It’s Official: Cubs Trade Derrek Lee to Braves
We’ll have some further analysis and commentary about the deal soon, but for now, I wanted to make sure to get you the basics.
Lee, who invoked his 10-and-5 rights and rejected a trade to the Angels in late July, agreed to a deal Wednesday with the Atlanta Braves, who were looking to upgrade their lineup. The Cubs acquired right-handed pitchers Robinson Lopez and Tyrelle Harris and left-handed pitcher Jeffrey Lorick.
Lee needed to undergo a physical and also clear waivers before the trade could be completed. He had an epidural injection in his lower back on Monday to ease discomfort from a bulging disc but was expected to be ready to play Thursday. The Cubs, coincidentally, open a three-game series against the Braves on Friday. cubs.com.
And with that, if it weren’t clear enough already, the Chicago Cubs have closed up shop for the 2010 season. Derrek Lee will be missed – in a general sense, mind you. Not this year. No one could be missed this year.
Lukewarm Stove: Angels Still Looking at Derrek Lee
Following their trade for starter Dan Haren, the Los Angeles Angels are setting their sites on another need: a middle of the order bat, and preferably one that can play first base.
Sources said Sunday night — after the Haren trade — that the Angels haven’t halted their pursuit of a power bat.
Among the hitters they are monitoring: Garrett Jones of the Pirates and Derrek Lee of the Cubs.
Sources could not confirm if the Angels are involved in active talks for either Jones or Lee. FOX Sports on MSN.
Derrek Lee has chosen a good time to get hot. He’s riding an 8-game hitting streak, and is starting to look like the hitter he usually is.
Lukewarm Stove: So Maybe Derrek Lee Wouldn’t Waive His No-Trade Clause
Late last week, Fox Sports reported that Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee – a free agent at the end of this year, and speculated trade candidate – would waive his n0-trade clause if he were traded to the Los Angeles Angels.
This weekend, he said the report, which cited “friends” of Lee’s, was bunk.
“I didn’t tell (the reporter) that,” Lee said. “I would bet that not one of my friends knows who (the reporter) is. I’m not trying to be mean, but that’s not a true statement.”
Lee said no one outside his family knows his feelings about the no-trade clause, which he called a “private matter.” Chicago Breaking Sports.
I still suspect that if Lee were given the opportunity to head to a team in his home state, a team in a pennant race, he would take the opportunity, particularly if the Cubs suggest they won’t be trying to re-sign him after the season. But would the Cubs say that? It’s not as though they’ve got a first baseman waiting in the wings to replace Lee.
Lukewarm Stove: Derrek Lee Would Accept a Trade to the Los Angeles Angels
Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee is a free agent after this year and it’s no secret that, if possible, the Cubs would like to move him. One potential hurdle? Lee has no-trade protection. But it sounds like that might not actually be much of a hurdle after all.
Derrek Lee has remained noncommittal on the issue of his no-trade clause. But some friends of the Cubs first baseman said this week that they believe he would accept a deal to the right team.
And if the Cubs formally decide to sell, it’s hard to imagine a better fit than the Angels.
The Angels, 4.5 games back in the American League West, are still looking for an upgrade at first base because of Kendry Morales’ season-ending injury. And they prefer someone who isn’t under contract for next season.
Why? They plan to pursue Carl Crawford as a free agent and would like to have the flexibility of sliding Bobby Abreu into a DH role once Morales returns to first.
So, what would be in it for Lee?
First, he would probably be comfortable in Anaheim; he lives in California during the off-season. FOX Sports on MSN.
The second reason is that he’ll have a chance to compete for the playoffs, but that one is kind of obvious.
The other big first basemen who could be traded this year include Adam Dunn and Prince Fielder. Each would be a more attractive option than Lee in terms of likely production; but each would cost a fair bit more. Dunn is a free agent after this year, but Fielder has another year of arbitration. Xavier Nady can also play first base.
Chicago Cubs Prospects Brett Jackson and Hak-Ju Lee Are Future Stars
The 12th annual Futures Game will be played in a few weeks, and will feature many of the top prospects in baseball. Fortunately, the Chicago Cubs will have a couple of players on the teams.
The 25-man rosters for the U.S. and World teams in the game, which will be part of Taco Bell All-Star Sunday on July 11, 2010, at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, were announced Tuesday — and there’s a Cubs prospect on each club, with outfielder Brett Jackson set to play for the U.S. team and shortstop Hak-Ju Lee selected for the World roster.
All-Star Sunday is the first of three days of All-Star events at the Angels’ home park, culminating with the 81st All-Star Game on Tuesday, July 13.
The Futures game will can be broadcast live on MLB.TV, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD and followed live on MLB.com’s Gameday. In addition, XM Radio will broadcast play-by-play coverage of the event live on XM 175. MLB.com will also provide complete coverage before, during and after the game.
Jackson, who will turn 22 on Aug. 2, was the 31st player taken overall in last year’s First-Year Player Draft. After a sterling career at Cal-Berkeley, Jackson was ranked as the second-best overall athlete among all available college players in the 2009 Draft class by Baseball America and was named to the 2009 all Pac-10 team after hitting .321 with eight homers, 17 doubles and 41 RBIs in his junior season.
Playing for Class A Daytona, Jackson was batting .298 through Tuesday’s action with four home runs, 34 RBIs, 12 stolen bases, a .405 on-base percentage, a .469 slugging percentage and seven triples.
Lee, who will turn 20 in November, was signed as a non-drafted free agent in March 29, 2008, out of South Korea by scout Steve Wilson. Through Tuesday, the left-handed hitter was batting .271 with 20 RBIs, 17 stolen bases and 40 runs scored in 62 games for Class A Peoria. cubs.com.
If everything for which the Cubs organization hopes were to come true, Jackson is the future for the Cubs in center field, and Lee is the future at shortstop. As well thought-of as Starlin Castro’s defense is at shortstop, Lee has even better raw skills – the hope is that Castro could eventually be shifted over to second base.
God’s Wrath Watch: Carlos Silva’s Strained Hammy Will Keep Him Out a Few Days
Minor injury news in the rotation – Carlos Silva is going to miss his scheduled start this week against his former team, the Seattle Mariners, while he rests a mildly strained hamstring. He hurt it this weekend against the Angels, resulting in an early removal from the game. The hope was the early exit and rest would get him back on track, but it’s going to take a couple extra days.
“He tweaked it pretty good the other day, and we had to get him out of the game after 69 pitches,” Piniella said. “He had a throw-day today with the pitching coach [Larry Rothschild]. It was decided that we should hold him back and give him a little more time, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
Silva is now slated for Saturday’s start against the White Sox, and lefty Ted Lilly will get the ball Thursday against Mariners ace Felix Hernandez. Carlos Zambrano will now start Friday and Tuesday’s starter, Ryan Dempster, is scheduled to toe the slab on Sunday. cubs.com.
Better safe than sorry, of course, but it’s unfortunate for the Cubs to lose their best starting pitcher (wow, did I really say that?) for any stretch of time.
The Chicago Cubs Can Officially Trade Xavier Nady – And They Probably Will
As of today, June 15, MLB teams are free to trade guys they signed in the offseason as free agents. That means that, as far as the Cubs are concerned, outfielder Xavier Nady is on the block.
Sure, Nady provides depth in the outfield and at first base, but as his arm strength returns, he’s going to appear to other teams as a starting-caliber outfielder signed to a bargain basement contract ($3.3 million this year). The Cubs can’t afford to hang onto a luxury like that. For what it’s worth, Jon Heyman agrees:
The Cubs are stacked in the outfield, and a trade of Xavier Nady seems likely. That could help the reduce the logjam.
Nady’s most-recently been rumored as a Los Angeles Angels target, given their hole at first base. But Nady will soon be able to play in the outfield full time, which should greatly expand the bucket of teams to whom the Cubs could send him.
So Maybe the Cubs Aren’t Talking Trades with the Angels
Yesterday we heard that the Chicago Cubs have been talking to the Los Angeles Angels about Derrek Lee and Xavier Nady, in whom the Angels would have interest to replace recently broken first baseman Kendry Morales.
Cubs reporter Carrie Muskat says not so:
There’s no truth to the rumors that the Angels have contacted the Cubs re: possibly acquiring Derrek Lee or Xavier Nady. The Angels are looking for first base help with Kendry Morales out after freak accident at home plate. I was told the Angels have not talked to the Cubs about anyone. The Cubs still feel they are in the race in the NL Central. If that doesn’t change by late July, closer to the trading deadline, there could be some moves.
I assume Carrie meant to say, in that last sentence, that “if that does change,” i.e., if the Cubs feel they’re out of it by late July.
Here’s hoping the team doesn’t actually wait that long to start considering moves. Unless they make a considered run in the next few weeks, not only will the playoffs become an unlikely scenario as a matter of math, but we already know that this is a fundamentally flawed team – playoff teams do not struggle so mightily against a team like the Pirates.
Lastly, I always find it interesting when two Cubs reporters so unequivocally state opposite things. Dave Kaplan says he has excellent sources who say the Cubs have talked to the Angels about trades. Carrie Muskat says there’s no truth to such a rumor. The truth usually tends to be somewhere in the middle, and in how one defines “talked about trades.” Obviously some contact took place – whether it was as insignificant as a “hello, tough break about Morales,” or as significant as a “hello, we can hook you up with a player to fill that first base spot.”
As I said, it was probably somewhere in the middle – sufficiently innocuous that Muskat could say “no truth,” and sufficiently titillating that Kaplan could say “have talked.”
