Rosenthal's wild idea: Could Cubs get in on 3-team deal? PLUS: cheap starters?

A Saturdaydream...

Rosenthal speculates that the Phillies would rather have Halladay than Cliff Lee, since Halladay would be willing to sign a long-term deal now. He proposes the Phillies would need to involve a third team since the Jays would want younger players, not Lee.

So, how about a deal like this?
Cliff Lee to the Cubs, Sean Marshall, Jay Jackson and Ryan Flaherty to the Jays, Halladay to the Phillies.

Yes, I'm saying the Cubs could put together a package of players that could get Halladay. The point is Halladay wouldn't sign long-term with the Cubs, but would with the Phillies, so we turn that same package into Lee.

Maybe the package would include a few different players, but I don't think you'd have to give up any of the top few prospects in such a deal.

about 2 years ago cubzfan 45 comments 0 recs |

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I doubt you do that deal without including Vitters.

Which I’d probably do.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Dec 12, 2009 12:29 PM CST reply actions

Yeah, add Vitters

And that would sweeten the deal.

What about adding Cashner to it? Would you do it?

A LO PROFUNDOOO...NOO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NOO...DIGANLE QUE NO A ESA PELOTA!! GANAN LOS CACHORROS DE CHICAGO!!

by Azul Cachorro on Dec 12, 2009 12:32 PM CST up reply actions

Probably.

But you’d have to get rid of MB first, to be able to afford Lee.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Dec 12, 2009 12:59 PM CST up reply actions

That's a given

Before the Cubs attempt any blockbuster deals, they gotta trade MB away.

I’m hoping Mr. Ricketts is willing to raise the payroll to accommodate any other deals, not to mention eating most of MB’s contract.

A LO PROFUNDOOO...NOO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NOO...DIGANLE QUE NO A ESA PELOTA!! GANAN LOS CACHORROS DE CHICAGO!!

by Azul Cachorro on Dec 12, 2009 1:26 PM CST up reply actions

Based on estimates I've read....

… the increase in ticket prices would support a payroll of (approximately) $154 million.

That’s about $10m more than we’ve been led to believe it’s going to be. So — where’s the extra money going?

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Dec 12, 2009 1:52 PM CST up reply actions

Possibly

The “Trade Away MB/Get Curtis Granderson from Yankees Fund”? =P

Well, here’s hoping Mr. Ricketts puts it to good use

A LO PROFUNDOOO...NOO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NOO...DIGANLE QUE NO A ESA PELOTA!! GANAN LOS CACHORROS DE CHICAGO!!

by Azul Cachorro on Dec 12, 2009 2:06 PM CST up reply actions

No, that's the...

… “Trade Away MB/Get ANYONE Fund”

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Dec 12, 2009 2:13 PM CST up reply actions

am ld

This Chicago Cubs team is currently Aaron free. Keep it that way, please.

by jesus christos on Dec 12, 2009 2:17 PM CST up reply actions

G_TI_DEM!

by DMCub on Dec 12, 2009 2:38 PM CST up reply actions

Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Halley-eh-ooh-jah!

Ad maiorem Dei gloriam!

by CubsWin!Oregon on Dec 12, 2009 2:42 PM CST up reply actions

can we clone him?

baseball is a game of outs......pop out, ground out, line out, pitch out, strike out, fly out, and Fox and Bud's favorite black out

by Cubbie-Tim on Dec 13, 2009 2:06 PM CST up reply actions

If every deal to improve the team involves "deal with MB first" they won't get any done

And the offseason will be a total bust. Someone has to stop the MB obsession – they’ll deal him when they deal him, but improving the team they will acutally field in 2010 should be a higher priority.

by ClarkFan on Dec 12, 2009 8:21 PM CST up reply actions

Thats assuming...

…the Cubs won’t be paying for Bradley not to be here, which is a big assumption.

I don’t see the Cubs acquiring anyone who makes big money for 2010, period.

"I don't like them fellas that drive in two runs but let in three" Casey Stengel

by MPH73 on Dec 12, 2009 9:24 PM CST up reply actions

Define "big money".

If they sign Mike Cameron, they may have to pay him $10m. Is that “big money”?

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Dec 13, 2009 8:51 AM CST up reply actions

It will be...

…if they can’t clear enouph off of the books, and is why they can’t do anything with Cameron with Bradley still up in the air.

"I don't like them fellas that drive in two runs but let in three" Casey Stengel

by MPH73 on Dec 13, 2009 10:27 AM CST up reply actions

Why?

There’s about a 1% chance the Cubs are shedding any 2010 salary from any trade of MB. Heck, they’ll be lucky if they get rid of any 2011 money.

I can certainly buy that the Cubs don’t/won’t have the 2010 payroll flexibility to add Cliff Lee… but it wouldn’t seem to have anything to do with Bradley.

by fsuapollo on Dec 13, 2009 3:39 PM CST up reply actions

If we had to give up just those guys and maybe vitters,

I would do it in a heartbeat. Throw in [name redacted] while your at it. I don’t care is he goes to Toronto or Philly. Just get him out of here.

Milton is our quarterback.

by Ryno Runner on Dec 12, 2009 12:38 PM CST reply actions

If you look at who the Phillies dealt for Lee mid-season

There were none of Philadelphia’s top prospects, just four mid-range guys. I tried to come up with a comparable package, given that now you get only 1 year of Lee, not 1.5 years, as the Phillies did. Toronto may be more interested in one or two top prospects rather than four decent prospects, but then you make the switch to Vitters or Cashner, as others have suggested. Or, you include Wells instead of Marshall.

Fontenot (fon-te-no): Cajun for "scrappy"

by cubzfan on Dec 12, 2009 2:32 PM CST reply actions

Except

Lee may have raised his stock in that half season, and the Phillies aren’t going to cut us a deal just because they got one. My guess is we’d need to provide a package very similar to the one they did last year.

by madcow256 on Dec 13, 2009 1:41 PM CST up reply actions

Let me just add to this discussion a list of available starters

Eric Bedard
Tom Glavine
Randy Johnson
Mark Mulder
Brett Myers
Ben Sheets
Chin-Ming Wang (non-tendered by the Yankees today)

Which, if any, should the Cubs be interested in?
Whose signing will set the market price for the others?

Fontenot (fon-te-no): Cajun for "scrappy"

by cubzfan on Dec 12, 2009 2:39 PM CST reply actions

I'd consider Bedard if he's been given a clean bill of health

and Wang, under the same restrictions

I guess I'm just a worrier, that's why my friends call me whiskers

by Nunyabidness on Dec 12, 2009 4:08 PM CST up reply actions

My first response to the list is "none of them"

Maybe Sheets if he is healthy, and would take an incentive-driven deal. Wang just lost two seasons – I wouldn’t want to be the team wagering that changes.

by ClarkFan on Dec 12, 2009 8:24 PM CST up reply actions

Sheets is asking for waaaay too much money

For a guy who didn’t pitch last year and had major surgery on his pitching arm and has injury histories. No thanks unless the price tag drops

"If I were playing third base and my mother were rounding third with the run that was going to beat us, I'd trip her. Oh, I'd pick her up and brush her off and say, 'Sorry, Mom,' but nobody beats me." ~ Leo Durocher

by Musicdude10 on Dec 14, 2009 11:18 AM CST up reply actions

The Cubs have been connected to Sheets.

Basically, you hope the Cubs do diligence on all the under-40 guys and if someone looks healthy enough, you start talking about incentive deals.

"We’re going to come back here next year healthy and do what we’re supposed to do, and we’re going to be all right. That’s not Hendry’s fault. He thought it was the right move. It didn’t work out. But at the same time, he’s the same guy that put back-to-back championship teams together." - Aramis Ramirez

by DGU on Dec 12, 2009 8:28 PM CST up reply actions

Bedard and Johnson

why not?

baseball is a game of outs......pop out, ground out, line out, pitch out, strike out, fly out, and Fox and Bud's favorite black out

by Cubbie-Tim on Dec 13, 2009 2:08 PM CST up reply actions

No chance the Cubs have the cash to afford Eric Bedard

Randy Johnson is going to retire…Tom Glavine should have retired two years ago…Myers is a wife-beater…Wang is damaged goods….Mulder is damaged goods

The only name semi-interesting is Ben Sheets. But it sounds like he has his heart set out on pitching for Texas or Houston.

The Blackhawks and the Stanley Cup in 2010.

by BLou on Dec 13, 2009 3:23 PM CST up reply actions

The Angels have offered Aybar and Saunders

So I don’t see Toronto taking this offer.

SORIANO! YESSSSSSSS! JIMBO!!!

by CubFaninCA on Dec 12, 2009 2:54 PM CST via mobile reply actions

Has that been confirmed, or was it just a rumor?

Not questioning you, just interested.

Fontenot (fon-te-no): Cajun for "scrappy"

by cubzfan on Dec 12, 2009 4:14 PM CST up reply actions

But wouldn't....

the cubs get a discount of sorts. In this case for keeping both pitchers out of the AL.

by Mothershipwit on Dec 12, 2009 7:46 PM CST via mobile up reply actions

The Phillies can anyone they want for Lee.....

by JB 23 on Dec 12, 2009 5:38 PM CST reply actions

I would do that deal

Lee or Halladay would be perfect, I would include Vitters in a heartbeat.
I would take a flyer on Sheets.

Please just get rid of Milton, have Hendry work for 20 thousand next year.

by Grockcubs on Dec 12, 2009 9:15 PM CST reply actions

Lee-Zambrano-Halladay

This would make me berry, berry happy. Baseball would be berry, berry good to me.

Randy Wells. A product of the Roy Halladay School of Pitching, located in Toronto, Canada. Possible relocation.

by Cub Style on Dec 13, 2009 12:38 PM CST reply actions

Roy Halladay is headed to the Yankees

That’s just my opinion. Yankees are prepared to offer Phillip Hughes and Jesus Montero, which is a deal that Philadelphia cannot surpass if they are hellbent not to include Kyle Drabek.

The Blackhawks and the Stanley Cup in 2010.

by BLou on Dec 13, 2009 3:21 PM CST reply actions

If I'm the Yankees

I make that trade in a second, with an extension or not.

by Pat19 on Dec 13, 2009 3:30 PM CST up reply actions

And if they don't get Halladay, then...

…they seem poised to outbid the Angels to acquire John Lackey. And the funny thing is their payroll will still go down 2010 versus 2009 with the loss of Hideki Matsui, Chin Meing Wang, Kei Igawa, Brian Bruney.

This is why the Yankees have 27 World Series Championships. They do everything right. They scout, select and develop players right. They make good trades (e.g. Curtis Granderson). And they use free agency better than any team in baseball. It is wrong and ignorant to say the Yankees buy championships. They do EVERYTHING that goes into winning. Without developing Austin Jackson, then they can’t swing a deal for Granderson. Without developing Hughes and Montero, then they can’t be in the bidding for Halladay.

The Blackhawks and the Stanley Cup in 2010.

by BLou on Dec 13, 2009 3:54 PM CST reply actions 1 recs

What an original and creative idea you have there, blou

This Chicago Cubs team is currently Aaron free. Keep it that way, please.

by jesus christos on Dec 13, 2009 4:13 PM CST up reply actions

Rudy, is that you?

Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."

by ballhawk on Dec 13, 2009 4:21 PM CST up reply actions

"Winning is KING!"

"I have the time and hatred but not the knowledge." ~Madison Cub Fan (Aug. 25, 2009)

by Goodie1969 on Dec 13, 2009 4:51 PM CST up reply actions

Agree to a point

but don’t forget their huge financial payroll helps them overcome their bad mistakes like Carl Pavano with missing a step. Not many teams can essentially write-off a huge mistake as if it didn’t happen.

by rlpete on Dec 13, 2009 8:05 PM CST up reply actions

Even with all their spending...

…the biggest reason the Yankees have won a bunch of WS in the last 10-12 years is because of key players they developed internally.

"I don't like them fellas that drive in two runs but let in three" Casey Stengel

by MPH73 on Dec 14, 2009 11:29 AM CST up reply actions

I agree with you

but their financial advantage plays into it as well. It is no surprise that the original poster ignored that fact.

by rlpete on Dec 14, 2009 11:50 AM CST up reply actions

Don't disagree...

…but I will add, if you want to win over an extended period of time, you have to develop good position players internally.

"I don't like them fellas that drive in two runs but let in three" Casey Stengel

by MPH73 on Dec 14, 2009 1:18 PM CST up reply actions

This is mighty ironic -

Why not complain about the mistakes of adding a CF who can’t play CF, the utter misery of Pavano-Wright, the overpaying of A.J. Burnett who’s not as good as Ryan Dempster, the bidding against himself for A-Rod, the failure to develop Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes, the joke of a rebuttal to Daisuke in Igawa, and on we could go.

by DGU on Dec 13, 2009 8:41 PM CST up reply actions