty as the team's second baseman. --- Brian Roberts is available?

Submitted by crunch  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 12:06am  
yeah, and the O's are trying to bring him back. the O's have a thing for r.flaherty. he actually took over the job on a daily basis for a while last year, but he didn't step up and lost the role. the guy can field 2nd adequately (as well as 3rd) and he's got 20HR power. consistent quality contact is his only knock.

Submitted by George Altman  on Sun, 12/08/2013 - 8:35pm  
I had a thought on Tanaka vis a vis FA spending. Theo appears willing to spend 'FA' money on players like Rizzo, Castro and 25-yr old T-O-R SP like Tanaka. My guess would be to see similar money spent on Baez, Almora, & Bryant as they enter their arbitration years. Until the Cubs are coming off an 88-90 win season, we won't see Ellsbury/Granderson contracts thrown out let alone Cano deals (which was just assinine).

Submitted by QuietMan  on Sun, 12/08/2013 - 8:53pm  
The Cubs are nearing a tipping point with Samardzija, who remains under club control for two more seasons at a time when the franchise is ramping up for 2016 and beyond. Samardzija’s camp confirmed nothing has really changed since last winter, when talks about a long-term extension gained no momentum. After years of shifting between the bullpen and the rotation and commuting from Triple-A Iowa to Chicago, Samardzija simply wants to let this play out and establish himself as a No. 1 starter before signing a new deal.... The two sides have different definitions of market value. The skyrocketing price of pitching could force a Samardzija trade. http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-focusing-...

Submitted by Dusty Baylor  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 9:14am  
I would like Spellcheck to establish himself, as a consistent #3 starter.....a #1? Lol....He's not near that yet.

Submitted by Rob G.  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 1:15am  

sorry if 3/44, but Levine in this podcast said Cubs could be in on Choo


http://chicago.cbslocal.com/?podcast_url=http...

Submitted by The E-Man  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 9:18am  
TIM: Funny, funny shit! Again - L. Berry would love this with a sick Cubs twist!

Submitted by CubbyBlue  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 11:29am  

She's from Wisco. Probably a Brewer fan.

 

Submitted by Rob G.  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 10:11am  

Roy Halladay to retire.

Domonic Brown for Samardzija sounds perfect :)

Submitted by Rob G.  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 12:37pm  

Brown for Schierholtz/Samardzija would make some sense as a starting point, obviously Phillies would need to add some prospects of which they have few, not sure if they'd deal Jesse Biddle.

Brown's not due for free agency until after 2017 season.

Submitted by QuietMan  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 1:09pm  
Can the Phillies Match Up with the Cubs on Samardzija? http://www.mlbprospectwatch.com/mlb_prospect_...

Submitted by Rob G.  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 1:47pm  

Biddle + Brown for Samardzija would be a helluva deal for Cubs imo, also probably a pipedream.

some folks seem to be freaking about Brown fading in the second half, but at age 25, no reason to freak out too much. #4 prospect in baseball heading into 2011, the path isn't always linear.  BB rate over 10% in the minors, just under 9% in minors and with Bryant and Soler, he'd probably eventually move to left field.

Still a lot of potential in there, major league ready and 4 years of service time and Cubs could use some left-handed power.

Submitted by QuietMan  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 4:03pm  
Joel Sherman‏@Joelsherman1 Outside execs say Brown's defense enough of a problem, hole in swing that might not get kind SP #Phillies want

Submitted by Rob G.  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 4:11pm  

Outside execs say (that totally aren't associated with another NL East team)

way to kill my buzz...although as I said, think you'd have to throw in Biddle to make the deal and not sure he's available.

that being said, a pretty consistent 18.4% career K rate isn't indicitive of a huge hole in his swing and seems like he's played long enough that they'd figure it out by now.

Submitted by crunch  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 4:27pm  
d.brown's swing can get sloppy and long...he loves going for outside stuff, especially high. he couldn't make up his mind whether he was a pull hitter or a reacher in a kinda erratic fashion last season. when he hit a lot of homers up and in the outer part of the zone last may, he spent a few months going back/forth biting at stuff outside the zone trying to replicate may. his K rate doesn't mean much...quality of contact is in play.

Submitted by crunch  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 1:25pm  
d.brown hit 12 HR in may...and 12 HR in june/july/aug/sept. his D is rather average. if they give up even just ninja for brown it's a blown move, imo...i see it more of a brown + others for ninja before a ninja + others for brown.

Submitted by crunch  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 12:11pm  
torre/cox/larussa to HOF via veteran's/expansion committee. btw, torre was a hell of a player before his managing career.

Submitted by QuietMan  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 2:18pm  
Bruce Levine‏@MLBBruceLevine Source :The Rays and Dodgers may be matching up on David Price. Bruce & Ned are buds...

Submitted by crunch  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 2:25pm  
kershaw, greinke, ryu, beckett, haren...billingsley yeah, okay. i guess if they happen to shift beckett it could work...seems overkill as hell to add another lefty to the mix, even if it's a good one, though.

Submitted by crunch  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 3:17pm  
this is one hell of a boring 1st day of winter meetings...

Submitted by Rob G.  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 4:13pm  

tweet there from Witty says Cubs exploring reliever trade market, Storen and Clippard mentioned

Submitted by QuietMan  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 5:55pm  
Joel Sherman‏@Joelsherman1 Outside execs say Wittenmyer's writing has its problems, hole in head that might not get kind rumors #Cubsfans want.

Submitted by Newport  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 6:30pm  
It would be awesome if there were some rumors of the Cubs looking for something other than RPs.

Submitted by QuietMan  on Mon, 12/09/2013 - 9:01pm  
Another pitcher on the market. FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that the Indians are listening to trade offers for Justin Masterson. The Indians are aiming to contend in 2014 and Masterson is their ace, but Rosenthal says the thinking in dealing him would be to explore "longer-term options." Masterson is entering his walk year, and the Tribe must not feel good about their chances of locking him up to a long-term extension. Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported earlier this offseason that Masterson was looking for an extension in the five-year, $75 million range.

Submitted by QuietMan  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 8:22am  
And this morning... Buster Olney‏@Buster_ESPN The Phillies have indicated to other teams they are ready and willing to talk about Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels in trades.

Submitted by QuietMan  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 10:53am  
Baseball America Rule 5 Preview has lots of Cubs in it. http://www.baseballamerica.com/majors/rule-5-...

Submitted by Rob G.  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 11:37am  

That's a few weeks old btw, think it was posted on here when it first came out...not necessarily reflective of what may happen this week. It also has Ha as a left-handed hitter.

Submitted by JoePepitone  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 11:58am  
Pretty epic animation, Tim. That was almost feature-film length (slight exaggeration).

Submitted by Rob G.  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 1:26pm  

Skaggs about to be off the table...3-way trade nearing completion.

DBacks: Trumbo & 2 prospects

White Sox: A. Eaton

Angels: Skaggs & H. Santiago

maybe DBacks getting 2 really good prospects to ship for Samardzija, but I doubt it.

Submitted by jacos  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 1:37pm  
Sox got pants'd

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 2:01pm  
unless the sox are giving up the prospects i'd rather than a.eaton over h.santiago... bats should be big this offseason. next year's FA market is pitching-heavy (pending extensions) and very bats-bare (and should get worse with extensions in the coming season). the OF market is really bare. hanley ramirez, chase headley, and pablo sandavol are the batting "stars" of the 2015 FA market who aren't going to be 35+ years old...and it's expected that h.ramirez will be off the table pretty soon...and the 35+ year old crowd doesn't contain anyone to be too excited about. tons of pitching, though.

Submitted by Rob G.  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 2:07pm  

see what the final deal is, but Santiago's walk rates are pretty worrisome, Eaton looks like a legit lead-off type.

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 2:03pm  
h.kendrick to Sox supposedly in play in this trade...that changes the "who's giving up the prospects" part up a bit.

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 2:14pm  
done deal, kendrick NOT involved. prospects probably not named until after the rule 5. wsox getting another player besides eaton.

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 2:10pm  
r.renteria up next after the commercial break on MLB Network live if anyone's close to a TV.

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 2:23pm  
blah blah blah...tremendous challenge...blah blah blah... renteria has sent a "text" out notifying the kids that they should be willing to sacrifice things outside the game to make their game better...focus, desire, etc...come together and become a family... has spoken to s.castro...great kid...must continue to have conversations...understands he has to do well... almora/soler/bryant excites him...organization as a whole excites... likes the foundation of the rotation...talked about how the bullpen needs building... d.barney is "a solid baseball player" who's "capable of turning it around"..."he needs to know we believe in him." ---- on whole it seems like renteria's main focus is baby sitting kids making sure they know they're there to play the game and expected to be ready and able to perform at the best of their ability.

Submitted by Rob G.  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 2:41pm  

deal was as I mentioned

DBacks get Trumbo, and 2 PTBNL's...one each from Angels and White Sox to be finalized after Rule 5, one may be A.J Schugel from Angels

White Sox get Eaton

Angels get Skaggs and Santiago

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 3:36pm  
rockies get b.anderson for d.pomeranz and c.jensen

Submitted by Carlito  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 3:46pm  
poor Anderson going to Mile High. Damn I wanted him in Cub Blue . . .

Submitted by Rob G.  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 3:36pm  

Brett Anderson and cash to Rockies for Drew Pomeranz and Chris Jensen.

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 6:35pm  
"FOX Sports' Jon Morosi reports that the Cubs, Pirates, Royals and Braves have showed interest in Jason Hammel." good stuff, poor results (so far)...he's one of those guys that should be doing better than he is given the velocity + variety of pitches that comes out of his arm. he's already 31 (as of a few months ago), though, and people have been waiting for that turn-around for a while.

Submitted by John Beasley  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 8:58pm  
"two unidentified NL teams" in on Kemp trade talks. wp.me/p2reWi-3NT Prediction: Mets are one, obviously. I just can't imagine who the other one is if not the Cubs. The only other team that makes sense from need and financials is San Francisco, but I simply do not think that can happen.

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 11:31pm  
i can't imagine the cubs would be in on it...unless for some reason the LAD want ninja...which makes as little sense as all the other SP they've been rumored to be looking at because they have a full house of pitching already (kershaw, greinke, ryu, beckett, haren). vogelbomb will probably be a trade chip for the cubs eventually and would be attractive to almost any team out there who doesn't have a long-term 1st/DH solution. he will probably come in handy one day in a trade, if not this offseason. the cubs can also play fast/loose with some of their 3rd base prospects since they're flush with them, though bryant is almost assuredly going no where out of that group. kemp's interesting...can play all 3 OF positions so he's got flexibility. he's had an injured shoulder nagging him for years, but it's his non-throwing arm. he's got a good enough arm to play RF should a situation dictate him playing there rather than CF (aka, almora). that said...i dunno if the cubs have what it takes to get it done...or what the dodgers would even want. it's hard to guage what kemp's worth, especially without knowing how much (if any) money the LAD is willing to chip in to lower his contract value and get something done.

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 12/10/2013 - 11:57pm  
"CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reports that the Cubs' brass will have a meeting with Jeff Samardzija's agents on Wednesday. Heyman says an offer "isn't necessarily expected," and an extension is "unlikely anyway.""

Submitted by QuietMan  on Wed, 12/11/2013 - 1:56am  
Sahadev Sharma‏@sahadevsharma One source tells me Samardzija will get moved soon. Another says nothing doing. Cubs official, "Yeah, both those sound about right."

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  • bradsbeard 9 hours 24 min ago (view)

    Things won't get easier for him pitching outside of the former AT&T park, though Chase isn't the band box it was before they installed a humidor a couple years ago. 

     
  • crunch 10 hours 19 min ago (view)

    dbacks snag m.bumgarner for 5/85m (17m/yr).

    didn't realize he'd be coming that cheaply.  the longball stung him last year, but he was healthy and his stuff looked good when it wasn't flying over a fence.

     
  • crunch 1 day 12 hours ago (view)

    MLB is very much swinging their power over minor league teams around.

     
  • tim815 1 day 12 hours ago (view)

    Normally, it's because the minor fee they receive is of more value than they think they will be able to acquire later.

     
  • JustSayin' 1 day 13 hours ago (view)

    My, the negotiations for a new comprehensive agreement between MLB and MiLB are sounding nasty all of a sudden!  I'd be interested in other takes on this.  It's easy to see the risks on the MiLB side.  I wonder though, if MLB isn't playing with fire as far as the antitrust exemption goes?  In case Trump isn't president in January, 2021, the MLB owners lose a friend.  We've already heard from Sanders and Warren supporting MiLB on this -- which is pretty amazing, considering how many bigger problems this country has -- and one can guess where mayor Pete stands.

     
  • bradsbeard 1 day 20 hours ago (view)

    I'm also thinking they really didn't anticipate losing two players in the MLB portion of the Rule 5 and wanted to have more flexibility to pick guys, and they maybe figured Carrera had a better shot to go unpicked. It is a little surprising that the talent rich Rays are the ones who grabbed him. 

     
  • Dolorous Jon Lester 1 day 20 hours ago (view)

    It's just strange because they had space. maybe they thought no one would have wanted him?

     
  • bradsbeard 2 days 5 hours ago (view)

    Best I can think is that maybe he was going to be squeezed out of a starting role next year with 2019 draftees and other lower level pitching pushing up into A ball. Doesn't seem like a great reason, but the pitching in the system is getting more crowded each year.

     
  • crunch 2 days 13 hours ago (view)

    i truly wonder why f.carrera wasn't more of a priority.

    he throws straight up junk, but he's got great control and command over his pitchers.  he's young enough that he could find some more velocity, too.

    i mean, this is a management team that decided to trade for dan haren and kyle hendricks.  they don't have an aversion to slow-tossing starters.

     
  • Dolorous Jon Lester 2 days 13 hours ago (view)

    Has anyone else noticed James Norwood's picture on the Cubs top 30 prospects page is actually Brandon Kintzler?

     
  • Arizona Phil 2 days 16 hours ago (view)

    It's always interesting to see how many players each MLB club protects on its AAA affiliate's 38-man reserve list on 11/20.

    I'm not saying it absolutely and necessarily proves what a club thinks of its own prospects, but there are 38 slots available on a AAA reserve list, and if you leave 15 slots open, I think that does say something, especially when you don't lose anybody in either the MLB Phase or in the AAA Phase. (I'm looking at you, Seattle Mariners!) 

     
  • Arizona Phil 2 days 16 hours ago (view)

    HAGSAG: Instructs starts next month. The pitching lab operates year round, so guys are always coming & going. 

     
  • Hagsag 2 days 19 hours ago (view)

    Phil, when does the Instructional program begin? Are there pitchers in the pitching lab now?

     
  • cubbies.4ever 3 days 6 hours ago (view)

    Just to continue my conspiracy theory that Theo has a requirement you have TJS to pitch for the Cubs Trevor Megill had it in 2013.  The Cubs must have a support group for pitchers who have had TJS.

     
  • Arizona Phil 3 days 7 hours ago (view)

    After losing two players off the Iowa reserve list in the Major League Phase and selecting four players in the AAA Phase, the Iowa reserve list has one slot open, so now would be an excellent time to try and outright C. D. Pelham to AAA.

    Keep in mind that he can't elect free-agency if he's outrighted, and if he is outrighted, he won't be a minor league free-agent until post-2021.

    And if he gets claimed off waivers? No big deal.  

     
  • Arizona Phil 3 days 8 hours ago (view)

    LHSP Faustino Carrera and 2B Carlos Sepulveda were among the first players signed by the Cubs out of Mexico in 2014-15. The Cubs ended up signing more than two dozen more Mexican players over the next three years. 

     
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