Cubs trade DeRosa to Indians; Does this mean Pie for Olson back on??

[O'sWhyNot52]

Well guess what, there's only one Ed Wade and Bavasi is no longer a GM, and nobody else wants to get ripped off again, so I wouldn't hold your breath...

Hmm..Did you read what you just wrote? Did it possibly occur to you that Mcphail deserved a little bit of credit for orchestrating those deals, and by coming out on top other owners are now more skeptical to give up as much to him as they would have possibly prior to the Bedard and Tejada deals?

I am sure that no owner wants to get the short end of the stick, so combining that with Mcphail's recent track record I could see where it may take a little bit of time to get the right deal done.

[Hank Scorpio]

I think it's Pie & Cedeno for Olson.

Oh, right.

Ugh, I don't know about that given the state of our "rotation" right now, but whatev.

[TiredofLosing20]

Seems to me that he's been remarkably honest and straightforward about it.

The problem is that lots of people either ignore what he's said, or pretend he said something else, or else just don't believe that what he said is true.

IMO, he botched the Tex situation from a PR standpoint. He had to understand that the bidding for Tex was going to be highly competitive and that our chances were not great. The initial discussions of him and Burnett should have been much more setting the table for the most likely result i.e No Tex and not Burnett. I think that he probably knew there was a buzz about Tex and he should have simply set the bar lower and reduce expectations about signing him. Not that you are wrong in that people did hear what they wanted to hear but AM did nothing to temper the enthusiasm.

[TiredofLosing20]

You know I still don't understand the notion of giving up Olson so quickly.

[O'sWhyNot52]

No, and I didn't suggest that. What I stated was that people have the wrong idea about the Rays. LaMar made very bad moves. He spent money very unwisely and made horrible trades. He had lots of draft picks, but had no idea how to construe a winner. Then I stated that I would give AM the same amount of time that it took Andrew Friedman. I was expressing frustration with those who think that it took the Rays 10 years to build a winner.

I am in agreement that the Rays and O's cases couldn't be more different..

but I took your comment that you will give Mcphail 2 years to reach the World Series as a bit contradictory.

You state how different the situations are, but expect the same results in the same amount of time.

[hoosiers]

It's an interesting move to sign Miles and move DeRosa for three guys who are not in the Indians top 10 .... seems like somewhat of a sideways move that might save some payroll, lower the major league talent a tad, provide a few ABs for Fontenot and net a few C+/C prospects.

We'll see what follow-up moves this opens up for Hendry.

[Mike B]

I have not read the whole thread, mainly because every thread reflects the same people bashing AM but it is being reported in Cleveland that Mark DeRosa was acquired to play third base and not second base. They had the hole there after trading Casey Blake to the Dodgers at last years deadline. My apologies if this has been reported before.

[Stotle]

No, and I didn't suggest that. What I stated was that people have the wrong idea about the Rays. LaMar made very bad moves. He spent money very unwisely and made horrible trades. He had lots of draft picks, but had no idea how to construe a winner. Then I stated that I would give AM the same amount of time that it took Andrew Friedman. I was expressing frustration with those who think that it took the Rays 10 years to build a winner.

It didn't take 10 years, but Friedman also inheritted a ton of young talent. The organization just had no direction.

[clapdiddy]

I have not read the whole thread, mainly because every thread reflects the same people bashing AM but it is being reported in Cleveland that Mark DeRosa was acquired to play third base and not second base. They had the hole there after trading Casey Blake to the Dodgers at last years deadline. My apologies if this has been reported before.

I thought they were going to move Peralta to third, then put Cabrera at shortstop?

[Mike B]

I am not sure how this effects Roberts if at all, as to me it looks more like a payroll dump by the Cubs in order to add a player (outfielder or Peavy maybe). I still think the main obstacle to a Roberts trade is Orlando Hudson sitting on the FA list, waiting for an offer.

[SilentJames]

IMO, he botched the Tex situation from a PR standpoint. He had to understand that the bidding for Tex was going to be highly competitive and that our chances were not great. The initial discussions of him and Burnett should have been much more setting the table for the most likely result i.e No Tex and not Burnett. I think that he probably knew there was a buzz about Tex and he should have simply set the bar lower and reduce expectations about signing him. Not that you are wrong in that people did hear what they wanted to hear but AM did nothing to temper the enthusiasm.

How did HE get the enthusiasm up? Did AM ever come out and say "I think we are in the lead to get him!" "OMG GUYZ SERIOUSLY WE R SOOO CLOZE!!!"

The most excited AM ever got about it was "we are in it until we are told otherwise."

WOW, might as well just run into a movie theater and yell fire with that type of riot generating language.

It was US, we did it to ourselves. We relied on insiders info and internet rumors and we ran with it and formulated our own theories as to what was going on and came to our own conclusions.

We looked at the wrapped box under the Christmas tree. It was the same size, roughly, of a new Xbox so we got all excited for a new xbox. We convinced ourselves it was a new Xbox. We started talking about all the awesome games we would play, how getting online would be great. we dreamed about it, we couldn't wait.

But then we realized it was clothes and we blame our parents for "getting our hopes up".

AM even said, "don't pay attention to the rumors."

Bottom line is this: How many times do we here people say "we should just put our offer on the table and tell him 'take it or leave it.'?" That is essentially what MacPhail did. He put the offer on the table, that would have made Tex one of the highest paid players in the game and the highest paid Oriole of all time, told him we would be willing to move on it and get back to us.

MacPhail didn't want to get into a bidding war in the press, he didn't want Tex to use the Orioles like he used the Red Sox and Nationals to drive his price up. I think it is as simple as that.

What would have happened on this board if MacPhail and Angelos were the ones that flew out to Texas and then were sent home with their tail between their legs like the Sox were? How would the board have reacted to that I wonder?

[Mike B]

I thought they were going to move Peralta to third, then put Cabrera at shortstop?

I have a good friend who lives outside of Cleveland and he said that all the talk there is DeRosa will play 3rd and the prospects going to the Cubs are mid to low level pitching prospects.

[Belkast]

No this means Peavy to Cubs.

Miles was signed to take DeRosa's place...

This also means no Roberts to Indians...

Not only have the Cubs passed on Roberts, but they've now screwed the O's by taking away Cleveland as a landing spot.

This is exactly what I was thinking!

[YaBoyTopher]

I think too many fans think being a GM in MLB is like playing a video game, you cannot throw caution to the wind and wheel or deal like crazy in this league.

If this was year 5 of Mcphails tenure here I would agree with all the haters, But this is just his 2nd year, give the man a chance. What did we have to work with when he got here? Not much. So have some faith, it is not Mcphails fault we have lost the last 11 seasons, he is doing the best he can to rebuild this franchise from the ground up, that takes time.

[ChaosLex]

Yes, if he was the best player available.

Not me.

I'd bet good money that Aumont wou'dve been drafted over Wieters had AM been in charge then.