Cubs Shopping Maddux?
A good one from the rumor mill over at Gotham Baseball. Unfortunately their page is not working right now so here’s a link to MetsBlog’s take on Gotham’s report. According to Gotham, Greg Maddux is being shopped. Interested parties: Mets, Yankees, Brewers, Phillies, Diamondbacks, Royals, and Cardinals.
The Cubs would essentially be reducing their rotation to "Carlos Zambrano and pray for a tornado," but Maddux is an impending free agent. My opinion from a couple of weeks ago: he’s the same old Mad Dog, just with a well-timed hot streak. Still, dealing him now would be a very early white flag for a Cubs team with a $94MM payroll. Doesn’t seem to compute. And the obligatory intradivision thing must be cited for the Brewers and Cards. I am surprised no West Coast teams have been mentioned.
Carlos Lee To Cubs Deal Imminent
MLBTradeRumors has learned of a blockbuster deal that is expected to go down by the end of the day. Talks between Jim Hendry and Doug Melvin are in advanced stages of a rare interdivision trade.
The Cubs will send Matt Murton, Rich Hill, and Angel Guzman to the Brewers for slugger Carlos Lee. Lee will be a free agent after the 2006 season, and the Cubs intend to lock him up after finishing the Derrek Lee deal. According to my source, the Brewers view Lee’s impending free agency as a distraction and desperately want to shed his $8.5MM salary.
Lee is expected to bat fourth between the other Lee, Derek, and Aramis Ramirez.
What do you think? Did the Cubs overpay to get the other Lee?
Carlos Lee Trade Possibilities
There are all sorts of reasons to expect Carlos Lee to get traded sometime between now and the July deadline.
1. He’s an impending free agent making $8.5MM.
2. Doug Melvin is a savvy GM, and knows when to sell high (see Dan Kolb).
3. The Brewers have an able replacement left fielder in Corey Hart, who is projected by PECOTA to hit .272/.337/.475 in 2006. Lee is projected by the same system to hit .282/.347/.506. Accepting that difference in production would allow Melvin to net a top prospect or two.
4. Lee may be overrated in some circles because of his 114 RBIs. According to VORP (Value Over Replacement Player), Lee was worse offensively in 2005 than guys like Emil Brown and Raul Ibanez.
The Brewers will have plenty of trade partners for Lee. Phil Rogers mentions both the White Sox and Cubs by name. Here’s my own analysis of the possibilities.
Red Sox – If the Sox end up trading Manny for young players, Lee could fill the power void with 35 HR.
Blue Jays – Ricciardi dealt amicably with Melvin for Lyle Overbay, and the Jays don’t have much going on in LF. If they’re hovering near contention in July it makes a ton of sense.
White Sox – I don’t see it. They didn’t part on the best of terms, and the Sox have good outfield depth. I’m for any move that relegates Podsednik to the bench, but I don’t think reacquiring Lee would be the first choice.
Angels – It would involve shuffling outfielders around, but Lee would be a more reasonable addition than Manny. Maybe the Halos would consider dealing Dallas McPherson for him.
Braves – The Braves have definitely dealt for big-name sluggers in the past as opposed to acquiring them via free agency. J.D. Drew, Gary Sheffield, and Fred McGriff come to mind. They have the stacked minor league system to get it done.
Cubs – Both clubs might be contending in the Central division, so it makes a trade less likely. Back in January, though, Sun-Times writer Greg Couch proposed the Cubs try to entice the Brewers with both Felix Pie and Rich Hill.
Cardinals – They have the need, but the same division thing would have to prevent a trade.
My ranking of the most likely suitors: Blue Jays, Braves, Angels, Cubs. I’d like to see your thoughts in the comments.
Brewers Acquire Corey Koskie
The Miami Herald and WTMJ in Milwaukee are reporting that Brewers GM Doug Melvin has swooped in and acquired third baseman Corey Koskie. To get him, they sent righthanded reliever Brian Wolfe to Toronto. Wolfe is a 25 year-old career minor leaguer with little chance of ever seeing the big leagues. This was a salary dump, as Koskie is owed $5.25MM in 2006 and $5.75MM in 2007. His $6.5MM 2008 option can be bought out for $500,000. However, the option becomes guaranteed if Koskie gets at least 796 plate appearances over the next two seasons.
Koskie will be entering his age 33 season with a career line of .277/.369/.455. He’s averaged just 115 games over the last three seasons. His latest injury was a broken thumb with ligament damage. If the Jays are throwing in some cash, it’s another smart acquisition by Doug Melvin. Koskie’s not terribly expensive, and if the Brewers can keep him on the field they’ll get decent on-base skills and 20-25 HR. The move rightly puts Bill Hall back into more of a utility role, although he’ll start at third with southpaws on the mound. The platoon could easily result in Milwaukee getting 30 HR out of the third base spot in ’06.
RotoWorld speculates that righty masher 3B/1B/OF Russell Branyan could be traded. Which club would benefit from his services? The Twins, Phillies, and Indians would be good fits.