Dawson, Lee, and Grace fall short of Hall

Andre Dawson came up short again. This was his 8th year on the ballot. He received 67% of the vote, 75% is needed. Dawson should be a Hall of Famer. I find it unbelievable that Dawson and Ron Santo are not Hall of Famers.

Rickey Henderson (94.8%) and Jim Rice (76.4%) are the 2 players that will go into the Hall in July. Dawson was 3rd in the voting. Lee Smith was 5th in the voting with 44.5%. Cubs bench coach Alan Trammell received 17.4%, Mark Grace only got 4.1%, and Dan Plesac got 0 votes.

Will The Hawk and/or Ronny ever be Hall of Famers? It's hard to say.

Cubs Rumors:

• Cubs.com and Partrick Newman of NPB Tracker are reporting that the Cubs are close to signing left handed pitcher Ken Takahashi. This make sense because the Cubs can add a lefty to help Cotts out in the pen, get a guy who could spot start, and help Kosuke feel more comfortable by signing a Japanese player. However Takahahi is 40 years old, and his stats are not amazing.
• Cubs officials deny the reports that say they are close to a deal with Takahashi.
• John Moores will likely be the majority owner for the Padres, and he will have to cut the payroll from 73 million to 40 million before opening day. This could increase the chances that Peavy will be traded to the Cubs.
• People in San Diego think that Peavy is on his way out.
• Bruce Levine doesn't seem as confident that he was a week ago that the Cubs will get Peavy.

Lots of good stuff coming up this week. More posts later...