MLB: ***Official 2019 Chicago Cubs Season Thread***

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ISUCubswin

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According to this they have Hamels at 20 million and Zobrist at 12.5, so 32.5 million. Bryants salary 12.9, he will be pushing 18 to 20 after AB, Baez will double his current 5,2 salary. Hendricks will be up from 7.9 to ten or eleven. All the rest of the young players will see their salaries go up, and the Cubs still have to find a pitcher to replace Hamels.

Where is the 90 to 100 million at, this is coming off the books?

https://www.usatoday.com/sports/mlb/cubs/salaries/all/player/all/

What I’m saying is we have 40-50 million in spending money. We have $90-100 million off the books because KB/arbitration eligible players will not have the same contracts next year.

Noteable guys off the books because of free agency:

Hamels - 20 million
Zobrist - 12.5 million
Morrow - 12 million
Cishek - 6.5 million
Strop - 6.25 million
Kintzler - 5 million
Duensing - 3.5 million

Then you have

Barnett - 3 million team option
Graveman - 3 million team option

That alone is roughly $70 million we have coming off as money we can spend on free agents or on contract extensions. I am optimistic because it can be argued over half of those guys have done little to contribute to this years team. We can afford a nice outfielder and a nice backend starting pitcher and still have plenty of money for extensions.

Say KB gets $19 million in arbitration after nearly $13 million this year. He’s only eating $6 million into the $70 million, because the $70 million coming off the books for free agents doesn’t include the $13 million he made this year.

KB, Schwarber, and Baez are combined throwing in a little over $20 million, however they will be taking more out.
 

chuckd4735

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That's probably not a bad way to put it, they will be fine, they'll be OK again. They aren't good enough to win a World Series this year, they won't be good enough to win one next year, but they'll be a slightly above average team again most likely.
They are most definitely good enough to win a World Series. Right now the Cubs have the 5th best odds to win the World Series, so I think that means they are good enough. They just have to get hot at the right time.
 

Shawker

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What the hell is it with the Cubs against the Reds? They turn to absolute dog **** anytime they play the Reds. It's ******* maddening.
 
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Shawker

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What I’m saying is we have 40-50 million in spending money. We have $90-100 million off the books because KB/arbitration eligible players will not have the same contracts next year.

Noteable guys off the books because of free agency:

Hamels - 20 million
Zobrist - 12.5 million
Morrow - 12 million
Cishek - 6.5 million
Strop - 6.25 million
Kintzler - 5 million
Duensing - 3.5 million

Then you have

Barnett - 3 million team option
Graveman - 3 million team option

That alone is roughly $70 million we have coming off as money we can spend on free agents or on contract extensions. I am optimistic because it can be argued over half of those guys have done little to contribute to this years team. We can afford a nice outfielder and a nice backend starting pitcher and still have plenty of money for extensions.

Say KB gets $19 million in arbitration after nearly $13 million this year. He’s only eating $6 million into the $70 million, because the $70 million coming off the books for free agents doesn’t include the $13 million he made this year.

KB, Schwarber, and Baez are combined throwing in a little over $20 million, however they will be taking more out.

I'd be surprised if the Cubs brought back any of those guys listed. They almost certainly won't bring back Hamels, Zobrist or Morrow. Maybe they bring back Kintzler if he is willing to accept less than $5 mil.
 
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Hawkmi

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Ian Happ makes it 6-3. That KB HR is the biggest AB of the season thus far IMHO.
 

dirtyninety

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[QUOTE="ISUCubswin, post:

Noteable guys off the books because of free agency:

Hamels - 20 million
B.Zobrist - 6.25 million
J. Zobrist - 6.25 million

Morrow - 12 million
Cishek - 6.5 million
Strop - 6.25 million
Kintzler - 5 million
Duensing - 3.5 million

Then you have

Barnett - 3 million team option
Graveman - 3 million team option

That alone is roughly $70 million we have coming off as money we can spend on free agents or on contract extensions. I am optimistic because it can be argued over half of those guys have done little to contribute to this years team. We can afford a nice outfielder and a nice backend starting pitcher and still have plenty of money for extensions.

Say KB gets $19 million in arbitration after nearly $13 million this year. He’s only eating $6 million into the $70 million, because the $70 million coming off the books for free agents doesn’t include the $13 million he made this year.

KB, Schwarber, and Baez are combined throwing in a little over $20 million, however they will be taking more out.[/QUOTE]

Slight correction....but otherwise you are on it.
 
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NorthCyd

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Woohoo! With the struggles against the Reds and on n the road splitting a road series with the Reds feels monumental at this point.
 

CyJack13

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They are most definitely good enough to win a World Series. Right now the Cubs have the 5th best odds to win the World Series, so I think that means they are good enough. They just have to get hot at the right time.

Fangraphs has them with the 6th best odds at 6%. So in the it’s possible sense yes they have a chance but realistically they would be major underdogs against the Dodgers and again against either the Yankees or Astros. They just aren’t on that elite level anymore.
 

chuckd4735

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Fangraphs has them with the 6th best odds at 6%. So in the it’s possible sense yes they have a chance but realistically they would be major underdogs against the Dodgers and again against either the Yankees or Astros. They just aren’t on that elite level anymore.
I don't disagree they are not elite, but I don't think they were in 2016 either. They had a young team and played in a Division that was horrible. But non elite teams win the World Series. All you have to do is get there.
 

NorthCyd

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Fangraphs has them with the 6th best odds at 6%. So in the it’s possible sense yes they have a chance but realistically they would be major underdogs against the Dodgers and again against either the Yankees or Astros. They just aren’t on that elite level anymore.
I just looked at fangraphs and it has the cubs at a little over 7% and 4th behind the Astros, Dodgers, and Yankees. The Yankees are only at 10%.

The fact is baseball championships are a total crapshoot. Even the best teams have relatively low odds of winning. Just make the playoffs every year and hope for the best. How the hell you could be a Cubs fan and not be ecstatic with where the club is at right now is beyond me. This team definitely has the pieces to win a world series if they get hot at the right time.

PS: well, those numbers are a little off I guess. Yankees are at 13% and the Braves are .2 higher than the Cubs who are actually 5th. But whatever. The point still stands.
 
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CyJack13

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I don't disagree they are not elite, but I don't think they were in 2016 either. They had a young team and played in a Division that was horrible. But non elite teams win the World Series. All you have to do is get there.

They absolutely were in 2016. They won 103 games and were extremely unlucky. Advance metrics had them as a 108-112 win team. They had the highest NL run differential this century. They were one of the best defensive teams of all time. You’d have a really hard time finding any stats to support an argument that they weren’t an elite team in 2016. They were far and away the post season favorites that year.
 

CyJack13

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I just looked at fangraphs and it has the cubs at a little over 7% and 4th behind the Astros, Dodgers, and Yankees. The Yankees are only at 10%.

The fact is baseball championships are a total crapshoot. Even the best teams have relatively low odds of winning. Just make the playoffs every year and hope for the best. How the hell you could be a Cubs fan and not be ecstatic with where the club is at right now is beyond me. This team definitely has the pieces to win a world series if they get hot at the right time.

PS: well, those numbers are a little off I guess. Yankees are at 13% and the Braves a .2 higher than the Cubs who are actually 5th. But whatever. The point still stands.

Glad you can call yourself out on making those numbers up. The Cubs were 24-14, they are now 64-54. They’ve been a .500 team for half a season now. They have the second worst road record in the NL. This was also expected to be the time the current Cubs core was peaking. Instead their window with this current core group is closing and fast. I don’t see how any Cubs fans can really look at the moves they have made over the last few seasons and think yeah things are going great, this is just where I wanted the team to be.
 

NorthCyd

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Glad you can call yourself out on making those numbers up. The Cubs were 24-14, they are now 64-54. They’ve been a .500 team for half a season now. They have the second worst road record in the NL. This was also expected to be the time the current Cubs core was peaking. Instead their window with this current core group is closing and fast. I don’t see how any Cubs fans can really look at the moves they have made over the last few seasons and think yeah things are going great, this is just where I wanted the team to be.
Apparently historical context is lost on you, but yes. We get it. You have a ridiculous standard that the Cubs need to be the elite team every year and the best in baseball or you will be a relentless douche canoe to anyone who has anything positive to say about the club. I already established this several days ago. I'll go ahead and enjoy the best stretch of Cubs baseball anyone alive has ever seen.
 
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chuckd4735

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They absolutely were in 2016. They won 103 games and were extremely unlucky. Advance metrics had them as a 108-112 win team. They had the highest NL run differential this century. They were one of the best defensive teams of all time. You’d have a really hard time finding any stats to support an argument that they weren’t an elite team in 2016. They were far and away the post season favorites that year.
They were also 50-25 against the NL Central, which was absolute garbage that year. I think if the NL Central this year was playing in 2016, you're looking at 90 win team, which is not too far off what you're seeing this year.
 

CyJack13

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They were also 50-25 against the NL Central, which was absolute garbage that year. I think if the NL Central this year was playing in 2016, you're looking at 90 win team, which is not too far off what you're seeing this year.

And they were 15-5 against the AL and were 19-14 against the other two divisions in the NL. The second place NL Central team won 86 games, the second place team in the East and West won 87 games. The last place team in the NL Central won 68 games, the last place team in the East and West divisions won....68 games. The NL Central was not particularly bad at all compared to the other NL divisions. It actually had the best winning percentage of any NL division that year. Not to mention it featured three 97+ win teams just the year before. Like I said though it’s real hard to make an argument that a 103 win team that is 8 games better than the next best team in the entire league was not elite but I guess you want to try for some reason.
 

VeloClone

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Magic Number:

2016-world-series-kris-bryant-17-and-anthony-rizzo-44-of-the-chicago-cubs,2452490.jpg


Yes, contrary to all of the doom and gloom in this thread the Cubs are still in the division lead.
 
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