Sun-Times says O's want Cedeno, Gallagher, and 2 more prospects

[Mackus]

I think Gallagher, Cedeno, and Veal are certainly going to be in the deal. The question is who the 4th palyer is.

I'm sure MacPhail is probably pushing for Colvin, while Hendry would rather us take Murton or a lesser prospect.

I'd be happy with any of Murton, Colvin, or Patterson coming along with the other 3. I'd probably preer Murton and then Patterson over Colvin, who I don't think is going to get the plate discipline up enough to be an impact player, although he is an intriguing prospect.

[B-Rob 4 sale]

Not a bad idea with Thomas instead of Murton, but then you are into the PTBNL realm, whih might drag he deal down even more...

That being said, yeah i would probably do a Gallagher, Cedenao, Thomas(PTBNL) and Veal/Colvin deal. I would prefer Veal, buts that just personal preference.

I agree with ya.. I do think that this trade will defintiely help you guys out down the road. You could certainly assemble a very talented young team over the next couple years. Thanks for the friendly banter bro..

[LookinUp]

Oh, my bad man! I didn't realize that! Thanks Lax- I kinda feel foolish now that you mention it. :002_ssuprised:

But I can see where you night kinda see Murton as not being a good fit in the deal.. I'd say add Tony Thomas to the mix instead. Do you think that would be an okay return then?

IMO, the Cubs wouldn't add Thomas with or w/o the PTBNL issue. He's one of their most valuable prospects. If they did, the O's would pounce on it in a second.

Based on "intel" from these message boards, we're led to believe that Gallagher, Cedeno and Veal (if bigbird's right) are basically agreed upon. Therefore, the discussion goes to the 4th and possibly 5th Cubs players, Payton, and potentially cash from the O's.

This could go several ways obviously, but I'd guess the negotiation around a 4th player centers on Colvin, Ceda, Patterson or Murton. The Cubs likely want it to be Murton while the O's likely want Colvin or Ceda. I assume Patterson is somewhere in between. If it's Murton, the O's might end up pushing for a lesser potential 5th player.

Under any circumstances, I'd bet Payton is included, particularly if Murton is included. He really makes sense for the Cubs. If so, the O's may have to pony up some cash. In theory, the more cash they pony up, the better that 4th player would be. This is only negotiaton theory though and the Cubs may value the players more than a couple million dollars.

[Harry Carry]

You are the second one to point that out to me thats how I spell the name it has nothing to do with Harry.Thanks for correcting my spelling though.

[davearm]

IMO, the Cubs wouldn't add Thomas with or w/o the PTBNL issue. He's one of their most valuable prospects. If they did, the O's would pounce on it in a second.

Based on "intel" from these message boards, we're led to believe that Gallagher, Cedeno and Veal (if bigbird's right) are basically agreed upon. Therefore, the discussion goes to the 4th and possibly 5th Cubs players, Payton, and potentially cash from the O's.

This could go several ways obviously, but I'd guess the negotiation around a 4th player centers on Colvin, Ceda, Patterson or Murton. The Cubs likely want it to be Murton while the O's likely want Colvin or Ceda. I assume Patterson is somewhere in between. If it's Murton, the O's might end up pushing for a lesser potential 5th player.

Under any circumstances, I'd bet Payton is included, particularly if Murton is included. He really makes sense for the Cubs. If so, the O's may have to pony up some cash. In theory, the more cash they pony up, the better that 4th player would be. This is only negotiaton theory though and the Cubs may value the players more than a couple million dollars.

What you've outlined here is awful for the Cubs.

This deal is quickly escalating to Juan Pierre levels of ugliness.

[Harry Carry]

I think your right the Cubs would rather take on the 2 million than giving up a better prospect.

[Cubsfan]

In sum, I would say that Murton has been a better player than Reimold thus far and will probably have a better major league career than him when all is said and done. Sure, we can point to injuries stalling Reimold to an extent, but hey, that's part of the equation. And while I don't pretend to say that Murton is the offensive player that Markakis is or will be, it is a bit surprising that their career OPS thus far is very similar.

I've suggested in my posts that some of the players acquired in the Roberts deal could be used to set up future deals. The above quote and stats from an O's fan leads to some thought on accepting Murton and using Reimold, some of the young pitchers, and some of the "dead weight" (Gibbons, Payton, Millar, Mora, Huff, etc.) in package deals for a top prospect or young vet at a needed position. AM needs to be creative in packaging the "dead weight" with a young player to open up positions for the young players and to acquire more young players. How can you rebuild when you have Gibbons, Payton, Millar, Mora, and Huff eating up 5 spots on your roster?

[LookinUp]

What you've outlined here is awful for the Cubs.

This deal is quickly escalating to Juan Pierre levels of ugliness.

Maybe so, but I'll be surprised if the 4th player is of lesser value then Patterson or Murton. I guess time will tell.

[RShack]

If you are looking now you are doing it to see if there is something to disuade you from continuing on. That would be the likeliest reason to look at him.

I am not saying that they found that, probably to the contrary.

Maybe. Or maybe just the opposite. If you're about give up more than you wanted to, then maybe you're looking to see some BRob magic, just to help you sleep better at night about doing it.

ps: I'm rooting for the Cubbies in '08, regardless of how this turns out. It's a once-in-forever opportunity. I hope they don't blow it.

[dsr42887]

Another long time lurker...

I just want to say how un-excited I am about the prospect of having Ronny Cedeno as our starting shortstop. A 25 year old shortstop with a career batting average of .247? We got someone here by the name of Luis Hernandez who could put up the same numbers. What makes this guy Cedeno any better than Luis?

A middle infield of Luis Hernandez and Ronny Cedeno would be straight up ugly. Can you imagine these two in our order hitting 8th and 9th? OUCH Who bats leadoff in this situation? Melvin Mora? Luke Scott? As someone who likes to watch as many of the games as possible, the though of watching Ronny Cedeno instead of Brian Roberts this season is enough to make me ill.

We are going to trade Brian Roberts and replace him with this guy and we're supposed to be excited?

I'd like to hear some of your opinions about Ronny Cedeno. Am I missing something with this guy? What does he bring to the table? Is there an upside with this guy?

[DeuceBaseman]

Cedeno has dominated the minors for the past few years. I believe he won the batting title in the minors for 1 or 2 years. When he gets called up to the majors he seems nervous and over-anxious. He supposedly has been working on being more patient and that would make him a better player. This guy can be a pretty good SS. He has struggled in the majors, even though he really hasnt had many at bats in the majors yet, but so did Rich Hill. Some guys need a few tries at the majors before getting comfortable. I think Cedeno can be good this year or next.

[Mackus]

Another long time lurker...

I just want to say how un-excited I am about the prospect of having Ronny Cedeno as our starting shortstop. A 25 year old shortstop with a career batting average of .247? We got someone here by the name of Luis Hernandez who could put up the same numbers. What makes this guy Cedeno any better than Luis?

A middle infield of Luis Hernandez and Ronny Cedeno would be straight up ugly. Can you imagine these two in our order hitting 8th and 9th? OUCH Who bats leadoff in this situation? Melvin Mora? Luke Scott? As someone who likes to watch as many of the games as possible, the though of watching Ronny Cedeno instead of Brian Roberts this season is enough to make me ill.

We are going to trade Brian Roberts and replace him with this guy and we're supposed to be excited?

I'd like to hear some of your opinions about Ronny Cedeno. Am I missing something with this guy? What does he bring to the table? Is there an upside with this guy?

You're missing two things:

1) Cedeno's minor league numbers are very good. He has a chance to be a good starting SS. Not a lock, but he has a chance.

2) We're also getting 3 other, better players than Ronny Cedeno. Or at least two better guys another prospect. We're getting at least one top 100 prospect and perhaps an 800+ OPS young OF and a promising young arm.

[byrdz]

Cedeno has dominated the minors for the past few years. I believe he won the batting title in the minors for 1 or 2 years.

I'm going to go on record as saying that Cedeno is going to be a bust as well. I've held back for some time because I just wasn't sure but after checking his splits it seems his best numbers have come in the Iowa park. I don't know if this park is hitter friendly or if it's that he has a groupie girlfriend named Annie in town telling him to breath through his eyelids but it seems he only hits well there and it has screwed everyones perception that he can actually hit elsewhere worth a damn. The fact that he can only hit in Iowa doesn't help the Orioles at all, which are in Baltimore, is what I'm saying. Otherwise, Cedeno looks very similar to the other SS fodder we have. In fact, LH is looking better than him at this point, IMO.

2005 Iowa Cubs

Road .278 .347 .343 .690

Home .407 .441 .630 1.071

Source

See, his road numbers look strikingly similar to his career numbers everywhere else.

*Correction*

Well, it appears that I spoke to soon. I'm looking at his 2007 numbers and they are pretty even. (I didn't see these splits at first because they are not updated on his overall numbers page.) Ok, now I don't know what to think. Maybe he took Annie on the road with him...

2007 Iowa

Home .409 .438 .553 .991

Road .301 .403 .528 .931

Source

[Big Al]

Also, can someone please enlighten me on the infatuation with Gallagher? I know it is a small sample size, but his ML numbers are frightful.

W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV SVO IP H R ER HR BB SO

2007 0 0 8.59 8 0 0 0 1 1 14.2 19 15 14 3 12 5

Career 0 0 8.59 8 0 0 0 1 1 14.2 19 15 14 3 12 5

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=451595

[TheOtherRipken]

The Waldo guy above doesn't know what he's talking about. Murton does not have a heart condition. DeRosa is the one with that problem. And that trade is ridiculous sir. Take Pie out of that trade and then we have something to work with. AM got a lot of studs for the Tejada and Bedard trades. More than anyone expected, but Roberts wont bring in a haul like that. Look for Gallagher, Cedeno, Veal, and maybe a lower level prospect (or Fontenot).

My bad, where is my mind. Still Roberts is a prime leadoff hitter in a league that sorely lacks them. He's one of the top producing second basemen in the league. Why would we take two potentially bottom of the rotation guys and another Luis Hernandez-esqu player. What's the point of trading Roberts in that situation?

I'm just saying Roberts for Gallagher, Veal, Cedeno, and another Kam Mickolio type guy, doesn't get me too excited.