***Official 2024 Chicago Cubs Thread***
- Thread starter CycloneErik
- Start date
Patrick Mooney of The Athletic says first indications are Burnes will cost more than the Cubs are interested.
Happy for Hendo. LA seems like a nice place to retire.
Happy for Hendo. LA seems like a nice place to retire.
Passan believes most of the big fish FA's will be decided by the Winter Meetings which end December 11. Granted, most MLB pundits believed the same last year but Ohtani held the entire offseason hostage.
GM meetings, as Hoyer said 2 days ago, are the best time during the offseason to begin to gauge who is available via trade.
My guess is we see a lot of movement just before November 19th, when the 40 Man must be set for the Rule 5. From there, focus will be on FA's to shore up any trade misses, and then post-Christmas is when final roster trades will occur.
GM meetings, as Hoyer said 2 days ago, are the best time during the offseason to begin to gauge who is available via trade.
My guess is we see a lot of movement just before November 19th, when the 40 Man must be set for the Rule 5. From there, focus will be on FA's to shore up any trade misses, and then post-Christmas is when final roster trades will occur.
BN article has an update its around a $3 mil deal. Pretty low risk contract for a team that is going nowhere at the moment
Jon Morosi reporting Owen Caissie is a very popular name in trade talks right now.
I’d like him more than Alcantara but if he brings back a big name, so be it
I’d like him more than Alcantara but if he brings back a big name, so be it
Grew up there.
Dad worked in the ticketing office for 6 years.
Was drafted there.
Sharma and Mooney saying the Cubs can be ruled out on Soto and Burnes.
Travis D’arnaud and Roki Sasaki are on their radar.
For D’arnaud, I don’t hate it. Good 1 year, cheap option as you try and figure out Ballesteros.
For Sasaki, I would love it if we got him, but I think hes a Dodger IF he’s posted. What will really chap my ass is if he waits a month or two to get posted, another month or two to pick a team, and we drag our feet the whole process and miss out on someone. Since he will be cheap no matter what, he shouldn’t impact any moves we make this offseason, but knowing Jed, I’m sure he will.
Travis D’arnaud and Roki Sasaki are on their radar.
For D’arnaud, I don’t hate it. Good 1 year, cheap option as you try and figure out Ballesteros.
For Sasaki, I would love it if we got him, but I think hes a Dodger IF he’s posted. What will really chap my ass is if he waits a month or two to get posted, another month or two to pick a team, and we drag our feet the whole process and miss out on someone. Since he will be cheap no matter what, he shouldn’t impact any moves we make this offseason, but knowing Jed, I’m sure he will.
I never a doubt the Cubs would not be in on Soto and Burnes. I think the best way to make some meaningful roster upgrades will be through trades if Jed finally drops a pair and uses some of his prospect capital to make it happen. I am not optimistic that they'll do anything different than recent offseasons which is let the expensive guys sign and hope to pick up someone cheap on a shorter deal then hope the roster exceeds projections. They maybe be a little more aggressive than usual trying to improve the pitching staff by adding a guy that can slot into the 3rd or 4th rotation spot and actually sign a couple proven bullpen arms but as far as position players go I have a bad feeling the same core roster will be back with either some cheap backup or utility guy added and some prospects given a chance in spring training to make the opening day roster. I'm not against including Caissie or Alcantara in a trade to upgrade another position at this point because with Bellinger returning I don't see a path for either of them to get meaningful playing time this year in Chicago baring an injury or a surprise trade involving Bellinger or with one of the NTC guys Happ or Suzuki which seems unlikely. Would rather cash in on those prospect assets now than have them waste away at AAA or in an up/down call up role where they could hurt their value if they don't perform well kinda of like how Mervis and Canario were handled and now both would net significantly less than they would have if we dealt them before they made it to the majors.
Based on price tag being thrown around for Soto, I'm OK if Cubs FO seeks other alternatives. But if Cubs don't go after elite guys, then FO needs to spread the cash around to a handful of players to upgrade their overall roster.
I'd go with:
I'd go with:
- Catcher: Jacob Stallings or Kyle Higashioka. Both have shown some HR power and would be much cheaper than top names like D'Arnaud. Most likely D'Arnaud will be a .240 hitter and slug 15 HR's.
- 1B/DH: Christian Walker has been a .250 hitter and averaged 32 HR's over last 3 years. Bregman gets a lot of mention, Spotrac projects he might cost $10M more annually for a .260 hitter who's averaged 25 HR's over last 3 years.
- Utility Infield: Kevin Newman would be upgrade over Mastrobuoni. For Cubs to be attractive FO would need to have plan to manage starts for Hoerner, Swanson and Paredes during 2025.
- Starter: Max Fried, Walker Buehler, Luis Severino, Sean Manaea. No strong feelings on any specific pitcher. But would be nice if he was a hard throwing righty.
- Closer: Tanner Scott has been solid last two years. Porter Hodge had a great 2024 and could be a solid R/L duo with Scott to close games.
Guys I’d like to keep
Horton
Brown
I think they have the most upside in the rotation
Smith Shaw and Bellestreros
Then Caissie or Alcantara
To me those are our best shots at impact major leaguers
Sasaki will be posted. He's most likely a Dodger, but he'll be incredibly cheap.
Positive: He'll be cheap and I'd love a world where we got him AND another starter, which then pushes Assad, Brown, Horton, Wesneski, Wicks, to our bullpen for the year, which, in turn, makes our bullpen stronger.
Negative: Is probably a Dodger and will likely slow the FA and trade market down until he makes a decision
Positive: He'll be cheap and I'd love a world where we got him AND another starter, which then pushes Assad, Brown, Horton, Wesneski, Wicks, to our bullpen for the year, which, in turn, makes our bullpen stronger.
Negative: Is probably a Dodger and will likely slow the FA and trade market down until he makes a decision
I liked what Brown did before he got hurt. Will be interesting if the Cubs view him as a starter or possible 7th/8th inning guy in 2025.
Didn't see this article linked above. Quick update on Horton, Brown and Wicks.
In general, agree. But I could see some teams *cough*Cubs*cough* want to keep the 5th spot open instead of locking down an elite rotation.
Seems like 2025 spring training will be big for Wesneski, Wicks and Kilian. They are all to the point where they should have age and experience to carve out a role as 5th/emergency starter or long reliever in Chicago. I will also be curious if Assad takes the next step or maybe we've seen his best.
There's speculation the Astros are going to be unloading some salary as they'll be flirting with the first tier of the luxury tax after projected arbitration guys settle and have extensions and holes they’d like to fill.
Having failed to sign Kyle Tucker to an extension in the past and he's entering his walk year, I wonder if there's any shot the Cubs could try and make a move for him.
Having failed to sign Kyle Tucker to an extension in the past and he's entering his walk year, I wonder if there's any shot the Cubs could try and make a move for him.
