Royals Acquire Ryan Freel

Ryan Freel is gone before Aaron Miles?

Can Hendry hurry up and release Miles.

yeah... or could be a precursor to Gordon coming back, and Teahen heading out of KC.

Yep, this tells me 2 things:
1) Teahen is leaving soon.
2) Gordon's not ready to return...

I expect that we'll hear the announcement about Teahen being traded fairly shortly. Freel will most likely fill in at 3B until Gordon returns. I don't see any other reason to sign Freel...

"Freel gained some notoriety in August of 2006 when The Dayton Daily News reported that Freel talks to an imaginary voice in his head named Farney.[2] Said Freel: "He's a little guy who lives in my head who talks to me and I talk to him. That little midget in my head said, 'That was a great catch, Ryan,' I said, 'Hey, Farney, I don't know if that was you who really caught that ball, but that was pretty good if it was.' Everybody thinks I talk to myself, so I tell 'em I'm talking to Farney."[3] Freel later said that Farney's name arose from a conversation with Reds trainer Mark Mann: "He actually made a comment like, 'How are the voices in your head?' We'd play around and finally this year he said, 'What's the guy's name?' I said, 'Let's call him Farney.' So now everybody's like, 'Run, Farney, run' or 'Let Farney hit today. You're not hitting very well.'"[4]"

Awesome.

I hope he is ready to return, it just concerns me that we went out & picked up a guy who just two months ago was traded for Gathright...

Thanks for your input Professor! Great to get an insiders POV!

"Ryan Freel is gone before Aaron Miles?

Can Hendry hurry up and release Miles."

Hendry doesn't want to admit that the Miles contract was a mistake yet, even though Miles is one of the worst players in the game to be under contract for next year, along with guys like Gary Matthews Jr. and Willy Taveras.

Don't forget Nick Punto, Scribble.

His contract makes Miles look attractive.

I agree that Punto's defense makes him more desirable as a player, but he's also making twice as much as Miles, which is flat out ridiculous.

That's not to mention Punto's horrendous baserunning skills, which is something that doesn't translate as much into stats. Still, his boneheaded decisions are just staggering sometimes. For a guy who's got speed, you'd think he'd be a good baserunner.

He also constantly injures himself by sliding headfirst into first base. Despite acknowledging that it's not fundamentally what he should be doing, he claims "it's instinct" and he "can't help himself."

Punto's range is tremendous, but he's got a terrible arm and gets bailed out pretty frequently by Morneau. Justin's pretty underrated defensively in my book, just because of how great he is at digging out Nick's CONSTANT low throws. He refuses to set himself and make a good throw, even with a slow runner coming down the line.

Punto basically just doesn't think when he plays, and it's painfully apparent when watching him on a day-to-day basis.

I'm not sure how much Miles is, and maybe I'm just irate after watching Punto's pathetic play for five years now, but he's an awful awful AWFUL baseball player.

So naturally, Bill Smith nearly tripled the next-closest offer for Punto's services to ensure that he came back.

Now we "don't have unlimited funds," so Sano's off the table. Great.

In short, if you want Nick Punto, have him. :)

Freel --> Bad Cubs moves --> Aaron Miles lamenting --> Nick Punto lamenting --> Competition of who's worse: Punto or Miles

That's the progression. :)

Besides, the Royals are in the AL Central. It's all connected in the end Jimmy!

Wow, we really discussing which of us has the suckiest player in here?

Well, being a Cubs fan, I of course have to go with Miles. But seeing your situation with Punto does give me some comfort in a twisted kind of way. I can honestly say, he is NOT someone I would trade Miles for - something I figured would never cross my lips.

Well, let me rephrase. I would not trade Miles for Punto unless we keep our current costs. I dont care which we release, Punto or Miles, as long as it only costs the 4.9 we promised to throw away.

Guess this is a "Freel" good story for the Cubs

this will vault us into contention before the all star break definitely...lol and please make TPJ the PTBNL or just release his sorry ass....muahahahaha

one bum down, a few more to go hendry.

freel used to be a pretty decent player, but the 2009 freel is injury prone and even more weak hitting then the younger freel. also, he has lost some speed, an important part in his game.

miles is the next glaring bum that needs to go. baker is taking a roster spot too from a sam fuld or andres blanco.

with ramy, johnson, and guzman coming off the DL, i will scream bloody murder if fox is sent down to AAA Iowa. I think it has been 10+ years since i have missed watching a game on tv. if fox is sent down today, i will not watch a cubs game for a least a week. he is hitting the heck out of the ball. Anyone got his numbers? i know he has at least 4 HRs and 11 RBIs.

ramy may struggle for a little while since he has not played an MLB game since May 8. need fox for insurance.

i also agree that soriano could be sat i think for at least a week. let fox and hoffpauir platoon in left. if soriano is not hitting, why have him play LF. he can throw the ball well, but he is a horrible defensive player.

lou has always said he will go with the hot hand or bat. well, soriano is as cold as the north pole. sam fuld was hot, but lou benched him after two games. fox is hot, but now that ramy is back, lou will bench him too.

i really like lou, but this year he is not doing what his says he likes to do. go with the hot hand or bat. lou do what you say and i and the majority of cubbie fans will be happy. (not everyone will ever be happy at the same time. it is physically impossible)

What does Teahen bring that the Cubs are interested. I hear a couple of teams are interested.

Apparently, Mark Teahen brings similar versatility that DeRosa had back when he was with the Cubs...he can play many positions and is a relatively good hitter [by Cub standards, he's good.]

*so* scary that TPJ and Hernandez < Mario mendoza.

and....that play that let the tigers win the game last night (where freel missed the diving catch and thames hit a hr) yea mitch maier definitely would have made that play....hes much quicker than freels old injury ridden self