This is something I've been meaning to try out for a while, and so I'm going to try and do this tomorrow and see how it works out.

Saturday at 1, please stop on by GROTA for a live chatter about the Cubs offseason plans. We'll have all the latest on Jake Peavy and all the other trade rumors, as well as whatever else comes along. It'll be a moderated chat - basically you guys submit questions and I (and the other Riders, if they'd like) answer them. It's a similar format to what they use on MLB Trade Rumors and other websites.

So tomorrow, when it gets to be around time for this to start, I'll sticky this post to the top and start the chatter below:

So please, stop on by!

At various points over the past two years, I've been a strong advocate for both Rich Hill and Sean Gallagher. At the tail end of the '06 season, I was convinced that Hill would be for real - he threw a ball-busting curve and seemed poised to dominate. And, in '07, he was certainly about as good as advertised - he threw 195 innings of work, he went 11-8, he had a 3.92 ERA, and he struck out 183 batters. Then, he crapped his pants in the playoffs and became trade speculation.

The funny thing about Hill was that he was always hit or miss - there rarely seemed to be an in between. Either he'd go out and pitch a solid game, or he'd go out and get rocked by the opponents. There was no steady pitching until the 5th when he gave up 4. If he had 4 to give up in a game, he'd do it early. This led me to joke that there were two Hill's - Rich and Mitch. Rich Hill was the good pitcher, the reliable lefty with tremendous talent. Mitch was the jealous, evil twin brother of Rich who would occasionally kidnap his good brother and take his place in the rotation. Although they were twins, it was easy to tell them apart - Mitch had one of those evil, curling mustaches and he would pitch while wearing a villanous top hat:

There were basically two camps on Hill before the start of the '08 season. Camp Untouchable argued that Hill did well in his first full season and, because the Cubs controlled his contract for essentially the next half decade, his greatest value was to the team. Camp Trade, however - and I was a member of this group - argued that Hill was effective and reliable, but he was not a #2 pitcher, he had no ace-like qualities, and he would best serve the Cubs by being traded in order to upgrade the rotation. But, just to prove to you that I don't always think I'm right, I had stumped for Erik Bedard to be the pitcher the Cubs should have pursued.

It actually turned out that we were all wrong. Hill was neither reliable nor effective in 2008. In fact, he only pitched in 19.2 innings at the Major League level, and he walked 18 batters to 15 strikeouts in that time frame. Concerned for him, the Cubs sent him back to Arizona to work out his kinks, which he never really did. He got roughed up in Iowa, was sent to work out the kinks in Mesa, and was briefly shut down on July 1st after only going 1/3 of an inning. Hill pitched once more on July 8th and did well enough to warrant continued work, but he failed to "get right" this past season. His final figures - 9.1 IP in Arizona ball, 5 walks. 12.1 IP in A+ ball, 11 walks, an 8.03 ERA. 26 IP in AAA ball, 28 walks, a 5.88 ERA.

The Hill saga continues even now. The Tribune has reported that Rich Hill has been pitching in Venezuela for winter ball, where he's seen moderate success. But what is certain is that in 2008 Hill went from wonder to horror, and while the Cubs certainly didn't seem to miss him in the long-run, it's too bad that they failed to get anything of value from Hill.

Sean Gallagher

When Hill went down, Gallagher found his chance to shine. At the age of 22, Gallagher is a pitcher with a lot of promise - he has 3 above average pitches and has succeeded at every level he's pitched. I had a feeling that he probably would be erratic at best in '08, but he appears to have a long future ahead of him which should include success at the major league level.

Then, after 10 starts and 3 wins, the Cubs traded Gallagher to the A's for an older pitcher with a history of arm problems and a contract that expires in one more season, and I rejoiced. After all, as much as I like Gallagher, Harden is a phenom.

Therefore, I would argue that Gallagher's season was very successful for the Cubs. He pitched effectively for a third of the season and then landed Chicago the best stuff starter they've had in 5 years. Thanks, Sean, and good luck.

Short one this a.m.

Bruce Miles on the prospects the Cubs could be neatly wrapping up and putting bows on for the Pads:

The Cubs believe they can get a deal done without involving a third team. The Padres are looking for young talent, and Cubs names out there have included lefty Sean Marshall, center fielder Felix Pie, infielder Ronny Cedeno and minor-league pitcher Jose Ceda, whom the Cubs obtained from the Padres in a July 2006 trade for infielder Todd Walker.

Ceda was a brief sensation in spring training this year, and no doubt the Padres wouldn't mind having him back.

Insiders say the Padres have thrown a host of other possibilities at the Cubs. Among the most attractive Cubs minor-leaguers are catcher Welington Castillo, third baseman Josh Vitters and pitcher Mitch Atkins.

Meanwhile, the Braves still feel confident about their offer.

Also, I'm considering doing a live chatter sort of thing tomorrow afternoon, to do some Hot Stove stuff and answer questions from readers. Does that sort of thing intrest you guys?

Several years ago, a blogger and Red Sox fan named Evan Brunell - also an owner of MVN - penned a massive, 3 part article for GROTA on why Theo Epstein is the best general manager in baseball.  (You can read Part One here.)

A few days ago, he wrote an article on what he'd do if he was the GM of the Cubs.  He then EMailed us to get the word out, asking if we'd mention the article on GROTA.  Now, typically we are reluctant to do that because links are valuable and most of the time, the requests to link are ludicrous.  But that wasn't the case with Evan, and in my constant quest for blogging material, I decided to take it a step further and actually critique his piece.  You can read his article in its entirety here: Being the GM: 2009 Chicago Cubs.  So, without further delay ...

1. Chicago Cubs resign closer Kerry Wood.
Evan writes, "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."

It's hard for me to contest this point.  Wood is the modern day Cub, and good closers are hard to come by.  While there has been some debate and speculation of Wood leaving the team at last, you have to figure that Hendry would make more than a token offer to retain Wood, and it also seems sensible that if the Cubs come anywhere near the other offers, Wood would choose to stay in Chicago.  In this case, I agree with Evan.

2. Chicago Cubs sign SP Sidney Ponson.
Evan writes, "In this series, Ryan Dempster signed with the Colorado Rockies, so the Cubs will need to move to bring in competition... Ponson's character certainly comes into question, but there's no overlooking his success in Texas last year. His later failures with the Yankees should serve to make Ponson cheap enough that the club can bring him in to compete for a starting spot."

And here's where we go off the rails.  I think Evan is looking at this from the wrong perspective - these aren't the Can't Afford 'Em Cubs.  Chicago is a major market, the Cubs are an incredibly wealthy and valuable team, and there's just no way they'd replace a 17 game winner with a guy half a decade removed from his last good season who had a handful of good starts for Texas.  I've also got to disagree about Dempster going to Colorado - my gut tells me that if they lose A.J. Burnett, the Blue Jays will focus in on Dempster.  And the Cubs won't stick a white flag in next year's season by signing a turd like Ponson.

3. Chicago Cubs sign reliever Horacio Ramirez.
Evan writes, "Ramirez makes a lot of sense. He's left-handed, plus he has a history of starting and can step into the rotation if the team needs him to."

Despite having a cool first name*, and in spite of his comparative youth (he'll be 29 next season), Ramirez has never posted a Sub-4.00 ERA in a full season in the majors.  He might have some upside, but I think the kind of team that will pursue him will be somebody like the Royals or Pirates - not a first place team like the Cubs.  The Cubs have a number of pitchers who can spot start, and there is actually an abundance of talented lefty relievers available this off season who the Cubs will target over somebody like Ramirez.

(*His first name is cool, but not if it actually belongs to your child.  Even if I wanted to, my fiancee would probably kill me first before giving in and naming our future son "Horacio.")

4. Chicaco Cubs resign C Henry Blanco, 1B Daryle Ward.
Evan writes, "they should come back at lower prices because the two players are great complementary players for the Cubs. Blanco is a great backup while Ward is one of the better pinch-hitters in the game."

I'm with Evan on Blanco, but with Micah Hoffpauir serving as a younger, cheaper, more effective - and less big-butted - version of Ward, it seems unlikely that Daryle will be back in Chicago.

5. Chicago Cubs sign second baseman Ray Durham.
Evan says, "(One option) is signing Durham to be their starting second baseman. Mark DeRosa can shift to right-field and Pie can return to Triple-A. Durham proved that despite his injury troubles, he can still rake. The club should have plenty of depth in DeRosa and Mike Fontenot to weather any injuries from Durham."

Evan is right that the Cubs may seek to improve their middle infield, and if they do they very well might put DeRosa in right field on a more regular basis.  However, what the Cubs were lacking last season cannot be solved by an aging player like Ray Durham.  Yes, they need a leadoff guy - which Durham doesn't have the speed for - but they also need some more reliable offensive production over what they got last year, and they'd essentially be replacing Fukudome's bat with Durham's, while replacing the bat of Jim Edmonds with Fukudome's.  That's not enough of an upgrade, even if Durham has a good 2009. Also, I'm pretty sure Pie is out of options and cannot return to Iowa.

So, Evan is suggesting that the Cubs do the following:

1. Replace Dempster with Ponson. 
2. Return Wood, Ward, and Blanco.
3. Upgrade in the bullpen with Ramirez.
4. Effectively replace the offensive contributions of Reed Johnson and Jim Edmonds (.290 AVG, 23 HR, 101 RBI, .374 OBP, .858 OPS from all players in CF last year) with Ray Durham (.289 AVG, 6 HR, 45 RBI, .380 OBP, .812 OPS, will be 37 next year)

I think that if the Cubs made those moves, they would struggle to win 85 games next year.  There are no upgrades to speak of, and they would likely fare worse as a team both on the mound and offensively.

At this point, these are just some of the numerous articles we've written about what the Cubs can do in 2009:

Rob's Big 25 for 2009
You Be the GM! by me
My Own 2 Cents - also by me
The 2009 Free Agent Preview Pt 1
The 2009 Free Agent Preview Pt 2
The 2009 Trades to be Mades Pt 1
The 2009 Trades to be Mades Pt 2
9 Reasons the Cubs Will Shine in 2009

And that doesn't even count the numerous hot stove articles written by Colin.  Yet, ironically, I will be writing another "Moves to be Made" article probably on Monday.

The point I want to leave Evan with is this: when you wrote your article, I think you should have seen the Cubs the way you might see the Red Sox in terms of their shared desire to scratch and claw their way to improvements every single year, and also in terms of their constantly growing payrolls.  In terms of mega teams who throw good money after bad, the Cubs are fairly new to the party - but they are there nonetheless, and there's no way they - or we the fans - would be satisfied with the moves you've suggested.  They won't grab a Soriano, or toss money at a Fukudome, but they are going to upgrade drastically in at least one position, and for one simple reason - they were good last year, but they weren't good enough.  Jim Hendry does not have idle hands.

More nonstop Peavy action!

The San Diego Union-Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times are both reporting that Peavy could veto a trade to the Braves if it involves shortstop Yunel Escobar, the key player in the deal from their end. He and his agent worry that the Braves won't be competative if they give up too much major-league ready talent.

If that's the case, the Cubs are probably the frontrunners for Peavy's services. Towers has narrowed the list of teams down to the Cubs, Braves and Dodgers. The Dodgers would likely have to pay a premium to get the Padres to trade Peavy within the division. Hendry admits he made an offer but wouldn't offer specifics.

Kevin Hart is another player who could be available.

UPDATE: Jeff Passan of Yahoo! claims to have the package the Padres asked for:

The Padres have asked the Cubs for right-hander Jeff Samardzija as the headliner of a package that could include outfielder Felix Pie, pitcher Sean Marshall and infielder Ronny Cedeno. Other potential pieces, another source said, were pitcher Kevin Hart and minor-league pitcher Donnie Veal.

...

The inclusion of Samardzija – whose much-discussed no-trade clause is limited, according to a source – could motivate the Padres to complete a deal. As he left the general managers’ meetings in Dana Point, Calif., on Thursday, Padres GM Kevin Towers told a small group of reporters that he planned on trading Peavy before the winter meetings, which start Dec. 7.

Some non-Peavy stuff:

• The Cubs still have to figure out what to do with their outfield; Kosuke Fukudome has received some trade interest. Right now the Cubs plan to platoon him in center field with Reed Johnson.
• The Cubs could be dealing for longtime Hendry crush object Aaron Heilman.
• As if you didn't know it already, Bud Selig doesn't want Cuban to own the Cubs.