More Cubs Rumors from the LA Times & Beltran Stuff

When I think of Cubs hot stove news, I think LA Times. Earlier this week they had Hendry interested in Angel closer Troy Percival. Now they have the Cubs sending Sahm to Chavez Ravine for Shawn Green. Jim Hendry already dumped Todd Hundley on the Dodgers, why not Sahm?

The Beltran Derby
The easiest money to spend is money that is not yours. Almost everyday a hack in Chicago suggests that if the Cubs don't sign Carlos Beltran they are not committed to winning.

Mariotti has been trumpeting this idea since the playoffs. You see how easy it is for Mariotti to spend the Cubs money. If the Cubs don't get Beltran, they are "cheap" and "don't want to win". I have a couple of problems with this type of reasoning. First of all, as great as Carlos Beltran is he is only one player. We have seen teams like the Rangers sign A-Rod and have so much money tied up in him that the rest of the team was a bunch of utility and triple A players. Secondly the Cubs are finally getting close to being out from under the monster contract of Sammy Sosa. I would be real careful how quickly I got involved in another contract like this.

Scott Boras wants a 10 year contract for Beltran. Unless Big Stein loses his mind this will not happen. In ten years Beltran will be 37, the same "age" as the Cubs current RF(and possibnly the Cards 1b). The numbers I am hearing are 7 years, $140 million. Still this is a ton of cash. I would be real careful giving this type of money to any ballplayer. What hacks like Mariotti forget is the Cubs are still going to have to worry about big pay increases for their core players Ramirez, Prior, Zambrano, Wood, Lee & Barrett. There is no way the Cubs will be able to keep these players with Beltran inked for $20 million/year.

In MLB if you sign a player you are stuck paying that contract. This isn't the NFL where you can sign a player to a bad contract and rip it up once his performance dclines. The Cubs have to be real careful when you start looking at a long termn contract like this. A contract like this can really limit the other moves you will be able to make over the next several seasons. Something to think about as you dream about Beltran in CF tonight.

ExCub Factor News:
The Yankees declined the option on Jon Lieber. Liebs pitched great down the strech for Yanks. He and Mussina were there only decent starters in the playoffs. IMO Lieber would be a quality replacement for Matty Clement.


Finally! Football Saturday Picture of the Day:

BRING BACK THE AXE!

As Vehere reminded me earlier this week the Axe has been held hostage the last 363 days. Bring it home to Madison. GO BADGERS!

Have a great Football Saturday!