2022-23 Offseason Thread (Cubs)

[Tim]

Leiter Jr. cleared waivers and was outrighted, so he stays in the organization.

Actually, he still has the option to refuse to accept the outright assignment and declare free agency.

Based on the framing from the tweets I maybe mistakenly assumed that step had taken place, but yeah. Considering he was available to teams at bare minimum terms I have to imagine odds are against him refusing the assignment.

Higgins did just a week or so ago.

But I imagine they'll offer Leiter some sweeteners to take the assignment.

[CubinNY]

Cubs DFA Anthony Kay (who?) after making it official with Mancini.

[jumbo]

Cubs DFA Anthony Kay (who?) after making it official with Mancini.

Not sure hot to post a tweet, but he tweeted something like “it’s been real, Cubs” after his one month with the org
I liked it

[apete6]

For some reason, the Cubs are having a Noon CST press conference to introduce Trey Mancini. It will be broadcast on Marquee.

Better than infomercials, I guess.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Leiter Jr. cleared waivers and was outrighted, so he stays in the organization.

Actually, he still has the option to refuse to accept the outright assignment and declare free agency.

Based on the framing from the tweets I maybe mistakenly assumed that step had taken place, but yeah. Considering he was available to teams at bare minimum terms I have to imagine odds are against him refusing the assignment.

Serves me right for assuming

[CubinNY]

Not really a transaction although I suppose a 60-day IL will be happening for Kyle Hendricks.

[Cubswin11]

That sucks to lose Leiter. He’s a useful MLB pitcher to some capacity. Hope he lands somewhere to get a chance.

[TomtheBombadil]

Cubs added Jordan Holloway on a MiLB deal…27 in 2023, Averaged 95, changeup had positive run Value, threw his slider an insane 63% of the time last year…Spent his whole pro career (drafted 2014), lots of GBs and pop ups in the minors it seems

[UMFan83]

He’s a useful MLB pitcher to some capacity.

Hope this is what his agent leads with when calling teams.

[CubinNY]

Manny Rodriguez and the other dude, Kay? who got DFA cleared waivers. I’m not sure if they are free to become FA, but would assume so. Have no clue if they will.

[Tim]

Manny Rodriguez and the other dude, Kay? who got DFA cleared waivers. I’m not sure if they are free to become FA, but would assume so. Have no clue if they will.

It is their first time being outrighted, so they didn't have a choice for free agency. They have been assigned to Iowa and will be at spring training.

[TomtheBombadil]

One segment of the market that’s been strangely quiet, however, is left-handed relief. Andrew Chafin, Matt Moore and Zack Britton are some of the noteworthy southpaws still unattached, but Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Rangers, Angels, Astros, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs and Mets are interested in their services.

I like Chafin most years but really only have interest in the other two for the velo

[Post Count Padder]

We signed Luis Torrens to be catcher depth in Iowa. Backup catcher for the Mariners last few years. Bat first catcher that has not always hit well in majors (but has in minors).

[Bertz]

Matt Barnes seems like a very natural addition for Jed to make once the Sox cut him and put themselves on the hook for his salary.

[Post Count Padder]

Matt Barnes seems like a very natural addition for Jed to make once the Sox cut him and put themselves on the hook for his salary.

Agree. And I still feel like there's some kinda Madrigal for AJ Puk trade to be made. Maybe it's wishful thinking. But that would pretty much set us up well.

[TomtheBombadil]

Matt Barnes seems like a very natural addition for Jed to make once the Sox cut him and put themselves on the hook for his salary.

Agree. And I still feel like there's some kinda Madrigal for AJ Puk trade to be made. Maybe it's wishful thinking. But that would pretty much set us up well.

Yeah, agreed on both...I'm fingers crossed for Puk too since the Lopez trade

[jersey cubs fan]

https://theathletic.com/realtime/jq7qZG ... rief_share

Cubs add NRI Tyler Duffey

[TomtheBombadil]

Meaty national interview:

- Hoyer expects the farm to out out players over the next few years, called 2023 the beginning of a run. Something about payroll efficiency and filling holes to chase big names was in there but not explicitly

- Defended the Yankees trading prospects fielding a roster with players like Judge, Cole, Rizzo, etc. Lots of talk about winning and championships being the job yada yada

- Big lesson learned post-2016 was to be willing to change the roster after winning. I don't think they would single a player out but did single out CF as a longtime hole ahem

- Sherman or Heyman, can't tell, really banged the Swanson drum and insisted he had the best season of the SSs in 2022. Nice to hear it from national media, didn't take long? Hoyer talked about Swanson's periphs moving in the right direction, how 2022 isn't necessarily going to be his best season

- First thing Hoyer mentions is the money they had to spend was spread too thin with all the holes on the roster. Talked about how top teams were able to go after the most obvious top FAs because of their depth

- Talked about the game trending more athletic as a factor in moving Hoerner to 2B, where he'll be a favorite for the GG.

- He was really enthusiastic about Alcantara when asked about the two trade guys (PCA and Alcantara). Called CF the toughest spot to fill defensively around the league and sees both as impact defenders. He mentioned the shoulder injury was part of what Crow-Armstrong available during 2021

- Seemed optimistic about Suzuki, fast with a good arm, bouncing back defensively closer to where he was in Japan (a 5x GG winner)

- Stuff about pitching playing up with a good defense

[mul21]

[UMFan83]

https://twitter.com/mlbtraderumors/status/1621226471447580672?s=20&t=ENd5nk8AqDL9ZqI4X59cbw

Assuming he assessed his options, realized he wasn't getting a MLB deal and came crawling back to the Cubs?

[Bertz]

Knowing that another lefty of some substance is still on the way, I'm really quite pleased with the pen.

- You have two high leverage long relievers in Thompson and Alzolay
- You have two monster stuff guys in Merryweather and Estrada. And they're not just spray and pray types, the projections like them too
- Five of eight guys in the projected OD pen have options, pending how much the TBD lefty makes the other three have easily dumpable salaries if they struggle
- Down at Iowa you have Leiter, who was great in relief last year and whose splitter/change-up makes him death on lefties, another monster stuff guy (Jensen), two more guys who can throw triple digits (Sanders, Correa), and a couple of more run of the mill relief prospects (Little, Leeper)
- There are several more high octane arms at Tenn who could function as a second wave of reinforcements

It's an absolutely Rays-like cache of arms. I don't like that there's not a guy we'll feel great about closing games on day one, but this is a part of the team that's very easy to see ending up dominant.

[Cubswin11]

Knowing that another lefty of some substance is still on the way, I'm really quite pleased with the pen.

- You have two high leverage long relievers in Thompson and Alzolay
- You have two monster stuff guys in Merryweather and Estrada. And they're not just spray and pray types, the projections like them too
- Five of eight guys in the projected OD pen have options, pending how much the TBD lefty makes the other three have easily dumpable salaries if they struggle
- Down at Iowa you have Leiter, who was great in relief last year and whose splitter/change-up makes him death on lefties, another monster stuff guy (Jensen), two more guys who can throw triple digits (Sanders, Correa), and a couple of more run of the mill relief prospects (Little, Leeper)
- There are several more high octane arms at Tenn who could function as a second wave of reinforcements

It's an absolutely Rays-like cache of arms. I don't like that there's not a guy we'll feel great about closing games on day one, but this is a part of the team that's very easy to see ending up dominant.

Yeah the pen is going to be a strength, likely the second best strength behind the defense. It may take until May/June to figure out all the moving parts but the parts are there. I hope we add Smith, Britton or Nelson as our last pen add once we can 60-day guys. As of today I’d guess Wick is the “closer.”

[TomtheBombadil]

Correa, Sanders, Windham, and Weber are some pixie dust candidates. Windham’s got one of the most interesting Profiles as a high contact LHH catcher with experience all over the field and patience…Peraza too with some positionless power

Edit: Ooops, didn’t see the chit chat thread

[Cubswin11]

Like it, hopefully it means Madrigal trade is coming to make room on the 40-man.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Very nice, Fulmer has been very effective since he became a full-time reliever. A little risk that whatever was going on in Comerica last year shielded him a bit, but a very nice addition nonetheless to add to the late inning short relief group.