So now that we’re beginning our descent of Off Season Mountain, what can we expect from the Cubs in the weeks ahead?

The Cubs are in a tough position.  They presumably have very little money to spend, but they still have at least three holes to fill.  Some would say the Cubs have “needs” rather than “holes.”  I’m not sure which is technically correct.  The point is that the Cubs have viable options in-house to address their needs, but they would be better off looking elsewhere for help.

One such position is second base.  In-house, the Cubs have Mike Fontenot and Jeff Baker, neither of whom should be a starting second baseman on a legitimately contending team.  The Cubs have the fourth highest payroll in MLB (based on 2009 figures), but have one of the weakest second basemen in all of baseball.  That’s just not right.

Another option at second for the Cubs is Ryan Theriot.  If he moves to second, the Cubs will need to find a stand-in  for a year at SS until prospect Starlin Castro is ready (the Cubs wouldn’t bring Castro up at the beginning of 2010, would they?)  One in-house option at SS is Andres Blanco.  He’s a slick fielding SS, but a weak hitter.  The up-the-middle defense would be good, but the offense would be even weaker than it was last year when Fontenot was starting at second.

If there’s any money available, the Cubs could improve the team by signing Orlando Hudson to a one-year deal.  Of course, I’m sure that Hudson would like a multi-year deal for $4-$5 million per year (he made $3.38 million plus bonuses last year), but considering the current state of the free agent market, that’s unlikely.

Another guy to consider is the guy that sent Hudson to the bench last year in Los Angeles: Ronnie Belliard.  He’s another guy who is seemingly being shunned in free agency.  He made $1.9 million last year and probably won’t command much, if any, more this year.

The idea is to find a second baseman who can be had on a cheap ($1-$3 million) one-year deal, but who will also make the team better.  Either Hudson or Belliard are better options than what the Cubs currently have in-house.

If the Cubs decide to look to the free agent market for a SS, there are only two guys they should consider, but the odds are that neither one will meet the criteria of being cheap and willing to take a one year deal.  The two shortstops, Orlando Cabrera and Miguel Tejada, would both be upgrades, but likely out of the Cubs league.

Another position that needs attention is starting pitching.  The Cubs enter the season with Carlos Zambrano, Ryan Dempster, and Randy Wells as the only pitchers certain to be in the starting rotation.  Ted Lilly will start the year on the DL, so Carlos Silva, Tom Gorzelanny, Sean Marshall, and Jeff Samardjzia will battle it out for the other two spots in the starting rotation.  No matter who emerges from that group, it doesn’t make the starting rotation very strong.

Rumors have been circulating that the Cubs are interested in adding Ben Sheets.  I’m all for signing Sheets, but I heard initially that he was seeking a contract for $12 million/year.  More recently, I’ve read that his demand is more in the $7-$9 million range.

I like Ben Sheets and when he is healthy, he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball.  However, he’s coming off of elbow surgery that kept him out of baseball for the entire 2009 season.  That’s not the kind of guy you want to spend a lot of money on or who you want to give a multi-year contract.

If Sheets’ price comes down to $3-$4 million for one year, I can see the Cubs getting involved (along with a host of other teams).  But at his current asking price, he’s not only out of the Cubs range, but also a bad risk.

Finally, the Cubs could use another bullpen arm.  In my opinion, this is the one need that the Cubs could probably fill in-house.  They have a depth of decent bullpen arms.  Even so, this appears to be the position where Jim Hendry is focusing his efforts.  Rumor has it that he is targeting the Blue Jays Jason Frasor.  I don’t know what the Cubs would have to give up to get Frasor, but I really have to question the wisdom of adding an arbitration-eligible bullpen pitcher who made $1.45 million last year when the team has other needs.

Honestly, I don’t expect any big moves out of the Cubs the remainder of the off season.  It wouldn’t surprise me if the Cubs went into Spring Training without making any moves.  I hope that doesn’t happen, but it wouldn’t surprise me.

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Are the Cubs moving their Spring Training home to Florida?  I still think it’s a long-shot, but the Naples effort got a boost recently when the Collier County Hotel and Lodging Association voted unanimously to approve use of the County’s tourist tax to build a new stadium for the Cubs.

The move was important not only because it cleared the way to use proceeds from the tourist tax to help fund building the Cubs a new training complex, but also because it showed the Cubs that the hoteliers are completely on board with the proposal to bring the Cubs to Naples.  Cubs President Crane Kenney made it clear that the Cubs only want to go where they are wanted.  So the unanimous vote to use proceeds from the tourist tax was an important step forward for the Naples effort.

A few weeks ago, the Cubs announced that they had eliminated a proposed Spring Training site on the Gila River Indian Community in  Arizona.  That leaves Mesa, AZ and Naples as the only two remaining possibilities.

Aaron Heilman came in to pitch the seventh inning and immediately gave up a homerun to the Marlins Cody Ross.  For his trouble, Dempster ended up with a no decision.

The Cubs took the lead 2-1 with a homerun by Jake Fox in the top of the ninth.  With a one-run lead, Lou Piniella handed the ball to closer Kevin Gregg.  Gregg had blown a save the day before, only to have the Cubs come back to win the game.  Gregg even got the “W”.

Gregg started out the bottom of the ninth in good fashion by getting pinch hitter Hanley Ramirez to pop out for the first out of the inning.  Then things fell apart.  The next batter, second baseman Dan Uggla, hit a solo shot off of Gregg to tie the game.  Cody Ross was next up and hit his second homerun of the day to give the Marlins the victory.  In two successive batters, Gregg earned a blown save and the loss.

The blown save was Gregg’s fifth of the year.  He has 21 saves in 26 chances.  To be honest, that’s not horrible, but I can’t say that I have had faith in Gregg any time he has stepped on the mound.  In 2008 as the Marlins closer, Gregg had 29 saves in 38 chances, or nine blown saves.  He’s on pace to do about the same this year.

The Cubs next head to Cincinnati to take on the Reds in a three game series.  Under-the-radar Rookie of the Year candidate Randy Wells (7-4) takes on Aaron Harang (5-12).  The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.

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I don’t know if the following story/rumor is true, but I found it interesting.  It comes from Hot Stove Cubbies, a site I know almost nothing about.  In doing some checking, the unnamed author of the site supposedly has some close contacts with personnel from the Cubs and he has apparently called things right in the past.  You be the judge. 

Here’s what Hot Stove Cubbies had to say about a trade that got away:

I am hearing from a really reliable source that the Cubs were talking to the Orioles on Friday morning about a potential deal where switch-hitting leadoff man Brian Roberts would be sent to the Cubs along with a minor leaguer.

According to my source the O’s were going to pay 20 million of Roberts salary if they could get Jeff Samardzija, highly touted prospect Hak-Ju Lee, power hitter Jake Fox, prospect Alex Maestri and Mike Fontenot.

There was a couple of sticking points for the deal but did not kill that did not kill it [sic]. The Cubs did not know if the Shark would be willing to waive his no trade clause and whether the Cubs could afford to take on Roberts contract at 4 years 20 million dollars. As it neared the afternoon the Cubs brass got the O.K. to add the money and Jeff said he would waive his no-trade clause for a chance to start in Baltimore.

All this work was for nothing because when Andy MacPhail presented the deal to Peter Angelos, he vetoed the trade. There was no reason giving [sic] by my source why Peter would veto such a trade when he is getting 5 good young ball players, 3 with ML experience and two that could be ready in a year or two. Not to mention that the O’s would get our #2 prospect and #10 prospect according to baseballamerica.com.

I honestly think the O’s would have gotten a little better of a deal than the Cubs would because the Cubs are giving up quite a bit of talent for Roberts and a minor leaguer but they are in win now mode so I would have approved the trade.

The Cubs would have gotten a good 2nd baseman for the next 4 year at a cheap price. Not only would he provide the Cubs with stolen bases but he is a true leadoff hitter. It’s a shame this deal did not go through because I feel this would have put this team over the top.

The Orioles would have gotten a guy that could immediately step into the rotation in Shark and at 2nd base in Fontenot. Not only that they would get a really good power bat in Jake Fox. He could play some outfield, 3rd, and 1st but would primarily be their DH. The O’s then would receive a really good defensive shortstop with an good bat but is a couple of years away in Lee and Alex Maestri could step in as a top notch reliever next season. What a young good team the O’s would have for years to come!

It is really crazy how now we hear trades that were purposed but did not happen. In the past we heard Nate McLouth for Felix Pie straight up, the Cubs turned that one down a couple of years ago. Mark Prior, Felix Pie, and prospect for Miguel Tejeda and Erik Bedard, the Cubs also turn down that one years ago as well. But this one is hardly the Cubs fault. I guess we can hope for this to be revisited maybe through waivers? Not likely.

Again, I don’t know if this is true or not, but if it is, I hope Jim Hendry can revive it in the off season.  Mike Fontenot is obviously not the answer at second base, and the Cubs have demonstrated time and time again that they need a true lead off hitter. 

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I have a real problem with the way salaries are handled in MLB.  There’s a real problem with the business side of the game when a team like the Yankeees pay one player more than other organizations spend on their entire roster.  The idea of a salary cap has been floated in the past, but in my mind, the only way that makes sense is if it includes a minimum amount a team must spend.  Not only would this be necessary to get the Players Union to approve the plan (they probably would still not approve it), but it would be necessary to promote competitive balance.

Ben Bouma formerly worked for the Pittsburgh Pirates and now works as a producer with ESPN and TBS.  He still lives in Pittsburgh and he remains passionate about Pirates Baseball.  At the moment, he’s none too happy about the way the Pirates organization is run.  Here’s what he had to say in Nick Cafardo’s column in the Boston Globe:

The Pirates, on pace for an American professional sports record of 17 straight losing seasons, have gutted their team of name players and decided to start anew, but in the process barely have a major league team on the field.

 

Bouma points out that in 1997, the Pirates’ payroll was $9 million, $1 million less than Albert Belle’s salary. The Pirates’ current payroll is $25 million, 25 percent less than what Alex Rodriguez is making this season.

“Four players in MLB make $20 million to $25 million and three of them play in that [Yankees] infield. [The Dodgers’ Manny Ramirez makes $23 million.] With 67 percent of the season gone, the Pirates are only on the hook for less than $9 million for the remainder of 2009,’’ Bouma writes in an e-mail. Bouma points out that the Pirates are the only team in the majors without a player making at least the MLB average salary of $3.26 million (Paul Maholm is highest at $2.5 million).

“Last year, the Pirates are believed to have received a revenue-sharing check of $27 million from MLB, based on figures leaked to the Wall Street Journal,’’ Bouma writes. “They receive close to $35 million from the national TV contracts. That is $62 million before anyone buys a ticket, sets foot in PNC Park on Opening Day and buys a hot dog, or watches or listens to a game on local TV and radio. Not to mention what they will receive from MLB for the MLB Network and MLB.com/MLB.TV and Extra Innings packages. On top of this, they let go many front-office people [some with 20 years of service] earlier this season.

“This is no longer a problem of ‘how baseball is structured’ any longer. This is both fundamentally and ethically wrong . . . It is high time this [ownership] group is held accountable for the complete mismanagement of the franchise as their excuses have run out.’’

Pirates general manager Neal Huntington, after making his final deal Friday, said, “We need to break the cycle of losing. We need to break the cycle of being in a situation where we’re making trades every year. We have the pieces in place to build something.’’

The Pirates are a sad case, as are the Royals and Marlins (although the Marlins have been somewhat competitive).  The Padres can be added to that list at the moment, although their situation is different and appears to be temporary.

When you look at the Pirates and realize that not one of their players earns the league average salary, you have to wonder why Commissioner Bud Selig doesn’t step in and do something for the good of the game.  If the ownership group doesn’t have the money to field a competitive team (is that possible considering they received $62 million dollars for doing nothing?), then they should be forced to sell or bring on a deep-pocket partner (Mark Cuban?).  If the city simply can’t or won’t support the team, then the once proud organization should be moved.  Baseball can not allow this travesty to continue.