Trade rumors surrounding the Cubs this offseason have been mostly nonexistent. Sure, they’ve signed some free agent pitchers, but we want trades! Unfortunately, this one sounds like it’s not going to happen.
The Phillies, interested in a right-handed batter to hit behind cleanup man Ryan Howard, talked to the Cubs about a swap of Domonic Brown for Alfonso Soriano but may still be slightly more inclined to sign a free agent, such as Cody Ross or perhaps even Josh Hamilton.
Phillies people are said to be split over how hard to try for Soriano, who had 32 home runs, 108 RBI and a .262 batting average with vastly improved outfield defense.
(snip)
The Cubs are believed willing to pay all but $10 million of the $36 million remaining on Soriano’s deal if they can receive good prospects back. The Cubs are all about gathering assets for the future.
With Soriano’s production last season, 2/$10MM seems like a steal, no? Another place that would seem to make sense for the Fonz is Houston, which is heading to the AL and needs a DH.
The Cubs previously shopped Alfonso Soriano to the Astros as a possible DH, but Houston doesn’t have enough money even with Chicago picking up the bulk of what is owed to him, tweets Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com.
Really? Houston doesn’t have $5MM a year to pay a DH? It looks like their top salary commitment for 2013 is Jed Lowrie at $1.15MM. How can they not afford Soriano?
Meanwhile, Matt Garza and Ian Stewart are sharing rehab updates on twitter.
The offseason is going well for Matt Garza and Ian Stewart. Garza, shut down after 18 starts because of an elbow problem, started throwing on Monday, and happily announced his progress. The Cubs pitcher tweeted: “1st day throwing the baseball! Felt great, #keepitslow! Looking forward to day#2 #GoCubsGo”
Meanwhile, Stewart is taking his offseason workouts to another level. He’s working this week with Hall of Famer Rod Carew, and tweeted on Monday: “Wrist is good, no pain when I swing.”
I think the Cubs are getting a bargain for Stewart at $2MM plus incentives if he’s going to be the next Rod Carew.
I know it seems silly to think the Astros don’t have the cash for Soriano, but if you look at the financing that was done so Jim Crane could buy the team…along with the reduction in ticket prices, parking, and continued drop in attendance…it might take a few years before the Astros can get their feet back underneath them. They are probably better off just letting their pitchers continue to hit this year.
Its gonna be a long long lonnnnnng road for the Astros. New ownership and a move to one of hardest divisions in baseball is a recipe for disaster. Actually come to think about it they will still probably compete before we do.
Soriano isn’t going anywhere.
Yes he is. He’s going to Mesa.
well, obviously.
He’s going directly to LF and our cleanup spot. That’s where he’s going.
Wow…Ian Stewart tweeted without bashing other twitter users or using a homophobic slur. Impressive.
IIRC there is no one on Houston’s roster above the age of 29
That’s age discrimination. When if the players union going to step in?
Happy Shawon Dunston Day!
Okay, I give up. Why?
12-12-12
Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!1
They were celebrating Aaron Rogers Day up here in Wisconsin…so the best thing I could come up with was Shawon Dunston day.
That gossiping woman on the right is kinda freaking me out with her sky blue eyes.
I think she’s kind of cute. I wonder if she’s married?
You could change the headline to “I Heard A Rumor” and then use a gif of Bananarama. Less scary graphic…
I think Wilma Flintstone may be the sexiest woman ever.
I would go with Betty, but I’d be thinking about Wilma.
No Red Dwarf fans here then?
Yes. But I wasn’t going to geek out in front of everyone.
Tick tock………….tick tock……tick tock………..tick tock……..I swear for every minute that passes on the clock I’m watching….it rolls backwards two.
Oy. . work is killing me today. Did we trade Soriano yet?
Will trading Soriano make your work stop killing you?
It’s possible.
We have a new Cub…
Sandy Rosario.
I think he might be related to Sandy Duncan.
The Cubs are signing a Korean pitcher coming off his second TJS. Sounds about right.
And, on top of that, he isn’t expected to pitch until 2014 and he’s like 130 years old.