Cubs Acquire Gregg, Part Ways With Wood

Lee doesn't need to be traded! He needs to move into the 2 hole where his OBP can be taken better advantage of. He's a doubles/OBP guy now, not a 40HR guy. If we put Lee at #2, it gives a major boost to our team makeup.

Lou really says he won't move Soriano? Is this recently?

As a huge Cubs fan, I have to say two things: (1) I am impressed that Hendry finally let a guy go when he felt like it was better for the team fiscally (he tends to keep everyone he likes or sets his eyes on) and (2) It is real tough knowing Woody will not be a Cub next year. He is the Chicago Cubs like no player since Sandberg was a Cub (Sorry, I don't include Grace in this discussion). Woody - wherever you go, I hope you win a title, and I hope you nail down the final out.

Are you kidding me? Putting Lee in the two hole is the worst idea ever.. everytime we lead off a game with the runner on he'll turn it into a short inning with a double play.. just because Lee gets on base does not make him a two hitter.. he is WAY to slow and would be a terrible two hitter

Ill look for that link from Pinella. I saw it about 2 weeks ago, but I'll be damned if I remember where. He basically said this was a 97 win team and they won 97 games with Soriano as the leadoff guy (not accurate due to injury, I know), and there was no need to change that now.

PEOPLE, the redsox and yankees arent going to dish out 10mm+ for wood as a setup man. Get real...im pretty sure he wants to close and will sign with a team to close games.

We know the cubs can get to the playoffs but when it comes to going all the way i'd like to see a true lead off hitter instead of soriana he was 1 for 14 with NO walks and four k's common now thats terrible for a lead off hitter

"He is the Chicago Cubs like no player since Sandberg was a Cub (Sorry, I don't include Grace in this discussion)"

I'm curious...why don't you include Grace?

Well, after looking for that link all I can find are links saying it's doubtful Soriano will lead off in 2009.. maybe it will surface somewhere, or maybe I was having a nightmare... time will tell!

I'll answer for him: Grace bad mouthed the Cubs after leaving, bad mouthed and childlishly mocked Sosa, and now was recently kissing management butt when it looked like the broadcaster job opened up. He's even talked about how he's underpaid as a D-Back announcer.

I can't see the Cubs getting Peavy.. I think their next priority is signing back Dempster.. then after that working on Dunn.. I'd like to see Dempster back and let Peavy become a Brave

"I'll answer for him: Grace bad mouthed the Cubs after leaving, bad mouthed and childlishly mocked Sosa, and now was recently kissing management butt when it looked like the broadcaster job opened up. He's even talked about how he's underpaid as a D-Back announcer."

I actually liked and still like Grace. He says whats on his mind and always had. He bad mouthed Sosa? Seriously? You are mad about that? So did everyone...his teammates hated him. They bashed in his boom box with a baseball bat...

as a rangers fan, i sincerely hope they make a decent bid on wood. he's from grand prairie i believe (like 15 minutes from the ballpark) and he'd be a great arm for the bullpen. i know he has had the arm troubles, but he seems like a pretty good fit for texas.

please don't fire me.. just a thought: Could the Astros take Gregg and create a 1-2 punch with Valverde and part ways with Brocail or maybe flip Valverde to other teams that need a closer??

again, just a thought

Your predicting that Dempster just had his best year, the truth is still obviously unknown.. And I only said we should re-sign Dempster is because I truly believe Peavy is going to Atlanta and if this happens I think Dempster is our next best for the staff next to Peavy

I wouldn't be surprised to see him go to the Mets...and I think he will be much cheaper. Plus, the Mets pick isn't protected...so I'm rooting for it to happen!

Really not happy with this deal as a Cubs fan. Jose Ceda has big upside as a reliever and really isn't that far off, and I would've expected them to at least try and package him to land a better player than Kevin Gregg. I mean, he's a good reliever, but I just don't like moving Ceda in this deal.

I think this is probably a sign that the Cubs expect Andrew Cashner to end up in relief, where he belongs anyways.

Man, Hendry better spend that money well.

I talked to Samardzja (however you spell that) and he said that he is going to be moving into the rotation and Abreu is going to be acquired (is his guess)

"I talked to Samardzja (however you spell that) and he said that he is going to be moving into the rotation and Abreu is going to be acquired (is his guess)"

Uhh.. what?

There have already been reports that the Cubs don't want to give $15M a year to an outfielder, and guess what Abreu's asking price was? $15M per for three years.

And I actually like Kerry Wood for the Mets. He'd probably cost less than K-Rod and give you basically the same production, and he's a pretty interesting name as well.

Scribble,
Now that we know Wood wont be back, this was a good move by Hendry. Gregg should be a great setup guy for Marmol...plus the Wood money can be spent to upgrade RF.

Since pitching exclusively in relief the last two seasons, Gregg has stranded 32 of his 36 inherited runners, an 88.9 percent success rate. He has setup man written all of him.

So the Cubs traded Ceda for a guy who would have been non-tendered if the Marlins couldn't work out a trade?

What a horrible trade for Chicago.

Dont be ignorant...They wouldnt non tender him...he had plenty of interest.

closers are overrated. just ask billy beane, look what he got for billy koch.

If this is Gregg for Ceda... bad deal. Ceda has real potential to be a massive relief stud. The idea of a bullpen featuring Marmol, Smardie, Hart, Ceda, and Papelbon within the next year or two was simply grand. Everyone of those guys could turn into something special to at least some degree in a relief role. The only requirements beyond that would have been a couple of solid lefties.

I am not so sure everyone should jump all over Hendry here. I think us Cub fans have some emotion for Wood and it is a natural reaction to feel down about a guy like Wood no longer being a Cub. Now that it has sunk in for me, I feel the trade itself is not a slam dunk against the Cubs. I can see it from both sides of the discussion. Some guys are just bashing and not offering any analizing of the trade. Maybe Hendry did get fleeced. Maybe Hendry did something that was bold and the right move to make.

How often do Cub GMs or Chicago GMs hold onto a guy too long. Fans get angry a GM gets too attached. You can't get anymore attached than Hendry and Wood. Yet he seperated that friendship for the business side of it and the team. Time will tell. I commend Jim Hendry at taking a stand and not doing what us fans (most) would have thought so easy or a sure thing this offseason.

"I think the Mets sign Wood to be their setup man and still bring in K-Rod to be the closer."

Holy s**t! How much brain power did you put into that post?

Thats about the stupidest thing I have ever heard.

Wood isn't going to be a cheap setup man, and K-rod is going to be the most expensive closer on the market. So you are allocating about 20m per year for two closers? The mets need STARTING arms. Two closers (+ Wagner maybe coming back by seasons end) is by far one of the dumbest things I have ever heard

the more i think about this move the more I'm pissed as a Phils fan. Jim Hendry did you have to make our lives more difficult by putting Ceda on the Marlins. Is there any doubt that he'll be their setup man within a year. He and Lindstrom (if he keeps his head on straight) could be a tough duo.

I'm kidding about actually having nitemares...but you get the point.