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Rich Hill

Odds & Ends: Hill, Lowe, Renteria

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Some musings from the central divisions:

  • In this piece by Gordon Wittenmyer covering Carlos Zambrano’s shoulder strain, the Cubs may be forced to shut down Rich Hill.  Hill failed to get through the first inning for Triple-A Iowa start on Friday, recording 2 outs while giving up 6 ER and 4 BB, and the Cubs simply want to give him an extended mental break.  This may turn up the flames even further on the Cubs pursuit of a front line starter.
  • For what it’s worth, Jon Paul Morosi of the Detroit Free Press says Derek Lowe is unlikely to become a Tiger this season.
  • Will another AL club give up on Edgar Renteria after a year?  In another piece, Morosi thinks Renteria could wind up staying with Detroit despite his $11MM club option and his batting average dropping over .060 points. Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski and Manager Jim Leyland both speak favorably of Renteria as a player and as a guy in the clubhouse. Still, possible free agent replacements do exist so this is worth monitoring.

By Nat Boyle

Crisp-Cubs Chatter Debunked

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THURSDAY: Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times talked to a Cubs insider who says the team has had no talks with Boston about Crisp since spring training.  By the way – Crisp recently strained a muscle in his hand, but it’s not considered serious.

WEDNESDAY: It’s been suggested that trade showcasing is a misconception.  Nonetheless, Cubs beat writer Paul Sullivan believes they may be doing just that with Matt Murton right now.  Murton was hitting .298/.397/.382 in Triple A, showing much less power than he had in the Majors.  He did pick it up to a .495 SLG in May though.  He has a chance to play left field regularly for the Cubs with Alfonso Soriano out.

Sullivan says the Cubs sent Special Assistant to the GM Ken Kravec to scout the Red Sox recently, perhaps with an eye on Coco Crisp.  He says the Cubs might be willing to trade Boston native Rich Hill in a deal.  Center field does not seem an immediate concern for the Cubs, as Jim Edmonds is hitting .309/.351/.515 in 68 plate appearances for them.

Angelos Killed 7-For-2 Bedard/Roberts Deal With Cubs?

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UPDATE, 1-20-08 at 9:25am: Jim Hendry called the 7-for-2 report "not accurate."  So three sources have weighed in on this Angelos-killed deal and two indicate that it is not to be believed.  Meanwhile Roch Kubatko says that "it now appears the Cubs would be willing to part with Rich Hill" if they could get Roberts and Bedard.  But the Orioles still don’t want to package the two. 

FROM 1-19-08 at 11:42am:

Eye-opening rumor from Gordon Wittenmyer of the Sun-Times today.  His Cubs source says Orioles owner Peter Angelos nixed a 7-for-2 blockbuster that would’ve netted the Cubs Brian Roberts and Erik Bedard (presumably for the Cubs’ entire farm system).  However, Wittenmyer also talked to an Orioles source who said there was no such deal on the table.

Seems a Roberts acquisition for the Cubs is becoming less likely.  The focus may have shifted to Marlon Byrd.  I wonder if the best thing for Felix Pie’s development would be to just let him play every day and bat eighth, without bringing in veteran competition.

Wittenmyer says the Orioles plan to shop Roberts and Bedard through month’s end and would prefer not to package them together.

Brian Roberts Cubs Rumors

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UPDATE, 1-9-08 at 6:06pm: WGN Radio’s Dave Kaplan checked in on this situation on his blog.  He has "great sources" saying the price for Roberts is much higher than was previously reported.  The Orioles want Rich Hill, Felix Pie, or Tyler Colvin.  Hill is known to be off-limits.

UPDATE, 1-9-08 at 10:58am: Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune believes this deal "is almost certainly going to happen."  He expects it to be for the same players Orioles Hangout mentioned.  However, an Orioles official contacted Orioles Hangout to tell them their report was inaccurate.

UPDATE, 1-9-08 at 9:22am: Roch Kubatko (via a team spokesman) and Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun talked to Andy MacPhail and report that nothing has changed since last night on the Roberts talks and no deal is done.

FROM 1-9-08 at 7:53am:

Orioles Hangout is reporting that the trade of Brian Roberts to the Cubs is final.  They’re saying it’s for Sean Gallagher, Sean Marshall, and Ronny Cedeno.  I’ll update the post as info comes along.

Cubs Aggressively Pursuing Brian Roberts

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UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 10:58pm: The Baltimore Sun guys have more.  The Cubs have a significant offer on the table, and it may include Gallagher and Matt Murton (but not Hill or Pie).  The Cubs will have to do better than just Gallagher and Murton, I imagine.  According to Jayson Stark, the Cubs would have to be blown away to trade Hill or Pie.

UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 10:03pm: ESPN Radio 1000’s Bruce Levine checks in to add that Ronny Cedeno would likely be involved in a Roberts deal.

UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 9:39pm: ESPN’s Amy Nelson says Hill is not part of the Roberts talks.  Marshall, Gallagher, Felix Pie, and Donald Veal may be in the mix though.

UPDATE, 12-5-07 at 8:17pm: ESPN’s Steve Phillips says the Orioles "would get Rich Hill and Sean Marshall" for Roberts.  Not sure if that means the Cubs offered it.  Seems like a lot, but I am an unabashed Rich Hill fan.

FROM 12-5-07 at 5:31pm:

Dan Connolly and Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun are reporting that the Cubs are aggressively pursuing the Orioles’ Brian Roberts.

A three player deal is on the table, so I assume the Cubs would send two players over.  It’s known that they’d send a starting pitcher, but we don’t have names yet.  The authors note that the Orioles have been fond of Rich Hill and Sean Gallagher in the past.  Keep in mind that a trade of Roberts would require Peter Angelos’ approval.  Per Zrebiec, Angelos would have to be "totally overwhelmed" with an offer.

The authors also note that the Orioles have talked to Tadahito Iguchi’s agent in anticipation of a possible Roberts trade.  The Padres and Dodgers would join the Orioles as his top three choices.

Cafardo’s Latest: Crawford, Haren

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The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo has a new colum up this morning; let’s check it out.

  • The Carl Crawford/Cubs thing won’t die.  Cafardo says the Cubs are after him, possibly offering a package starting with Rich Hill and Carlos Marmol.  This rumor originated with Bruce Levine a few days ago, though Roger Mooney dismissed it yesterday.
  • While the Red Sox have discussed Miguel Cabrera with the Marlins, Cafardo believes they might instead be eyeing a blockbuster for Johan Santana or Dan Haren.  As if the Red Sox need more pitching.

Crawford To Cubs Rumor Shot Down

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ESPN 1000’s Bruce Levine suggested yesterday that the Cubs were preparing an offer for Carl Crawford.  However, team officials told Roger Mooney today that there’s nothing brewing.  Apparently the rumor was Rich Hill, Eric Patterson, and a prospect for Crawford.  That doesn’t seem sufficient anyway.  There was even some talk of a three-way deal involving the Brewers and Yankees, which was from Gotham Baseball.  According to Mooney, none of it is for real.  You be the judge.

In other Rays news, they picked up Al Reyes’ $2.3MM option and passed on Greg Norton at $1MM.  No surprises there. UPDATE: Reyes actually has a $1MM base salary plus $1.3MM in incentives.

Williamson Surfaces In Trade Talks

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Mike Kiley of the Sun-Times notes that "Other teams are highly interested in Scott Williamson, as they have been all winter in trade talks with general manager Jim Hendry."  In a separate article, Kiley quotes Jim Hendry saying that Matt Murton, Ronny Cedeno, and Rich Hill have been highly sought after as well.

Hill came up in talks for Barry Zito and a possible Miguel Tejada deal.  As a 26 year-old, Hill is far past prospect status.  Despite pitching college ball as late as 2002, he didn’t pitch above A ball until 2005.  Ridiculously high strikeout totals have been negated by massive walk totals.  Hill finally got the walks down to an acceptable level in the minors in 2005.  If his success continues in Iowa, it’s likely he’s dealt before the All-Star break.

Cedeno was mentioned in talks for Brad Wilkerson, but that was before the Dodgers signed Rafael Furcal.  Missing out on him has taken away one of the Cubs’ best trading chips, as they’re now forced to rely on Cedeno as their starting shortstop.  Concern has been expressed over Cedeno’s hitting prior to 2005, but he may have turned a corner at age 22.  He kept his contact rate near 90% and may be able to couple a .290 average with good defense.  At this point, trading Cedeno makes very little sense.

Murton should be fairly expendable, as he may not project to hit for enough power to play left field regularly.  He’s a 24 year-old with a sweet swing and a good eye.  The average National League left fielder hit .272/.348/.457 last year, and PECOTA projects Murton at .278/.339/.411 for 2006.  Sure, there’s room for growth, but the Cubs probably can’t wait around for it with below average production at a power position.  You might think of him as Rondell White without the health issues.  He’s better suited for a developing team like the Pirates or Royals.

Williamson does fit the win now mentality, and he’s probably the one Cubs reliever with the potential to dominate.  I would keep him around as closer insurance and not worry about having too many setup men.  At $2MM something like his 2002 season would be spectacular (2.92 ERA in 74 innings).  I can’t see how the Cubs would get a more useful player in return unless perhaps it was to bolster their bench.

Cubs Still Discussing Zito, Tejada

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Just got off the phone with Dave Kaplan, host of Sports Central on WGN Radio 720 out of Chicago.  He gave me the latest on where the Cubs stand with Barry Zito. 

Billy Beane is not sure whether he’ll deal Zito now or in July.  However, the teams have had discussions recently, and the A’s like the Cubs’ farm system quite a bit.  A deal for several of the Cubs’ young arms is a distinct possibility.  The A’s aren’t looking for Matt Murton in the trade, but rather pitchers like Rich Hill, Angel Guzman, and Sean Marshall.  There’s been plenty of debate on this site about Rich Hill’s future in the Major Leagues, but it’s a fact that many teams absolutely love him and are trying to pry him away from the Cubs.  Hill has a ton of trade value.  Anyway, sit tight on the Zito idea; nothing’s going down today.

Kaplan also mentioned that the Tejada trade is "not dead" for the Cubs.  I don’t know which names are currently being tossed around, but rest assured the Cubs still have a chance at acquiring him. 

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