Good morning Cubs fans, hope everyone is off to a great weekend as we gear up for next week with Christmas and all. I found a pretty interesting rumor this morning while ready newspapers and other blogs that will probably get a lot of you thinking if it could possiblly work.
Could Adam Dunn be a Chicago Cub?
Dave Kaplan reported on Thursday night that Adam Dunn is telling people if the Cubs will have him, that’s where he wants to play. So Dunn wants to play 81 games in Wrigley where he would probably break a few windows during BP but do the Cubs really want him? Can you imagine how terrible the defense would be in the outfield? Dunn is worse then Soriano in the outfield and I really want no part in that. How many times has Dunn messed up out in the outfield when he was playing against the Cubs? I dont want any part of that.
The offensive numbers would be great even though he strikeouts quite a bit. However he always draws a lot of walks to bring his OBP up but I still don’t think his offense makes up for his terrible defense. Dunn has came out and said he does not want to switch positions (moving to first base) and that is one reason why not very many teams are that interested in him during this offseason.
In the end, I don’t think Dunn will be a Cub.
Mr. I can jump over cars is the newest Cubs player. That guy is Joey Gathright. The contract is for one year and only $800,000 so it isn’t going to hurt their chances of signing a power hitting left fielder like they still hope to. Gathright is probably more famous for being able to jump over cars then his baseball play in my opinon. I’m not sure what he can do for the Cubs that Felix Pie cannot do.
Piniella wanted a speed guy that he could use in double switches, pitch running, and pitch hitting opportunities. I sure wouldn’t send Gathright up there as a pitch hitter however.
He was non-tendered by the Kansas City Royals on Friday after batting .254 in 105 games this past season with no homers and 22 RBIs.
As for Pie, who knows that the Cubs plan on doing with him now. He is out of options so will not be send back down the minor leagues as he won’t clear waivers. I expect Pie to be traded this off season yet. He could be included in a deal with Jason Marquis if they Cubs want to get creative with their right field acquisition.
Sorry for the lack of updates over the weekend, I was out of town at my mothers and then had to drive through a snow storm on the way home this morning. Don’t you just love -30 wind chills?! Holy cow is it cold.
Anyways, the Cubs signed some players over the weekend. Yeah it wasn’t the transaction that most fans wanted (Jake Peavy), but the team did resign some key players. Chad Gaudin, Reed Johnson and Neal Cotts all signed one year deals to avoid salary arbitration.
The team also announced that it would tender contracts to its three- to six-year players eligible for arbitration. That group includes shortstop Ronny Cedeno and relievers Michael Wuertz and Kevin Gregg.
I thought that the team might not tender a contract to Cedeno but they still need to keep him on the roster just incase a middle infielder is traded this off season. It could still be Cedeno, but we have also heard of Mike Fontenot being moved in a deal.
I also look for the Cubs to be the leader in the Milton Bradley running. Bradley would fit in nicely in right field. He doesn’t play the best defense but he isn’t terrible either. Hopefully we can see something happen with that this week.
All blogger about Jake Peavy going to the Chicago Cubs appear to be wasted thoughts as Padres GM Kevin Towers told reporters this morning that “It doesn’t look like anything is going to happen with the Cubs.”
Cubs general manager Jim Hendry backed out and decided to walk away after telling Towers that he had other things going on. Why in the heck is a left handed outfielder more important then Peavy I have to wonder? Was Hendry just playing his cards close hoping that Towers would give in?
I really wonder how close this deal was to happening and if it would have got done had Towers gave Hendry more time.
