Jonah Keri - Five Tips To Get The Cubs On Track

[davearm2]

I hope the Cubs are going to have a lot of great young talent on the bigleague roster in 6-7 years. It would be a shame if they were limited in what they could spend on a Mike Trout or a Bryce Harper (or some other organization's Starlin Castro for that matter) because they still owe a formerly-impactful Albert Pujols $100M.

 

If the Cubs are struggling to have two high priced, non-home grown players on their roster in 2018, then either Theo/Hoyer/McLeod have done a really poor job on the farm system and/or Ricketts has reigned in spending to a huge degree.

 

This is a team with a very big payroll, the means by which to expand it, and the owner willing to pour money into the product on the field. If the three-headed monster heading up the Cubs builds the type of farm system we all expect them to, then we'll have a steady stream of cheap, productive players hitting Chicago each year. If that's the case, and payroll keeps rising as it should, then the Cubs shouldn't be hard pressed to sign a major impact player if they feel one is worth the cost.

 

The Phillies have two players making $20 million, one making $15 million, and one making $10 million and still were able to find the budget room to fit in Cliff Lee at $24 million AAV. That's $65 million tied up in 4 players (without counting Lee) and two of those players are Ryan Howard making $20 million per and Joe Blanton making $10 million per. Overpaying one player isn't going to cripple this franchise if it's built well, and there's no reason to believe Theo and co won't build it well.

 

Anyway, the point is that ideally, you want your big-dollar free agent's prime years to overlap with your homegrown guys' cheap MLB years. Right now the Cubs don't have that volume of cheap homegrown guys that are producing at a high level in the bigleagues... Castro is basically it. Thus, however many prime years Pujols/Fielder have left would not be leveraged well here.

 

I understand that point, but it's an idealistic scenario that isn't likely to happen. There's never a perfect scenario to overpay for a player. There's always some reason why you shouldn't sign a guy. If you have the means to pay a player without crippling yourself, you have a major need at a position, and you have two elite players on the free agent market, you're not going to find a more perfect scenario.

You say you understand the point, but then finish by saying "you're not going to find a more perfect scenario".

 

A more perfect scenario is if you already have a very good team (comprised of several young/cheap homegrown stars, ideally) and are one impact player away from being incredible. The Phillies adding Cliff Lee to an already outstanding core is a great example of this.

 

I trust nobody would argue the Cubs are currently in this mode.

[dew1679666265]

You say you understand the point, but then finish by saying "you're not going to find a more perfect scenario".

 

A more perfect scenario is if you already have a very good team (comprised of several young/cheap homegrown stars, ideally) and are one impact player away from being incredible. The Phillies adding Cliff Lee to an already outstanding core is a great example of this.

 

I trust nobody would argue the Cubs are currently in this mode.

 

Now we're parsing words. The Cubs are not mired in a huge quagmire without the ability to pull themselves out. They are not looking at the prospects of a 5-8 year rebuilding process before they can even hope to compete for a playoff spot. They are a huge market team with a lot of money coming off the books over the next couple of years, only one long term contract on the books (and it ends 3 years from now), an owner committed to spending what's necessary to build a winner, and a front office eager and capable of building up a top of the line farm system. Just because this isn't the ideal scenario in which to sign an elite star, it's still an excellent fit.

 

We can rebuild this team into a playoff contender by 2013 easily and maybe by next year without crippling the future of the franchise. We can win as soon as next year and Albert Pujols (or Prince Fielder) would be an integral part of that process. Just because there might be a better time 6-7 years from now doesn't mean you pass up an excellent opportunity to make a massive upgrade to your roster now. Just because we may miss the playoffs next season is no reason to pass this opportunity by when the player we're signing can help us significantly for the next 4-5 years at least.

[SchruteFarms]

It would be nice if some of these kids like Barney, Castro, Jackson, Cashner, etc. are legitimate MLB talents who can be penciled in for the next 5 years while Theo and Co do their thing.

[Guest]

It would be nice if some of these kids like Barney, Castro, Jackson, Cashner, etc. are legitimate MLB talents who can be penciled in for the next 5 years while Theo and Co do their thing.

I'm not sure I understand your point. All of those players are legitimate MLB talents with the possible exception of Jackson, who simply has not yet had the chance to prove he belongs. Are you suggesting that we've yet to find out if Castro is legit mlb talent? Or are you saying that we've yet to see if any of the other kids down on the farm are legit?

[Brett]

It would be nice if some of these kids like Barney, Castro, Jackson, Cashner, etc. are legitimate MLB talents who can be penciled in for the next 5 years while Theo and Co do their thing.

I'm not sure I understand your point. All of those players are legitimate MLB talents with the possible exception of Jackson, who simply has not yet had the chance to prove he belongs. Are you suggesting that we've yet to find out if Castro is legit mlb talent? Or are you saying that we've yet to see if any of the other kids down on the farm are legit?

 

As a semi-aside, I can't be the only one who wishes Barney's name would stop coming up in the same breath as Castro, Jackson, Cashner, etc. Barney could be a very nice 24th/25th man, but his upside (heck, his current-side) is nowhere near Castro/Jackson/Cashner.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

As a semi-aside, I can't be the only one who wishes Barney's name would stop coming up in the same breath as Castro, Jackson, Cashner, etc. Barney could be a very nice 24th/25th man, but his upside (heck, his current-side) is nowhere near Castro/Jackson/Cashner.

 

I think that's underselling him a bit. I think he's a legitimate MLB starter at 2b, albeit not a great one.

 

Barney to Jackson is a smaller gap than Jackson to Castro, imo.

[MSG T]

As a semi-aside, I can't be the only one who wishes Barney's name would stop coming up in the same breath as Castro, Jackson, Cashner, etc. Barney could be a very nice 24th/25th man, but his upside (heck, his current-side) is nowhere near Castro/Jackson/Cashner.

 

I think that's underselling him a bit. I think he's a legitimate MLB starter at 2b, albeit not a great one.

 

Barney to Jackson is a smaller gap than Jackson to Castro, imo.

 

 

I put Barney in the same class as Theriot, he's acceptable while he's still cheap, but if you can find a cost-effective replacement that provides an upgrade or you can find a substantial upgrade, you do it. Barney's value is directly related to his cost. And even at that, I'm not completely convinced he's their best option at 2B next season, even just looking at the current roster and system.

[Guest]

It would be nice if some of these kids like Barney, Castro, Jackson, Cashner, etc. are legitimate MLB talents who can be penciled in for the next 5 years while Theo and Co do their thing.

I'm not sure I understand your point. All of those players are legitimate MLB talents with the possible exception of Jackson, who simply has not yet had the chance to prove he belongs. Are you suggesting that we've yet to find out if Castro is legit mlb talent? Or are you saying that we've yet to see if any of the other kids down on the farm are legit?

 

As a semi-aside, I can't be the only one who wishes Barney's name would stop coming up in the same breath as Castro, Jackson, Cashner, etc. Barney could be a very nice 24th/25th man, but his upside (heck, his current-side) is nowhere near Castro/Jackson/Cashner.

Barney is nowhere near Castro in value. Barney's value is that he is a very good defender and doesn't kill you at the plate. If he'd learn to work the count it would be a bonus, though. I think you're selling him a bit short on his value, but I'm also hoping he gets supplanted at the position by one of many up the middle prospects soon.

[Brett]

It would be nice if some of these kids like Barney, Castro, Jackson, Cashner, etc. are legitimate MLB talents who can be penciled in for the next 5 years while Theo and Co do their thing.

I'm not sure I understand your point. All of those players are legitimate MLB talents with the possible exception of Jackson, who simply has not yet had the chance to prove he belongs. Are you suggesting that we've yet to find out if Castro is legit mlb talent? Or are you saying that we've yet to see if any of the other kids down on the farm are legit?

 

As a semi-aside, I can't be the only one who wishes Barney's name would stop coming up in the same breath as Castro, Jackson, Cashner, etc. Barney could be a very nice 24th/25th man, but his upside (heck, his current-side) is nowhere near Castro/Jackson/Cashner.

Barney is nowhere near Castro in value. Barney's value is that he is a very good defender and doesn't kill you at the plate. If he'd learn to work the count it would be a bonus, though. I think you're selling him a bit short on his value, but I'm also hoping he gets supplanted at the position by one of many up the middle prospects soon.

 

I like him on the team, I like that he doesn't make any money, and, if the savings in green are spent elsewhere on the team, I can understand his value, even as a starter.

 

But that said, after April, Barney was the worst hitting, full-time 2B starter in the NL (I believe second worst in MLB, though I'd have to go back and check), and was near the bottom of the league defensively (which, I know, is subject to debate). Maybe it was converting from SS to 2B, and maybe some of it was the knee injury. But, other than a couple of nice plays, I was not impressed with his range or decision-making. And, obviously, he was brutal at the dish.