As the Peavy trade rumors continue, the so-called details of the alleged trade have supposedly begun to become apparently clearer.  The current rumor includes Ryan Theriot in the trade, leaving Cub fans asking the most obvious question - who the eff replaces Theriot?

Here at GROTA, we've already tapped the Ragin' Cajun as being Grade A Trade Bait, since he will be hard pressed to duplicate his offensive production next year.  But if Theriot goes, who replaces him?  Surely not Ronny Cedeno, whose jersey number could double for his IQ, and probably not Raffy Furcal, whose price coupled with his bad back and his desire for a long term deal (plus his insistence on trying to cripple Derrek Lee) make him an unlikely candidate.

Actually there are some interesting options out there, with Orlando Cabrera being perhaps too old to be likely, but the guy who I'm thinking about in particular is current Pads shortstop Khalil Greene, 29 years old, coming off a really shizz-itty year where he batted .213 with 10 homers and 35 RBI in 105 games played. He missed time with a broken hand, but the hand wasn't the reason he tanked.

So, here's the question for debate - would Greene be an upgrade over Theriot?

My thoughts are that Theriot will be pressed to do as well as he did this year, and Greene will struggle to do as poorly.  However, Greene will also cost somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 million next season and, at 29, he's at a crossroads.  He may rebound and play great, or it might turn out that he's done as a baseball player before his 30th birthday.

In my opinion, if it gets the Cubs Peavy, then I'm all for it.  Greene could be a pleasant surprise, and he may appreciate playing in a more hitter-friendly ballpark.

Do you have an opinion?  Post 'em if you've got 'em.

It's been discussed here a little ... Jake Peavy is apparently willing to be traded from the Padres, and thus far the Cubs are 1 of 5 teams he'd accept a trade to.  Now, obviously, a Cubs team with a rotation of Zambrano-Peavy-Harden-Lilly-Dempster (or Samardzija, or Marquis, or a warm bucket of spit - it really doesn't matter when those other guys are in there) would be ridiculous, but it's also pretty unlikely.

The primary concern has to be salary.  Zambrano is making 17.75 million next year, Lilly makes 12, Harden 7, and Dempster will likely be making 10 million on a back-ended deal, assuming he comes back at all.

With Peavy's 10 million+ salary - which is actually quite a bargain for his level of talen - that would give the Cubs starting 5 a payroll of $56 million plus - there were 6 teams with smaller payrolls in 2008, including the Rays who are still in position to reach the World Series for the AL.

I say that, hey, if the Cubs can afford it, then they should do it.  But file this one under Trades to be Mades - what would the Padres want for Peavy?  I'd assume that, minimally, Marshall, Pie, and probably somebody of Samardzija's level would be asked for by the Padres.

Brenly to the Brewers?

Our friend over at MLB Trade Rumors reports that Bob Brenly is being considered to manage the Brewers, and this just weeks after he extended his deal to broadcast for the Cubs.

Regrettably, Steve Stone is now calling games for the White Sox, and is signed up to do so for the next six years.  Guh.  Maybe there are other options out there, but most of them suck.  I anticipate that if Brenly goes, he'll be hard to replace in the booth, although I know there are some people out there who might loudly disagree.

GOATRIDER, PESTILENCE,
FOR AND ON BEHALF OF ALL CHICAGO CUBS FANS WATCHING THE CUBS GAME ON 3 JUNE 2008 AT 00:04.

Plaintiffs

v.

COMCAST SPORTSNET CHICAGO,
UNNAMED PRODUCER OF COMCAST SPORTSNET CHICAGO,
UNNAMED CAMERAMAN OF COMCAST SPORTSNET CHICAGO,
KASPER, LEN,
BRENLY, BOB,
BARRETT, MICHAEL,
WOOD, KERRY,
MARMOL, CARLOS,
GONZALEZ, ADRIAN,
SAN DIEGO PADRES,
CHICAGO NATIONAL LEAGUE BALL CLUB,

Defendants.

Plaintiffs, by and through their undersigned attorneys, for the Complaint in this action, hereby allege as follows:

1. This action is filed by the victims of unnecessarily dramatic coverage of the final out of the Chicago Cubs game started on June 2, 2008 and finishing shortly after midnight on June 3, 2008. Plaintiffs are the loyalest of Cubs fans, brave enough to stay up after their bed time in hopes of witnessing the Cubs' eighth consecutive victory. The defendants together conspired to perpetrate unnecessary drama at the end of said game.

2. Pestilence is a Chicago Cubs fan who suffered heart failure immediately before the final out of the game was recorded. Pestilence is filing this action on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of viewers who are likely to have suffered similarly. Pestilence and the undersigned attorneys will seek to elevate this matter as a class-action complaint.

3. Comcast Sports Net Chicago is the broadcast outlet that aired the game in the greater metropolitan Chicago area, and select households subscribing to MLB EXTRA INNINGS.

4. Carlos Marmol is the Chicago Cubs pitcher who set the table for the unneccessary drama by allowing two runners to reach base before grooving a pitch over the heart of the plate.

5. Adrian Gonzales is the San Diego batter who crushed said grooved pitch into the seats closing the 4 run lead to 1 run.

6. Michael Barrett is the San Diego Padres catcher who is primarily responsible for the underlying action that caused the unnecessary drama. Barrett is a former Chicago Cub who left the team under dubious circumstances. Had his warning track flyball been a home run, the emotional scarring of this home run would have been more significant than if another Padre, who had not been a former Cub, had tied the game. Barrett has a propensity for hitting dramatic home runs.

7. Kerry Wood is the Chicago Cubs closer who relieved Carlos Marmol. Wood also hung the slider that Michael Barrett hit for a warning track flyball.

8. The Unnamed Comcast Cameraman filmed the 9th inning of said game. This cameraman willfully filmed a much higher trajectory of the flyball than was necessary. Due to this high trajectory camera angle, hundreds of thousands of Cubs fans were momentarily led to panic as they assumed Michael Barrett's warning track flyball was indeed of home run distance sufficient to reach the Western Metal Supply Co. warehouse far beyond the left field fence.

9. The Unnamed Comcast producer chose to use the unnamed cameraman's feed of the flyball. This decision contributed to the heart attack suffered by Cubs fans everywhere.

10. Len Kasper and Bob Brenly are the Comcast announcers who emphasized the unnecessary drama by not reassuring viewers early enough that the baseball would remain within the confines of the playing field.