Rafael Furcal, according to Ken Rosenthal, will sign with the Braves today. Why does this deserve a FanPost? I’m not sure that it does, but it could have tangential influence on the Cubs’ offseason. The Cubs were not going after him, but they do have a standing order out there for a leadoff hitter, and a lefty/switch hitter.  Many of us have also been wishcasting that the team would go after a “proper” shortstop, given the fact that one of Lou’s three second baseman plays there now. Guess that fantasy won’t materialize.

This could also help accelerate movement in the free agent market, given another big name will have signed. It looks like the Braves probably matched the A’s four-year, $40 million offer (although the last year may be an option year based on incentives).

Is it strange that the Winter Meetings are just about done and none of the various FA OFs that have been discussed (Abreu, Bradley, Dunn, Ibanez) have been signed yet? 

And none of the potential trade targets (Hermida, Teahen, DeJesus, etc) have been dealt?

Maybe I wouldn't find it strange if it weren't for the fact the following teams have been reported as being interested in one or more of these players in the last few days:

Cubs, Mets, Phillies, Mariners, Angels, Braves, Nationals, Rays, Dodgers, Royals, Reds

I would have thought that one of them would have made a move by now, but they all seem to be waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Or, maybe the FAs are holding firm, playing teams against each other?  Any bets that at least one of the Big 4 OF FAs gets signed today?

EDIT: Ibanez reportedly signed with the Phillies Friday morning for 3 years $30M (link)

Cubs.com has the scoop on playoff tickets for the first two rounds. In order to be fair, they are having a drawing with everyone's name and address registered online. Presumably, proof of address will be needed to collect the tickets, eliminating spoofers and scalpers.

This is not good news for me. I was pretty good at working the Virtual Waiting Room last year and scored four (useless) tickets to the (non-existent) NLCS at Wrigley Field.  Oh, that's the other thing. Fans will be limited to TWO tickets each in the drawing. 

see cubs.com for more details

Do you expect the team to stand pat? Do you want them to make a certain move?

The Cubs have really been pretty quiet on the trade front all month, but I can’t believe that Hendry isn’t in full Trader Jim mode.

via farm2.static.flickr.com

This is the year, everyone keeps saying.  Zell wants to sell when the team is at its most successful, so there isn’t going to be a payroll roadblock. And although Piniella won’t be drawn on specifics, other than to hint that they’re not looking for bullpen help, he said last night that "if you can improve the team, why not?"

The Tribune this morning talks more about who could be dealt away from the Cubs than who their target might be.

The Sun-Times thinks they could or should be targeting Raul Ibanez, speculating that Jedmonds is out of gas.

The Herald says all they need is a lefty bat off the bench. Funny –all the talk last week was about the Cubs needing a right handed bat off the bench….

In my opinion, I think they should focus on getting the best hitter available, and find a place for him in the line-up or off the bench. The pitching remains deep, with a variety of spare parts available for trade.

Lou says  with the three Mondays off in a row, he "may" juggle the rotation to give the team’s best starters more starts, and he names Z, Dempster and Lilly as ones he’d like to get 7 starts each by the All-Star break.  Z may go this Thursday instead of Gallagher, to get the thing started. I actually see Z and Lilly getting seven and Dempster getting six, with the #4 also getting six and the #5 getting five starts. Unless I’m missing a chance to juggle somewhere?

It also looks like Z might be pitching the last game before the break, which could impact any chance he might have to appear in the ASG. Again, please suggest any adds/drops/changes to this rota:

10-June     Lilly

11-June     Dempster

12-June     Zambrano

13-June     #4

14-June     #5

15-June     Lilly

16-June     OFF DAY

17-June     Zambrano

18-June     Dempster

19-June     #4

20-June     Lilly

21-June     #5

22-June     Zambrano

23-June     OFF DAY

24-June     Dempster

25-June     Lilly

26-June     #4

27-June     #5

28-June     Zambrano

29-June     Dempster

30-June     Lilly

1-July     #4

2-July     #5

3-July     Zambrano

4-July     Dempster

5-July     Lilly

6-July     #4

7-July     OFF DAY

8-July     Zambrano

9-July     Dempster

10-July     Lilly

11-July     #4

12-July     #5

13-July     Zambrano

News today that Sam Zell, new owner of the Tribune, plans to sell the team and the park in the first half of 2008. They need to sell assets to help pay down debt as advertising revenue and circulation declines. This is a little earlier than some had expected, given that the company hasn't even given bidders the team's financial details yet.

Most interestingly, the Sun-Times reports that "Zell is looking at selling Wrigley Field and surrounding real estate separately from the team itself."

That won't go down well with prospective buyers, right?

ST article: http://www.suntimes.com/business/693025,trib121207.article

Others: http://news.google.ie/news?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&tab=wn&ncl=1124842460

I enjoyed listening to this on the pre-game today - a collection of Cub highlights as called by Pat Hughes and Ron Santo on WGN.

In praise of Ron Santo:  while he can bug the heck out of me during quiet moments of the game, I truly love his homerific, everyfan, raw emotion during the hotter moments - including the highs and the lows. But here are the highs, and it's so much fun to hear him. I hope I have half the passion he does when I am 67.

Click here to download 2nd half radio highlights

Just thought I'd cut and paste these from MLB Audio and the WGN post game feed - the walk off home run calls by Len Kasper and Bob Brenly, Pat Hughes and Ron Santo, and Bob Uecker doing the  Milwaukee radio call (for contrast).

Someone said Len sounded like he was going through puberty for his call of the Soriano walk off hit against the Rockies in the big comeback last week. Guess what - he's still making the big change!

Warning: these were hacked together quickly and recorded at different levels. Turn UP your computer for Len and Bob, then turn it DOWN before you listen to Pat and Ron or else you might wake someone up on the next block.

Note: there's actually something in common between Bob Uecker and Ron Santo...see if you can figure out what it is.

Click here for Len and Bob

Click here for Pat and Ron

Click here for Bob Uecker

No one else posted links to these somewhat interesting stories this morning, so I will.

1) Marquis Grissom will apparently be offered a minor-league contract by the Cubs. Not a huge deal, but could represent a piece of the incomplete bench. Irritating to note Mike Kiley again refer to Neifi as the "projected starter" at 2B. Partly because I want Neifi as a back-up, and partly because management has not called him a starter yet and Kiley seems to be ahead of himself.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/cubs/cst-spt-cub03.html

2) Not content with succeeding Sammy (again) at Baltimore, Jeromy Burnitz is apparently looking to finally beat Sosa to a right field gig this time (the Pirates were rumored to be considering Sammy, but now it looks like Burnitz might have the edge there).
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06003/631666.stm

OK, so it has been mentioned in theory, but now a Chicago media outlet has confirmed that the Cubs have made an offer to Jacques Jones.

I disagree with those that say Patterson would be just as good - Jones has a career OPS of .782 vs. Corey's .707, and he had only a mediocre OPB of .319 in 2005 vs. Corey's humiliating .254.

I still think it would be awful if we get him, but I'd pick him if the only other choice was Patterson.

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/cubs.asp?id=133945

As the hot stove gets warmer, I find access to BCB only on the PC is not enough. I want to check for updates on my mobile phone - but the site is not viewable as the "page is too large."

Is there any way to get a text only view of BCB on a cell phone?

Also, any other good baseball sites that can be accessed this way? I have mobile versions of MLB.com and ESPN bookmarked, but I'm wondering about any others.

Who needs three?

Unfortunately, I won't be making a planned trip to Chicago next week, so I'm stuck with tickets bought in February for the June 8th day game against the Blue Jays. If any BCB reader wants them, please let me know ASAP as I am about to put them on Ebay. Tickets are at the box office and can be picked up anytime between now and game time on the 8th. These are three seats together in the upper deck box, section 420 row 6 behind home plate. Total cost to me was 123.03 and that is what I'm hoping to get for them, although it looks like similar tickets are going for less on Ebay, so I'm flexible. I am overseas and because of the lack of time to make other arrangements, Paypal is the only option for payment. Please email me as soon as possible at jmarcus [at] dna [dot] ie, if you are interested.

Which Cubs are on your fantasy team? Are you sorry you picked them? I was out of town when my league had its in-person draft in March. I had to have a friend pick my team (don't ever let that happen to you), and I only had time to tell him to put a couple of Cub players on it. So, what does he do? He goes and picks seven Cubs for my 21-man roster!

Could you name seven Cubs you'd want on your fantasy team, given the team's performance so far?

Well, I've had Nomar, Walker and Wood all sitting on the bench for ages, and wasn't allowed to replace them until six weeks into the season. Prior has been great for ERA, WHIP and Ks, but I've got four other pitchers with as many or more wins than him. I'm very happy with Jeromy Burnitz's performance in real life, but in a 12-team fantasy league with a pool of all MLB players, you expect a little more from your corner outfielders. Michael Barrett dragged me down in April, but I knew I'd be happy with him by the end of May. Most disappointing, of course, has been Aramis Ramirez. He has fewer RBIs than anyone on my team except for Barrett and Scott Hatteberg (and of course Nomar and Walker). Johnny Damon, who last I checked was a leadoff hitter, has four more RBIs than A-Ram.

My team, the Frank Chances, is currently languishing in 10th place. Although I picked up potential rookie phenom Clint Barmes to replace Nomar, his awesome April has turned into a decidedly average May. Which Cub players are you happy or unhappy with on your fantasy team? And did you find any "lightning in a bottle" from the later rounds of your draft?