So the Cubs Aren’t Getting Cuban Shortstop Hechavarria

Last week, there was a head-scratcher of a rumor that had the Chicago Cubs attached to a top Cuban shortstop prospect, who is free to sign with any team. Yesterday, word trickled out that the kid - Adeinis (not Adeiny, apparently) Hechavarria - would more likely be signing soon with the Blue Jays.

The Post has learned Adeinis Hechavarria is going to get more money than the $8 million Jose Iglesias Iglesias got from the Red Sox.

However, it won’t be from the Yankees. And it has nothing to do with the Yankees not wanting to spend the money on the Cuban refugee shortstop.

According to an industry source Hechavarria is close to signing a $10 million deal with the Blue Jays because he didn’t envision himself playing short for the Yankees.

Hechavarria, 21, was leery of Derek Jeter’s impending extension that will keep him at short for the foreseeable future.

Having seen Hechavarria work out often in the Dominican Republic, the Yankees were high on the 6-foot-1, 170-pounder with a body that resembled a young Alfonso Soriano. NYPOST.com.

Alfonso Soriano? Oh, well, in that case, we don’t want him. Kidding, of course.

The Cubs’ interest was always a bit perplexing given the expect cost, and the fact that Hechevarria and Starlin Castro sound like they are both equally good at short and equally ready to play in the bigs.

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Aw, Crap - We’re Racist Again

A familiar theme in the baseball world since the days of Dusty Baker is that Chicago Cubs fans are racist. As absurd as it seems to most of us, LaTroy Hawkins said it, Milton Bradley said it, Dusty Baker all but said it, and then there was Jacque Jones who really said it.

And he’s still really saying it.

But perhaps as much as anything, Jones needs a positive experience in baseball again. Even his past two full seasons, with an underachieving Cubs team, weren’t good ones. A free-agent signing after the 2005 season, Jones was deemed a disappointment despite batting .285 and matching his career high of 27 home runs in his first season at Wrigley Field.

When he received racist hate mail, Jones called out Chicago fans and compared them, unfavorably, with Twins fans. That didn’t exactly make him a fan favorite.

“I said what I said in the beginning, and everyone was upset, you know, ‘Twins fans are different than Cubs fans.’ And it’s still true,” he said. “After that, I didn’t say a word.”

As for the racism, Jones said, “I got some letters and words and stuff like that. It was a learning experience. You would think that stuff would be dead and gone, but it’s not. But I kind of took everything in stride and still went out and did my job.

“Looking back on that situation, I was proud of myself for doing what I did, being able to still go out and play good baseball.” TwinCities.com.

Most thinking Cubs fans were greatly embarrassed when Jones was booed in that first season. The fans weren’t so much booing Jones’ performance; they were booing his presence - he was not the right guy for the job that year, and fans were very disappointed with the signing. That doesn’t excuse the booing, but it partially explains it.

As for the racial items, it continues to perplex me.

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Laughing Because it isn’t the Cubs: Missouri Hates Mark McGwire

Former St. Louis Cardinal slugger and current St. Louis Cardinal hitting coach is apparently no longer as popular in Missouri as he once was. The state is trying to scratch his name from their history books - or at least their highway system.

A stretch of Interstate 70 in St. Louis was designated the Mark McGwire Highway in 1999, one year after the Cardinals slugger hit a then-record 70 home runs.

But McGwire has now admitted he used steroids, and the state Senate voted unanimously Monday to rename the section of interstate the Mark Twain Highway. The measure now goes to the House. Chicago Breaking Sports.

Unanimously? Daaaaamn. You’d think the state Senate could have scrounged up just one Big Mac supporter. Then again, many of them have probably met the usually gruff McGwire - and probably very few met Mark Twain. Does Missouri have term limits?

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Grumble: The Cardinals Just Signed Felipe Lopez

It’s not a game-changer, but Felipe Lopez is a guy worth having on your team. And now he’s on the wrong team.

The St. Louis Cardinals reached an agreement with free agent infielder Felipe Lopez on a one-year, $2 million deal, a source told ESPN The Magazine’s Buster Olney.

The deal is still pending the completion of a physical, the source said.

Lopez batted .310, with a .383 on-base percentage, last season for the Diamondbacks and Brewers. The only other free agent on the market this winter who matched or beat him in both of those categories was Matt Holliday. ESPN.

If Lopez puts up similar numbers this year (though there’s reason to think he has no chance, given a highly elevated BABIP last year), the Cards will have just stolen a potential All-Star.

Either way, Lopez is versatile and solid with the glove. He’s valuable, even if he’s on the bench.

Crap.

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No Chan Ho Park for the Cubs, Signs with Yankees

Well, if the Chicago Cubs were looking to use their Ryan Theriot winnings on a reliever, it won’t be Chan Ho Park.

The Yankees have signed former Phillies reliever Chan Ho Park to a 1-year $1.2million deal, with incentives to make another $300K.

Park had considered an offer from the Cubs, where he would have started but felt he had a better chance of winning a World Series title with the defending champs. hotstove.com.

Well, duh, he’s got a better chance with the Yankees. Can’t blame him for that part. Can blame him for turning down $3 million from the Phillies earlier in the offseason.

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No Mark Mulder for the Cubs - Or Anyone Else

There was a brief period of time where the Chicago Cubs were connected to potential reclamation project Mark Mulder, but it seems like that won’t be happening.

TMJ4 in Milwaukee is reporting that left-hander Mark Mulder has decided to hang up his cleats and retire from professional baseball.

Mulder has been long connected with the Milwaukee Brewers this offseason.  The 32-year old southpaw was attempting to make a comeback to the big leagues, and most thought the most obvious destination was with his former pitching coach, Rick Peterson, in Milwaukee.

That never came to fruition, however, as the talks dragged on and on throughout the winter.  The Brewers wished to see him throw off a mound before reaching out and agreeing to a minor league contract with performance incentives.  Mulder did not showcase his stuff for the Brewers until early February, though no reports as to how that session went became immediately available. JSOnline.

If he does retire, Mulder’s legacy will be that of a promising young pitcher, derailed by injuries. Oh, and he’ll be one of the worst trades in Cardinals history. Mulder, who put up just one good season in St. Louis before succumbing to a myriad of problems, was traded to the Cardinals for Daric Barton (solid first baseman), Kiko Calero (very solid reliever), and … Dan Haren. Oops.

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So, Why Didn’t the Cubs Consider Felipe Lopez?

The Chicago Cubs are done making any major moves this offseason, and therefore, are apparently going to head into the 2010 season with a Mike Fontenot/Jeff Baker platoon at second base (unless Starlin Castro absolutely destroys Spring Training, claiming the shortstop job, and bumping Ryan Theriot over to second). I’m not going to gripe about it, because I believe a properly-employed platoon could be successful.

That said, it still puzzles me why the Cubs didn’t even look at a guy like Orlando Hudson - solid defensively, and a natural fit at the top of the order. He did sign for a relatively healthy chunk of money, so perhaps he was always out of range. And it’s not like there is some other second baseman out there who is still unsigned, would thus come cheaply, and who could hit at the top of the order. Oh wait … that guy in the headline.

It’s been a tough offseason for Felipe Lopez. Yesterday, the free agent infielder fired Scott Boras, likely due to the fact that it’s February 14 and he remains jobless despite a strong 2009 campaign.

The switch-hitter signed a one-year, $3.5MM deal with the Diamondbacks last offseason. Lopez was productive in Arizona, hitting .301/.364/.412 until he was traded to the Brewers in mid-July. All Lopez did in Milwaukee was improve, hitting .320/.407/.448 in 66 games with the Brew Crew. In total, his .310/.383/.427 line combined with his strong UZR/150 of 7.6 at second base last season make for a desirable target. Or one would at least think.

Perhaps teams are scared off by Lopez’s .360 BABIP, which is substantially higher than his career mark of .323. His 10.4% walk rate is higher than his career mark of 9.2% as well, but even that number is above the 2009 league average of 8.9%. It may not be reasonable to expect a .383 OBP again, but in a market where we’ve seen Miguel Tejada sign for one year at $6MM, Orlando Hudson at one year and $5MM, and Pedro Feliz at one year and $4.5MM, it’s hard not to ask why Lopez is still looking for work. After all, he had a better all-around season than all three of those former free agents.

To this point, the only substantial interest we’ve seen in Lopez has been from the Cardinals, though they’ve dedicated a great deal of money to Matt Holliday and Brad Penny this offseason. Last we heard, St. Louis has $6MM-$7MM to spend, and they’ve got question marks in the infield that make Lopez a logical fit. MLBTradeRumors.com.

So as it turns out, there are solid reasons to avoid Lopez, despite his outstanding 2009 campaign. The elevated BABIP is a concern (when BABIP - batting average on balls put in play - spikes, it is usually a product of luck, and is not repeatable), and his career OBP is just .338. That said, he’s been at or above .343 in four of the last five seasons (a disastrous 2007 season is really dragging his numbers down). Lopez can play all over the infield, too.

It’s impossible to imagine Lopez having to settle for a non-guaranteed, minor league deal with a spring training invite - but if he does, the Cubs would be crazy not to reach out. Then again, at that level, virtually every team in baseball would be crazy not to reach out.

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Corey Hart Wins the First Arbitration, Does it Portend Trouble for the Cubs?

The Milwaukee Brewers and Corey Hart engaged in the offseason’s first arbitration this week, and the decision came back yesterday: victory for Hart, who’d requested $4.8 million, which was $650k more than the Brewers had offered. Given that Hart was just average last year (100 OPS+), and below average in 2008 (98 OPS+), the figure is both surprising and terrifying for a guy in his second year of arbitration.

“I’m ecstatic. To be honest I was surprised,” said Hart. “I walked out of there yesterday and told my wife that I didn’t think it was going to go our way. If you look at the numbers, they go the teams’ way more often than not. I felt like we had a good case, but when you sit there for two and a half hours listening to them say you’re not very good, it’s hard to feel very confident about it.

“It wasn’t fun, but I went in there expecting it to be worse. I actually got to talk to Gord [Ash, Milwaukee's assistant GM] right before it and he was very genuine when he said that regardless of what happened, I’m still the right fielder and they want me to have a good season. This was just business.” brewers.com.

Well, it’s easy to be kind when you win.

So what does this mean for the Chicago Cubs and Ryan Theriot?

I wouldn’t read too much into the decision here, as all of the arbitrations are independent, and we have no way of know what actually convinced the arbitrator that Hart was worth $4.8 million. The Cubs have a very good case for why Ryan Theriot, in his first year of arbitration, is not worth $3.4 million - he’s been average or below average offensively for a couple of his seasons, he regressed badly last year, he’s nothing special defensively.

Of course, that sounds very similar to the case the Brewers had against Hart.

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