The playoffs left me with such a sour taste in my mouth that I can't enjoy thinking about next season. We'll see if that changes.

Out of context, that paragraph seems to me like he may be trying to say Harden could be part of the package for Peavy.

In other news, I started ready Cait Murphy's "Crazy '08." I'm only 50 pages in or so, and am enjoying it greatly. One of my favorite sentances was when she was describing the Cubs new uniforms for the '08 season that featured "a small bear lackadasically holding a bat."

I thought that was exactly what the Cubs looked like in October.

the Braves are the favorites to land the 2 time Cy Young award winner.

Peavy has only one CYA.

Best Regards

John

Crazy '08 is one of the best baseball books I've ever read.

Thanks, John. I'll update that.

The playoffs left me with such a sour taste in my mouth that I can't enjoy thinking about next season. We'll see if that changes.

I was the same way, but this Peavy stuff has sucked me back in. I'm definitely a sucker. I don't have as many years of disappointment as you, so I'm not as numb.

Thanks, John. I'll update that.

Glad I could help ... FWIW, I had to double-check it myself. When I read it, I thought he'd only won one but wasn't 100% certain.

Best Regards

John

Once again, I agree with pretty much all of Moses's thoughts. The one thing I'll add, though, is that as much as I'd love to see Jake Peavy in a Cub uniform (I already have a mancrush), I don't know if landing him is the best use of our resources if we can retain Dempster.

As I see it, while you can never have too much starting pitching and a Peavy/Zambrano/Harden/Dempster/Lilly rotation (or some combination thereof) is something to drool over, it seems to me that the team's first priority should be in the outfield.

Like most, I think their main goal should be a LH outfielder, either in CF or RF. My preference would be in RF, moving Fukudome, especially because (a) CFers are harder to come by and (b) RFers will likely have more power.

I would be reluctant to deal Marshall and Samardzija, and would not deal Vitters. Everyone else is pretty much fair game, including (and especially) Pie.

Above all, though, I don't believe that the team needs to do anything really big or dramatic, which is nice because Hendry's probably tapped out anyway. Part of the reason everyone is so upset at the playoff results this season is because we all know that the team has pretty much everything it needs to win a World Series. While there is tweaking to be done, it would be awfully rash to make major changes because of three losses.

I posted it somewhere but Cait's research abilities were lacking when putting that book together. She got quite a few stories wrong.

I don't remember all of them but I recall one of the stories she got wrong having to do with fans keeping balls hit into the stands.

This might sound like blasphemy, but what about moving DLee?

Sorry McCoy, I missed your post. Are those errors anotated anywhere?

Samardzija absolutely will not be included in any trade. Marshall and Pie seem to be locks to be included in any Peavy trade. The rest, who knows? I'd love to dump Tony Thomas on them if they see any potential. Colvin too, but he'd be redundant with Pie going there already. Any chance they buy Donnie Veal as anything but a vortex of suck? I understand we have to part with legit parts, but it'd be nice if the Padres valued some of the guys that I want nothing to do with and let me keep guys like Castillo and Vitters.

It seems like it will be something like Vitters-Marshall-Samardzija and maybe something like Colvin. Pie probably won't get much of any interest as a lot of people are convinced he's done as a prospect, which would be a shame.

From today's Rosenthal column:

The Braves are getting fed up.

After trying for more than a month to acquire Padres right-hander Jake Peavy, the team is beginning to explore other options, major-league sources say.

The Braves would still take Peavy, mind you. But they have informed the Padres that they could shift course rapidly once the free-agent market opens on Friday.

The Padres regrouped Monday and sent revised proposals to both the Braves and Cubs, according to one source. Officials from both teams, however, insist that their offers are not likely to change.

The party line from the Padres is that they are in no hurry to move Peavy and will keep him if they do not receive the right combination of players.

Others, however, speculate that the Padres' front office might be in disarray — speculation that only figures to gain momentum now that the team is parting with Hoffman.

Owner John Moores is going through a divorce and could sell the club. Club president Sandy Alderson says the payroll could be as low as $40 million. The front office, frequently described as "top heavy," includes a wide range of opinions.

Then again, in the case of Peavy, the Padres might simply be waiting to the last possible moment to make the best possible deal.

The risk in that strategy is that it might cost them the players the Braves are willing to trade for Peavy — shortstop Yunel Escobar, either right-hander Charlie Morton or left-hander Jo Jo Reyes and either center fielder Gorkys Hernandez or Jordan Schaefer.

The Cubs might be offering a more established pitcher, left-hander Sean Marshall and perhaps a top prospect of their own, Class A third baseman Josh Vitters. But Escobar likely is the best player in either team's proposal, and the Cubs cannot give the Padres a center fielder as promising as Hernandez or Schaefer.

Still, the Padres obviously are intrigued by the Cubs' package; otherwise, they already would have traded Peavy to the Braves.

Like I said, I have no attachment to Vitters and Peavy is worth more than his potential, IMO.

This might sound like blasphemy, but what about moving DLee?

I don't think it's blasphemy. I saw reference to that possibility somewhere, but he has a complete no trade clause. Maybe if there's a team that really want Teixeira and loses out on him, the Cubs might be able to flip him. I'm not sure they could cheaply replace his production (it ain't easy hitting into that many DPs, ha!), because I'm not convinced that Hoffpaiur is any everyday bigleague 1b.

Is it fair to say The Hoff can't do anything in the outfield?

No, he can misplay balls with the best of them. That's something.

I don't want him as an everyday RF. I don't think I want him as an everyday player, period. But he is an ok bench/backup option. A spot start or two in the OF (preferably LF) and some at 1b would be ok.