The Chicago Cubs today acquired Gold Glove infielder Cesar Izturis from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for right-handed pitcher Greg Maddux.

Izturis, 26, owns a .979 career fielding percentage (2632 TC/54 E) in 630 games, including a .989 mark (185 TC/2 E) at second base and a .980 mark (2357 TC/48 E) in 559 games at shortstop. He won the Rawlings Gold Glove award in 2004, logging a .985 fielding percentage (674 TC/10 E) as the Dodgers everyday shortstop.

Izturis was named to the 2005 National League All-Star team thanks in part to his club-record 75 hits over the first two months of the season. His year was cut short with degenerative arthritis in his right elbow, which required season-ending Tommy John surgery on September 16.

This season, the switch-hitter has batted .252 (30-for-119) with seven doubles and 12 RBI in 32 games after returning from the 60-day disabled list on June 20. He has seen action at second base, third base and shortstop this season.

Maddux, 40, is 9-11 with a 4.69 ERA (71 ER/136.1 IP) in 22 starts this season. He ranks in the top-10 in numerous Cubs franchise records, including fourth with 1,305 strikeouts and fifth with 298 starts, while his 133 victories ranks 13th.

Maddux signed with Chicago as a free agent prior to the 2004 season, rejoining the club he had left after the 1992 season. He’s compiled a 38-37 record with a 4.26 ERA (272 ER/574.0 IP) in 90 starts since his return. For his career, Maddux is 327-200 with a 3.06 ERA in 665 career games (661 starts) over 21 Major League seasons. His 327 career wins rank 12th in Major League history.

The Chicago Cubs today traded infielder Todd Walker and cash considerations to the San Diego Padres in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher Jose Ceda.

Ceda, 19, was signed by the Padres as a non-drafted free agent in November of 2004. The 6-4, 207-pounder was quick to post strong numbers, going 4-2 with a 1.50 ERA (10 ER/60.0 IP) in 13 games (nine starts) for the Padres Dominican Summer League Team in 2005. He limited opponents to a .174 batting average against (38-for-218) while striking out 83 and walking just 29.

This season with the Padres Arizona League club, Ceda has gone 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA (4 ER/18.0 IP) over his last six games (three starts) while holding opponents to a .200 average.

In just 89.0 career innings of work, the Santo Domingo, D.R., native has struck out 114 batters while allowing 58 hits and walking 40.

Walker, 33, signed with the Cubs as a free agent prior to the start of the 2004 season. The left-handed batter hit .286 (311-for-1087) with 33 home runs and 130 RBI in 333 games with Chicago. Walker was batting .277 (88-for-318) in 94 games with the Cubs this season.

It’s looking like Greg Maddux pitched his last game for the Cubs, the Dodgers have increased their pursuit and offers for the soon to be Hall of Famer.  According to current reports, the Cubs would pick up ~3 million for Maddux’s remaining 3.2 million contract and would receive two highly ranked prospects from LA, one being a positional player and the other a pitcher.

With the Cubs willing to eat a good chunk of the Maddux’s salary, they are expecting to get a top flight prospect along the lines of Matt Kemp, Delwyn Young, Joel Guzman, Greg Miller, Joel Hanrahan,  Justin Orenduff, along with a upperlevel midgrade prospect.  My hope is that we’re able to get an elite positional prospect out of the Professor, it might be a dream, but teams aren’t getting scared as the soft deadline approaches. 

This past week, Frank Cabanski from DaCubbies podCAST had a chance to talk to the 1996 NL Rookie of the Year and former Chicago Cubs outfielder, Todd Hollandsworth.

In the interview Todd talks about his favorite player while growing up, playing football, giving 100% on the field, along with various other topics. Including two foundations that Todd’s family supports while off the field. Jesus Film & Campus Crusade for Christ.

Here is the audio file of the entire interview:

Todd Hollandsworth audio interview (Format: mp3  Size: 3.9meg)

A special thanks to:

News and notes regarding Carlos Lee’s desire to be a Cub, Aramis Ramirez and his contract situation, and which Cubs are likely to be moved before the end of the season.

Something I found over at MLBTraderumors.com is that Carlos Lee and his agent have indicated that Carlos Lee has said that the team at the top of his off season list is none other than the Chicago Cubs. Lee owns a home in Chicago and would apparently enjoy returning to the Windy City.

Rumor has it that the Brewers offered a 4yr/48 million dollar deal and Lee turned it down immediately. As a result the Brewers dealt Lee, minor league outfielder Nelson Cruz and a PTBNL to the Rangers in exchange for Kevin Mench, Laynce Nix and Francisco Cordero. Cordero and Lee are free agents following the ‘06 season, Mench is a free agent following the ‘08 season and Nix is one after the ‘09 season. Cruz is currently hitting .302/.379/.523 with 17 steals in AAA this year.

The Rangers are in need of pitching, and after 2006 would be best suited to spend money on pitching rather than improve on the impressive offense they’ve already got. It would seem logical to think that Lee was added for the stretch run this season and the Rangers might be expecting Cruz to step into the mix in ‘07 as a cheap option in the outfield so as to spend the money elsewhere.

Aramis Ramirez has said that he wants to remain a Cub despite his contract option that would allow him to test the free agent waters following the 2006 season. In a perfect world the Cubs take him at his word, but that is not the case. The free agent market following 2006 is headed by Aubrey Huff and given the bloated contracts given out in recent years (Beltran and Furcal come to mind) it would appear that Ramirez could easily improve his financial situation. Obviously the Cubs could work this out and get Ramirez to a new deal for a better payday following the season and perhaps get it worked out now, but that seems unlikely.

Given all of the variables it would appear that it’d be in the Cubs’ best interest to deal him for a nice bounty from a team looking to improve at 3B and/or add a big bat for the playoffs. Possible suitors (teams looking to make the playoffs with a need for an upgrade at 3B) would include the Angels, Padres, Giants and Twins. Of these the Angels have already reportedly made an offer of Kendry Morales. If the Cubs are going to take the chance of moving Ramirez it will take more than that.

Greg Maddux probably pitched his last game in a Cubs uniform Saturday night, getting the win at Wrigley. Rumors have him going to several teams, including but not limited to the Brewers, Padres, Dodgers, and Mets. Of these, for some reason, the Mets seem most logical. With Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux the Mets would have a great story and a pretty good pair of finesse pitchers. Add Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez to the mix and they’ve got a pretty good playoff rotation. It appears that the Mets would refuse to give up any top prospects to get Maddux, but the Cubs should look to get something decent in return given the Mets’ need for another starter.

Other Cubs players that could be moved before Monday include Neifi Perez, Todd Walker, Rich Hill, Jacque Jones and Juan Pierre.