MLB: Official Chicago Cubs Offseason Thread

[cycloneman003]

I don't really get the angst over Lester. He just posted the highest ERA , the highest HR rate and the lowest strike out rate of his career. I doubt those numbers are much better in a full schedule 2021.

For me there are several reasons to be pissed about it...

1. There are tons of innings the Cubs need to figure out how to fill for 2021 and not a lot of answer on who's going to fill them
2. He's a great leader and veteran presence to have in the clubhouse and that has value
3. He's beloved by most Cubs fans and he wanted to return, so if we're not planning on being ambitious this season let's at least have a fan favorite
4. He signed with Washington for only $2mil in actual cost for 2021, so how cheap are we if we can't take a chance on Lester still being useful at that price

I think it's less about how good/bad he is going to be this year, but the fact that we have rotation holes, he cost next to nothing, and he's fan favorite/team leader, but the Cubs couldn't/wouldn't work something out? It says a lot about the state of the org and ownership

 

[ClonesTwenty1]

Who’s still left of starting rotation?

 

[Hoggins]

I don’t understand any of the angst. The NL central is still pretty bad. This team could go out and do well and management might buy. If not, sell everything

 

[Clonefan32]

I don't really get the angst over Lester. He just posted the highest ERA , the highest HR rate and the lowest strike out rate of his career. I doubt those numbers are much better in a full schedule 2021.

I think it's the price tag. $4 million and it sounds like he would have taken less for the Cubs. I get he may not make much of a difference but it speaks to just how cheap they are.

 

[CycloneErik]

For me there are several reasons to be pissed about it...

1. There are tons of innings the Cubs need to figure out how to fill for 2021 and not a lot of answer on who's going to fill them
2. He's a great leader and veteran presence to have in the clubhouse and that has value
3. He's beloved by most Cubs fans and he wanted to return, so if we're not planning on being ambitious this season let's at least have a fan favorite
4. He signed with Washington for only $2mil in actual cost for 2021, so how cheap are we if we can't take a chance on Lester still being useful at that price

I think it's less about how good/bad he is going to be this year, but the fact that we have rotation holes, he cost next to nothing, and he's fan favorite/team leader, but the Cubs couldn't/wouldn't work something out? It says a lot about the state of the org and ownership

And it shows that we're all in on the rebuild, but without really doing much to rebuild. Basically that last line: we're just a cheap franchise that doesn't really care right now. That sucks.

 

[isucy86]

I think it's the price tag. $4 million and it sounds like he would have taken less for the Cubs. I get he may not make much of a difference but it speaks to just how cheap they are.

IMO this speaks to how uncertain the revenue streams will be for baseball teams in 2021. When will the season start? How many fans will be able to attend games? Illinois has been more restrictive than other states.

It would have been a nice story for Lester to return because of what he has meant to the franchise. But in the end, not sure Lester is a better pitcher at this point in his career than Mills, Davies or Alzolay. So does it make sense keeping Lester around as a 5th starter or go with a young pitcher or use an opener.

 

[CYdTracked]

Who has a run down of the players gone from last year? I’m too lazy and don’t care enough about this team to try and look.

Here is a decent place to keep track but does not include trades: 2020 MLB Baseball Free Agent Tracker - Major League Baseball - ESPN

2020 transactions: 2020 Chicago Cubs Transactions | ESPN

Basically have lost everyone but Hendricks and Mills in the rotation now, Schwarber, Almora, Morrow (technically lost him to injury 2 years ago) Tepera was non-tendered

 

[CYdTracked]

The rotation is troublesome even for a team that is tanking if they don't sign or trade for some reliable pitchers. We know what we have in Hendricks, Davies will eat some innings up and is fairly reliable veteran but he's more of a middle to back end of the rotation pitcher not a #2, Mills has just 17 MLB starts in 4 MLB seasons and he too is more of a #4 or #5 type of guy at best. Alzolay is unproven and has been prone to injury throughout his career so far. Marquez needs more time in the minors, there really are not any internal options or depth so they really need to do something with the rotation soon.

Not sure who is out there that is in their budget and fills some key middle of the rotation spots. Is Arrieta interested in a cheap 1 year deal? There are some veteran guys out there that may take a 1 year deal like Chris Archer, Matt Harvey, Mike Leake, Carlos Rodon, Samardzija, Anibel Sanchez, guys that need a chance at a rebound season to hopefully get more next offseason. I really don't know who they are even looking at but here's a list of free agent SP and you can kind of see who is still out there and who has signed so far: 2020 MLB Baseball Free Agent Tracker - Major League Baseball - ESPN Lot of 1 year deals for different money but if Wacha can get $3 mil after posting a 6.62 ERA in 8 games last year what does that say about our budget and type of guys we might be looking at? DeSclafani got $6 mil for 7.22 in 9 games last year.

 

[JBone84]

Seems like the Fighting Ricketts' strategy is:
1. Go back to being lovable losers
2. Now it won't be on TV for all of America to see
3. Sink lots of money expanding Cubs' real estate
...
4. Profit

 

[CYdTracked]

Ultimately we knew a rebuild was inevitable with the under achieving and decline of the roster since the 2016 WS run. I don't think anyone could have thought that we'd be in a spot where what once were the Cubs most valuable trade assets are non-tendered or would not bring much back in a trade at this point. I do think the RIcketts have the money to spend now if they wanted to but Hoyer and the next GM need to come up with a game plan on how to rebuild this roster because right now its not clear what the plan is to become competitive again.

 

[CloneinWDSM]

 

[ISUCubswin]

I am weirdly not at all mad about what’s been happening lately. I do think the Ricketts are terrible owners.

But I also think I would rather see what Alzolay and Mills do on the mound instead of Lester/Q/Chatwood, who haven’t been great recently and cost a ton more.

 

[BigJCy]

I am weirdly not at all mad about what’s been happening lately. I do think the Ricketts are terrible owners.

But I also think I would rather see what Alzolay and Mills do on the mound instead of Lester/Q/Chatwood, who haven’t been great recently and cost a ton more.

Me either. Quite frankly I'm fine with tearing it all down again as long as they can get some good prospects back. I HATE being in the 75-85 win range total with no real shot of winning a Championship. I'd rather suck for a few years with hope we can eventually build it back up to be a legit contender.

And hopefully by that time COVID is gone and things economically are close to back to normal and then the Ricketts can't cry poor any longer and will spend to add on to what the team still needs.

 

[ISUCubswin]

My way-out-there idea is signing Bauer to his silly 1 year deal, sign Semien, sign Bradley Jr, field a team that can compete. If you’re showing dominance in the first half, go for another flag. But if you’re not, sell Bauer, Semien, Bryant, Contreras, and Bradley Jr and compete again in 2 years.

 

[CYdTracked]

I am weirdly not at all mad about what’s been happening lately. I do think the Ricketts are terrible owners.

But I also think I would rather see what Alzolay and Mills do on the mound instead of Lester/Q/Chatwood, who haven’t been great recently and cost a ton more.

I have no issue seeing what Alzolay and Mills can do but that is still just 4 spots of a 5 man rotation with nothing but guys that are not ready or reclamation projects signed to minor league deals left for depth. Really need to bring in 2 veteran guys that have proven to stay fairly healthy and consistently eat up 6 or 7 innings every 5 days even if they may post a 4+ ERA that is still better than some of the mess of a rotation we have had some years when the injury bug bites. I'm not confident Alzolay can stay healthy a full season given his past and neither him nor Mills have ever thrown the amount of innings a MLB starter does so fatigue could be a factor for them too. Just for the sake of rotation depth they need 2 or 3 more veteran arms to make it through the season and at least provide some competition in spring training for the last spot or 2 in the rotation.

I would love your dream scenario too about just going all out on expensive 1 year deals and either make a run or sell off and stock the farm system some at the deadline. The A's are one team that have done that in the past, it's not a bad idea but if they haven't been linked to those guys by now I doubt they are considering it. I've said it before, the front office really missed the mark to do a rebuild on the fly about a year or so ago when they could of traded Schwarber and KB at their peak values but now we got nothing for Schwarber and probably way less for KB than we would hope for. They were wise to trade Darvish now even if it seems unpopular to do after the season he just had because he could be Lester 2.0 in a year or 2 where he is on the decline and basically untradeable with his contract without eating a bunch of money.

 

[Die4Cy]

I am weirdly not at all mad about what’s been happening lately. I do think the Ricketts are terrible owners.

But I also think I would rather see what Alzolay and Mills do on the mound instead of Lester/Q/Chatwood, who haven’t been great recently and cost a ton more.

Me either. Tank and rebuild costs less and gets you back competing better than what the Tribune company always tried to do, which was routinely adding expensive free agents/trades to a mediocre roster in order to continue toget mediocre results.

They did that for most of my life.

 

[ISUCubswin]

For anyone interested, Steve Wilkos, who himself is a die hard Cubs fan, had a great interview on the Cubs Talk Podcast. Sucks because it’s hosted by Wittenmyer and Kaplan, but Wilkos was incredible.

 

[CycloneErik]

Me either. Quite frankly I'm fine with tearing it all down again as long as they can get some good prospects back. I HATE being in the 75-85 win range total with no real shot of winning a Championship. I'd rather suck for a few years with hope we can eventually build it back up to be a legit contender.

And hopefully by that time COVID is gone and things economically are close to back to normal and then the Ricketts can't cry poor any longer and will spend to add on to what the team still needs.

They'll cry poor. It's who they are.

 

[ISUTex]

Hopefully, what is happening now is what was happening back in 2012,13,14. Go from, "Embrace the Suck" to "Try Not to Suck" with a rebuild.

 

[larrysarmy]

I tend to think this is a reset vs rebuild (ala 2011/2012). Whether we don’t agree because we have billionaire owners, it doesn’t matter. Signs point to ownership needs a bridge year, salary dump and flip guys at mid year and get younger. Though I think 2022 they will be players in FA and hopefully they extend Javy, Riz, Happ...maybe one of KB/WC, though they may be flipped or traded by opening day.