D Lee not going anywhere

As the trade deadline approaches, one of the players everyone thought might be moved to a contender was first baseman Derrick Lee, whose contract is up after the season.

Well, apparently D Lee doesn't want to go anywhere, invoking his no trade clause or his 5 and 10 rights. (I think both would apply.) He's informed the club that he wants to stay right where he is for the remainder of the season, and there is not much they can do about it. He has apparently blocked a trade to the Angels, who are about 7 1/2 games out of first right now in the AL West.

I would have thought Lee would welcome a trade to the West Coast, and the opportunity to play for something. Maybe Anaheim isn't the best destination for that, since they may not be able to run down the Rangers, but there are teams that could use him, I think.

Ted Lilly is the most likely to be traded of the guys on the Cubs with bigger contracts. I've heard that he is likely headed to the Twins. He should be able to shore up the back end of their rotation there. I thought he would be a good fit for the White Sox as a fifth starter for the rest of the way, but others (notably Jonathan Hood on ESPN 1000) have suggested that he doesn't really fit with that team, as a fly ball pitcher. Hopefully the Cubs will get something for him.

I've also heard that Ryan Theriot is likely to be traded, perhaps to the Rockies or the Tigers (though the Tigers' acquisition of Jhonny Peralta from the Indians likely puts them out of the hunt for Theriot, if there is a hunt). This deal does not make as much sense to me. Theriot doesn't make THAT much money, and the Cubs don't have a hot prospect needing to play NOW. Maybe they'll get that prospect for Theriot. If they don't, I see no reason to deal him.

We're in the home stretch before the deadline. Keeping my fingers crossed that they can find a taker for Fukudome...

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Trade Deadline Looming

As July 31st approaches, the teams on both ends of town have some opportunities. For the North-siders, the opportunity to shed some salary and move some players that aren't part of the future has to be explored and taken advantage of if possible. And for the South-siders, they are in first place and there might be a move or two that can put them over the top.

For the Cubs, the players they'd like to move include Ted Lilly (probably the most attractive of their properties), Kosuke Fukudome (it'll take a miracle) and Derrick Lee (should be attractive to some teams). Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano are likely untradable because of their huget contracts. But if someone wanted a DH and was willing to accept a pretty good part of his salary, I believe they'd trade Soriano in a heartbeat. They probably don't, however, want to pay the lion's share of that 18 million a year for the next four years to watch him DH for an AL team.

The Sox could really use a big left handed bat and maybe another starting pitcher, since Peavy is down for the rest of the year. But those LH run producers are few and far between, and will cost a lot in terms of prospects. Adam Dunn and Prince Fielder are the two who are being talked about, and both will likely cost Gordon Beckham and maybe Daniel Hudson.

How about this one? Now I don't claim to know the Sox's prospects like I do the Cubs, but what if they could put something together where the Sox get Lilly and Aramis Ramirez, and the Cubs get Dayan Visciano, the Cuban third baseman, a couple of pitching prospects and maybe a top AA prospect? Ramirez has a player option for 2011, and I believe it is only for one year at about 15 million. There was the thought that he would opt out because he could likely get more for longer, and that's still a possibility, even with his crappy start to the season. He's hitting now, and he plays a pretty good third base. Lilly is a quality middle of the rotation guy who is a free agent after the season.

The Sox get their run producer and an everyday third bagger, even if ARam is not a lefty, and another solid guy for their already very good rotation. And they don't give up either Hudson or Beckham. The Cubs get a guy with some major league experience and a lot of upside in Visciano, who can step in and play third every day, and salary relief.

The Sox would be pretty well set, and Ramirez could also step in and DH when Vizquel plays third, giving them a very potent lineup. The Cubs will likely still try to move Lee for prospects, and will likely continue to try to deal Fukudome and pay a bunch of his salary. The Fukudome move makes sense because he's only signed for one more year, and Colvin NEEDS to play now. So if it were me, I'd pay 7 or 8 million next year to move Fukudome now. Maybe even a bit more.

It will be very interesting to see what plays out in the next few days.

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Sweet Lou makes it official...

He's retiring as Cubs' skipper at the end of the season.

I think this likely does a couple things. It may end up motivating the team, jump-starting them in a way that nothing much has this year. Win for Lou, so to speak.

It also preserves Lou's job; probably not going to fire him knowing he's gone. It's a good PR move. So what if he's lost the team? He's retiring! Hendry's said as much - there isn't much sense in bringing in an interim, short term manager. Just let Lou finish it out.

It also, as Hendry also pointed out, gives management the opportunity to begin searching for the next manager out in the open - no need for secrecy. That's probably a plus. Every time Ryne Sandberg flies into Chicago, we won't have to hear about him maybe being interviewed for the opening. Likewise with anyone else out there. ("Hey, didja hear Bobby Valentine's house-hunting in Lake Forest?")

So who's out there as possibilities? The media keeps suggesting Joe Girardi, but I wonder why he'd leave the Yankees' job for this one. Of course, there's Ryno - he's paying his dues in the minors and clearly wants the job. And there's analyst and former manager (and winning manager at that!) Bob Brenley, who also seems like he is interested.

I sorta like Brenley. He's tough, knowledgeable, and experienced. He also knows this team, since he's been with them for something like 6 years now. Brenley for 3 years with Ryno as his bench coach and heir apparent. Doesn't sound too bad.

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Watson is the newest Bull...

I just read on the AOL message board courtesy of Ike, that the Bulls completed a sign-and-trade for C.J. Watson. I don't know much about the kid, just that he can score at times, not much of a three point shooter, can play either guard position.

Golden State gets a future second round pick for their trouble.

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Bulls News

Well, not really Bulls' news per se, but in the last post, I mentioned that I had heard rumors that Brad Miller was leaning toward signing with Chicago.

That didn't happen. He signed a 3 year, 15 million dollar contract with the Houston Rockets. Miller would have been a good guy to have coming off the bench, but I was thinking in terms of a couple years and a couple million (maybe three million?) per year. Not 5 million a year!

So according the the Chicago Tribune, the Bulls have about 7.5 million dollars left to spend this year. I think they will be able to fill out their roster nicely with that much money.

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Next Year's Bulls - Part 2

Okay, so Orlando decided to go into luxury tax territory and match the Bulls' offer for J.J. Reddick. The Bulls moved swiftly and signed another shooting guard - Ronnie Brewer - a 6'7" slasher who is good defensively. He's not a great outside shooter, however, so that leaves Kyle Korver as their big threat from outside.

Korver's good, but is he major-minutes good? I don't know. I think Brewer makes sense, though, at the two where they've been deficient defensively for a while now.

This leaves the Bulls with Noah and Asik up front, Boozer and Gibson at PF, Deng and Johnson at SF, Korver and Brewer at SG, and Rose at point. I'd love to see them sign another guard, someone who can shoot from outside and spell Rose at point. I don't know who's left, though. Another option would be making Korver a SF and trading James Johnson for a J.J. Reddick type of guard to be 6th man/first guard off the bench. I've heard rumors that Brad Miller is leaning toward resigning with the Bulls, which leaves them pretty solid at center, and that leaves one spot for one last player. Will it be a backup point guard like Acie Law? A guy like Flip Murray? Another big front court PF type?

Watch this space for updates...

Oh, and in that last post, I thought that Anthony Morrow was still on Golden State. Now I've heard he's been moved to New Jersey. Guess I missed that one.

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The 2010-2011 Bulls

While this team is still in flux, we can sort of get a glimpse of what they're doing. They've got their scoring front court player in Carlos Boozer, who will team with Taj Gibson at PF. They signed a nice outside shooter in Kyle Korver, a 6'7" two guard and they've got an offer on the table for J.J. Reddick, a 6'4" two guard who can also shoot and can shift over and play some point (a little like departed Kirk Hinrich). It looks like Orlando is going to match the offer for Reddick, however (or else why would they wait the full week to match?), so I don't know what Plan B is at guard. Maybe Ronnie Brewer? Maybe Anthony Morrow in a sign and trade for a draft pick?

At center, Omar Asik joins the team from Turkey to back up Joakim Noah, and at SF, it will be Deng and Johnson.

Derrick Rose is the future superstar on this team.

It should be a good team, and quite competitive, if injuries don't kill them...

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