Cubs say farewell to a classy guy who looked to be getting his stroke going - before missing the last few games to get an epidural for his back. Braves get a bat for the stretch run to try and make up for the loss of Chipper. Braves are also in Chicago for a series starting Friday, so Lee should get a proper sendoff from the fans.
And on our side, the groundhog looked out and told Lou there will be 5 more weeks of seeing if Xavier Nady can be Chicago's $4m/year first baseman next season. (Spoiler Alert: No.)
Originally posted by djpI see where Derek Lee rejected a trade that would have sent him to the Angels at the deadline, so he must have had a change of heart.
I don't think he was having that great of a season but he's a terrific defender and a class act.
Biggest change of heart: Angels were floundering about 7 behind the Rangers at the time he rejected that trade while the Braves are in 1st by 2.5 when he accepted this trade.
D Lee said as much at the press conference; he wasn't going to uproot his family unless he felt he team had a strong chance at the playoffs, and he looks to have pegged the Angels right.
Management loves Lee (and Ted Lilly) and will likely try to get them back in free agency. But I do appreciate them actually getting people for them rather than playing out the string with guys who are (still) not likely coming back.
There's still about two weeks until the wavier deadline and I'm not sure they're done. Cubs would still love to move the guys with huge deals (Soriano, Fukudome, Zambrano), though that's obviously unlikely to happen. But Nady might not last the rest of the season as 1B, since there's been talk of moving him since May and the Cubs haven't asked for much more than lottery ticket minor league pitchers in their recent deals. Hendry also signed like he actually try to pick up a reliever who they could keep for next season, because they're really down on how that's gone this year.
Originally posted by djpI see where Derek Lee rejected a trade that would have sent him to the Angels at the deadline, so he must have had a change of heart.
Can't blame him considering how far off the Angels are. Also can't say I'm too upset about it. I'd rather the Halos take a shot at signing Carl Crawford this winter than see them give up even more young prospects, because they're running woefully short in that department.
The Cubs might as well take a shot on dumping Carlos Zambrano too while they're at it. If they're going to tease blowing up the team, they might as well go all the way with it.
Originally posted by It's False The Cubs might as well take a shot on dumping Carlos Zambrano too while they're at it. If they're going to tease blowing up the team, they might as well go all the way with it.
The only way that's happening is if the Cubs eat all the money owed on that deal and take back crappy players. Z is going to be a Cub for quite awhile.
Originally posted by djpI see where Derek Lee rejected a trade that would have sent him to the Angels at the deadline, so he must have had a change of heart.
Can't blame him considering how far off the Angels are. Also can't say I'm too upset about it. I'd rather the Halos take a shot at signing Carl Crawford this winter than see them give up even more young prospects, because they're running woefully short in that department.
The Cubs might as well take a shot on dumping Carlos Zambrano too while they're at it. If they're going to tease blowing up the team, they might as well go all the way with it.
I guarantee that if some team claimed Zambrano off waivers the Cubs would do like the Blue Jays did with Alex Rios last year and say "He's yours!"