He takes a lot of blame for the current situation. Ultimately, as President of Baseball Operations, it is on him.
That being said, it was just a series of just horrifyingly terrible Free Agent signings that led to the team being strapped for cash.
MLB: Official Chicago Cubs Offseason Thread
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He takes a lot of blame for the current situation. Ultimately, as President of Baseball Operations, it is on him.
That being said, it was just a series of just horrifyingly terrible Free Agent signings that led to the team being strapped for cash.
Just sort of seems that Theo lost interest in continuing to build a World Series team after they won the World Series. Acknowledges they achieved his goal of a World Series and I think from there, he was satisfied. Obviously wanted to win, but the drive wasn't the same as it was before 2016.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
What sucks is Theo and Jed should have blown this thing up before the start of the 2020 season when their biggest trade chips still had some value and we don't have the soft financial market and uncertainty that we now do because of the pandemic. They could of got a haul for KB after last season and now after another injury prone and down season and on the last year of his contract and is going to bring WAY less back in a trade than he could of 12 months ago. Same for Schwarber too after a decline in production from previous year, not sure how many teams will be knocking down the door to sign a guy that is an OK defensive OF probably more suited to be a DH but hit just .188 in 2020. Agree though that the guys with 1 year left either need to extend now or move on from them. I'd like to see Rizzo and Baez hang around if a reasonable deal can be struck for either.
I'm sure payroll will be tight again but with all the holes in the pitching staff would be nice if they could take advantage of a soft market and sign a couple middle of the rotation type guys to 2 or 3 year deals. Don't need to break the bank on Bauer but there are some guys like Marcus Stroman who opted out of the season that will be plenty rested and had a pretty nice 2019 season and Masahiro Tanaka is 32 years old but eats up a lot of quality innings. Plenty of decent veteran starters in this market that could be had for reasonable 1 year deals too to be a bridge to hoping Alzolay and Marquez can take that next step in their development and contribute at the big league level at some point next season.
Always will be thankful for what Theo and Jed did by finally breaking the WS drought in 2016 but the window on that group has closed and the next person in charge kind of has a mess on their hands with what is left. Probably best to bust up the core and re-load the farm system they depleted and find some guys they can plug in the meantime to keep the team competitive. I think anyone would be nuts to reward this current core of players all with lucrative long term deals after what we have seen from them since 2016 and unfortunately they waited a year or 2 too long to figure that out and now the returns in trades are going to be diminished because of it.
I'm sure payroll will be tight again but with all the holes in the pitching staff would be nice if they could take advantage of a soft market and sign a couple middle of the rotation type guys to 2 or 3 year deals. Don't need to break the bank on Bauer but there are some guys like Marcus Stroman who opted out of the season that will be plenty rested and had a pretty nice 2019 season and Masahiro Tanaka is 32 years old but eats up a lot of quality innings. Plenty of decent veteran starters in this market that could be had for reasonable 1 year deals too to be a bridge to hoping Alzolay and Marquez can take that next step in their development and contribute at the big league level at some point next season.
Always will be thankful for what Theo and Jed did by finally breaking the WS drought in 2016 but the window on that group has closed and the next person in charge kind of has a mess on their hands with what is left. Probably best to bust up the core and re-load the farm system they depleted and find some guys they can plug in the meantime to keep the team competitive. I think anyone would be nuts to reward this current core of players all with lucrative long term deals after what we have seen from them since 2016 and unfortunately they waited a year or 2 too long to figure that out and now the returns in trades are going to be diminished because of it.
Theo or ownership haven't made the best decisions the last 4 offseasons but the biggest reason the Cubs are in the position they're in is because so many of those guys aren't just not playing at their 2016 levels, they're playing so much worse. Kris Bryant is the biggest disappointment among a group of mostly disappointing young players.
It sucks to have to start over but that's obviously what needs done here.
I am pretty shocked Schwarber is gone in the way he is. Figured for sure we could at least get something in return for him. I am good with all other moves. I mean, we could’ve at least waived him and seen if a team would pick him up and offer something
I am very anti-platoon outfielders. We got one outfield spot opening and one infield (second) spot opening. Sahadev brought up a great point - with Schwarber out, it allows the Cubs to now find a CF and move Happ to LF if we have a better fit, so we have more flexibility.
Question is, do we go outside or promote from within?
I am very anti-platoon outfielders. We got one outfield spot opening and one infield (second) spot opening. Sahadev brought up a great point - with Schwarber out, it allows the Cubs to now find a CF and move Happ to LF if we have a better fit, so we have more flexibility.
Question is, do we go outside or promote from within?
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
I'm not shocked by the Schwarber move. He hit just .188 and is hitting just .230 for his career with a lot of strikeouts to add. That is not the kind of production you pay $8 mil or more this season to when you can probably find a replacement who hits for average for that or less money. The Cubs offense has been broke since winning it all in 2016 and looks to me they are ready to shake things up and try a different approach so Schwarber is expendable. Biggest mistake they made was not trading him after last season when he hit .250 with 38 HR and was probably about at the peak value they would ever get at this point in a trade. Same with Bryant, he has a lot more value after last season with 2 years of control left, now he is coming off an awful season and in a contract year so my guess is they hold him until the trade deadline and hope he is healthy and hitting well enough to get a decent return because I can't imagine they will get much right now without eating a lot of the money he will get in arbitration.
www.espn.com
Wouldn't be shocked if the Cubs target an OF on this list if the price is right. This is going to be a saturated FA market where teams are all hurting financially and not likely to pony up ridiculous contracts to fringe players so there may be some value to be had out there on some short 1 or 2 year deals. Have a feeling that is how they are going to address the pitching staff too as there will likely be some middle to end of the rotation veterans out there that most years may have got decent 3 year deals that will be looking at taking a moderate 1 year deal in hopes there is more money out there next offseason.
Which big names were cut loose at MLB's non-tender deadline?
World Series hero Kyle Schwarber is no longer with the Cubs. Here's a look at others who have hit the open market and are free agents.
Wouldn't be shocked if the Cubs target an OF on this list if the price is right. This is going to be a saturated FA market where teams are all hurting financially and not likely to pony up ridiculous contracts to fringe players so there may be some value to be had out there on some short 1 or 2 year deals. Have a feeling that is how they are going to address the pitching staff too as there will likely be some middle to end of the rotation veterans out there that most years may have got decent 3 year deals that will be looking at taking a moderate 1 year deal in hopes there is more money out there next offseason.
For those surprised by Schwarber move get prepared for more I suspect. Cubs cutting alot of costs and if they can get a good deal for prospects I don't think anybody is an untouchable on this roster right now.
Hell Darvish is 34 years old and we aren't contending for a title for at least a few years. If someone offers a very good deal trade him while he still has high value.
Hell Darvish is 34 years old and we aren't contending for a title for at least a few years. If someone offers a very good deal trade him while he still has high value.
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Its pump and dump season. Get what what you can for trades and fast track the few prospects we do have. Suck for a year or two and once heywards contract is gone go after some free agents to fill what doesnt develop.
I'm not really sure the cubs have a lot of sure thing prospects that are close
I think yesterday is a good sign that a rebuild is about to happen. Just let 2 former 1st round picks walk without any compensation is not like what this club has done before. I agree with Darvish too, love what he has done the past 2 years after enduring a rough start to nearly being a Cy Young winner this year. He and Hendricks are probably their 2 most valuable pitching trade chips, Darvish is owed 22, 19, and 18 mil a year over the next 3 seasons before becoming a free agent at age 37 so if some contender offers a nice package of prospects to take that contract off your hands it makes sense. Time to cash out on that now before he potentially becomes the next Lester situation in the rotation. Hendricks is only 30 and signed at a very reasonable 14 mil for the next 3 years then 16 mil in his last year so doubt they move him without a huge haul back because he still fits into the rebuild for now in the middle of his prime years.
What sucks right now is you won't be able to move Heyward or Kimbrel without eating a good chunk of their 23.5 and 16 mil contracts. Kimbrel is still on the books for 2022 at 16 mil too, Heyward through 2023 so neither are probably going anywhere without the Cubs paying most of that so you may as well use the gold glove in RF and hope Kimbrel figures it out. Contreras is probably the best trade asset they have, he is under team control for this year and next at a reasonable cost at a premium position and the Cubs have depth at the position. Not sure what the market is on Baez but my hopes are they find reasonable extensions for him and Rizzo then build a roster around them which is likely to include Happ (just a year ago I didn't think this) Caratini, Bote, and Hoerner in some kind of roles.
Yep, you've pretty well nailed it. Try and keep Baez and Rizzo if the price is right, and build around the cheap young guys until we have some money free up.
Rizzo has been the cornerstone of this franchise since Theo and Jed took over and he checks off everything you can ask for a clubhouse leader and middle of the order bat for a 1B so while no one is untouchable at this point he is the last guy on the roster that should go. Baez has so much value from a financial standpoint as his defense and love for the game sells tickets and at age 28 is just entering his prime years so would be crazy to trade him without an unbelievable haul in return. He had a set back in 2020 statistically but he was trending in the right direction every season before so I would gamble that his 2017-19 seasons are more in line with what he will do going forward than what he did in 2020.
I don't feel the same with Bryant and being a Boras client also factors into that. He had an OK 2019 season but in 2018 only played in 102 games and had a drop off in 2017 after his MVP season in 2016 and had a horrible 2020 season that had injury too so he is not trending in a direction you reward with a big contract. Even if they hold onto him for now and he busts out for a strong start to the 2021 season you have to cash in on a trade by the trade deadline because he is jaded about the service time issue and Boras will not let him take anything other but a big multi year deal. Outside of an improbably World Series run in 2021 there is no way Bryant is in the long term plans at this point.
What the actual ****. This sucks. I watch or listen to probably 90% of games throughout the year and grew up with Len
As a bit of a prospect dork I can confirm that the Cubs farm system is one of the worst in the NL. They have almost no promising arms in the minors, at least none that are anywhere close to the majors. At this point Bryant doesn't have enough trade value to return a top prospect, maybe a top 100 guy but sadly not much more than that. The Cubs aren't in great shape right now especially since they clearly won't be spending in free agency. It's pretty bleak for the next few seasons which sucks.
