Let’s not let the day’s biggest story — that the Cubs will sign Jorge Soler to a nine-year deal worth $30MM — overshadow some other notes and rumors from around MLB. Here are the latest links…
- Yahoo’s Jeff Passan checks in on the players heading toward free agency, noting that the stock for players such as Adam LaRoche, Melky Cabrera and Andre Ethier is way up.
- Derrek Lee would be open to returning for the “right opportunity,” Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (on Twitter). The Pirates could be interested in re-signing Lee, who joined the team in a midseason trade last year.
- Matt Garza, Ryan Dempster and Bryan LaHair are all in play as the trade deadline nears, Rosenthal notes (on Twitter). The Cubs could look to supplement their core of young players by dealing established Major Leaguers for controllable players this summer.
I will be incredibly upset with the organization if they re-sign Lee at this point. I don’t see it happening but that ship has long since sailed. I think his overall attitude here and the fact that he turned down a 8.5M arbitration offer says enough about his desire to play here as well.
Maybe he want to hop back on now that the team is winning, but he can go kick rocks. We will be just fine without him.
I’m honestly ready to forgive him if he plays like he did last season when we acquired him. He’d be a huge boost to our offense. Yeah I didn’t like how he basically proved he’d rather not play than play in Pittsburgh, but things and feelings change. I hope he has a better mindset of Pittsburgh now.
he could of signed with several other teams,heard a child of his was suffering with an illness.
I wouldn’t say we will be just fine without him. Could we benefit from his bat in the lineup? Yes. Do we need someone that appears to only be in it for himself? No.
Also cheaper than Youk
Never in my life have I heard someone say Derek Lee is in it for himself!
I heard reports in the off-season he wasn’t interested because of family obligations or something similar. Now in June there are reports he is interested in coming back if it’s the “right opportunity”? That says to me he is in it only for a shot at a championship and/or money. Meaning, if he suddenly comes to the Pirates for $10 million, then he’s in it for the money.
I’m a Pirates fan, and I love how we’re playing and think this is the year to break the streak, but we aren’t a championship team. That leaves only one other “right opportunity” situation in my eyes..money. It’s clear the Pirate clubhouse has great chemistry…they believe in each other.
I know D.Lee has been a class act his entire career, he’s entitled to his personal choices, but if he’s coming back to cash a paycheck with the Buccos, it could do more harm than good.
How good do you think his bat will be though if he shows up in a few weeks? I highly doubt he’ll be hitting like he was earlier in Pittsburgh. It would be nice to get consistent production from 1B, but I wouldn’t look to get it from Lee.
The Mets should sign Leeeee… send down Ike
Castro
Rizzo
Soler
Jackson
Baez
Samardzija
Almora
Vitters
Looking good
Poor Bryan Lahair……..
2 of those don’t belong.
Sounds like a great AAA lineup. Too many hopefuls and not enough for sure.
Yeah great effort into that post, considering that group’s average age is like 21!
Great considering that Almora hasn’t signed and Baez and Soler are 2 years away from even sniffing the majors. Vitters and Jackson have pretty much been garbage in AAA as well.
Seems to be a pretty interesting Free Agent class. I figured a few of the bigger names would be locked up by now. But at this point, it’s looking like most will test free agency.
I hope the Cubs trade Garza away. I’d love for them to deal him to the Tigers for Jacob Turner and Nick Castellanos.
I’m sure the Cubs would love to get a package like that for Garza as well, but I don’t see it happening.
I think I would stay away from Turner. Ive heard from Tiger fans that his value is over hyped. Hes young, dont get me wrong, but he bombed last year in his sniff of the big leagues, and hes not really setting the world on fire in AAA this year.
And he’s all of what? 21? Give him a little time and he should be fine
yeah, just what they said about Porcello, He’s only — he still has a lot. Add him to the trade list and add Dempster to the Tigers.
Maybe with Barney thrown in…
If the Pirates want a First Baseman they should just wait until the Dodgers get tired of James Loney.
I like Loney, but he isn’t what we need right now.
I don’t like Loney, but he isn’t what we need right now.
Right. Your team has really good pitching but can’t score Runs.
Collectively, your First Baseman have a slash line of the following;
Batting Average – .219 (14th in the NL)
On Base Percentage – .272 (14th in the NL)
Slugging Percentage – .321 (14th in the NL)
OPS – .593 (14th in the NL)
As far as Hits, Runs, Doubles, Home Runs and RBI are concerned, your First Baseman rank no higher than 12th in the NL BUT First Base is NOT a problem for your team….
Now, if your team REALLY wanted to make a splash, they could trade for Josh Willingham but he would be expensive, both in terms of players required and dollars taken on.
or Reddick – the A’s are always dealing.
u must get so much respect being a former draft pick,wow.
Loney has a triple slash line ABOVE what your collective First Basemen have put up so far this year and he is 28-years old. Furthermore, he doesn’t hit for a lot of power BUT, I would imagine if he were to get away from the NL West and play more Games in the NL Central, his power numbers would increase.
I would have to say Dejesus and, if he keeps up his hot streak, even Soriano could bring us some trade value as the deadline approaches. With Soriano’s gimpy legs, it would definitely be an AL team if any, with Cubs covering most of the pay. I would have to say no one at the mlb level is safe besides Castro and Samardzija. Although, I would like to see Cubs keep Lahair and move him to OF, although if he is eligible for free agency, he needs to go via trade.
Soriano’s contract will continue negate any kind of value the Cubs could get for him. Also most teams still know what kind of player he is: someone who rarely walks, has a high strikeout total, and still can’t field. Which makes him really only “valuable” to an American League team (unless the Braves make another run at him…still find it weird that they tried the first time). Which cuts off half of your market. Once you account for teams who would still be in the playoff race combining that with teams that actually need a DH, the field of perspective teams shrinks significantly to no more than 3-4 teams with the Cubs eating up almost all the contract.
however, not the Rays or Blue Jays and their carpets.
I heard we are willing to pay $45 mil of what Sori’s owed…
And hes gonna be thirty, and hes in his first big league season in a hitter friendly park. Im not convinced LaHair is going to continue what he has done. Hes batting .242 with a .310 OBP in his last 27 games. Ive enjoyed his early season success, but lets face it, he has over produced as of this point.
You don’t think other teams know all of this? The Cubs aren’t going to get much out of him. IMO, He is worth keeping around to see if he is a late bloomer that can figure it out and be a productive hitter. If he has a couple solid seasons, then he would at least have enough value deal him.
minor point missing, no supporting cast in the lineup either.