Cubs traded Cedeno and Olson for Aaron Heilman

Big News Today! The Cubs have traded Ronny Cedeno and Garrett Olson to Seattle for Aaron Heilman. With the trade the Cubs cleared a spot off their 40-man roster, so they could sign Paul Bako in the next few days. I'm not sure what to think about this deal. I'm shocked that they traded away Garrett Olson because we've heard that the Padres want him, and were assuming that they would trade him in a Jake Peavy deal. I like this move over all, because it adds depth to the pen, but if it means the Cubs aren't pursuing Peavy, I'm not too happy. But we'll have to wait and see.

Aaron Heilman:

• played 2003-08 with Mets.
• Traded to Seattle in December in a 3-team deal for J.J. Putz.
• Right Handed.
• 2008 Stats; 3-8 with a 5.21 ERA in 76 IP.
• career stats; 22-33, 25 starts, 280 relief appearances, 4.24 ERA.
• more stats on baseball reference, bio on wiki

This trade will be one of the many Cubs topics on tonight's chat right here on this blog at 7:00 CT. I'll be answering all Cubs questions, and I'll also have a few live polls and videos all Cub related.

I'll keep you posted.

Cubs avoid arb. w/ Kevin Gregg, A Look at the Bullpen Mix

The Cubs avoided arbitration with Kevin Gregg today by agreeing to a one year 4.2 million dollar contract. Gregg will be a free agent at the end of the year.

There's a lot of guys in the mix for the Cubs bullpen going into spring training:

• Jose Ascanio
• Mitch Atkins
• Justin Berg
• Neal Cotts
• Chad Gaudin
• Kevin Gregg
• Angel Guzman
• Kevin Hart
• Rich Hill
• Carlos Marmol
• Sean Marshall
• Marcos Mateo
• Garrett Olson
• David Patton
• Jeff Samardzija
• Jeff Stevens
• Luis Vizcaino
• Randy Wells
• Mike Wuertz
• Chad Fox

To break it down a little here are the guys definetly in the bullpen in my opinion:

• Jeff Samardzija
• Carlos Marmol
• Neal Cotts
• Kevin Gregg

That leaves 3 spots open. I think Marshall will be in the rotation, Olson and Hill will be on other teams. So for me it comes down to:

• Bullpen spot 4; probably Chad Gaudin in middle relief.
• Long Man: . Kevin Hart, Angel Guzman, Jeff Stevens, and David Patton are all in the mix.
• A second lefty?: The Cubs could take 2 of the guys mentioned as possible long men, but they might want a second lefty in the pen. There is a possibility that southpaw will be Olson, Marshall, or Hill. It could be someone not on my list who's in the organization like the guy from the DeRosa deal or Carmen Pignatello. Or the Cubs could add a left handed pitcher to the mix.
• Luis Vizcaino, the guy the Cubs got in the Marquis deal, could fill that 7th spot in the rotation instead of another left handed pitcher or another long man.
• Jose Ascanio, Mitch Atkins, Justin Berg, Marcos Mateo, and Randy Wells will almost certainly begin the year at AA or AAA. Chad Fox and Mike Wuertz could be headed back to the minors or could part ways with the team.

There's a lot of possibilities for the bullpen. Later in the week, I'll have a breakdown of the outfield.

Also, with the Cubs aquiring Garrett Olson the Peavy talk is heating up again. Olson is a guy that the Padres do have interest in. It is hard to say whether this deal is so the Cubs can trade for Peavy or if it is just to add an arm to the 5th starter/ bullpen mix. Some sources say Peavy is on his way out of San Diego, others say that he will be with the Padres on Opening Day. We can only wait.

The World Baseball Classic Roster Special is tonight on the MLB Network. I'll have post later with full WBC rosters.

I'll keep you posted on everything as always.

Notes from Day 3, Pie traded, other Notes

Well, the 2009 Cubs Convention is in the books. Today was the last chance for autographs. We spent some time on autos today and ended up with Lee Smith and Alan Trammel. The only session worth going to today was "Down on the Farm". Oneri Fleita and Tim Wilton talked about the Cubs minor league organization with Micheal Huang from Vineline. Cubs minor leaguers Darwin Barney and Brandon Guyer were also a part of this panel. This session provided a lot of good info:

• Oneri was asked to give 1 hitter and 1 pitcher in the minors who he thought would have a big impact on the big league team some day. He said Andrew Cashner for the pitcher and Ty Wright for the position player.
• They revieled that only about 13 percent of guys who play in the minors make it to the bigs.
• They also talked about how the team gets ready for the draft. Tim says that they have a board with about 900 guys and then they look at the team need. Wilkins added that if there is a very talented player, you take him no matter what position he plays.
• Tyler Colvin is recovering from surgery and will be at Class A Daytona to start the season because of the warm weather in Daytona and because they use a DH is A ball.
• Sam Fuld is recovering from his injuries and Oneri expects him to be on the big league radar in 2009.
• Spring Training will be a "last chance" for Rich Hill who is out of options or else the Cubs will have to part ways with him.
• Darwin and Brandon talked about being drafted. Darwin had baseball practice so he didn't find out that he got drafted by the Cubs until he got a phone call. Brandon was watching the draft with his dad. Guyer said he would have been better of not watching all the rounds go by until he finally got drafted.
• Wilkins and Fleita said that Wellington Castillo should be at AAA this year. The Cubs feel confident with their depth at each position in the system.

News has just broke that Felix Pie traded. Ken Rosenthal and the Sun-Times are reporting that the Cubs and Orioles have agreed to a deal that would send Pie to the O's in exchange for pitchers Garrett Olson and Henry Williamson. The Padres were rumored to be interested in acquiring Olson in a Peavy deal. Williamson pitched at Single-A in 2008. Here are the stats for Olson and for Williamson. Cubs.com is reporting that the deal is official.

A few other Cubs Notes:

• Carlos Zambrano is going to have LASIK surgery on his eyes.
• Most Cubs fans have good first impression of Milton Bradley because he signed tons of autographs all weekend long at the Convention. On the other hand, Big Z wouldn't sign at all after his sessions.
• Lou was MIA all weekend because he has the stomach flue.
• Santo wasn't seen after the opening ceremony because he wasn't feeling well.
• The Iowa Cubs will play a game at Wrigley on Aug. 9 like the Peoria Chiefs did last year.
• Sweet Lou reveled that he plans to read some books on sports physiology and winning.

The Convention was amazing. Lots of great places to buy stuff, very organized, lots of people but very spread out, most players are nice and sign autographs, and lots of good sessions with good inside info. I highly recommend going if you can.

I'll have more links and recaps from convention segments throughout the week. And of coarse, I'll keep you posted on all rumors and news.