Don't let the door hit your ass...

Jim Hendry appears to have used his magical powers over other GM's once again as Sammy Sosa is on his way out of Chicago and headed Baltimore way. There are reports going on that the Cubs brass has been locked up in the Cubbie war room in Wrigley field since sometime Thursday, while the big boys came in today to discuss monetary issues involved with this deal before it gets the goahead to get finished. Right now all that is known for sure is that Sosa and $7-10 million will go to Baltimore, while Jerry Hairston Jr. is the only definent coming back to the Northside. There have been rumors of 2-4 minor leaguers(some names like 2B Mike Fontenot and RHP Dave Crouthers have been mentioned) as well as former closer Jorge Julio, but nothing has been substantiated - yet.

Proving that you can come home again Hairston Jr., a Naperville native and product of Southern Illinois, will immediately become the starting LF and leadoff man for the Cubs. Finally giving the Cubs the much needed leadoff man they have been missing for so long that I cannot even remember their last legitimate leadoff hitter that they had, Hairston will boost the lineup and give the guys behind him more of an opportunity to drive in runs without hitting a bomb. His OBP last year was .378, going up each of the last 3 seasons, while also having 13 stolen bases in just 86 games. He doesn't hit for much power, but the Cubs aren't going to ask him to, they just want him on base. His defense in LF won't be too shabby either. Last year was the first year that he played the OF and played 15 games in CF, 8 in LF, and 24 in RF. Averaging out his numbers he had a zone rating of .858 and a range factor of 2.345 while picking up 3 assists and making one error in 109 chances. His range factor would place him either 2nd or 3rd in the majors each of the last four seasons and projected out to a full season he would have about 10 assists. Pretty good numbers. While his range factor would only place between 5th and 12th thats still in the upper third of LF's in the majors and should improve with more and more time played in the OF, remember last season was the first he played there in his career. If there is a downside to Hairston it is that he has been injured in each of the last two seasons with a broken foot, finger, and ankle - and if that happens again in the next year or two he will be officially injury prone. The good thing is that these aren't ligament, tendon or muscle damages so these injuries appear to more of the bad luck variety and not something to be concerned about over a career. Hopefully he can stay healthy and help balance out this Cub attack which has been woefully inefficient at the top.

Let me be the first to congratulate Sammy Sosa on putting up perhaps the greatest numbers ever by a player to don a 'C' on his hat. He did very well while he was here and will go into the Hall-of-Fame in Cubbie blue, but he needed to get out of town. The fans, city, players, and management had all turned on him and if he stuck around the whole team would have been crippled under the weight of his sulk. I've personally never seen someone go from so renown to so hated in such a short period of time and really it was only a matter of time before he was dealt. Hendry knew what was going on and what would happen if Sosa showed up to spring training with the team this year so he had nothing else he could do but deal him. Hendry is going to probably wind up giving more money than he wanted to in the deal, but the Orioles will still pay the majority of this seasons salary, plus the buyouts at the end of this season. Predicated on this move, there seems to be a lot of talk that one of the Tampa Bay outfielders, most likely Aubrey Huff will taking up residence in RF for the Cubs next season. Moving a combination of their own prospects along with some new ones from the Sosa trade, Huff would be a great fit in the Cub OF. Although his power numbers inexplicably dropped from 47 doubles and 34 HR's to 27 and 29, he is a lefthanded power bat who has a .306 BA over the last three seasons, filling a need the Cubs haven't possessed since the Henry Rodriguez's 1998 season. And according to his range factor and zone rating from playing half a season in RF during the 2003 season, he would be an upgrade in the field compared to Sosa's last three seasons. If there's one thing Jim Hendry has proved himself to be good at it's trading, pulling a lot of money dumps(Todd Hundley, Sosa) and trades out of nowhere(Nomar, Derek Lee, Clement/Alfonseca) for players not even considered at the time.

Remember though, it is still possible for this deal to fall through. Sosa still has to waive his no-trade clause and trade kicker on his contract, two things his agent has said he will do. The union has to approved the waiving of the trade kicker, something they said will happen. Commissioner Bud Selig has to approve the money changing hands in the deal. And on top of that everyone involved has to pass their physical. So although it seems likely right now, any of these things could cause trouble.

Mags seeing dollar signs...

The market for Magglio Ordonez is finally starting to get some attention from teams now that all the other major free agents have gone elsewhere despite not being able to do more than hit in the batting cage to show teams how 'healthy' he is. And even though he hasn't been able to show off his newly functional knee, the Tigers appear to have stepped up with an offer of 5 years and between $55 and $70 million. I'm sorry but I cannot believe that this happened for a second. You have to remember that Scott "I'm here to ruin baseball" Boras is his agent, and this seems like a concoction of Bora's doing to drive up the value of the contracts offered to Magglio. There might have been an offer from the Tigers, but it cannot be close to what was reported, unless there are serious incentives based on performance and plate appearances every season.

If Detroit manages to sign a Boras client in consecutive offseasons to a incentive loaded contract that can be opted out of due to injury it could be a major coo, and would make the Tigers instant contenders in the wide open AL Central. They would need their young pitching to turn it up a notch, continuing the progress they made last season, but all you have to do is look to the 2000 Chicago White Sox to see a team run to a division crown on a great offense with decent young pitching.

Playing 1b and batting cleanup, Carlos Delgado...

And for none other than the Florida Marlins. Inking a 4yr/$52 million deal with an option year for $16 million, which is surely not going to be exercised. Delgado turned down 4yrs/$48 offers from the Rangers and Orioles, and an offer of 4 yrs/$52 million from the Mets, with a $15 million option year. Although the possibility of an extra year at $16 million - plus the close proximity to his home of Puerto Rico - were the main reasons why he took the offer from the Marlins, something he said was the main reason in his press conference should hit home sometime next year for the team from queens next season, he signed with the Marlins because he felt that they were the team that had a chance at making the playoffs, not the Mets. And frankly, it doesn't even matter if that quote will provide good bulletin board material or not, with this signing the Marlins and the Braves now have to be the two teams out ahead of the pack in the NL East, and might have even jumped the Braves for best team on paper going into the season. Comparing the teams in the division I would have to put the Marlins on top talent-wise, followed by the Braves, Phillies, and Mets. The Marlins now have a solid lineup from top to bottom and no1.-no.4 starters that can only compare with the Cubs in the NL (when both staffs are healthy). Although they have solid people in their 'pen, the only question mark they have right now is at closer since the guy they're going with, Guillermo Mota, is not proven at the position.


I'm turning Japanese I think I'm turning Japanese...

The Southsiders finally worked out a deal for Japanese 2B Tarahito Iguchi, signing him to a 2yr/$4.95 million deal with a $3.25 million option year. The Sox are penciling him in as the starting 2B and no.2 hitter in their lineup behind newly acquired leadoff man and CF Scott Posednik. Both players are risky investments, but if they pan out the Palehosers will get two good defensive players and onbase men who have the speed to produce runs like Juan Pierre and Luis Castillo did for the Marlins in 2003. I've talked about Iguchi before but word from some major leaguers that have played against him in the Japan/MLB allstar series say that he can't hit MLB fastballs and if this is true, an adjustment period could be seriously needed before he becomes a quality contact man. His defense also needs to be looked at, as the Mets learned last year with Kaz Matsui, the traditional style in Japan makes it dishonorable to go after a ball that you cannot get completely in front of it on defense. If he plays in the traditional way here the Sox will have to beat that frame of mind out of him. My prediction on Iguchi this year is a .270 avg(.290 if he can hit the fastball or adjusts fast), 10-15 HR's and 25-30 SB's.


A man with a large unspellable name is traded to New York...

Doug Mienkiewicz was traded from the Red Sox to the Mets the other day after New York failed to nab Carlos Delgado to play 1B. Although Delgado's lefty bat would have been huge for the Mets, his defense is subpar and might throw the confidence of a shaken player who switched positions last year(Matsui), someone going back to his old spot (Reyes), and for all intensive purposes a rookie 3B who has defensive liabilities(Wright). Mienkiewicz, a gold medal winner in 2000, has won multiple gold gloves and will help the defensive confidence of these players and if he can revert to his former .300 hitting self, will be a pickup with as much almost as much impact as Delgado would have been.

The Mets did give up a decent prospect in this trade in Ian Bladergroen. He is a 21 year old first basemen coming off an injury to his wrist last season, but before going down to injury he hit .342 with 13 HR's and 69 RBI's in 270 AB's in Class A ball.


Cause he's a rocketman...

congratulations to Roger Clemens for becoming the highest paid pitcher in the game for the 5th time in his hall-of-fame career. And pre-congratulations to Roger Clemens for the mid-season trade to the contender of his choice after the Astros fall helplessly out of contention waiting for the return of Lance Berkman, the continuing fall of Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, and the imminent falling off of Andy Pettit's elbow. Congrats Roger, you got exactly what you wanted.


Cubbie notes....

- The Cubs signed RHP Scott Williamson to a minor league deal worth $500,000 this season with an option for $2 million next season while he rehabs his reconstructed elbow. This is almost identical to the deal the Cubs made with Ryan Dempster last season while he rehabbed his elbow. Williamson has been a very effective reliever in his career and a part-time closer when with the Reds. If he can make a quick recovery, and depending on polish Joe Borowski's comeback, you are looking at the future closer of the Chicago Cubs. Williamson had a 1.26 ERA and .115 BA against last season for the Red Sox before he went down with the injury prompting Tommy John Surgery.

- The Cubs also signed arbitration eligible catcher Michael Barrett to a 3yr/$12 million deal. Although he finally seemed to have tapped his offensive potential last season, with another year of arbitration after this still to burn, I would have waited to see what happened this season - both at the plate and with his game-calling abilities, which need to improve from last season.