First off, Carrie Muskat continues her excellent job this off-season (who would have guessed?) and tells us that Ben Sheets appears to be out of the Cubs price range. I'd take that seriously...Carrie has been quite accurate most of this off-season and has been the voice of reason in a rather chaotic year.
I feel dirty now for saying that.
Anyway, here is snippet from her post:
The Cubs will have a scout watching Sheets when he does workout in Arizona. But that's due diligence. Yes, GM Jim Hendry did talk to Sheets' agent, but Hendry talked to agents representing every free agent on the market.
The team feels it has enough starting pitchers to get through the first month while Ted Lilly recovers from arthroscopic surgery, which he had in early November.
I'm hoping the Sheets's price drops enough for the Cubs to at least be in the game. But we'll see. It would be nice for the Cubs to pick up another starter. But I still feel they need a setup man in the bullpen. If Sheets remains too expensive, could the Cubs look at Valverde to solidify things in the pen? He might be too expensive too, though.
In other news:
- Ryne Sandberg was officially introduced as manager in Des Moines.
- Angel Guzman's brother was shot dead. My condolences to the Guzman family.
- Arizona is drafting legislation to pay for a new Cubs spring training facility. Will Florida do the same?
- The Bears still suck...and...
- Mark McGwire is still a douche.
Have a good Wednesday.
