Cubs Rumors: Bako, Looper, Wolf, Uribe

Bako for 750k is MUCH worse than Blanco for 1 mil, 1.5 at most. I don't get this. K. Hill would be just as good as Bako.

Heilman or Marshall could be as good as Looper or Wolf, I hope they leave those two alone.

Juan Uribe better come very cheap. The cubs have Theriot, Fontenot, and Miles already, all of whom can plan 2nd, and 2 can play short.

Juan can also play a very good 3rd. I agree, forget Bako, let K. Hill have the job behind Soto.

I think its very apparent that Hendry is preparing for life without Peavy. Although the many fans who buy into the concept of the "offseason world series" will be upset, its probably the right move. The cub farm system is abysmal and it makes no sense to deplete as it is for Peavy. Peavy would be a luxury, not a necessity for this team. The smart thing to do would be to hold on to what trading chips you have until the deadline.

On a final note (and i wish i had the link) there was a very good read on Tom Ricketts in Crains Chicago over the weekend. Basically saying that cubs fans should temper their enthusiasm about Ricketss just opening up the payroll. According to this article, thats not gonna happen, to many other issues ( stadium reconstruction, potential development outside the walls of wrigley, etc)on his plate. Wouldnt suprise me if Hendry was already told as much.

wow! just a couple days ago, the cubs website had a headline about possibly getting peavy. now i have no idea what the cubs are doing. heilman sucks, bako sucks, and uribe bats like a softball player and the pubic hair on his face is blonde! the cubs are stocking up on garbage.

Yeah if we hang onto Vitters and don't get Peavy, I won't be distraught. If they don't open payroll up either, I won't be. There's a lot of money coming off the books in a few years, and we'll be hitting the FA market in good position. Not sure there's much on the market next year when we'll be strapped still besides Brian Roberts that would fit this team.

If we want to prepare for an offseason of aiming for Pujols-Vitters in a few years with Aramis and Lee going to free agency, fine by me. This current nucleus is going to win a lot of games.

Paul Bako has above average defensive ability...now his ability to hit....well that's a different story...

I would put money on the Cubs not getting a chance to go after Pujols.

Why wouldn't we be able to go after Pujols? It'd be about 25M going off the books between Lee and Ramirez, and Vitters would be up by then to man third. If Albert wants to stick in the Midwest for $$, wouldn't the White Sox or Cubs make the most sense?

I would bet $50M that he never leaves STL.

Wow, the Cubs are having a bad offseason.

Out goes Marquis, Edmonds, DeRosa, Blanco, and Wood.

In comes Heilman, Bradley, Miles, Bako and Gregg.

It's definitely an overall downgrade, but I think it helps to balance the team out overall.

I'd argue that the Phillies have definitely had a worse offseason than the Cubs, among contenders.

Im not sure for a team with a payroll around 90-100 million spending 30 million on one player is very smart. Hes worth it, hes the best player in baseball and one of the greatest RH hitters the game has ever seen. Im just not sure if they will be able to win with 30% of their payroll going to one player. However maybe he takes a discount and signs for around 20-25 million then it doesnt look so tough. Its not just about him getting rich though, this contract could mean nobody has to work in his family for hundreds of years.

I haven't been thrilled with the Cubs off season so far, but dumping two stiffs (Cedeno and Olson) for a pitcher who at least has had major league success in Heilman is a good deal.

I doubt they'll go after Wolf or Looper, Heilman made too much of a fuss out of not starting in NY. I think the Cubs will put him in the rotation this spring and see how he fares. Marshall can still be the swing man backing up Harden and as insurance if any starter goes on the DL.

I still think their bullpen is awful, signing Bradley over Abreu was dumb, and if they wanted a switch hitting second baseman they should have passed over Miles and added Orlando Hudson instead.

The cubs have been after heilman for months, and offered NY Cedeno and Pie for it...now we have basically made that happen and we got an A pitcher as well, so I dont see it as bad...The Bako signing makes me made cause I love Koye and after the AAA year he had he deserved the chance for Backup...a rotation of Zambrano, Dempster, Harden, Lilly, Heilman(or Marshall dep. on sit/lineups) is still very very good..I would take it. Now we just gotta push Hill out before spring break and everyone realizes how bad he has gotten.

Uribe for Peavy? LOL

I'm okay with Bradley over Abreu, because Bradley is better at everything, except staying healthy. He offers everything you could want in a hitter, is a plus in right (Abreu is BRUTAL), and if healthy would totally transform our lineup. I know though, that his health is a huge if..

But I totally agree on Hudson. They added Miles for like a third of what it'd take to land Hudson, when Hudson would offer the team a great top of the order hitter and far more consistency.

I think the Cubs really only made two bad moves this offseason:

Wasting the value of Ceda by trading him straight up for one year of Gregg. Simply, a very poor trade.

And then moving DeRosa, and not landing even a single potential impact player in the deal. A player of his caliber at that price should have held far more value in a trade.

scribbletone, don't forget Hendry was also trying to get rid of some salary so he could sign Bradley. So, getting Bradley was part of the DeRo trade. He couldn't pick up any salary.

Plus who cares if the cubs waste value for a proven player THIS YEAR, they need to win the series

yes! the cubs need as much depth as possible in the bullpen. Marmol has been throwing hard in the dominican, then going to slow it down at spring training, throw hard again at the wbc, and slow it down a little at the end of spring training...then go into the season??? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING CUBS...somebody needs to talk to this kid, god only knows how old he really is anyway

forlife61 - "The cub farm system is abysmal and it makes no sense to deplete as it is for Peavy."

This is the kind of thinking that gets people into trouble. If the Cubs farm system is abysmal, what difference does it make if they deplete it for a top of the order stud pitcher? If it's abysmal, why keep it? If you can get a stud for it, why not? I really wish I were a GM and some of the people posting stuff on here were rival GM's. I think I'd take vacations to the Mediterranean every year with my World Series bonus.

Bako's Bits is terrible. K. Hill will be the backup, if not at the start of the season, by the break.

peavy deal is starting to look very bad.. unless this deal was to enable marshall to be traded.

vitters, marshall, guzman, hart, stevens

"This is crazy talk. The Cubs over the years have sacrificed their farm system to win "now". They then didn't win, and a depleted farm system set the organization back. The secret to consistent success is to bring in quality players and develop your system." Posted by: Jim Crane

Gottcha. Wait, let me see if I have this correct.... The secret to winning is keeping abysmal minor league players and passing on stud, ace pitchers? Is that what you're saying?

Also, many very smart people agree that if your system is horrible, and your going to have to completely rebuild, why not get what you can out of it. While i think the cubs should keep Vitters and Cashner i wouldnt mind them tearing up the rest of the minors, get what you can and fully rebuild. I love our low A talent, I think in a year or 2 when that talent becomes projectable our system will look much better. Most prospects bust anyway, the cubs just need to hit once or twice on a pitcher and the 140 million dollar payroll will take care of the rest.

fu*k da coc*suckin brewers all brewers fan can eat a fat dic*

i didn't even know the brewers had fans until 2 years ago when they started winning games