According to Rotoworld.com:

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Long time reader, first time poster.

I have had my eyes on pitcher Jake Odorizzi of the Brewers and I can get him if I trade his owner both outfielder Kellen Kulbacki (Padres) and pitcher Jason Knapp (Phillies).

Now other than his draft position, I do not know a ton about Odorizzi or how he has done this year.  

Can anyone enlighten me more on his potential and his progress this year?

Should I make this deal?

With all the talk about a power hitting left handed OF, I have yet to remember if I have heard any talk about Brian Giles possibly filling that void. 

Granted he is NOT a power hitting OF and not a true CF. But I believe he can play some CF or we can discuss moving Fukudome to CF again. That would be the first question to answer.

Regardless, his current numbers .300/.398/.440 are exactly what has made this team successful. Solid on-base skills. Also, if I remember correctly he rakes at Wrigley Field too!

Maybe we should start a "Free Brian Giles" campaign to get his out of the Titanic which is the San Diego Padres.

Am I being redundant here? DId I miss a discussion of Giles elsewhere? Thoughts?

I just read this article via our favorite website (www.mlbtraderumors.com):

http://eastwindupchronicle.com/east-prospect-watch-lee-hak-ju/

It seems we signed the next Derek Jeter, albeit a lefthanded hitter and Korean.

I am not sure about everyone else, but it is nice to see us getting him. Hopefully he pans out like Jeter did for the Yankees or he could be the next Hee Seop Choi.  Has anybody else heard anything here? I am tired of talking about Edmonds.

I am not sure if this is "diary-worthy" (Seinfeld pun intended), but I am going to run with it.

Can someone explain what the deal is with the Yankees considering to deal Hideki Matsui? And for a reliever?

Our favorite site has the story: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/12/yankees-bullpen.html

The Giants seem to be talking a couple of pitchers for him. That seems cheap.

Am I missing something, or does this appears like something we could/should follow up on as well?

Could an OF with both Matsui and Fukudome in RF & CF be viable or realistic? I know Matsui has played a little CF in NY and Fuku is supposedly capable. This also allows for us to deal Pie for pitching or to fill another hole as well.

For sake of refernce, Matsui's 2007 line: .285/.367/.488 plus 25 HR

I understand the talk about Fukudome for the RF hole - that seems like a no brainer and something that would greatly benefit the lineup.

But I am curious why there is no talk about using Pie as trade bait (Bedard? Santana?) and going after Jones for CF...I know his average was down but his power numbers were decent enough given he was on the Braves. Plus he is only 30 and only a year removed from a back-to-back 40 HR seasons.

I would feel a lot better about this lineup especially if Pie could be the centerpiece of a deal for another SP:

Soriano
Fukudome
Lee
Ramirez
Jones
DeRosa
Soto
Theriot

Sorry if this is redundant, but I could not find much talk about Andruw Jones anywhere.

Alrighty, I need a break from all the rumor-mongering that is going on here. So I went ahead and updated the 2007 Cubs on my XBOX on MVP Baseball 2005. Of course this was before the Daryl Ward acquisition. Sorry.

Anyways, the 2007 Cubs defeated the 2007 Houston Astros 7-3 last night behind 6 strong innings from Ted Lilly, who also struck out 10. Lilly outpitched Roy Oswalt, who we lit up for 7 runs. Lilly did give up solo HR to Carlos Lee and Jason Lane though.

The scoring was capped off by a Jacque Jones grand slam in the 6th inning. (I think he is making a case for staying now!) Soriano added an RBI single and Derosa an RBI double. Izturis was 3 for 4 as well in the 8th hole.

Also, Kerry Wood looked sharp coming in to close the game out in the 9th inning after following Neal Cotts in the 7th and Michael Wuertz in the 8th. Cotts gave up a solo HR as well though.

Anyways, have fun with this.

I am hearing that the Cards are now in on the pursuit of Jason Schmidt. This rumor can also can be found here.

I know we have had plenty of Schmidt diaries, but to me this is different now that the red birds might be involved. All the more reason to get him.

I am not too excited about us landing Lilly for $10-12 million while watching St. Louis come away with Schmidt. Lilly is a waste in my opinion. It would have been better to have brought Maddux back for the amount we are rumored to be considering on Lilly.

CBS Sportsline reports that Alfonso Soriano has rejected their contract offer to him effectively confirming he will not return to the Washington.

The offer was for 5 years and $70 million.

Does this mean we need to offer more, or that he just really does not want to play in Washington next season?

As I am sitting here watching the Red Sox-Yankees on ESPN, I keep seeing Tony Pena on the bench there in the Yankee dugout. For one, I had forgotten that he was coaching there now, and secondly I was wondering about people's opinions of him as a possible managerial candidate to replace Dusty.

I honestly do not remember if Tony Pena was even on Al's poll awhile back there, and do not remember much of his brief stint with the Royals other than they had one good run at the AL Central.

So, I am looking for thoughts on Mr. Pena as a possible candidate for managing the Cubs next year if we are not blessed with the return of Dusty's Gang.

P.S. I hope Jeremy Papelbon can be anywhere near what is brother is looking like so far tonight getting out of that jam! 98-99 mph with 90 mph splitter and slider! Insane.