MLB: ***Official 2019-20 Cubs Offseason***

  • After Iowa State won the Big 12, a Cyclone made a wonderful offer to We Will that now increases our match. Now all gifts up to $400,000 between now and the Final 4 will be matched. Please consider giving at We Will Collective.
    This notice can be dismissed using the upper right corner X button.

ISUCubswin

Well-Known Member
Mar 3, 2011
23,227
6,268
113
My Playhouse
Despite saying differently, FO appears to be sticking with their previous plan of high power, bad average, high strikeout guys. Just signed Souza, who they almost got last year via trade before nabbing Castellanos, though I do not believe Souza played
 

CycloneErik

Well-Known Member
Jan 31, 2008
105,606
49,347
113
Jamerica
rememberingdoria.wordpress.com
Despite saying differently, FO appears to be sticking with their previous plan of high power, bad average, high strikeout guys. Just signed Souza, who they almost got last year via trade before nabbing Castellanos, though I do not believe Souza played

Souza is possibly an OK bench guy, unless he's hurt again, but I don't really see much value in this move.
 

ISUCubswin

Well-Known Member
Mar 3, 2011
23,227
6,268
113
My Playhouse
$64 million for 4 years

Opt-out after the first year.

This is just a great contract for him - show you dominate in hitter friendly park, hopefully DH comes to the NL in 2021, get your pick of the litter next offseason
 

CYdTracked

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2006
16,948
7,649
113
Grimes, IA
I'm to the point with how this offseason is going that it's looking more likely the Cubs are just going to sit on their hands and do some of these cheap deals to fill out the roster. Then they will hope by some miracle the roster they have is still relevant in the playoff picture by the trade deadline then if not start selling off any tradable pieces like Bryant, Contreras, Kimbrel, Quintana, and anyone else not named Baez or Rizzo probably that someone will hopefully give them a better haul of prospects or controllable talent than they currently are entertaining offers for right now.

The way this roster currently is constructed it's window is basically go all-in right now or start getting value back from guys that won't be around in another year or 2 and start building for 2022. If you look at the payroll table right now: https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/chicago-cubs/yearly/payroll/ After the 2021 season the only players with contracts or arbitration are the last year of Contreras arbitration years, Caratini, Heyward, last year of Almora if he is still around, Happ, Darvish, Hendricks, Kimbrel, and a glut of bullpen arms eligible for arbitration that may or may not still be around then. With the moves other teams in the NL Central have been making this team may be fighting for 4th place with the Pirates.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: GT25Ump and JBone84

Clonefan32

Well-Known Member
Nov 19, 2008
21,693
22,560
113
Castellanons to the Reds...damn it.



tenor.gif
 

CyJack13

Well-Known Member
May 21, 2010
12,666
1,665
113
I'm to the point with how this offseason is going that it's looking more likely the Cubs are just going to sit on their hands and do some of these cheap deals to fill out the roster. Then they will hope by some miracle the roster they have is still relevant in the playoff picture by the trade deadline then if not start selling off any tradable pieces like Bryant, Contreras, Kimbrel, Quintana, and anyone else not named Baez or Rizzo probably that someone will hopefully give them a better haul of prospects or controllable talent than they currently are entertaining offers for right now.

The way this roster currently is constructed it's window is basically go all-in right now or start getting value back from guys that won't be around in another year or 2 and start building for 2022. If you look at the payroll table right now: https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/chicago-cubs/yearly/payroll/ After the 2021 season the only players with contracts or arbitration are the last year of Contreras arbitration years, Caratini, Heyward, last year of Almora if he is still around, Happ, Darvish, Hendricks, Kimbrel, and a glut of bullpen arms eligible for arbitration that may or may not still be around then. With the moves other teams in the NL Central have been making this team may be fighting for 4th place with the Pirates.

I agree, I think going all in results in the bottom falling completely out in a few years and a full-scale tear down and rebuild. I would have preferred to start the rebuilding process last year, but I get why they didn't. I still think if they start the rebuild process this year they can pull it off without having to suffer through any of the out of contention by mid-May type years. The do nothing approach makes no sense to me, they aren't title contenders now, they're simply slowly heading the in the wrong direction with no apparent plan to stop the slide.
 

CYdTracked

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2006
16,948
7,649
113
Grimes, IA
I agree, I think going all in results in the bottom falling completely out in a few years and a full-scale tear down and rebuild. I would have preferred to start the rebuilding process last year, but I get why they didn't. I still think if they start the rebuild process this year they can pull it off without having to suffer through any of the out of contention by mid-May type years. The do nothing approach makes no sense to me, they aren't title contenders now, they're simply slowly heading the in the wrong direction with no apparent plan to stop the slide.

You framed it pretty well there. That's why this is concerning that they basically have done nothing at all up to this point. If they aren't going to add pieces now to make this team a contender then it's time to rip off the band aid and start making moves to position themselves for being competitive in the near future. Only thing I can think of is they are underwhelmed by the offers they are getting right now and think by holding those trade chips until the deadline the offers will be better. Or they hope for some hot starts to the season from guys that have trade value like Bryant, Contreras, Schwarber, Lester (has a no trade clause), Quintana, and Kimbrel and hope a team that has an injury or needs a missing piece to put them over the top will give them better trade partner options and more return on value.

I have low expectations for this season and have come to terms that the front office has decided to close the window on contending. I can live with a down season or 2 if I see them make some moves that will have them in contention in a short time but the do nothing at all approach this far is concerning. Maybe there are some things going on behind the scenes that they are just waiting on certain dominos to fall before they can make some moves and at this point that is about all we can hope for until we actually see some action.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: CyJack13

Clonefan32

Well-Known Member
Nov 19, 2008
21,693
22,560
113
I just wonder how much the Bryant grievance is holding everything up. Make a damn decision already.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: GT25Ump

CYdTracked

Well-Known Member
Mar 23, 2006
16,948
7,649
113
Grimes, IA
I just wonder how much the Bryant grievance is holding everything up. Make a damn decision already.

I'm sure it's a sticking point right now in any trade talks. He'll obviously bring back more in a trade if he's under team control for 2 years and not just 1. Not sure why it's taking so long, should be a pretty quick grievance to dismiss considering the terms of how service time is calculated was agreed to by both the owners and players association in the current CBA. I'm sure that changes in the next CBA but for now Bryant doesn't have much leverage in the situation IMO. Meanwhile who knows if that had already been settled if the Cubs had possible trade partners that have since moved on to other plans because they didn't want to wait longer on this.

The sad thing about this is when Bryant came up I would have loved to see him stay a Cub for a long time but between being a Boras client, the injuries, and sometimes his inconsistency and lack of coming up in the clutch in big spots I've gradually come to terms there is no way the Cubs will ever give him the big deal Boras will eventually get someone to pay him. I guess I look at it kind of like the Cardinals when they had to let Pujols go. Cards fans hated to see him go but in the long run are probably glad they aren't strapped with his contract and still are glad to have won 2 world series with him.
 

Clonefan32

Well-Known Member
Nov 19, 2008
21,693
22,560
113
I'm sure it's a sticking point right now in any trade talks. He'll obviously bring back more in a trade if he's under team control for 2 years and not just 1. Not sure why it's taking so long, should be a pretty quick grievance to dismiss considering the terms of how service time is calculated was agreed to by both the owners and players association in the current CBA. I'm sure that changes in the next CBA but for now Bryant doesn't have much leverage in the situation IMO. Meanwhile who knows if that had already been settled if the Cubs had possible trade partners that have since moved on to other plans because they didn't want to wait longer on this.

The sad thing about this is when Bryant came up I would have loved to see him stay a Cub for a long time but between being a Boras client, the injuries, and sometimes his inconsistency and lack of coming up in the clutch in big spots I've gradually come to terms there is no way the Cubs will ever give him the big deal Boras will eventually get someone to pay him. I guess I look at it kind of like the Cardinals when they had to let Pujols go. Cards fans hated to see him go but in the long run are probably glad they aren't strapped with his contract and still are glad to have won 2 world series with him.

Agree on all accounts. I just don't think he can stay healthy. The biggest thing for me is his injuries always don't appear from an "incident". It's like he's rolling an ankle or something. They just appear to be these weird issues that start small and result in him missing a few months.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: CYdTracked

CyJack13

Well-Known Member
May 21, 2010
12,666
1,665
113
You framed it pretty well there. That's why this is concerning that they basically have done nothing at all up to this point. If they aren't going to add pieces now to make this team a contender then it's time to rip off the band aid and start making moves to position themselves for being competitive in the near future. Only thing I can think of is they are underwhelmed by the offers they are getting right now and think by holding those trade chips until the deadline the offers will be better. Or they hope for some hot starts to the season from guys that have trade value like Bryant, Contreras, Schwarber, Lester (has a no trade clause), Quintana, and Kimbrel and hope a team that has an injury or needs a missing piece to put them over the top will give them better trade partner options and more return on value.

I have low expectations for this season and have come to terms that the front office has decided to close the window on contending. I can live with a down season or 2 if I see them make some moves that will have them in contention in a short time but the do nothing at all approach this far is concerning. Maybe there are some things going on behind the scenes that they are just waiting on certain dominos to fall before they can make some moves and at this point that is about all we can hope for until we actually see some action.

I think you're probably right about them hoping for better offers or hot starts for several guys, which is a really bad sign. If you go back to when Theo was building this thing up, he was all about having backup plans to his backup plans. He built that team up with depth everywhere, guys who could play multiple positions at a high level. In 2016 they lost a starting OF for the year within the first two weeks of the season, had their big free agent signing bust and still didn't have a full time position for Baez. He had a solid back end of the pen but went out and got Chapman anywhere. He talked all the time about being prepared for things to go wrong and because of that he built a team that was "unlucky" by any of the advanced metrics and yet still won 103 games.

Now just a few years later this has turned into basically running a low 80 win true talent back out there again and hoping for a bunch of guys to have career years. That's not a great way to run a team.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: CYdTracked