In a move that was foreshadowed by the signing of Joey Gathright and later the minor league deal with 39 year old So Taguchi, the Cubs traded away their most hyped bluechip prospect since Corey Patterson. Only difference was this time the blue-chip Pie wasn’t washed up and given every opportunity possible to succeed. The trade of Felix even though for a young former fallen top Baltimore prospect in Garrett Olsen plus Hank Williamson, shows what direction this club is headed; screw the youth and win it all now at any cost. For more on the trade and future impact keep reading….

Yes, the Cubs like what Olsen brings to the table but so do the San Diego Padres when they were in search of a trade partner for ace Jake Peavy. The 25 year old former first round supplemental pick at #46 in 2005, Olsen is a pitcher that has no absolute strikeout pitch but rather three average pitches yet has good movement with and solid control over them. He’s very reminiscent of former Cubs’ prospect Sean Gallagher. Olsen profiles as a #3/4/5 starter if he can get his act together elsewise he looks like a swingman or a long reliever. Despite floundering in his short term MLB era, the Cubs scouts feel he has the ability to challenge for a starting role this year if they keep him, maybe pushing Marshall out or subbing for an injured Harde.  Unlike Pie, Olsen still has time before his option clock ends.

Felix has long been the Cub’s most hyped prospect coming through the system since Corey Patterson. He excelled at every minor league level showcasing his five tool talent. Too bad every small term shot he got with the Cubs, it was short lived as Lou didn’t ride cold bats no batter their upside. As many Cubs fans will point out, we traded Felix at his weakest point instead of selling him two years or three years ago [along with others] and getting a top notch proven MLBer. Now we trade the out of options 23 year old CFer with superb talent for a 25 year old junkball control artist who’s at his wits end with the Baltimore organization and a Low A reliever.

As for the other prospect involved, it’s the O’s 2007 14th round draft pick Hank Williamson out of San Jancito College-North. The 23 year old Williamson is a big righty at 6′5 who throws good fastball around 88-92mph but suspect secondary. Right now he throws his lively erratic splitter often but he’s been working on a slider with good early results thus far. In his second professional season in 2008, Hank started the year off in Short Season A pen posting an amazing 35 strikes in 17 games, 22 2/3 innings pitched along with 19 hits and 5 walks yet yielded 12 earned runs partly due to his three longballs and tendency for the big inning. Despite his high ERA (4.67) in SS-A, Hank saw some late season action in low A ball, going 6 1/3 innings giving up 6 hits, 2 runs, no walks, and eight strikeouts in three games getting two saves in two opportunities. He’ll probably start the season in Peoria’s pen and could climb to High A if he’s still over dominating.

In other news, the Cubs have started signing up several aged Japanese players to minor league contracts and inviting them to spring training.  The belief is it’s to ease Kosuke Fukudome’s offseason tension and help aid his workout preparation for the season.  The 35 year old righty reliever Ken Kadokura was an ex-teammate of Fukudome’s back in Japan while 39 year old outfielder So Taguchi and Fukudome know each other and the Cubs hope the now 7 year vet can give Kosuke some advice on adjusting midseason.  Odds are very strong that neither makes the club yet could still stick with the club in AAA.  Also invited to spring training is 41 year old lefty reliever Mike Stanton, 29 year old middle infielder Luis Rivas, and 29 year old outfielder Jason Dubois.

The Cubs avoided arbitration once again with any of their players by getting Cedeno to agree to a .822M, who has a strong possibility not to be in Cubby blue by Opening Day.  Along with Kevin Gregg for 4.2M, a significant raise from his 2.5M last year for the Marlins a big reason he was traded.  Then there is Mike Wuertz who agreed to a 1.1M contract even though the Cubs don’t really have any room for him in their pen; he too could be shipped out before the start of the season.  And probably the most disheartening news is the loss of Henry Blanco as he signs a one year deal with the Padres for .75M.  The Cubs claimed salary constraints at first for not renewing his option at 3M instead buying him out at .3M.  But not swooping in ahead of the Padres and locking up Henry for one more season as Soto’s mentor was stupid especially if the reason was to sign lefty catcher Paul Bako. With the main reason being Bako’s left handed bat yet he’s half the defender that Blanco is