Seattle remains the front-runner to land free agent Jason Schmidt from Kelso. Schmidt has let it be known he wants to stay on the West Coast. Schmidt has ruled out going to New York, and even while the Cubs have offered him three years for $44 million, Chicago is probably too far from his home. - Seattle Post-Intelligencer

An Internet report that the Cubs were offering San Francisco free-agent pitcher Jason Schmidt as much as $45 million for three years is unfounded, sources said Tuesday night. The Cubs are not believed to have made a solid offer, certainly not at those figures. The favorites in the Schmidt derby are the Dodgers, who have money to spend, and Seattle, which is near where Schmidt grew up. - Chicago Tribune

There’s a huge difference of opinion in baseball circles about Jason Schmidt, who appears to have become a target for the Cubs. His velocity was down 3 to 5 m.p.h. in 2006, to the low 90s, but he made 32 starts and held hitters to a .238 average. He had been sidelined for parts of four of the previous five seasons, causing some to wonder if Wrigley Field has enough whirlpool space to accommodate Kerry Wood, Mark Prior and Schmidt. The Cubs denied an Internet report that they had offered him three years at $15 million per year, but they soon might offer something like that. - Chicago Tribune… Ive followed the Cubs long enough to know that this means he wont be joining the Cubs. They do this… they put out propaganda about players, either good or bad, depending on their future with the team. This shows me that they’ve decided to avoid Schmidt and instead target someone/something else…

The Roundup is kind of short today because I cut back on a lot of the Jason Schmidt stuff. You know whats going on based on the articles I posted above, theres no need to feed you the same story from five different people.

All has been quiet on Jason Schmidt’s potential return to San Francisco, and this might be why: According to one source, the Cubs have offered Schmidt a three-year deal worth $44 million. - San Francisco Chronicle

The Chicago Cubs have talked to the Cleveland Indians about a deal for pitcher Jake Westbrook, according to baseball moles. The Tribe would get pitcher Ryan Dempster among others in return for Westbrook (15-10 4.17era). - Fox Sports

Julio Lugo may take longer, though the Red Sox have clearly signaled their desire for the former Devil Rays shortstop, who had a .373 on-base percentage before being dealt to the Dodgers in midseason. The Giants and Cubs, along with the Orioles, are teams with interest, in addition to the Sox, and the Dodgers are expected to offer Lugo arbitration. - Boston Herald

GM Jim Hendry said he “would wait to talk to Soriano in person” before making a public comment about whether his new star should play in the Dominican winter league. It is believed the Cubs would rather not have him participate, for fear of injury. - Chicago Tribune

Read more for Kei Igawa, Felix Pie, and who the Cubs made an offer to that turned them down.

Trades also are a possibility, although the Cubs have little to give in return, especially if outfield prospect Felix Pie is untouchable. - Chicago Tribune

A source close to the negotiations said the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals made offers to sign Randy Wolf for three years, with the deals ranging from $21 million to $24 million. The Arizona Diamondbacks had a similar offer on the table before they acquired left-hander Doug Davis from the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Phillies chased Wolf until signing Adam Eaton to a three-year deal Monday. But Wolf took a shorter deal to join the Dodgers, the team he rooted for while growing up. - LA Times

Kei Igawa, a left handed pitcher out of Japan, was posted recently and its believed that the Cubs had placed a bid. The official results wont be known for a couple days, perhaps a week.

Jayson Ruhlman is a pitcher in the Chicago Cubs Minor League System. Here is the scouting report on him coming out of college, thanks to NorthSideBaseball…
“ Ruhlman was drafted in the 12th round of the 2002 draft by the South Siders but decided to attend Central Michigan. The red shirt sophomore made a name for himself on the Cape when his fastball touched the low-90’s. During the spring, his fastball generally sat in the high-80’s, but it is deceptive and gets movement. His curve and circle change-up show flashes of being above-average pitches. Last year, Ruhlman pitched 86 innings striking out 99 batters and walking 88. The struggles with command reached a high during conference play, and they knocked him out of the starting rotation. Ruhlman isn’t particularly big at 6’1”, but his three pitch arsenal draws him interest, particular because he pitches left handed. But he must start to throw more strikes and show more consistency with his pitches.”

Last year Jayson had a good year with the Boise Hawks, going 3-1 with a 3.79 ERA in 35.2 innings. He was kind enough to grant us the time for an interview, and it went a little something like this…

CubsHub.com: What were your thoughts about joining the Cubs organization?
Jayson Ruhlman: I was very excited about becoming a Cub. I had a workout at Wrigley right before I signed last year and after seeing the field, clubhouse and how passionate the fans are in Chicago, I knew that being part of the Cubs organization was definitely a special thing.

CH: Do you have any superstitions? Pregame rituals?
JR: I wouldnt say that I have any superstitions, I did back in high school, but no so much anymore. I would say that I have more routines than I do superstitions, as far as pitches I throw when I warm up, and the things I do on the mound when I am throwing.

CH: Best moment as a pro so far?
JR: Definitely when we clinched the playoffs in Boise this season.

CH: Growing up who did you idolize? Who do you look up to now?
JR: I would have to say Tom Glavine, I would always watch him throw when I was younger, but nowadays I would have to go with Johan Santana, he is just fun to watch pitch. The way that he can dominate a game when he throws is pretty amazing.

CH: You finished the season strong, going 14.2 innings without giving up an earned run… was there something you were doing different down the stretch?
JR:  I would have to say that I just threw, whereas towards the beginning of the season I think I was outthinking myself a little bit, and putting too much pressure on myself. I was more relaxed and confident at the end of the season, and I think that was a big part of that success.

CH: Best prank you’ve seen played on another player (or yourself)?
JR: I’m going to have to go with all the shaving cream in the faces of the guys that would get interviewed by the local news stations throughout the year. It was pretty much a given that if you were being interviewed on the field, you were gonna get it.

CH: Its been a pretty busy offseason so far for the Cubs, with the signing of Soriano, Ramirez, DeRosa, etc as well as bringing Lou Piniella on board. What are your thoughts on it all?
JR:  Its definitely exciting, all the new signings are only going to help us out, and I think when we have success next season at the highest level, then that succeess is going to filter down through the rest of the organization.

CH: What was the hardest transition from college ball to professional baseball?
JR: The length of the season, and playing every day for sure, but don’t get me wrong though, I love throwing to wood bats now instead of aluminum.

CH: What are your plans for the remainder of the offseason?
JR: Just to stay focused on working out and throwing and coming into spring training ready to go once spring time rolls around again.

CH: Last Question… do you follow any baseball/Cubs websites at all? If so, which ones?
JR: My mom follows most of the websites and she usually keeps me up to date with what is going on with the cubs. She checks on cubshub.com, and insidetheivy pretty regularly, so theres not much that goes on that she doesn’t fill me in on! HaHa… (I swear to you, that was his exact answer… we’re not making this stuff up. I guess the Hub is just that amazing)

We greatly appreciate Jayson taking the time to answer our questions and we wish him the best of luck. If you’ve got a question you’d like Jayson to answer feel free to drop it in the comments section or email it to pierce@cubshub.com and we’ll be sure to ask it in the follow-up interview.

I know what you’re asking… Where has the Rumor Roundup gone? Well, the truth is that there just isnt much regarding the Cubs coming across the wire. Sure, I could go with unconfirmed stuff that people say they heard on the radio, or that a friend of a friend who plays golf with Hendry heard… but I wont do that. I try to stick to good sources and provide links for everything I post.

Personally, I dont expect to hear much coming out of Chicago until the Winter Meetings on Dec. 4th. I could be wrong, but it seems that Jim Hendry might try to look to the trading block before offering a large contract to a marginal pitcher. Also, Jim cant do much in terms of trades now that the rosters have been frozen (meaning that minor league players that are exposed to the Rule 5 draft cant be dealt until after the winter meetings) and will probably wait until the winter meetings to discuss any trades.

I’ll continue the roundup when anything comes across the wire, but I cant guarantee that it will be on a daily basis now that we’re in the slow time before the winter meetings.

The Cubs announced their finalized 40 man roster, all players drafted in 2002 out of high school/foreignly signed or out of college in 2003 that are not protected are eligible for the Rule V draft.  The last Cub moves were placing pitchers Rocky Cherry and Clay Rapada on the 40 man, while removing OF Miguel Negron and LHP Ryan O’Malley.

The interesting manuevers were that the Cubs still kept both minor league catchers protected once again in Jose Reyes and Geo Soto.  While leaving their most advanced hitting catcher albeit a poor defensive one in Jake Fox exposed to the Rule V draft.  Other notables that are left off are relievers Carmen Pignatello and Lincoln Holdzkom both of whom pitched for the Cubs in the Arizona Fall League and did quiet well.  The other shocker was that converted catcher Randy Wells was left unprotected.  His numbers this year were great in AA before getting a rude awakening in Iowa.  Still Randy is likely a future MLB pen arm, something we think we have plenty of.  Here are his numbers this year:

The entire list of prospects the Cubs left exposed to the Rule V draft

Jason Anderson, RHP
Thomas Atlee, RHP
Federico Baez, RHP
Oscar Bernard, RHP 
Ryan Bicondoa, RHP
Chadd Blasko, RHP
Bobby Brownlie, RHP
Ed Campusano, LHP
Jose Caridad RHP
Gary Cates, Jr, UT
Robinson Chirinos, 2B 
Matt Craig, 3B
Mike Fontenot, 2B
Jake Fox, C
Alfredo Francisco, RHP
Alberto Garcia, 1B
Cristian Gonzalez, RHP
Luke Hagerty, LHP
Koyie Hill, C
Lincoln Holdzkom, RHP
Micah Hoffpauir, 1B
Jesse Hoorelbeke, 1B
Ben Howard, RHP 
Fabian Jimenez-Angulo, LHP
Richard Lewis, 2B
Albenis Machado, INF
Casey McGehee, 3B
Adalberto Mendez, RHP
Isaac Pavlik, LHP
Leonel Perez, RHP
Billy Petrick, RHP
Carmen Pignatiello, LHP
Jose Pina, RHP
Robert Ransom, RHP
Tony Richie, C
Alan Rick, C
Carlos Rojas, SS
Issmael Salas, INF
Joel Santo, RHP
Andy Shipman, RHP
Jason Smith, INF
Jemel Spearman, INF
Jesus Valdez, OF
Chris Walker, OF
Les Walrond, LHP
John Webb, RHP
Randy Wells, RHP
Jesus Yepez, LHP