MVN: Most Valuable Network

Could Orioles make Peavy trade happen?

By Evan | December 1, 2008 | MVN Outsider

Garrett Olson - Evan Brunell

According to Jeff Zrebiec and Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun, (I bet poor Peter got razzed in junior high for that last name) the Baltimore Orioles may be the third team that San Diego Padres' GM Kevin Towers needed in order to ship Jake Peavy to the Chicago Cubs.Towers is looking for young pitchers and hitters in return for Peavy and while the Cubs can offer third base prospect Josh Vitters, they don't have the pitching needed to make the deal on their own.Enter the Orioles, who last year almost matched up with the Cubs on a deal involving second baseman Brian Roberts heading to Chicago for, amongst other things, centerfielder Felix Pie. Club president Andy McPhail acknowledged that the Orioles are looking at Pie as a way to bolster their depth in outfield.Pie, 23, supposed to be the future long-term centerfielder for the Cubs, has struggled these...

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Three-team Trade Rumor: Peavy to Cubs, Pie to O's?

By Alex Remington | November 30, 2008 | Chop-n-Change

The Baltimore Sun has reported a rumor of a three-team deal between the Padres, Orioles, and Cubs, with Baltimore pitcher Garrett Olson (?) going to the Padres and Felix Pie coming to the Orioles.Lemme go ahead and shoot this one down in advance. Look, three-team deals don't happen, particularly not within 50 miles of Peter Angelos. Yes, Manny Ramirez got traded in a three-team deal, in which Manny went to LA; Jason Bay went to the Red Sox; and Brandon Moss, Craig Hansen, Bryan Morris, and Andy LaRoche went to the Pirates. But it was the first three-team blockbuster in years.Here are other recent three-team trades:June 2004: Carlos Beltran to Astros; Octavio Dotel and cash to Athletics; John Buck, Mike Wood, and Mark Teahen to RoyalsJanuary 2003: Orlando Hernandez, Rocky Biddle, Jeff Liefer, and cash to Expos; Bartolo Colon, Jorge Nunez and cash to White Sox; Antonio Osuna and Delvis Lantigua...

Read more  |  14 Comments  |  Tags: Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Felix Pie, Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres

What we learned in Arizona - Pitcher Edition

By Joe Aiello | November 27, 2008 | View from the Bleachers

I am admittedly stealing this idea from Brew Crew Ball, but if you're not stealing, you're not really trying. Let's take a look, now that the fall league is over, at how our representatives performed and see what we can glean from it, if anything.Esmailin CaridadHow did our pitchers fair under the Arizona sun?What we knew - Caridad came into the season unranked by the major publications when it came to top prospects in the organization after being signed as an undrafted free agent by the Cubs last season. He split time between High-A Daytona and Double-A Tennessee as a starting pitcher. A 13-7 combined record between the two levels shows a lot of promise for the kid and warrented a fall league invitation to speed the development process due to his age (24 yrs old). We knew coming into the fall league that he wasn't a dominant strike out...

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Winter League Results - 11.24.08

By Joe Aiello | November 25, 2008 | View from the Bleachers

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Winter League Roundup

By Joe Aiello | November 23, 2008 | View from the Bleachers

All stats current through games on 11.22.2008 Name Pos G H 2B 3B HR R RBI AVG OBP Slug  Darwin Barney SS 23 26 6 0 1 15 11 .302 .337 .407  Steve Clevenger C 17 19 6 0 0 15 8 .302 .397 .397  Nate Spears 2B 23 29 6 2 2 26 19 .349 .461 .542  Marquez Smith 3B 34 22 4 1 4 15 11 .190 .282 .345  Tony Thomas 2B 30 27 5 6 2 15 9 .223 .288 .413  Wellington Castillo C 4 1 0 0 0 0 1 .143 .143 .286  Jake Fox C 22 33 13 0 2 16 24 .413 .469 .650  Alberto Garcia 1B 9 6 1 0 0 0 2 .300 .300 .350  Jason Dubois OF 17 13 3 1 0 7 4 .232 .323 .645  Bobby Scales 2B 8 6 1 0 0 5 1 .207 .281 .241  Andres...

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Clevenger's Success, Donald Veals Omission, and More

By Joe Aiello | November 22, 2008 | View from the Bleachers

It's been awhile since I've written, especially if you don't count winter league results. In case you haven't noticed, not much is going on. Here are some things I've noticed over the past few days with my commentary. Steven Clevenger and Mario MercedesLisa Winston of MiLB.com mentioned Steven Clevenger in a recent column on Cubs.com. Clevenger was a 7th round pick for the Cubs back in 2006 out of a junior college. He's advanced through the system each year, which is always a good sign for a young, developing player. In 2008, the bulk of his time was spent at High-A Daytona, but he did see some time with the Double-A Smokies as well. I'd like to see him start the year in AA with the chance to move to AAA if warranted. Some of the highlights of the article were as follows: "Originally, Clevenger wasn't even supposed to be...

Read more  |  2 Comments  |  Tags: Cubs, Donald Veal, Jose Ceda, Marcos Mateo, Marlins, MLB, Steven Clevenger

Winter League Results - 11.20.08

By Joe Aiello | November 21, 2008 | View from the Bleachers

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Winter League Results - 11.19.08

By Joe Aiello | November 20, 2008 | View from the Bleachers

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Could Orioles make Peavy trade happen?

By Evan | December 1, 2008 | MVN Outsider

Garrett Olson - Evan Brunell

According to Jeff Zrebiec and Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun, (I bet poor Peter got razzed in junior high for that last name) the Baltimore Orioles may be the third team that San Diego Padres' GM Kevin Towers needed in order to ship Jake Peavy to the Chicago Cubs.Towers is looking for young pitchers and hitters in return for Peavy and while the Cubs can offer third base prospect Josh Vitters, they don't have the pitching needed to make the deal on their own.Enter the Orioles, who last year almost matched up with the Cubs on a deal involving second baseman Brian Roberts heading to Chicago for, amongst other things, centerfielder Felix Pie. Club president Andy McPhail acknowledged that the Orioles are looking at Pie as a way to bolster their depth in outfield.Pie, 23, supposed to be the future long-term centerfielder for the Cubs, has struggled these...Read more

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Hot Stove Dishes - November 14, 2008

By Brian Joseph | November 14, 2008 | MVN Outsider

The latest buzz served up from baseball's Hot Stove League.  Ten of the hottest stories, moves and rumors from the past week: Yankees out to buy back in to playoffs, offer Sabathia record deal The New York Yankees are tired of missing the playoffs.  The one-year absence has driven them to offer CC Sabathia a six-year, $140-million contract to bring his talent to the Bronx.  The Brewers want to keep Sabathia but can they afford the price of competing with the Yankees in the free agent market.  Better yet, can anyone? Padres go one way with offering Peavy, Braves go the other At some point in the past seven days there was buzz that the Braves and Padres were very close to a deal that would send Padres ace Jake Peavy to Atlanta.  After an entire offseason of talks, the Braves announced that they were calling off their pursuit of...Read more

Read more  |  1 Comment  |  Tags: Atlanta Braves, BBWAA, CC Sabathia, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Dayan Viciedo, Hot Stove, Jake Peavy, Kerry Wood, Kevin Gregg, Los Angeles Dodgers, Manager, Manny Ramirez, Milwaukee Brewers, MLB, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Scott Boras, Trevor Hoffman

When the team you root for is at the bottom

By Patrick Patterson | November 13, 2008 | MVN Outsider

When a team is flying high, the ranks of their fans swell to epic proportions. (See also 1990's Dallas Cowboys.) The new fans that arrive are often derided by the long time fans as "bandwagoners."  These long time fans are the ones who suffered through the down times, and can truly taste the joy of the winning seasons. There are some teams that do not know what it is like to have a true down cycle such as NCAA's University of Kentucky Wildcats in basketball (One losing season in the last several generations.) Other teams such as the Detroit Lions or Kansas City Royals (One world series appearance) don't have the history of up times to have acquired a bandwagon.  When a team that has a history of domination, such as the Oakland Raiders falls on hard times, it takes its toll on the fan base. The Raider Nation is...Read more

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MVN Awards: Best Bench Players - Mike Fontenot, Sean Casey

By Ryan Armbrust | November 12, 2008 | MVN Outsider

Boston's Sean Casey, pictured on the far left, was the best bench player in the American League this season, as voted on my MVN's staff writers. / Photo by SoxyLady (flickr).

A baseball team is often referred to as "the home nine," referring, of course, to the nine starters on the field. Those nine players account for a large part of the success of the team, but a manager can't field a winner without some depth and quality on his bench. Baseball is a game of inches, and having a quality player ready to pick up the slack from an injury or take an important pinch-hit at bat is often the difference between making the playoffs and watching them from home.Both of the players that we at MVN have tabbed as the best bench player in each league come from teams that got to the postseason. Neither player had even 300 plate appearances. Both hit over .300. Each was invaluable to his club.--- -- --- -- ---In the National League, the Chicago Cubs' Mike Fontenot started the year slowly, hitting just .237...Read more

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Friday's Hot Stove Dishes - November 7, 2008

By Brian Joseph | November 7, 2008 | MVN Outsider

Check MVN Outsider ever Friday for the ten hottest rumors during the Hot Stove League and a recap of all of the latest moves in Major League Baseball: Peavy's days numbered in San Diego.  Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves highlight possible destinations. As San Diego Padres GM has stated, the Jake Peavy "train has kind of left the station."  Since the Peavy rumors started, he has informed the Padres that he will lift his no-trade clause for seven teams -- the Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees.  Of that group, the Braves and Cubs have emerged as the front-runners.  The Braves seem to be dangling Yunel Escobar and young pitching but not prospect Tommy Hanson who the Padres have been rumored to be interested in.  Also, the talk of Escobar being part of the deal has Peavy concerned about Atlanta's...Read more

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MVN Awards: Best Relievers - Joey Devine, Carlos Marmol

By Ryan Armbrust | November 7, 2008 | MVN Outsider

Outside the handful of high-profile closers in the league, being a reliever is often a less-than-glamorous job. Set-up men rank somewhere near the bottom of the league on pay scale -- and name recognition. When was the last time you saw a fan wearing the jersey of a middle reliever? All too often, non-closing relievers are only remembered for making a single key mistake.It's time to change that, and recognize the most outstanding relievers in the game who weren't restricted to the ninth inning.- -- --- -- ---In the National League, the Cubs were all over the newspapers, magazines, TV... basically any and all media was fixated on the North Side crew and their 100-year championship drought.A key member of that club was a wild-armed Dominican who nearly pitched himself out of a job in his rookie season of 2006, only to have a breakout year in 2007. This season,...Read more

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MVN Awards: NL Rookie of the Year - Geovany Soto

By Alan Smodic | November 6, 2008 | MVN Outsider

The picture to the left says it all for any Cubs fan that's had the pleasure of viewing a game from behind the plate -- the catcher's perspective. In previous years for the Cubs, that position has not been either A) stable or B) productive. After 2008, that all changed. And Cubs fans everywhere will hope to see a jersey portraying "Soto 18" on its back behind the plate for many years to come. The Cubs drafted Geovany Soto in the 11th round (318th overall) in the 2001 draft out of a Puerto Rico military academy. He signed June 26, 2001 as an 18-year-old corner infielder. It wasn't until 2003, when he was playing for Daytona in the Florida State League, that he made the move to catcher. The development process began from there and -- to be cliche -- the rest is history. From 2004-2006, while progressing as a...Read more

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Being the GM: 2009 Chicago Cubs

By Evan | November 4, 2008 | MVN Outsider

Ray Durham - Ben Lei

This series is predicated on educated guesses, past history of the team/general manager, rumors that have been out there for a while, and actions that I feel could be taken. This exercise is me playing GM to inspire conversation and a new way of approaching things. Moves that I complete as previous GMs of teams will carry over here. Trades only include principal, significant players.The Chicago Cubs were the NL's best team in 2008, but it got them nowhere in the playoffs. What is it going to take for them to get back?Chicago Cubs resign closer Kerry Wood.The team should be motivated to bring Wood back as he excelled out of the closer's role and there's no reason to try to fix what ain't broken. Yes, Carlos Marmol can close, but that would be at the expense of not having such a dominant setup man. Wood should command a two...Read more

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