This offseason, the Cubs have several decisions to make that aren’t centered around Milton Bradley. One superstar in particular is the most intriguing, and that player is Derrek Lee. Derrek has had a solid career with the Cubs since coming over from Florida for Hee Seop Choi, but his contract is expiring and it’s extremely unlikely he’ll be resigned. So why not try and trade him and see what you can get? I realize he has a “no-trade” clause, but I think Lee is the kind of player and person to waive the clause since it’s what the team wants.

Another player that should be on the market is Carlos Zambrano. Carlos could be a heck of a trading piece for the Cubs if they wanted to cut payroll. “Big Z” is supposed to make 17.85 million dollars next year, and that’s a pretty steep price for a pitcher that frankly has not lived up to that contract so far. He’s been up and down, losing velocity on that sinker of his, while still not understanding how to pitch in certain situations and not being able to locate any sort of breaking ball consistently. Throw in a couple DL stints, and some comments about retiring after 2012, and not doing his in-between start work and you have a recipe for disaster. With all that said- Carlos still has ridiculous upside and it’s not out of the realm of possibility for certain major league teams who need pitching see him as the ace he isn’t.

If you head west, the San Diego Padres and new GM Jed Hoyer have a major decision to make as well. Adrian Gonzalez is going to be looking at a massive deal after his 4 year 9 million dollar bargain deal is up after the 2011 season. The Padres are a small market team that probably will not be able to sign him to a deal like Paul Konerko’s or Derrek Lee’s or even better. Do they hold onto him? Do they simply offer him arbitration and hope he declines and collect 2 comp picks for the 2012 draft? Do they trade him now as his value is at the highest? Well if I’m Jed Hoyer- I would definitely look into trading him if you won’t be able to put pieces around him due to no money. Especially with teams having bidding wars over him as he would be the most sought out player not named Roy Halladay this winter. Boston is definitely going to be in the talks seeing the bridge that was built this winter between the two teams. But who else could give the prospects needed while being able to pay him the money he’ll want and deserve?

The Giants are a team on the rise, and they arguably have one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. They have Tim Lincecum who should be a 2 time “Cy Young”-winner this winter, Matt Cain had an outstanding season and is still unbelievably young, and they have “uber prospect” Madison Bumgarner on the way up. Brian Wilson anchors the bullpen. The problem the giants have is simply they can’t hit. Sure they have the panda, and they might bring back Freddy Sanchez, but they’ll likely lose Bengie Molina while bringing up Buster Posey, but there isn’t any sort of power hitter in that lineup. Trading for Adrian Gonzalez won’t be possible seeing as they play in the same division- so where do they turn?

If you read my Jose Reyes article, you’ll already understand why the Mets should trade him. So let me tell you about the series of deals that could take place this winter, and how it helps every team involved.

Deal 1- The Chicago Cubs trade first basemen Derrek Lee to the San Francisco Giants for 2B Nick Noonan, RHP Henry Sosa, 1B Kyle Nicholson, RHP Kevin Pucetas. Why does this make sense? The Cubs are able to cut payroll while getting 4 young players to add to their growing system. They also get the value for a guy they’ll likely lose at seasons end. The Giants add the power hitting, middle of the order first basemen they need without giving up they’re best prospects. They’ll also have a chance at resigning Lee as he’s a California native.

Deal 2- The Chicago Cubs trade Carlos Zambrano (while eating 3 million of his salary this year) to the Mets for SS Jose Reyes. The Cubs are able to further cut they’re high payroll while adding the speed and lead-off hitter they need. Reyes is only making about 9 million for next year and is still young while being able to move Ryan Theriot to second base to platoon with Mike Fontenot. That will allow Lou to use Jeff Baker in a “Mark DeRosa” type role.  The Mets get that monster pitcher that would suit they’re big pitchers ball park. It will serve them well as they now have a go to guy behind Johan Santana. Throw in the health of the rest of the superstars on that team and they could now contend for the east. Well- if the Mets and Cubs make these deals- what do u do about the positions? Continue reading.

Deal 3- The Chicago Cubs sign LHP Randy Wolf to a 1 year 5.75 million dollar deal.

Deal 4- The Chicago Cubs resign Rich Harden to a 1 year 2 million dollar deal with incentives that can make it a 5 million dollar deal.  These deals only cost the cubs about 2.5 million dollars in they’re Payroll for 2010, while lowering it for 2011 and 2012.

Deal 5- The New York Mets sign Orlando Cabrera to a 1 year 4 million dollar deal. It’s a simple stop gap move and it’s not a bad one while waiting for Wilmer Castro or Reese Havens to emerge.

Deal 6- The Chicago Cubs trade RHP Jeff Samardzjia (if he waives no trade clause), RHP Henry Sosa, SS Hak Ju Lee, 1B Jake Fox, RHP Chris Archer to the San Diego Padres for 1B Adrian Gonzalez. The Cubs have now successfully replaced Derrek Lee with a younger, more powerful first basemen whose making way less money while not giving up Starlin Castro or Josh Vitters. Unfortunately they had to give up Chris Archer whose going to be a good one, but this is a trade they have to make. The Padres get well compensated for the loss of they’re best player, but it was the necessary move unfortunately. Until baseball inputs a salary cap- smaller market teams will a lot of the time lose they’re stars. That’s the way the game is right now.

Obviously, the series of deals that I outlined would take a ton of work to get accomplished. But the facts remain the same. These teams have some serious questions to answer about all the players above- and this is definitely a realistic possibility. These players will be talked about in trade talks this offseason, and usually where theres smoke- there’s fire.