2014 Roster Discussion

[mul21]

Fujikawa won't be back until midseason and thats if he recovers correctly. After looking over the FA OFers, I'm not thinking DeJesus or Schierholtz is dealt. The only OFer I could see moving is Lake, if the Cubs see a "sell-high" opportunity out there.

 

If they sign one of the FA OF there's no way they keep both of them. I'd be surprised if they deal Lake, especially with budget uncertainty and the need to have some sort of production out there long term until Almora et al are ready.

 

Why wouldn't they want an outfield of DeJesus/Free Agent/Schierholtz with Lake as the 400 PA bench guy? That seems ideal to me.

 

Too left handed.

[davell]

Mooney's latest article acts like we won't have much money to spend, but we'll prioritize left handed hitting and pitching this offseason. If we're going bargain shopping and the big names are off the board, throw some money at Josh Johnson and hope he stays healthy.

[Cubswin11]

Mooney's latest article acts like we won't have much money to spend, but we'll prioritize left handed hitting and pitching this offseason. If we're going bargain shopping and the big names are off the board, throw some money at Josh Johnson and hope he stays healthy.

Does Mooney watch this team/know the roster? Rizzo/Valbuena/Dejesus/Scheirholtz/Sweeney. Nearly have of our position players/everyday starters are lefthanded.

[XZero771679666304]

Mooney's latest article acts like we won't have much money to spend, but we'll prioritize left handed hitting and pitching this offseason. If we're going bargain shopping and the big names are off the board, throw some money at Josh Johnson and hope he stays healthy.

Does Mooney watch this team/know the roster? Rizzo/Valbuena/Dejesus/Scheirholtz/Sweeney. Nearly have of our position players/everyday starters are lefthanded.

 

Seriously. But other than Ellsbury, Choo and possibly McCann, I don't see anyone I'd really want to sign. Well, unless Cano wants to sign for 6-7 years or less. The best offensive players on the market just happen to be left handed.

[davell]

I think its more of a big picture thing. Rizzo is the only longterm piece we have that's a lefty.

[SouthSideRyan]

I think its more of a big picture thing. Rizzo is the only longterm piece we have that's a lefty.

 

The only FAs worth having long-term are lefties.

[cl smooth]

what type of contract do we think shin-soo choo will get this off-season?

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

what type of contract do we think shin-soo choo will get this off-season?

 

I want to say something like 4/55. I'm not sure if he would get a B.J. Upton type deal considering his age.

[sneakypower]

i do wonder how much Granderson's price has gone down; he'd immediately step in and be our best power hitter, and might not be able to command a long term

[wastra]

I think Olt will be our 3B next year myself.

 

You guys are writing off Mark Bellhorn too early. Don't sleep on him.

[CubsWin]

Just dreaming but...

 

C - Castillo

1B - Rizzo

2B - Barney/Infante?/Kelly Johnson?

SS - Baez (mid-season addition, Castro traded in a deal for Price)

3B - Valbuena/Vitters/Olt

LF - Lake/Many others...

CF - Choo

RF - Schierholtz

 

SP - Price, Samardzija, Wood, Jackson, Arrieta/Villanueva/Grimm, (Maybe sign Halladay and try to get him healthy)

RP - Vizcaino, Strop, Russell, Crain (FA), Parker, Rusin, Cabrera?, Lim?

 

Bryant and possibly Alcantara (if he isn't included in the Price trade) would be in AAA.

 

That team could win some games. A man can dream...

[Backtobanks]

Just dreaming but...

 

C - Castillo

1B - Rizzo

2B - Barney/Infante?/Kelly Johnson?

SS - Baez (mid-season addition, Castro traded in a deal for Price)

3B - Valbuena/Vitters/Olt

LF - Lake/Many others...

CF - Choo

RF - Schierholtz

 

SP - Price, Samardzija, Wood, Jackson, Arrieta/Villanueva/Grimm, (Maybe sign Halladay and try to get him healthy)

RP - Vizcaino, Strop, Russell, Crain (FA), Parker, Rusin, Cabrera?, Lim?

 

Bryant and possibly Alcantara (if he isn't included in the Price trade) would be in AAA.

 

That team could win some games. A man can dream...

 

As long as you use the qualifier "some" , you're safe.

[CubsWin]

Now that Welington Castillo has established himself as one of the better defensive and offensive catchers in the majors, the core players list just got one louder. Unfortunately, this list is nowhere near going to 11 quite yet. Right now it stands at 5.

 

Castillo, Rizzo, Castro, Samardzija, Wood.

 

Who is on your core players list?

[Sammy Sofa]

Man, that's a depressing "core."

[SouthSideRyan]

-Due to Baez/Alcantara/Villanueva/Olt, I'd be surprised if we signed anyone beyond a 1 year deal on the IF.

-Due to Parker/Strop/Russell/Lim/assorted rotation leftovers (Arrieta/Rusin/Villanueva/Grimm)/assorted Iowa bus guys, I'd be surprised if we signed anyone beyond a bullpen flier.

-The rotation will likely have Samardzija, Wood, Jackson, and one of the 4 rotation guys mentioned above.

-I expect Schierholtz and Lake to fill 2 spots in the OF.

 

That leaves (other than bench roles) 1 OF and one SP.

 

If, as Mooney and Epstein have both alluded to, we won't be able to secure the top of the line players, what does that leave as best case scenario?

 

I fear anyone with a qualifying offer will be eliminated.

 

Does Lincecum get the QO? How about Granderson? If both do what does that leave us with? Josh Johnson and Hunter Pence?

 

Unless payroll is in fact dropping to the 80s, there's no excuse to enter 2014 without at least one of Tanaka, Ellsbury, or Choo.

[davell]

My guess is Pence gets the QO as well. My hope is Tanaka, anything else is gravy. He'll, re-sign Sweeney and get Chris Young as a platoon with him. This said, I think we'll lose out on Tanaka, but get one of Ellsbury or Choo. The system is strong enough to where losing a second rounder isn't going to kill us.

[sneakypower]

Sweeney's not the one who'll need a platoon partner

 

I fear anyone with a qualifying offer will be eliminated.

why? we'll likely have a protected pick

 

also, Lincecum gave the Giants replacement-level performance the last 2 years; i'd be pretty surprised to see him get QO'd

[SABR Gamer]

Sweeney's not the one who'll need a platoon partner

 

I fear anyone with a qualifying offer will be eliminated.

why? we'll likely have a protected pick

 

also, Lincecum gave the Giants replacement-level performance the last 2 years; i'd be pretty surprised to see him get QO'd

 

To be fair, that's really not true at all. He hasn't been very good, but he's still been worth 2.5 wins since the start of 2012. He's posted xFIPs of 3.82 and 3.53 the last two years, so there are reasons to believe he could bounce back.

 

However, I do agree that it would be surprising to see him get QO'd due to the recent perception of him.

[sneakypower]

Sweeney's not the one who'll need a platoon partner

 

I fear anyone with a qualifying offer will be eliminated.

why? we'll likely have a protected pick

 

also, Lincecum gave the Giants replacement-level performance the last 2 years; i'd be pretty surprised to see him get QO'd

 

To be fair, that's really not true at all. He hasn't been very good, but he's still been worth 2.5 wins since the start of 2012. He's posted xFIPs of 3.82 and 3.53 the last two years, so there are reasons to believe he could bounce back.

 

However, I do agree that it would be surprising to see him get QO'd due to the recent perception of him.

i don't really want to sidetrack the thread, but i'll just say i don't fully subscribe to the theory that every pitcher should expect to be hit equally hard; over the same timeframe, MadBum & Cain have had low BABIPs (.264, .260) working with the same defense while he's been over .300

 

i was referring to his RA9-WAR when calling his performance replacement-level

[SouthSideRyan]

My guess is Pence gets the QO as well. My hope is Tanaka, anything else is gravy. He'll, re-sign Sweeney and get Chris Young as a platoon with him. This said, I think we'll lose out on Tanaka, but get one of Ellsbury or Choo. The system is strong enough to where losing a second rounder isn't going to kill us.

 

I think if we actually pursued Ellsbury/Choo we wouldn't sweat losing the 2nd rounder, but I don't like all the smoke surrounding the payroll issues.

 

As far as losing the 2nd rounder (not to mention the 1M+ in draft budget that comes with it thanks to this [expletive] miserable CBA) for a bounce back candidate on a 1-2 year deal? Can't see it happening.

[davell]

Oh, I agree with that. If we give up our 2nd, it 'll be for Ellsbury, Choo, or Cano.

[SABR Gamer]

Sweeney's not the one who'll need a platoon partner

 

I fear anyone with a qualifying offer will be eliminated.

why? we'll likely have a protected pick

 

also, Lincecum gave the Giants replacement-level performance the last 2 years; i'd be pretty surprised to see him get QO'd

 

To be fair, that's really not true at all. He hasn't been very good, but he's still been worth 2.5 wins since the start of 2012. He's posted xFIPs of 3.82 and 3.53 the last two years, so there are reasons to believe he could bounce back.

 

However, I do agree that it would be surprising to see him get QO'd due to the recent perception of him.

i don't really want to sidetrack the thread, but i'll just say i don't fully subscribe to the theory that every pitcher should expect to be hit equally hard; over the same timeframe, MadBum & Cain have had low BABIPs (.264, .260) working with the same defense while he's been over .300

 

i was referring to his RA9-WAR when calling his performance replacement-level

 

That's fair, and an especially good point with the BABIP comparison, even more so given the steady decline in his velocity in recent years, leading to a huge increase in his LD%.

 

I do think Tim is pretty broken at this point and will never return to his previous glory, but I was just saying I don't think he's completely hopeless, or nearly as bad as his ERA has shown the last 2 years, given that he's still striking people out and xFIP (despite it's flaws) still seems to be a fan of his. As I type this though, I realize that his HR/FB rates should be higher now than they used to, because of the velocity, and explains why xFIP has been easier on him.

 

Anyway, this is a mess of a post and you are basically right after further review.

[neely crenshaw]

I think its more of a big picture thing. Rizzo is the only longterm piece we have that's a lefty.

 

Are you sure he's long term?

After the play of our top prospects this season (Rizzo, Samardzija and Castro) I would say that no one is a lock to be here long term. Their saving grace may be that they have played bad enough that we could not get anything close to value we hope they achieve.

It seems that the only guys that seem to be locks to here in over the next 3-4 years are Baez and Soler.

[Guest]

I think its more of a big picture thing. Rizzo is the only longterm piece we have that's a lefty.

 

Are you sure he's long term?

After the play of our top prospects this season (Rizzo, Samardzija and Castro) I would say that no one is a lock to be here long term. Their saving grace may be that they have played bad enough that we could not get anything close to value we hope they achieve.

It seems that the only guys that seem to be locks to here in over the next 3-4 years are Baez and Soler.

 

lol you think baez and soler are bigger locks than rizzo, samardzija, and castro, eh?

[neely crenshaw]

Only because they seem untouchable during the development process. The are certainly our brightest spots in the organization.

 

Right now do you think you could get more for Rizzo or Baez? There aren't many teams out there who don't feel they have a better option at first base right now

How about Castro?