Yooooooooooooennis Cespedes: To Oakland pg 44

[Little Slide Rooter]

 

Dead serious. Spending a ton of money on the best guy out there is not wise. On the other hand, when it comes to a true elite hitter like Pujols or Fielder it's a completely different story. Cespedes doesn't fall anywhere near the Fielder/Pujols catagory. I'd be interested in him but not if you're going to pay him like an elite hitter.

 

Umm, what?

 

Cespedes is looking for something similar to Aroldis Chapman's 6/$30 deal, maybe pushing up to $40.

 

I thought Chapman was making more and that Cespedes was looking for more. At age 26 For 5-6.5 mil a year, I'd definitely take a chance without question.

[Guest]

 

Dead serious. Spending a ton of money on the best guy out there is not wise. On the other hand, when it comes to a true elite hitter like Pujols or Fielder it's a completely different story. Cespedes doesn't fall anywhere near the Fielder/Pujols catagory. I'd be interested in him but not if you're going to pay him like an elite hitter.

 

 

What TT already said for me.

[UMFan83]

Are both of you guys serious?

Dead serious.

 

JockJones wasn't.

 

Dammit. I knew I read a quote almost exactly like that recently and part of me thought it was a reference to it, but I bit anyways.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Are both of you guys serious?

Dead serious.

 

JockJones wasn't.

 

Dammit. I knew I read a quote almost exactly like that recently and part of me thought it was a reference to it, but I bit anyways.

 

As did I. You really can't always tell without the green.

[CUBZ99]

What is the strongest Cubs rumor thus far at the GM meetings? Anything surprising?

Bruce Levine

(1:15 PM)

 

 

That they will be moving very strongly into the international market, going after Darvish and Cespedes.

 

Sounds good.

[JockJones]

Are both of you guys serious?

Dead serious.

 

JockJones wasn't.

 

Dammit. I knew I read a quote almost exactly like that recently and part of me thought it was a reference to it, but I bit anyways.

 

As did I. You really can't always tell without the green.

 

Edited it for you guys. I actually would be quite happy with a Pujols signing.

[tfarks]

What is the strongest Cubs rumor thus far at the GM meetings? Anything surprising?

Bruce Levine

(1:15 PM)

 

 

That they will be moving very strongly into the international market, going after Darvish and Cespedes.

 

Sounds good.

 

Yeah. That's intriguing and I'm certainly happy to hear it. Though I haven't paid much attention to how much Darvish will cost.

 

Nothing can preclude getting Fielder or Pujols though.

[jersey cubs fan]

Edited it for you guys. I actually would be quite happy with a Pujols signing.

 

I actually think the hysterical thing is there are people who will be unhappy with that. Not just less enthusiastic than most, but genuinely disappointed.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

What is the strongest Cubs rumor thus far at the GM meetings? Anything surprising?

Bruce Levine

(1:15 PM)

 

 

That they will be moving very strongly into the international market, going after Darvish and Cespedes.

 

Sounds good.

 

Yeah. That's intriguing and I'm certainly happy to hear it. Though I haven't paid much attention to how much Darvish will cost.

 

Nothing can preclude getting Fielder or Pujols though.

 

I really don't see how they can afford Darvis, Cespedes and still have room for both Pujielder and another SPer or three.

[Little Slide Rooter]

What is the strongest Cubs rumor thus far at the GM meetings? Anything surprising?

Bruce Levine

(1:15 PM)

 

 

That they will be moving very strongly into the international market, going after Darvish and Cespedes.

 

Sounds good.

 

Yeah. That's intriguing and I'm certainly happy to hear it. Though I haven't paid much attention to how much Darvish will cost.

 

Nothing can preclude getting Fielder or Pujols though.

 

Darvish, Cespedes, and Pujols or Fielder would make for a very happy offseason.

[Guest]

What is the strongest Cubs rumor thus far at the GM meetings? Anything surprising?

Bruce Levine

(1:15 PM)

 

 

That they will be moving very strongly into the international market, going after Darvish and Cespedes.

 

Sounds good.

 

Yeah. That's intriguing and I'm certainly happy to hear it. Though I haven't paid much attention to how much Darvish will cost.

 

Nothing can preclude getting Fielder or Pujols though.

 

I really don't see how they can afford Darvis, Cespedes and still have room for both Pujielder and another SPer or three.

They really don't need another sp if they get darvish/Wilson and make up with z.

[davell]

Without having any clue as to what the budget is going to be, if it's the same as last year, there's basically enough cash to make one big splash. Would you rather have Fielder/Pujols or the pair of Cespedes/Darvish? Let's assume Darvish becomes a solid 2 starter and Cespedes becomes a borderline All Star OFer. Same money outlay.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I'm wondering if Hoystein just sees foreign players as places where they can gain competitive advantage over the market. The unknown quantity of no easily-translatable statistics makes it an area where teams will have different valuations on guys.

[Guest]

What is the strongest Cubs rumor thus far at the GM meetings? Anything surprising?

Bruce Levine

(1:15 PM)

 

 

That they will be moving very strongly into the international market, going after Darvish and Cespedes.

 

Sounds good.

 

Yeah. That's intriguing and I'm certainly happy to hear it. Though I haven't paid much attention to how much Darvish will cost.

 

Nothing can preclude getting Fielder or Pujols though.

 

I really don't see how they can afford Darvis, Cespedes and still have room for both Pujielder and another SPer or three.

 

Garza, Darvish, Dempster, Zambrano, XX

 

Why would you need any more?

[JockJones]

I actually think the hysterical thing is there are people who will be unhappy with that. Not just less enthusiastic than most, but genuinely disappointed.

 

One of my Cubs fans friends:

Him: If the Cubs sign Pujols, I don't think I can be a Cubs fan anymore.

Me: Why? That would be their best free agent signing in like forever.

Him: He's the enemy! He played for the Cardinals! I hate him!!!!!

Me: You're an idiot and you don't want the team that you root for to get better, for idiotic reasons.

 

I hate that guy.

[SABR Gamer]

What is the strongest Cubs rumor thus far at the GM meetings? Anything surprising?

Bruce Levine

(1:15 PM)

 

 

That they will be moving very strongly into the international market, going after Darvish and Cespedes.

 

Sounds good.

 

Yeah. That's intriguing and I'm certainly happy to hear it. Though I haven't paid much attention to how much Darvish will cost.

 

Nothing can preclude getting Fielder or Pujols though.

 

I really don't see how they can afford Darvis, Cespedes and still have room for both Pujielder and another SPer or three.

 

 

6-7 mil/y for Cespedes, 9-10 mil/y for Darvish. 25 mil/year for Pujols/Fielder. Thats 40-42 mil/year, I am not sure if that fits within our budget, but if the reports of the increased budget are true then it should fit. But I would do those 3, call it an off season (in terms of big moves), and then hope luck goes our way this year. That gives you some chance to compete this year and a good foundation for the future with Castro, Cespedes, Garza, Fielder/Pujols, Darvish as a solid core, with guys like Jackson and McNutt potentially adding to that core. Then you have Z/Demp off the books next year, opening up cash to add a #1 pitcher and another solid starter.

 

C Soto/Castillo

1B Pujols/Fielder

2B Darwin Barney

3B

SS Starlin Castro

LF

CF Brett Jackson

RF Yeonnis Cespedes

 

SP

SP Matt Garza

SP Yu Darvish

SP

SP Trey McNutt

 

Cashner, Marmol, Marshall, Samardzija, Russell as the key members of the pen.

 

Beginning next off season we would look like this with a lot of money to spend, and even more if someone will eat part of Soriano's contract.

[MWV]

Without having any clue as to what the budget is going to be, if it's the same as last year, there's basically enough cash to make one big splash. Would you rather have Fielder/Pujols or the pair of Cespedes/Darvish? Let's assume Darvish becomes a solid 2 starter and Cespedes becomes a borderline All Star OFer. Same money outlay.

 

I can't believe that Cespedes or Darvish combined will command the kind of years/dollars that Pujols/Fielder will. Cespedes is reportedly seeking a deal similar to Aroldis Chapman's 6 year $30 million deal. If Darvish gets a Matsuzaka-like deal (spitballing here), that would be 6 years and $52 million (plus posting fee). Pujols reportedly turned down a 9 year $210 million dollar deal. While Pujols is obviously the better player, the combined estimated cost of 6 years of Darvish/Cespedes (assuming Darvish costs a $50 million posting fee, which I doubt) versus the cost of Pujols (assuming Pujols takes the above referenced offer, which I also doubt) is:

 

Year 1 relative D/C costs +$38 million (mostly posting fee)

Year 2-6 relative D/C costs -$9.6 million

Year 7-9 relative D/C costs -$23.3 million

 

Overall, considering 3 fewer years of commitment (to a player likely in decline) plus the difference in yearly salary spread over two younger, easier to move (if necessary) players, I think committing the money to Darvish and Cespedes gives the team a lot more flexibility, albeit far less surefire talent.

[davell]

With the posting fee having to be paid up front, I've always wondered how a team equates it into payroll. If Darvish gets a 6 year deal and the posting fee is 36 mill, would a team count the posting fee as 6 mill per, each of the 6 years of the contract? I think that's plausible anyway.

[MWV]

Yeah, that becomes an accounting issue. Fair point.

[dew1679666265]

With the posting fee having to be paid up front, I've always wondered how a team equates it into payroll. If Darvish gets a 6 year deal and the posting fee is 36 mill, would a team count the posting fee as 6 mill per, each of the 6 years of the contract? I think that's plausible anyway.

 

My biggest concern about going with Darvish is how the posting fee will affect pursuing Pujols/Fielder. We should have enough money under the budget to get, for instance, Pujols and Wilson (though it'd be tight). If you substitute Darvish for Wilson, you have to add whatever the posting fee is up front - meaning Ricketts will have to dole out something like $30-50 million extra this offseason just to negotiate with Darvish, an amount he wouldn't with Wilson.

 

Would Ricketts commit $25-28 million for Pujols this year, $10+ million for Darvish this year, and pay a $40 million posting fee? Ricketts is awesome, but that's a whole lot of money to be paying this year. I wouldn't want Darvish if it cost us Pujols/Prince.

[sneakypower]

 

Garza, Darvish, Dempster, Zambrano, XX

 

Why would you need any more?

did Randy Wells die?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

 

Garza, Darvish, Dempster, Zambrano, XX

 

Why would you need any more?

did Randy Wells die?

 

His arm kinda did.

[Guest]

 

Garza, Darvish, Dempster, Zambrano, XX

 

Why would you need any more?

did Randy Wells die?

He got recast as a skateboarding secret agent.

 

Or was that XXX?

[sneakypower]

 

Garza, Darvish, Dempster, Zambrano, XX

 

Why would you need any more?

did Randy Wells die?

 

His arm kinda did.

his arm looked fine in august

[davell]

If Randy Wells is on our roster by spring training, I think he winds up as our long guy/spot starter.