11/12 Offseason: Fixing the Cubs

[Trendy Bastard]

I was really hoping he'd opt out. That money would be better spent else where. I wouldn't call Dempster a sure thing. He's 35 and coming off a bad year. He pitched better when the games didn't matter anymore. Keep in mind I like Dempster. I think he's a good addition to the clubhouse. If we could have convinced him to bypass the option and give him like $14-$18 mil for 2 years I'd have been much happier.

He just had a (really) bad couple of starts in April. Other than that he's been the normal Demp he's been since he entered the rotation. Sure, he's not worth the money he'll get, but that won't get in the way of getting the players the FO wants for 2012.

[Trendy Bastard]

YES!!!

cst_cubs cst_cubs
Cubs exercise Ramirez's $16M option for '12. Ramirez informs club he'll decline. Cubs secure sup.draft pick comp.
5 minutes ago

I'm excited and sad at the same time. I knew it was going to happen, and I am glad it did. But he was a favorite of mine for the past eight seasons.

Good luck to him, wherever he goes next season. (Unless it's in the NL Central, of course)

[DMBZeppelin]

I hope they fire him soon. No reason to drag this out. At least they are giving him a chance to give a case for keeping him.

Mike Quade set to meet with Cubs again this week
By Gordon Wittenmyer

Cubs manager Mike Quade met last week with team president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer, but his status for 2012 — and that of his coaching staff — was not resolved, according to a major-league source. Quade, who is under contract through next season, is scheduled to meet again with team brass this week, at which point he’s expected to learn whether he’ll be back.

Quade, who is 95-104 since taking over in August 2010 (71-91 in ’11), could not be reached for comment.

Hoyer and Jason McLeod, senior vice president for scouting and player development, are to be introduced at a news conference Tuesday at Wrigley Field. Both were hired from the San Diego Padres in a deal announced Wednesday.

It was not known whether Quade’s status would be clarified during that news conference.

If Epstein and Hoyer make a change, at least two potential targets, Padres manager Bud Black and Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon, do not appear to be available.

The deal with the Padres that allowed the Cubs to hire away two top executives included an agreement that the Cubs could not pursue anyone else from the organization.

When Rays general manager Andrew Friedman did not leave for the team president job with the Los Angeles Angels, it all but assured Maddon would stay with the Rays.

Eight years ago, Maddon, who is signed with the team through next season, was a finalist to be the Boston Red Sox’ manager before then-Red Sox GM Epstein hired Terry Francona.

‘‘We’re very much tied down here right now,’’ Maddon said earlier this month of the unusually strong relationships among owner, GM and manager. ‘‘I love it here. I absolutely love it here. I love what we’re doing. I love the players, the farm system, the scouts and the area to live in.’’

In fact, Maddon has been looking at condominiums in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area.

[DMBZeppelin]

This news makes me REALLY happy. Glad it looks like he'll be apart of the staff going forward. I hope he gets that extension they worked on this off-season.

Cubs’ incumbent scouting director Tim Wilken is a happy camper

The Cubs executive who might have the most right to feel threatened by the latest round of hirings in the team’s top baseball offices sounds a lot more encouraged than anything else.

Maybe that’s because Tim Wilken knows new baseball president Theo Epstein’s history — and plans — for putting financial and intellectual resources into scouting and player development.

Maybe it’s even more about how well Wilken, the Cubs’ incumbent scouting director, knows the new scouting executive Epstein just hired: Jason McLeod, who now oversees both scouting and player development.

McLeod officially joined Epstein’s revamped front office Wednesday, along with new general manager Jed Hoyer. Both were hired from San Diego’s front office after having been with Epstein in Boston during a stretch that included two Red Sox championships.

“I’m very happy that we got him over here for a number of reasons,’’ said Wilken, who has known McLeod for about eight years. “We’ve kind of migrated to each other in the past during some scouting director meetings and things like that. [His hiring] just kind of brought a smile to my face, and we’ve talked a little bit here in the last few days. And I really look forward to getting together with him and putting together this plan here to make us World Champions.’’

Wilken, a long-respected scouting director whose Toronto drafts in the 1990s included Chris Carpenter and Roy Halladay, has spent the last six years helping improve the performance of the Cubs’ minor-league system.

“We’ve done a pretty decent job over here, but we can get better,’’ said Wilken, who anticipates a “marrying’’ of approaches that have worked with the Cubs in recent years and those brought in by the new trio of top honchos * from grading systems to languages and approaches used in evaluations.

Whatever potholes and adjustments might be involved in the process moving forward, the Epstein model for the Cubs clearly includes a strong blend of old and new as he gets underway.

And that includes retaining assistant GM Randy Bush, who had been the interim GM from Jim Hendry’s firing over the summer until Hoyer’s hiring this week — and who had been a steadying influence during that uncertain stretch for many in the organization, according to several insiders.

“That would have been a big loss for us,’’ Wilken said. “He was a shining star when Jim was fired. I’m not just blowing smoke. He was huge.’’

For Wilken, who has another year left on his contract, the promises of the new regime play right into his strengths, and suggest a chance to build off last year’s franchise-record $20 million amateur-signing commitment and to more quickly restock a system that could be down seven or eight prospects in a one-year span once player-compensation is resolved with the Padres and Red Sox (and after last January’s Matt Garza trade from Tampa Bay).

Even with a step back in the system over the past year, the Cubs have put 14 players into the big leagues from their last six drafts and international signing classes — a number that ranks among the top five in baseball.

“We knew we even need to add to that list with more quality,’’ said Wilken. “And we’ve had decent quality. We need to get even better to be winners.’’

To that end, McLeod’s resume includes Red Sox draft classes that plucked MVP Dustin Pedroia, All-Stars Jacoby Ellsbury and Clay Buchholz, and Jed Lowrie and Daniel Bard.

Wilken said he was impressed with San Diego’s 2011 draft, run by scouting director Jaron Madison and overseen by McLeod.

“We think we had a damn good one, too,’’ he said. “Now if we can marry that [expertise] together, I think the sky’s the limit.’’

[DMBZeppelin]

Chicago Cubs: Carlos Zambrano to pitch in Venezuelan Winter League - chicagotribune.com

Hopefully Z has a good showing in the Venezuelan Winter League. Get the Marlins to pay as much of that salary as possible.

[Trendy Bastard]

The Cubs will decline Jeff Samardzija’s $3 million option for 2012 and re-sign him at a lower salary.

Samardzija is ineligible for arbitration, but was given a five-year, $10 million option in 2007 with options for 2012 and 2013. The Cubs can cut his salary up to 20 percent.

While Samardzija will likely be considered for a starting job, he’s assured a spot on the team either way, coming off a breakthrough season in the bullpen.

Cubs to decline Samardzija option, re-sign at lower salary - chicagotribune.com

[love_that_reefer]

So do you think he cracks the rotation or another year in the pen?

[Trendy Bastard]

I liked the strides he made this season, but I'm not sure he has the stuff to get through a lineup multiple times. I hope that they do give him a shot to prove me wrong. We invested a lot into this guy.

[DMBZeppelin]

So do you think he cracks the rotation or another year in the pen?

I think we'll sign who we sign and figure out where he fits in afterwards.

[love_that_reefer]

Nothing like healthy competition in Spring Training

[DMBZeppelin]

From ESPN Boston. This is the first time I've seen names that might come with Theo (if at all)

Epstein compensation deadline on horizon

BOSTON -- The stalemate between the Chicago Cubs and Red Sox on determining the compensation the Cubs owe the Sox for losing Theo Epstein continues, with Tuesday the deadline for the clubs striking a deal before commissioner Bud Selig intervenes.

“We’ve always felt like that was a possibility,’’ new Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said of Selig’s potential involvement as arbiter. “It’s a difficult deal to work out. It’s hard to quantify the value of a Theo Epstein. I have an idea of it, and Theo doesn’t think he’s worth as much as I think he is, and we haven’t bridged that gap.’’

Cherington was chuckling when talking about Epstein’s perceived value, but the sides have yet to come to an agreement on what is meant by “significant” compensation, which is what the teams agreed upon when the Sox granted the Cubs permission to hire Epstein away as their president of baseball operations. Epstein had one year remaining on his contract as Red Sox GM.

Cherington said he plans to speak with Epstein Monday night and anticipates talking again Tuesday. If an agreement is not reached, he said he expects both sides will be given a chance to argue their case before Selig and his staff at an undetermined date, with Selig then rendering a decision.

Cherington said the sides have reached an understanding regarding any additional staff members leaving the Red Sox to join Epstein.

“If there’s an opportunity for one person [to go to] Chicago that’s clearly a better opportunity, then that’s good, we don’t want to stand in anyone’s way,’’ Cherington said. “There’s an understanding the Cubs won’t raid the Red Sox and the Red Sox aren’t going to raid the Cubs. It should be a good relationship going forward.’’

It has not yet been determined, Cherington said, whether such an opportunity exists for a current member of the Sox staff to join Epstein. Potential candidates include special assistant Dave Finley, director of baseball operations Brian O’Halloran, trainer Mike Reinold, or executive VP of business affairs Jonathan Gilula, a longshot.

[DMBZeppelin]

SI_JonHeyman Jon Heyman
Decent chatter that sveum might have shot with #cubs as well as good chance with red sox
4 hours ago

SI_JonHeyman Jon Heyman
no one sees theo and his friend ben cherington agreeing on what theo's worth. bud will undoubtedly adjudicate that
8 minutes ago

[DMBZeppelin]

Some guy who works for this website: High Motor Guy and does a podcast tweeted to Paul Sullivan

highmotorguy23 Matt Weber
@PWSullivan can have this for tmrw's Trib. I just sat next to Theo and Kerry Wood at a Lincoln Pk Bar as they drank and met for 3 hrs.
5 minutes ago

highmotorguy23 Matt Weber
Woody ain't going nowhere.
5 minutes ago

[DMBZeppelin]

CarrieMuskat Carrie Muskat
#Cubs scouting director Jason McLeod headed to Dominican this week to see several players, including Cuban OF Cespedes
19 hours ago

ESPNChiCubs Bruce Levine
Boston GM Ben Cherington said a trade between Cubs and Redsox could settle compensation issue for Theo Epstein leaving Bosox.
2 hours ago

jonmorosi Jon Morosi
#Cubs have had multiple discussions with the agent for Mark Buehrle, source says.
3 minutes ago

ESPNChiCubs Bruce Levine
Agent Scott Boras on Prince Fielder and the Cubs. "he's always hit well at Wrigley Fied and in that division." '
11 minutes ago

cst_cubs cst_cubs
Boras on pena and cubs: plans to meet with theo this week.
50 minutes ago

CSNMooney Patrick Mooney
Agent Paul Kinzer said Starlin Castro will be in Chicago later this week to meet Theo Epstein in person.
1 hour ago

11/14 Big Z has to “earn his way back”
By Carrie Muskat

Theo Epstein is going to give Carlos Zambrano a chance to earn his way back to the Cubs. Epstein and Zambrano had lunch Monday near Wrigley Field. Zambrano had requested the meeting, said his agent, Barry Praver, who also attended the lunch.

“It went well,” Epstein said. “[Zambrano] expressed a strong desire to be a Cub and an even stronger desire to have a really good 2012 season.

“I told him we’d give him the right to earn his way back to being a Cub,” Epstein said. “Nothing would be given to him but he could earn his way back from very hard work this winter, through rebuilding relationships man to man with all of his teammates, and through some other steps that we discussed.

“We’re not welcoming him back unconditionally at all but we’re going to give him the right to earn his way back to being a Cub.”

Neither Epstein nor Praver would go into detail as to what those steps will be for Zambrano to return.

“There are steps,” Epstein said. “Most of the details will stay confidential. There are steps he needs to take and he seems motivated to do so, and if he earns his way back under certain conditions, we’ll see him in Spring Training and welcome him back.”

Was Zambrano contrite during their meeting?

“Yeah, very much so,” Epstein said. “But from what I understand, he’s been that way before.”

[love_that_reefer]

No way I would let Zambrano pitch for the Cubs.