MLB: ***Official 2019-20 Cubs Offseason***
- Thread starter ISUCubswin
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Hamels to the Bravos. 1 yr/$18M.
Seems like an overpay.
Seems like an overpay.
Maybe at half what the Braves paid him I'd be OK with it. He's not worth $18 mil even for 1 year. Cubs already declined to give him a qualifying offer which was $17 mil I think. He turns 36 this month and while he has had some good stretches he basically had what amounts to 2 good half season with the Cubs. His arm looked dead 2nd half of the season last year and yes I know he was hurt but same type of injury is why he was so aweful with the Rangers the first half of 2018 too. Post all-star last season he made 10 starts, went 1-4 with a 5.79 ERA and .315 BA in just 42 innings. He didn't even make it through 5 innings in his last 4 starts. In 2018 he was 5-9 with a 4.72 ERA with the Rangers before he had a nice run with the Cubs, ERA was 4.20 in 2017 too so he's not worth that kind of money based on the results of his past 3 seasons and his age.
I'm a diehard Cubs fan but it's hard to be optimistic after what the front office has done since 2016. Missed the playoffs the past 2 years now during what was supposed to be the prime window with this young core to compete for championships. It's tough to get too excited based on the regression the team has gone through since winning it all.
If this is true it gives me some hope something big will happen this offseason but not holding my breath until something actually happens: https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs...-their-desire-to-make-trades-per-other-execs/
Cubs may be bringing back Morrow on a minor league deal: https://www.cubshq.com/update/Cubs-reportedly-working-on-re-signing-Brandon-Morrow-27832 I'm OK with that, low risk move and he'll have to earn a way onto the MLB roster by proving he's healthy and can be effective. Not holding my breath that happens given his injury history but would be a nice comeback story if he can pull it off.
Also signed a pitcher for the bullpen: https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2019/12/6/20998656/cubs-sign-dan-winkler-one-year-deal He's one of those reclamation projects this front office loves to take chances on so will see how this turns out but at least it is only a 1 year deal.
Also signed a pitcher for the bullpen: https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2019/12/6/20998656/cubs-sign-dan-winkler-one-year-deal He's one of those reclamation projects this front office loves to take chances on so will see how this turns out but at least it is only a 1 year deal.
I agree, but not at $18 Million.
Love Morrow being gentlemen enough to realize he robbed the Cubs of $24 million and is giving the organization the first chance to sign him for cheap.
You can probably expect some big moves within this next week - Cubs are sending 25 representatives to take part, which is a staggering number.
Lastly, Baseball America has Amaya as our 4th best prospect, and he's projected to be a Top 100 prospect in the MLB. That would mean the Cubs have more than the average amount of players in the Top 100 for MLB teams. Three of the Top 10 for the Cubs were brought in in 2018. Weird how worrying about our Farm System in 2019 probably was a waste of time.
You can probably expect some big moves within this next week - Cubs are sending 25 representatives to take part, which is a staggering number.
Lastly, Baseball America has Amaya as our 4th best prospect, and he's projected to be a Top 100 prospect in the MLB. That would mean the Cubs have more than the average amount of players in the Top 100 for MLB teams. Three of the Top 10 for the Cubs were brought in in 2018. Weird how worrying about our Farm System in 2019 probably was a waste of time.
Well better hope you're right and there are waves of internal prospects coming because with the Cubs looking to cut payroll and sit out on any big free agent acquisitions that's the only way they are going to stop their decline.
I didn't think anything could ever endanger my Cub fandom but the Ricketts seem to be doing one hell of a job to try to get me there.
Tom, its not our fault you went WAY over budget on the Wrigley Reno. You're the one that put modern clubs and amenities in a 100 year old structure. You could have built a brand new park, with Wrigley's dimensions and what not, somewhere else that wasn't in the middle of a neighborhood that's a nightmare to get to with without having to fight politicians at every turn. You could have done whatever you wanted and probably have spent less money.
Now you're going to trade Bryant and Contreras for some kind of 'soft rebuild' that never, ever works. Well done Tom. Well done.
Tom, its not our fault you went WAY over budget on the Wrigley Reno. You're the one that put modern clubs and amenities in a 100 year old structure. You could have built a brand new park, with Wrigley's dimensions and what not, somewhere else that wasn't in the middle of a neighborhood that's a nightmare to get to with without having to fight politicians at every turn. You could have done whatever you wanted and probably have spent less money.
Now you're going to trade Bryant and Contreras for some kind of 'soft rebuild' that never, ever works. Well done Tom. Well done.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
I'm this close to borrowing someone's old sig and changing it to "make the world a better place, punch a Ricketts in the face."
Always go cheap in the championship window. Always a good idea.
Maybe they don't think they're in a championship window?
I would actually feel better about the Cubs long term prospects if they have actually recognized this and go through a soft rebuild or retooling or whatever they want to call it, while allowing McLeod's replacement time to turn around the minor league system. The worst thing they can do would be to throw a ton of money at several free agents this year then have the bottom fall out in a year or two.
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Before we go all in on the Ricketts is cheap thing
- We are trying to extend Baez and, if it happens, I doubt the Cubs would go cheap early on and then backload it. Extending him now allows you to evenly distribute his pay 4-5-6 years from now and save some money then.
- Trading KB and Contreras would save ~$20 million. Q would add $10 million. Chatwood alone would save $13 million.
- If you trade those first two and in return get a top prospect pitcher, infielder, and center fielder, you then free up the money to bring in a guy like Rendon.
- Trading Chatwood while eating half his contract would still save good money.
- We are trying to extend Baez and, if it happens, I doubt the Cubs would go cheap early on and then backload it. Extending him now allows you to evenly distribute his pay 4-5-6 years from now and save some money then.
- Trading KB and Contreras would save ~$20 million. Q would add $10 million. Chatwood alone would save $13 million.
- If you trade those first two and in return get a top prospect pitcher, infielder, and center fielder, you then free up the money to bring in a guy like Rendon.
- Trading Chatwood while eating half his contract would still save good money.
I fully expect this to be another offseason of nothing but cheap signings and going with the status quo. Hope I am proven wrong but keep hearing the same story of how they need to clear payroll and unless they are getting a haul back for someone like Bryant or Contreras don't see a significant signing or trade happening.
Yankees can have Cole for that ridiculous contract. No way he is worth the $36 mil a year on the backend of that contract when he'll be 38 when it is done. And I don't see him opting out of it after 5 years either because a mid 30's pitcher is not going to get more than 4 years for more than the $36 mil a year either. Yankees love to make those signings but check back in 5+ years and they'll be in the same boat they always are when they spend big: a bloated payroll of aging guys that have them strapped for payroll. If they win a ring or 2 over that time I'm sure they'll be OK with that though. That kind of deal is a lot of financial risk for any pitcher. Going more than 5 years with any high priced pitcher these days is crossing your fingers he's healthy and productive for most of that contract anymore.
Yankees can have Cole for that ridiculous contract. No way he is worth the $36 mil a year on the backend of that contract when he'll be 38 when it is done. And I don't see him opting out of it after 5 years either because a mid 30's pitcher is not going to get more than 4 years for more than the $36 mil a year either. Yankees love to make those signings but check back in 5+ years and they'll be in the same boat they always are when they spend big: a bloated payroll of aging guys that have them strapped for payroll. If they win a ring or 2 over that time I'm sure they'll be OK with that though. That kind of deal is a lot of financial risk for any pitcher. Going more than 5 years with any high priced pitcher these days is crossing your fingers he's healthy and productive for most of that contract anymore.
If you're going to trade away your best player and not replace his production with Donaldson or Rendon, you may as well trade Contreras or another big piece too and retool a bit to compete a couple years down the road. The Cubs minor league system has dudes in Marquez, Amaya, Hoerner, and Davis but most are 2021 arrivals and beyond. The unfortunate part is your wasting the primes of guys like Rizzo, Hendricks, and Darvish while you wait. Tough to be optimistic about what they're doing right now.
Bryant is not the Cubs best player, he is in the conversation for top 3 but Baez by far is the Cubs best player. I do agree though who are the Cubs going to plug in at 3B if they trade KB? Either have to sign or trade for a 3B because Bote sure as hell is not an everyday player.
There is depth at catcher, for as much as I love Contreras and that cannon of an arm Caratini is an above average catcher and probably handles the pitching staff better too plus you have Amaya in the minors so you won't see much of a drop off in production if you trade from a position of strength. Don't know what the infatuation is with keeping Schwarber either, OF is the one spot where you can clear a spot and upgrade at and he has some trade value again so why not shop him around now because they are stuck with Heyward like it or now so someone out there has to go if you want to improve the lineup. It's obvious the Cubs can't keep the entire young core together because they can't afford to pay them all in 2 years so someone has to go now. The frustrating part is not seeing a plan on how they plan to improve the roster right now so either commit to an overhaul to win now or say the window has closed and we are going to take a step back for a year to restock the system by trading off pieces we don't think we can keep long term. This just has the same feel as last year where they keep most of the roster intact and sign a bunch of cheap pieces that usually don't work out.
Javy's my favorite player. Rizzo's the captain. Kris Bryant is the best player.
If you were the Cubs and you had to pick 1 player to build a team around it would be Javy. There is no doubt Bryant is probably the 2nd best player on the roster but I would bet you every team in the league would take Javy over KB if they had the choice.
Disagree. Especially if you aren’t factoring in signability. I would guarantee there are teams that would take Bryant and his much higher floor over Báez. Báez is really the first guy to ever succeed with a chase rate like he has, he’s walking a very fine line. He also was a below league average hitter for the second half of last season.
Don’t hate sticking with the status quo but I do hate a front office that says changes are coming after back to back seasons of under performing and then making no changes.
