Cubs Rumors

NL Central Notes: Bedard, Garza, Greinke, Reds

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 29, 2012 at 9:05pm CDT

Here are today’s NL Central notes, including thoughts from three of the division’s GMs on a few starting pitchers…

Pirates GM Neal Huntington said he’s cautiously optimistic about Erik Bedard this season, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. "Not that long ago, Erik was one of the better pitchers in baseball," Huntington said. "We still see good stuff. The challenge is going to be health.”
Cubs GM Jed Hoyer joined Casey Stern and Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio and said he's hopeful to sign Matt Garza long-term because pitching is such a difficult commodity to obtain.
Brewers GM Doug Melvin told Bowden that he and owner Mark Attanasio plan to discuss an extension with Zack Greinke this spring (Twitter link). In this case, Melvin and Attanasio will be speaking to Greinke without relying on an intermediary. The right-hander is without an agent, unlike the overwhelming majority of players. Melvin recently cited deals in the $80MM range as possibly comparables for Greinke.
The Reds are a sleeper team for 2012, one scout told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link).

Padres To Receive Low-Level Prospect For Hoyer

By Mike Axisa | February 23, 2012 at 11:54am CDT

The Theo Epstein compensation case drew most of the attention this offseason, but the Padres and Cubs still have to work something out for Jed Hoyer. Scott Miller of CBSSports.com reports (on Twitter) that San Diego will received a low-level minor leaguer from Chicago for their former GM, probably late in Spring Training but before Opening Day.

The clubs have agreed to select the PTBNL from a pre-determined list of 12 or so players, according to Miller (on Twitter). The Red Sox received 26-year-old righty reliever Chris Carpenter and a player to be named later from the Cubs as compensation for Epstein and a player to be named two days ago. There's not much precedent for compensation involving front office employees, but the cases of Epstein and Andy MacPhail provide the Cubs and Padres with two such examples.

Red Sox Receive Chris Carpenter, PTBNL From Cubs For Epstein, PTBNL

By Tim Dierkes | February 21, 2012 at 10:33am CDT

The Red Sox received 26-year-old righty reliever Chris Carpenter and a player to be named later from the Cubs as compensation for Theo Epstein and a player to be named later, announced the teams today. The Cubs hired Epstein as their president of baseball operations in October, despite one year remaining on his contract as Boston's GM. Nearly four months after that announcement, Epstein and new Cubs GM Jed Hoyer reached a compensation agreement with former colleague and new Red Sox GM Ben Cherington. Epstein said in a statement:

"I am relieved that this process is over and particularly pleased that the teams were able to reach agreement on their own without intervention from MLB. I truly hope and believe that this resolution will benefit both clubs, as well as Chris, who is an extremely talented reliever joining a great organization at a time when there's some opportunity in the major league bullpen. More than anything, I'm excited that we can all move forward and focus exclusively on getting ready for the season. I wish Chris and the Red Sox nothing but the best in 2012 and beyond."

Carpenter, who made his big league debut with the Cubs last year, was recently ranked 13th on their prospect list by Baseball America. The Cubs converted Carpenter to relief late in 2010, and he averaged 96.5 miles per hour on his fastball in the Majors last year. His command and control are works in progress, but Baseball America thinks he could develop into a setup man. The Red Sox placed Bobby Jenks on the 60-day DL to create a 40-man roster spot for Carpenter.

The inclusion of two players to be named later means this saga has not quite reached its conclusion, but an April 15th deadline is already in place and Cherington expects resolution by the end of spring training. The Cubs also owe compensation to the Padres for Hoyer, which Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune notes will get done very soon and will not involve anyone on the team's 40-man roster.

WEEI's Alex Speier first reported the Red Sox would receive a pitcher from the Cubs' 40-man roster.

Epstein Compensation Deal Is Close

By Tim Dierkes | February 21, 2012 at 9:15am CDT

9:15am: The Red Sox will receive a pitcher from the Cubs' 40-man roster, tweets WEEI's Alex Speier. That'd rule out McNutt. Rafael Dolis, Chris Carpenter, Jeff Beliveau, and Casey Weathers are on the Cubs' 40-man and cracked Baseball America's top 30 prospects for the team. The decision is coming down today, confirms Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.

7:36am: A resolution on the Theo Epstein compensation deal is imminent, reports Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston. Edes' MLB source says the Red Sox will receive one quality minor leaguer, a legitimate big-league prospect, from the Cubs. The decision might come today, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

The Cubs hired Epstein as their president of baseball operations in October. Epstein resigned from Boston's GM position with one year remaining as part of the process, and the teams have not been able on agree which Cubs players the Red Sox will receive as compensation. The commissioner's office has gotten involved, with the teams submitting briefs recently. In January, Epstein explained his stance on WEEI: "There's no precedent for major, major compensation here."

The Cubs are not loaded with top-ranked prospects and young players, but I think it's safe to assume Matt Garza, Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo, Brett Jackson, Javier Baez, and probably Matt Szczur will not be involved. Given MLB's involvement, perhaps a player in the Cubs' next tier of prospects could be included, such as Trey McNutt. Check out Kevin Goldstein's Cubs prospect rankings for Baseball Prospectus here.

NL Central Links: Reds, Greinke, Marcum, LaHair

By Mark Polishuk | February 20, 2012 at 11:12pm CDT

Here's the latest from the NL Central…

Reds GM Walt Jocketty is "not even considering" signing Roy Oswalt, reports John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Jocketty also said he is planning to talk with Brandon Phillips' agents about a contract extension for the second baseman at some point during the spring.
Zack Greinke said "nothing's changed" about his extension talks with the Brewers and didn't want to talk about the subject to reporters today (including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Greinke also added that he has no immediate plans to hire an agent.
The Brewers should wait before giving Shaun Marcum a contract extension, or perhaps they should let Marcum hit free agency next winter altogether, writes Eric Seidman for Fangraphs. "All of [the Brewers] rotation efforts this year should be focused on keeping Greinke, the better and younger pitcher who is more likely to remain among the elite throughout the life of the deal," Seidman writes. Marcum recently said that he'd love to remain in Milwaukee, though the Brewers haven't yet approached him about a long-term deal.
Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer told Bryan LaHair that the Cubs had no interest in Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder, LaHair tells Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. As such, LaHair was able to ignore the rumors and focus on preparing for his first starting job in the big leagues. Over at Roto Authority, I recently looked at the fantasy potential of LaHair and the newly-acquired Anthony Rizzo.

Blake DeWitt Accepts Outright Assignment

By Tim Dierkes | February 20, 2012 at 10:45am CDT

Cubs infielder Blake DeWitt accepted his outright assignment, tweets MLB.com's Carrie Muskat. Despite a $1.1MM contract, the Cubs removed DeWitt from the 40-man roster this month to open a spot for Adrian Cardenas. He has a chance to earn his way back on the roster with a good performance this spring.

DeWitt, the Cubs' main return in the July 2010 Ted Lilly/Ryan Theriot trade with the Dodgers, hit .265/.305/.413 in 243 plate appearances last year. A left-handed hitter, DeWitt played left field, second base, and third base in 2011.

NL Central Notes: Burnett, Madson, Kvasnicka

By Tim Dierkes | February 20, 2012 at 9:45am CDT

Let's celebrate perhaps the last year of a six-team NL Central with spring training links for all the clubs…

Pirates infielder Gustavo Nunez, who was taken from the Tigers in December's Rule 5 draft, was placed on the 60-day DL with a right ankle injury, tweets Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Side effects of the move: the Pirates buy some time before deciding whether to put Nunez on the 25-man roster, and a 40-man roster spot is opened for new acquisition A.J. Burnett.
The Burnett acquisition creates competition at the back end of the Pirates' rotation, writes Biertempfel. He believes Kevin Correia and Jeff Karstens will battle for the last spot, if everyone is healthy. Burnett talked to reporters this morning. One interesting news tidbit was his comment that one ever asked him about a potential Angels trade, though he confirmed he's not interested in the West Coast for family reasons. Unprompted, Burnett debunked the rumors about his wife's transportation preferences, saying with a smile, "She loves to fly."
Ryan Madson's $8.5MM commitment with the Reds is spread out over three budgets, explains ESPN's Buster Olney: "$2MM during the 2012 season, $2MM in deferred salary on Nov. 1, 2012 — which is the start of the 2013 budget — and another $2MM in deferred salary, without interest, on Nov. 1, 2013, at the outset of the 2014 fiscal year. In the middle of that, they have a $2.5MM buyout on an $11 million option for 2013." On the topic of his one-year deal, Madson told MLB.com's Mark Sheldon, "I take it as motivation to show people again, to prove that it's real. It's unfortunate it's that way but I'm not complaining. I'm very happy. I'm very privileged to have this opportunity, and I just want to run with it and show people that I will be OK."
Righty Brett Tomko always wanted to come back to Cincinnati, he told John Fay of the Enquirer. Tomko said it's taken two years to recover from a 2009 pinched nerve.
The Astros could have a new player at all nine positions for Opening Day 2012 compared to '11, writes Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle.
Astros 2010 supplemental first-round pick Mike Kvasnicka is moving back to catcher from third base, tweets Levine. Kvasnicka was recently ranked 25th among Astros prospects by Baseball America.
"I'm not one to look back with animosity, however people or fans want to view my time there," former Cubs GM Jim Hendry told Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Hendry noted that it was "just nice" to be wanted by the Yankees, "the most storied franchise in sports." He's now with the Yankees as a special assistant to GM Brian Cashman, and isn't worrying about becoming a GM again.
"They always say contract years turn out to be great years," Brewers starter Chris Narveson mentioned to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum are entering contract years, while Randy Wolf has a $10MM club option for '13 with a $1.5MM buyout.
Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright refuses to put a limit on his innings following 2011 Tommy John surgery, he told MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch, but she notes that GM John Mozeliak has said 200 frames is likely out of the question.

Cubs May Start Extension Talks With Garza Soon

By Mike Axisa | February 18, 2012 at 9:02pm CDT

The Cubs spent most of the winter gauging trade interest in Matt Garza, but now it appears they're willing to discuss a long-term commitment. GM Jed Hoyer spoke to reporters (including Gordon Wittenmyer of The Chicago Sun Times) upon arriving at the team's Spring Training facility today, and said the two sides could being extension talks soon.

"We focused really hard on getting the one-year number done a few weeks ago," said Hoyer, referring to the one-year, $9.5MM contract the two sides agreed to a few weeks ago, avoiding arbitration. "We didn’t have any kind of long-term discussions before that, but certainly there was some dialogue about possibly having some long-term discussions at some point maybe this spring … I think we probably will sit down and talk."

Garza, 28, can't become a free agent until after the 2013 season. He made at least 30 starts and threw at least 180 innings for the fourth straight year in 2011, pitching to a 3.32 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 during his first season on Chicago's north side. Garza has said he's open to an extension with the Cubs earlier this offseason.

Cubs Designate Blake DeWitt For Assignment

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | February 18, 2012 at 2:17pm CDT

FEBRUARY 18TH: DeWitt has apparently cleared waivers and has until Wednesday to decide whether to sign with the Cubs as a non-roster invitee, tweets Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.

FEBRUARY 6TH: The Cubs announced that they designated infielder Blake DeWitt for assignment. The move creates 40-man roster space for Adrian Cardenas, who the Cubs claimed from Oakland today.

DeWitt, 26, posted a .265/.305/.413 line in 243 plate appearances in 2011, playing left field, second base and third base. The 2004 first rounder owns a .260/.329/.385 career line in four seasons with the Dodgers and Cubs.

DeWitt and the Cubs had agreed to a $1.1MM salary for 2012 earlier in the offseason, avoiding arbitration. The Cubs could attempt to deal DeWitt, but if they release him, I expect they'll be responsible for one sixth of his salary (approximately $183K). He was arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason.

NL Central Notes: Garza, DeWitt, Jocketty, Brewers

By Mark Polishuk | February 17, 2012 at 3:12pm CDT

The Pirates have agreed to acquire A.J. Burnett from the Yankees in exchange for two minor league prospects and cash, though the trade won't be finalized until Burnett passes a physical and the commissioner's office signs off on the $20MM the Yanks are sending to Pittsburgh to help cover Burnett's salary.

Here's more news from around the NL Central…

Matt Garza was mum about the possibility of a multiyear deal between he and the Cubs. “I don’t talk about that,” Garza told MLB.com's Carrie Muskat. “That’s between my agent and myself, and my agent and the front office. If they want to contact us, whatever way it works, is great. My main focus is getting ready for April 5 and having fun again.”
Also from Muskat, the Cubs are still waiting on Blake DeWitt's status. DeWitt was designated for assignment on February 6, and if he clears waivers, he can either choose free agency or join the Cubs as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training.
Since becoming the Reds' general manager, Walt Jocketty has re-acquired several players that he originally acquired when he was the Cardinals' GM, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The Brewers are already over budget for 2012, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Haudricourt discussed several Brewers-related topics as part of this chat with fans.

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