The Cubs flirted with the idea of trading Alfonso Soriano during the season and many have speculated that they could once again try to find a fit for him this winter. Last week, however, Soriano said that he would be reluctant to join an AL club as a designated hitter. Here's more out of Wrigley..
- Right-hander Shawn Camp is the Cubs' only free agent this winter and team President Theo Epstein says that he is interested in having him back, tweets Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald. Camp, who hooked on with the Cubs on a minor league deal in March, posted a 3.59 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 80 appearances last season.
- Epstein added that the Cubs will likely pursue two starting pitchers, either through trades or free agency, this winter, Miles writes. The deadline deals of Ryan Dempster and Paul Maholm combined with the elbow injury to Matt Garza left the rotation short-handed last year.
- The Cubs gave Assistant GM Randy Bush a three-year contract extension, according to Carrie Muskat of MLB.com (via Twitter). Bush is entering his seventh season in the position and his ninth season overall with the organization.
Zach, wrong park.
Um…”Here’s more out of Fenway..”???!?!?
Cubs moving to Fenway?
This just in from that other historic park…
wrigley, not fenway 😀
How many people need to correct him?
*Wrigley
Think of it like a radio call in. The 15th correction wins a free toaster… or gets banned.
umm well he was close, Fenway is only one time zone off. Plus, another old-as-dirt-and-time park.
given the cubs system has zero depth in pitching but presumably some depth somewhere, other than soler and the usual untouchable suspects, can anyone think of a realistic package they can afford to give up for either a decent #2-3 pitcher or a third baseman not named valbuena or stewart? eg you have Baez and Lake in the minors – do you package Barney for a third baseman, say Gyorko? Or even barney or lake straight up for a gyorko type? I’m not suggesting, I’m just throwing out possibilities.
Trading Barney would be a mistake. He’s no Sandberg, but he’s one of the best all around second basemen in the National League.
I’ve heard that they are keen on giving Stewart one more shot, if he comes into spring training near 100%. Trading Baez is not going to happen either. He is an excellent prospect at a position they need (3B).
I don’t think the Cubs will be looking for any long-term top of the rotation types this off-season. The game plan looks more like finding some gems on the scrap heap or serviceable major leaguers they can dump at the deadline.
This is a long-term rebuilding project. There won’t be any quick fixes (thank Thor!)
I’m all for rebuilding, but Barney is a utility infielder. He’s great defensively at second but he is a huge problem on offense and he’ll never get a lot better than he is now.
I could not disagree with you more. This is the kind of mentality I just can’t wrap my head around. So many sports fans (especially baseball) seem to think that, in order to win championships a team needs an all-star at every position. This just isn’t the case. Every championship team for the last twenty years has had a player or two just like Barney. What we need are one or two more just like Barney (A+ defense and C+ offense).
That’s just the way I see it. Hopefully the Cubs brain-trust agrees.
They won’t be looking for any long- term FA’s but at some point they’ll have to trade for good pitching prospects ( as opposed to throwing the net out for whatever pitchers they can snag, as they have been)
Don’t you mean “throwing out impossibilities” ?
Yes? “..team President Theo Epstein says that he is interested in having (Camp) back.”