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Cubs interested in Gavin?


southsider2k5

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QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Aug 24, 2011 -> 07:18 PM)
If they are interested in waiver type trades then maybe they should float Peavy out there. Floyd, Danks, Buerhle, et al can still produce for the Sox in 2012 and beyond

I'm sure that they have. Gavin's just the only one to have been claimed.

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QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Aug 24, 2011 -> 06:42 PM)
Well, obviously Danks, Sale and Santos wouldn't make it very far.

 

Actually the opposite happens in those cases. No one claims them because they know there isn't a chance in hell they get traded, so they use their claims on players who have a real chance at being dealt.

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http://www.csnchicago.com/08/24/11/Waiver-...23738898733-915

 

By Brett Ballantini

CSNChicago.com White Sox Insider

 

ANAHEIM - It is reaching full-on insanity with regard to the waiver trade season, as teams plop some of their most enticing (and/or expensive) talent on waivers in order to gauge interest and possibly offload salary or age to teams in the hunt.

Just Wednesday brought reports that the Chicago Cubs were weighing a claim of Gavin Floyd (!) as well as the White Sox's own hush-hush claim of Minnesota Twins slugger Jim Thome. John Danks, Paul Konerko and Matt Thornton were among other White Sox floated on waivers today, according to CBSSports.com.

 

First of all, let's clear up the notion that Floyd is going anywhere. He signed a multi-year deal at low cost and continues to pitch at a level above the value of that contract. The trade rumors sending him to the Colorado Rockies over the winter, and any thought that the Cubs would not only claim Floyd but broker a crosstown swap with the Sox, is foolhardy.

 

The inscrutability of revocable waiver rules, always challenging for writers and fans, even confound the most active baseball minds.

 

"I spent all morning trying to figure out how [the waiver wire] works," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said with a smile. "I’ve been in this game for 23 years and can’t figure it out. How did they explain it to me, the team with the worst record has the chance to pick first? That’s too complicated for me. Everybody is on waivers [or] it seems like everyone. Every team put people out there and see who likes them, who doesn’t. That’s [hard to] understand, who they will pick and who they will not pick. I try to stay away from that."

 

Catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who maintains a strong presence in the clubhouse and doesn't hesitate to make his feelings known about personnel, good or bad, has other things on his mind these days, as he recovers from a broken wrist.

 

"I haven’t even--I have so many other things going on, I don’t even pay attention to it," he said. "You can’t worry about stuff outside of here. You don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what Kenny and Rick Hahn are trying to do. Right now we have these 25 guys to worry about, and you try to play as well as you can and do all you can with these guys, and hopefully it works out."

 

As is his custom, Guillen also is focused on his roster of active players--not a strange occurrence for a guy who claims that rehabbing players out of town are put out of his mind.

 

"As long as my name is not on waivers, that’s all I care about," Ozzie joked. "You have to deal with it. That’s Kenny and Rick. I got a phone call early in the morning from a friend asking if we’re going to have Thome back. I don’t know anything about it … Two years ago, we [claimed Alex] Rios. I really don’t understand all of it. Major League Baseball keeps it quiet. The names are out there, but they’re going to go through the process. All that stuff is too much for me."

 

Brett Ballantini is CSNChicago.com's White Sox Insider. Follow him @CSNChi_Beatnik on Twitter for up-to-the-minute Sox information.

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QUOTE (jwmann2 @ Aug 26, 2011 -> 12:35 AM)
Are the Cubs going to start acting like a franchise now that Mckendry is gone? They will likely free up some money by giving zambrano the axe. Got a weird feeling that Pujols could end up a Cub next season too.

 

It was Hendry, and I am PRETTY certain the Cubs will end up with either Pujols or Fielder next year. They have lots of money freed up, can spend tons of a money, need a 1B, need to show the fans they still care about winning, and most of the other big players (Yankees, Red Sox) have 1B locked down already.

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QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Aug 26, 2011 -> 12:45 AM)
It was Hendry, and I am PRETTY certain the Cubs will end up with either Pujols or Fielder next year. They have lots of money freed up, can spend tons of a money, need a 1B, need to show the fans they still care about winning, and most of the other big players (Yankees, Red Sox) have 1B locked down already.

 

They really don't have that much money coming off the books. Ramirez is a big number coming off the books, but they owe several players raises either through arbitration or their contracts. If they are lucky, they'll be able to convince some other team to take on Zambrano for $5 mill.

 

Including Zambrano on their payroll still - even though he will be gone - my rough estimate only has them freeing up about $8.5 mill, and that's not including the $5 mill they owe to Carlos Pena in January. They are bleeding money right now and Ricketts emphasized them building from within because they can't afford to make outlandish free agent offers any longer.

 

I think there is about a 1% chance that Pujols or Fielder end up in Chicago.

 

Off topic, but the darkhorse team that I believe has the best shot at ending up with Pujols or Fielder is Toronto. Since 2008, they've cut their payroll by nearly $30 million, and if fixed for inflation, is probably a cost reduction of the value of more than $30 million. They are an organization with a lot of young pieces in place for the coming years and they have shown the propensity to spend money before. If they could get either of those two for roughly $20-24 million a year, it may be worth the risk. It's simply a matter of whether they believe going down that road would be the right thing to do. Having seen the ramifications of free agent busts around the league - mostly pointing at the Sox here - they may be weary. Then again, if their ultimate goal is to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox, it may be the only way they'll be able to do so.

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QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Aug 26, 2011 -> 12:45 AM)
It was Hendry, and I am PRETTY certain the Cubs will end up with either Pujols or Fielder next year. They have lots of money freed up, can spend tons of a money, need a 1B, need to show the fans they still care about winning, and most of the other big players (Yankees, Red Sox) have 1B locked down already.

 

Not a chance really. They have to be running so far under what they projected as their revenues right now, it isn't even funny. Well actually to me it is, but that is besides the point.

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QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Aug 26, 2011 -> 12:45 AM)
It was Hendry, and I am PRETTY certain the Cubs will end up with either Pujols or Fielder next year. They have lots of money freed up, can spend tons of a money, need a 1B, need to show the fans they still care about winning, and most of the other big players (Yankees, Red Sox) have 1B locked down already.

 

It would be hilarious/fantastic if they sign either of those guys to 8yr/150+million dollar deals.

 

Pujols will be great for a while, but a 40 year old Albert making 25 million would be funny.

 

And Fielder is....fat, so a 325lb 33 year old Fielder making 25 million would be equally funny.

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