Phil Rogers Is At It Again

Before I delve into the story by Phil Rogers, I just wanted to give my thoughts on Rogers as a writer. The thing that I must admit is that each and every one of Roger’s stories gains a wide variety of attention amongst baseball fans. However, I feel that Rogers gets that attention for all the wrong the reasons. If you ask me, it seems like Rogers is a reporter who just comes up with an idea in his head, and to add credibility to it, he makes up sources saying that his idea is an actual possibility. It has already happened this year, when Rogers reported that the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox were talking about a multi-player deal that would send Kosuke Fukudome to the Red Sox, and Daisukue Matsuzaka to the Cubs. Within hours of Rogers reporting that Rumor, it was shot down by almost every Cubs and Red Sox beat reporter. A note for the future, is take every Phil Rogers “rumor” with a grain of salt, which is why Cubbies Crib hardly reports on any rumor that he gives. Nonetheless, lets get the most recent story by Rogers.

Yesterday in the Chicago Tribune, Rogers had an idea that both the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox could do this off-season. That idea you ask, is to simply swap General Managers. So, Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry would become the White Sox General Manager, and White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams would become the Cubs General Manager.

I must confess that is not a bad idea by Rogers, in fact I would be one of the biggest supporters of that deal.  Being in Chicago, you get see that two different styles that both General Manager’s use. While Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry is perceived as being a “big spender”, that is probably not what Hendry likes to see himself as. While Hendry did spend large amounts of money on Kosuke Fukudome, Alfonso Soriano, and Carlos Zambrano many attest that to the Tribune ownership forcing Hendry’s hand to make this team more valuable. As our Minor League Writer Luke Blaize has brought up on numerous occasions, Hendry is a very intelligent baseball mind. Because when Hendry is tasked with mixing and matching his team together, he usually succeeds.

However, I still would much rather have White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams as the Cubs General Manager. The reasons being that Williams tells it like it is, instead of sugar coating everything as Hendry likes to do on occasion. Also, if Williams wants a player, one way or another he is going to get that player. Jake Peavy is a prime example of Williams wanting a player, and eventually getting him. In the months leading to the 2009 season, the Chicago Cubs were very intent on trading for Jake Peavy. However, General Manager Jim Hendry never pulled the trigger on the deal that would have landed Peavy. Meanwhile, White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams wanted Peavy and tried trading for him in May of the 2009 season. But, at that time, Peavy was not willing to go to the White Sox. However, that did not stop Williams from continuing to target Peavy. As, on the July 31st of 2009, Williams once again tried to trade for Peavy, and this time, Peavy accepted the trade to the White Sox. Many would argue that the Cubs made the right decision considering the recent injury Peavy suffered, but, that is a flawed statement considering no one could have known that Peavy would have gotten injured.

So, while I agree with Rogers’ idea of swapping General Managers, I disagree with the trade idea that Rogers suggest the General Manager’s should do as member of the opposite team. Rogers mentioned that after they swapped teams, the GM’s should agree to a trade that would send Carlos Zambrano, Kosuke Fukudome, Jeff Samardzija, Geovany Soto, Randy Wells, and Chris Archer to the White Sox for Jake Peavy, Gavin Floyd, Mark Teahen, Scott Linebrink, and Tyler Flowers.

Rogers is absolutely crazy to think that is a fair trade for both teams. Why on earth would the Cubs give up arguably their top pitching prospect in Chris Archer, and be receiving no one that would warrant them giving Archer up in the first place. While Jake Peavy is considered to be an Ace, he is coming off of an injury that is essentially unheard of around baseball. Gavin Floyd’s only success in the Majors has come under White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper, before then, Floyd struggled mightily with the Phillies. Mark Teahen in my opinion is over-rated, he has a career line of .268/.330/.415. While Teahen’s numbers are similar to Kosuke Fukudome’s, Fukudome without question brings the most value to a team considering his defensive abilities. Do I even have to mention why the Cubs would not want Linebrink, considering he has been one of the worst relievers in the majors over the past two seasons. Also, How would the Cubs benefit from trading Geovany Soto for Tyler Flowers, whose past two seasons in AAA have been very mediocre.

Hopefully, now you can see why I can not stand the reporting that is done by Phil Rogers. Because, that has got to be one of the worst trade suggestions that I have heard in my lifetime. Thankfully, Rogers is only a writer, and not a front office member of the Chicago Cubs.