Rosenthal's Latest: Crisp, Murton, Lowrie

Julio Lugo should not be blocking Jed Lowrie.

I do not know what the Cubs are asking for Murton, but what do the Rays have that would interest the Cubs? I know Murton is worth a lot.

I know that Theo has made noise about only wanting to deal from a "position of strength", but come on. There's no real reason for Crisp to be blocking out Ellsbury.

The Red Sox trade a super prospect at SS, NEVER HAPPEN!!!! NEVER, Hey look Hanley Ramirez is upto bat gatta go........

" I know Murton is worth a lot."

If by a lot, you mean, not really worth much at all, then yeah.

Sarcasm lost on a Sox fan sigh....

How about one of Chad Cordero, Jon Rauch, Luis Ayala, Odalis Perez, Tim Redding for Lowrie?

Before I get laughed at -
1) You can never have enough bullpen depth, and Cordero, Rauch, and Ayala are good arms out of the pen.
2) The Sox have had interest in Cordero before
3) The Sox were the only other team that tried to sign Perez in the offseason, and - as reticent as I am to say this because I was so opposed to the signing in the first place - he has actually performed pretty well. His stats don't tell the full story.
4) Tim Redding is simply good, and I'd hate to see him traded, but he could probably net someone like Lowrie to be honest.

what about trading lugo to open up a spot for lowrie. i think he could atleast hit .230 as lugo did last year and he would be about 8 million cheaper. lugo's contract is the problem, he signed for four years and $36 million last year. would anyone take him and his contract?

Lugo isn't tradeable without some severe salary eating. If the sox won't do it for Crisp, I doubt Julio gets the boot.

Personally, I'm content with keeping lugo at least until the trade deadline. He's got the ability to play better. We're seeing JD Drew begin to settle in, it could still happen with Lugo.

I mean it won't, but it could.

This whole idea that Murton would start on most teams is ridiculous too. I can think of maybe 5 teams that he would start on. That makes him marginal, not worth a lot.

If the Cubs were to deal Murton to the Rays, I think they'd target adding some good young pitching. Obviously the elite guys are out of the question, but I'm sure Hendry would look into adding maybe someone like Chris Mason or Jeremy Hellickson. The Rays could also probably move someone like Jackson, Sonnastine, Niemann, Hammel or Howell, but that doesn't seem as likely.

And until Lugo proves that he can be at least adequate with the bat (he was above average before he signed with Boston) then nobody is going to add him. He's sort of like the Juan Pierre of the Red Sox. An overpaid veteran who is struggling and has a good but not great young player behind him. Lugo-Lowrie is mildly similar to that of Pierre-Ethier, in my opinion.

"How about one of Chad Cordero, Jon Rauch, Luis Ayala, Odalis Perez, Tim Redding for Lowrie?"

Okay well obviously this is from a Nationals fan. But really the only guy on that list who comes close to the value of Lowrie is Chad Cordero. Cordero is still young and is a proven closer, and a bullpen with him, Paps, Okajima and Declarmen would be dominant. But the rest of those guys are simply nothing special and definately not worth Lowrie. Lowrie is only moving for a big piece, either a contributor on the Sox or a top prospect

I think the Red Sox would prefer Rauch to Cordero. Rauch is younger, has the cheaper contract, and is used to middle-relieving. Gagne was never a middle-reliever before, and he struggled. Cordero was never a reliever before, he might struggle. So Lowrie for Rauch would make the most sense for the Red Sox.

Murton is at best an average corner OF offensively. He might hit 15-20 HRs and around .285.

But he is not old so he might develop more power with more playing time. I think he would be a solid fit with the Giants who need to get younger. Or maybe as the RF in Seattle.

It's good to see the Cubs dealing with the upper hand now. Murton is worth a lot because he's young, he gets paid almost nothing, and he's available right now. Where else is a team going to get a hitter as good as Murton right now?

All that said, I suspect he may get a callup based on Soriano today.

"I expect everyone who trashed him in the Santana discussions to admit they are idiots."

I still can't believe Bill Smith turned down offers of Ellsbury/Lowrie/Masterson and Hughes/Cabrera/Marquez..

"I still can't believe Bill Smith turned down offers of Ellsbury/Lowrie/Masterson and Hughes/Cabrera/Marquez.."

I'm still glad he did turn it down though...or at least postponed a decision long enough that the offer(s) came off the table.

CUBS FANS: Aren't we glad that Hendry told the Rangers to pound sand when they said they needed more for Marlon Byrd than just Matt Murton?

Byrd is hitting a robust .133 with 0 HR's and 1 RBI so far. Looks like we dodged the bullet on that one.

Hendry’s doing the right thing for asking a lot – no matter what anyone says, Murton could start or at least receive significant playing time on a lot of teams. Teams are trying to pick up a good hitter for nothing. If that’s the case, the Cubs might as well keep him in the event of an injury (as what just happened with Soriano). He’s more valuable in that role than getting a fringe prospect who probably won’t help the team. People said worse things about Pagan before the Mets acquired him. He’s a 6th outfielder on the Cubs and 50 April AB’s later, Met fans seem to think he’s the answer. Suddenly he’s headed to Cooperstown. Hendry should ignore what people say BEFORE the deal because AFTER another team acquires Murton, they’ll start talking up what a good, underrated hitter they have in LF. Anything said before the deal has an agenda behind it – to artificially drive Murton’s value down so teams can get him for nothing.

Sox aren't trading Lowrie anytime soon. There are too many injuries right now to Lowell, Casey and Cora. And if Lugo keeps playing so poorly, Lowrie will find himself in the lineup playing SS every day. I would be shocked if they traded him this year. Maybe in the offseason and only if Lugo figures out how to play good baseball again.

I do find it humorous that an organization that has gone out of their way to not play a player thinks that he's worth alot.

I actually do think Murton is a decent player that hasn't gotten a fair shake from the Cubs. And now that they've recalled Patterson after the Soriano injury must mean that they have no intention of ever playing him. I can see how it makes sense for him to rot in AAA instead of trading him.

I'm gonna assume that this means that Mike Fontenot and Eric Patterson will be sharing time at second, with Mark Derosa taking over in left. Seems like an odd route to go, considering Murton is there as well in AAA. I'm sure it's bound to do with the fact that Patterson is a lefty. I'm actually mildly excited to see what Patterson can do with some decent at bats. I could see him becoming somewhat of a poor mans Brian Roberts: a lefty 2B with 10-15 HR power and good OBP skills, as well as quality speed. Or he could end up being his brother, just less talented and at second base.

Flelix Pie is probably headed back to Iowa, so we will see Murton again. I belive Matt is out of options. So when Soriano comes back, Murton will not be able to go back to the minors. the Cubs will have to release him or trade him. I think Murton in right, Fukudome in center and Soriano in left with Johnson platooning all three positions will be the outfield to come.

They should trade Julio Lugo if they can. Hes doing nothing they ask from him. 3 errors in one game and 6 on the season. Also not that great with the bat. Jed lowrie already has more RBIs on the season then Lugo, not to mention Lowrie only played one game.