Rumor has it that the Cubs have traded for Juan Pierre though Hendry hasn’t confirmed it. The rumored price is two minor league pitching prospects Ricky Nolasco and Renyel Pinto.
Good. Leadoff problem solved. In 6 seasons, Pierre has batted .305 with a OBP of .355 and 267 stolen bases.
He comes at a fair price too. JP will more than likely cost the Cubs between $5-8mil/year.
That said, it is certainly not a bad trade for the Marlins and belies the notion that they are “selling the farm”. Pinto and Nolasco are quality pitchers and in time, the Marlin staff will be one to contend with.
Prior-Abreu Rumor?
The Philadelphia Daily News is rumoring about a Prior-Abreu swap. From the article:
“According to National League sources at the winter meetings here, the Cubs asked the Phillies yesterday what it would take to pry away two-time All-Star rightfielder, Gold Glove winner and reigning Home Run Derby champion Bobby Abreu.
The answer: Mark Prior.
The Cubs didn’t say yes.
But they didn’t say no, either; at least, they haven’t so far.”
If that is true, I implore the Cubs to do it now. Prior is a good pitcher but in the four year we’ve had him, we got one good solid year out of him in 2003. Bobby Abreu, on the other hand, has consistently hit for power (eight straight years with 20+ homers), average (career .303 hitter), and on-base (career .411 OBP).
If Prior is what it will take to get Bobby Abreu, dig deep and pay the piper.
Mabry (yawn)
In other Cub news, they have acquired John Mabry, a free agent. I’ve never been a Mabry fan but Hendry wants to beef up the pinch hitting crew and I guess he does that with Mabry at little cost.
Update: Right-hander Sergio Mitre was also part of the deal along with the two minor league pitchers to get Pierre. Meh, I think we can live without him. I was high on him at first but my enthusiam for him fizzled after a while.
If I had Bobby Abreu and you had Mark Prior, you and I dould make a trade.
I would trade Abreu for Prior EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK.
what i will say for Prior is at least his injuries for the most part are not pitching-related. Call him a bad luck pitcher but not in the sense we usually do. Accident-prone??
As for Abreu, there isn’t much bad i can say about him. I guess it depends on when his contract is up. If he’s up for FA next year, it’s a given that it’s a one year deal for the Cubs.
I dunno. I’d just like to see Prior put up some good numbers for a season and he hasn’t done that often.