Yankees Sign Masahiro Tanaka

[Tracer Bullet]

I'd "take it" too.

 

But no matter how you slice it, we're probably missing the playoffs the next two years, and even in the third year we're facing other teams with as much young talent as we have.

 

With Tanaka, that might not have been the case.

 

Tanaka wasn't making the 2014 Cubs a playoff team. And who knows what the team will look like heading into 2015. Too many possible FAs, trades, etc to write that off today. Not that it will stop you.

 

I'll go out on a limb and say there will not be as attractive a starting pitcher available for nothing but money in the next 2 offseasons

 

There's not a single name on this list that you'd like to sign as a FA that you think will actually make it to FA next year? And even if that's true, it's good that the Cubs are still allowed to trade.

 

Brett Anderson (27) - $12MM club option with a $1.5MM buyout

Homer Bailey (29)

Josh Beckett (35)

Chad Billingsley (30) - $14MM club option with a $3MM buyout

Joe Blanton (34) - $8MM club option with a $1MM buyout

Wei-Yin Chen (29) - $4.75MM club option with a $372K buyout

Kevin Correia (34)

Johnny Cueto (29) - $10MM club option with an $800K buyout

Jorge De La Rosa (34)

Ryan Dempster (38)

Gavin Floyd (32)

Yovani Gallardo (29) - $13MM club option with a $600K buyout

J.A. Happ (32) - $6.7MM club option

Dan Haren (34) - $10MM player option if 180 innings reached in 2014

Roberto Hernandez (34)

Luke Hochevar (31)

Hisashi Iwakuma (34) - $7MM club option with a $1MM buyout

Josh Johnson (31)

Kyle Kendrick (30)

Jon Lester (31)

Colby Lewis (35)

Justin Masterson (30)

Brandon McCarthy (31)

Brandon Morrow (30) - $10MM club option with a $1MM buyout

Jeff Niemann (32)

Ross Ohlendorf (32)

Felipe Paulino (31) - $4MM club option with a $250K buyout

Jake Peavy (34)

Wandy Rodriguez (36)

Max Scherzer (30)

James Shields (33)

Carlos Villanueva (31)

Ryan Vogelsong (37)

Edinson Volquez (30)

 

None of these guys are as attractive a target as Tanaka was. And there were several free agents I was interested in this offseason too. I also hear trades were allowed but I'll have to check to make sure

 

oh jesus.

[jersey cubs fan]

I'll go out on a limb and say there will not be as attractive a starting pitcher available for nothing but money in the next 2 offseasons

 

There's not a single name on this list that you'd like to sign as a FA that you think will actually make it to FA next year? And even if that's true, it's good that the Cubs are still allowed to trade.

 

He very clearly said "as attractive".

[davell]

I'm the one that started the "lets look at 2015" stuff, but you know what? It's kind of impossible for us to do that, with any real feel right now. It's cliche, it sucks, and its even [expletive], but 2014 is literally ALL about player development.

 

Will any of Lake, Sweeney, Ruggiano, Olt, Arrieta, Hendricks, Vizcaino, or Rusin turn themselves into something we can count on heading into 2015.

 

Will Castro, Rizzo, and Castillo, even Shark, take steps forward, to where any of them look like more than we think they are? Will Travis Wood have another very solid season, showing himself to be more than what we think he likely is right now?

 

How many of Javy, KB, Alcantara, Villanueva, Szczur, Rivero, or anyone else are going to show enough that we can just pencil them in a spot on the team heading into spring training 2015, plus how good are some of them likely to be?

 

It's too volatile right now. We may look at this in August and know what we've got, but there are too many ifs right now. Some of which will stay as ifs, some of which will turn into no's, and some of which are full on yes.

 

While it may be simplistic to say we look like a low 70's win team in 2014, there are too many guys we just don't know what to expect from, to make it easy to figure what positions we'll even be targeting in 2015.

 

Either way though, with THIS many interesting cases in player development, even with the worst offseason ever, this team will be extremely interesting to watch and evolve on an individual player standpoint.

[Guancous]

3B and the OF look a lot better if Olt, Valbuena or Villanueva can be league average by 2015.

[SouthSideRyan]

There's not a single name on this list that you'd like to sign as a FA that you think will actually make it to FA next year? And even if that's true, it's good that the Cubs are still allowed to trade.

 

 

Brett Anderson (27) - $12MM club option with a $1.5MM buyout

Homer Bailey (29)

Josh Beckett (35)

Chad Billingsley (30) - $14MM club option with a $3MM buyout

Joe Blanton (34) - $8MM club option with a $1MM buyout

Wei-Yin Chen (29) - $4.75MM club option with a $372K buyout

Kevin Correia (34)

Johnny Cueto (29) - $10MM club option with an $800K buyout

Jorge De La Rosa (34)

Ryan Dempster (38)

Gavin Floyd (32)

Yovani Gallardo (29) - $13MM club option with a $600K buyout

J.A. Happ (32) - $6.7MM club option

Dan Haren (34) - $10MM player option if 180 innings reached in 2014

Roberto Hernandez (34)

Luke Hochevar (31)

Hisashi Iwakuma (34) - $7MM club option with a $1MM buyout

Josh Johnson (31)

Kyle Kendrick (30)

Jon Lester (31)

Colby Lewis (35)

Justin Masterson (30)

Brandon McCarthy (31)

Brandon Morrow (30) - $10MM club option with a $1MM buyout

Jeff Niemann (32)

Ross Ohlendorf (32)

Felipe Paulino (31) - $4MM club option with a $250K buyout

Jake Peavy (34)

Wandy Rodriguez (36)

Max Scherzer (30)

James Shields (33)

Carlos Villanueva (31)

Ryan Vogelsong (37)

Edinson Volquez (30)

sign all of Brett Anderson, Brandon Morrow and Josh Johnson at reasonably reduced rates and you'll come upon a TOR arm (or two!) somehow or another

 

Wasn't this your plan for this offseason only replace morrow with Hughes or something?

[Guest]

3B and the OF look a lot better if Olt, Valbuena or Villanueva can be league average by 2015.

 

You can do the same with Alcantara becoming a decent player, pushing Javy to 3B and Bryant to the OF.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

No, that's a ridiculous simplification and it doesn't take a great deal of critical thinking to read my post fairly. Nonetheless, I'll help spell it out. My post was, we're 2 months from the start of 2014 and we're not one SP away from making the playoffs. There isn't an indication that the team is making a number of others moves this offseason. But we're 14 months from the start of the 2015 season, so it's too far away to call that season a bust.

 

That's rather arbitrary.

[Tracer Bullet]

I'll go out on a limb and say there will not be as attractive a starting pitcher available for nothing but money in the next 2 offseasons

 

There's not a single name on this list that you'd like to sign as a FA that you think will actually make it to FA next year? And even if that's true, it's good that the Cubs are still allowed to trade.

 

He very clearly said "as attractive".

 

Great. You pay Tanaka $225m and I'll pay Mad Max $150m.

 

Look, we missed out on the prom queen and that sucks. But it'd be great if we could have 1-2 posts of ridiculous before we move on rather than 10 pages of it. There are other fish in the sea. If 2014 shows that some of our top prospects are ready to produce in 2015, I'll be as furious as any of you if we don't make some major moves to contend in 2015. But we made the best offer to the best FA and he decided to go somewhere else. What the [expletive] do you want?

[SouthSideRyan]

 

While it may be simplistic to say we look like a low 70's win team in 2014, there are too many guys we just don't know what to expect from, to make it easy to figure what positions we'll even be targeting.

 

I think it's pretty easy to look at the organization and say we'll need to target OFers and starting pitchers. Very little can happen in 14 that would make me think otherwise

Edited January 22, 2014 by SouthSideRyan

[Tracer Bullet]

No, that's a ridiculous simplification and it doesn't take a great deal of critical thinking to read my post fairly. Nonetheless, I'll help spell it out. My post was, we're 2 months from the start of 2014 and we're not one SP away from making the playoffs. There isn't an indication that the team is making a number of others moves this offseason. But we're 14 months from the start of the 2015 season, so it's too far away to call that season a bust.

 

That's rather arbitrary.

 

No, it's really not. It's perfectly logical. If you disagree, great.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

 

No, it's really not. It's perfectly logical. If you disagree, great.

 

Arbitrary and logical are not mutually exclusive.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Great. You pay Tanaka $225m and I'll pay Mad Max $150m.

 

Look, we missed out on the prom queen and that sucks. But it'd be great if we could have 1-2 posts of ridiculous before we move on rather than 10 pages of it. There are other fish in the sea. If 2014 shows that some of our top prospects are ready to produce in 2015, I'll be as furious as any of you if we don't make some major moves to contend in 2015. But we made the best offer to the best FA and he decided to go somewhere else. What the [expletive] do you want?

 

 

Our front office has consistently been philosophically opposed to signing pitchers Max Scherzer's age that kind of money. It's not happening.

[SouthSideRyan]

I'll go out on a limb and say there will not be as attractive a starting pitcher available for nothing but money in the next 2 offseasons

 

There's not a single name on this list that you'd like to sign as a FA that you think will actually make it to FA next year? And even if that's true, it's good that the Cubs are still allowed to trade.

 

He very clearly said "as attractive".

 

Great. You pay Tanaka $225m and I'll pay Mad Max $150m.

 

Look, we missed out on the prom queen and that sucks. But it'd be great if we could have 1-2 posts of ridiculous before we move on rather than 10 pages of it. There are other fish in the sea. If 2014 shows that some of our top prospects are ready to produce in 2015, I'll be as furious as any of you if we don't make some major moves to contend in 2015. But we made the best offer to the best FA and he decided to go somewhere else. What the [expletive] do you want?

 

I don't think Scherzer even makes it to FA, but if he does he'll certainly get more than 150 and he'll still be 4 years older than Tanaka

 

Regarding Tanaka, Well he took what he deemed was the best offer, so for starters I wanted to make the actual best offer

[Tracer Bullet]

 

No, it's really not. It's perfectly logical. If you disagree, great.

 

Arbitrary and logical are not mutually exclusive.

 

Yes and my post was not arbitrary. And it was logical.

 

This is going to be the thing you want to grind into a pulp the way only you can? Can we go back to USS, et al making the same joke every other post? I suddenly long for those.

[Guest]

Great. You pay Tanaka $225m and I'll pay Mad Max $150m.

 

Look, we missed out on the prom queen and that sucks. But it'd be great if we could have 1-2 posts of ridiculous before we move on rather than 10 pages of it. There are other fish in the sea. If 2014 shows that some of our top prospects are ready to produce in 2015, I'll be as furious as any of you if we don't make some major moves to contend in 2015. But we made the best offer to the best FA and he decided to go somewhere else. What the [expletive] do you want?

 

 

Our front office has consistently been philosophically opposed to signing pitchers Max Scherzer's age that kind of money. It's not happening.

 

I think that their position on THAT type of free agent depends on where they are in the timeline.

 

Tanakas they'll sign any and every day (if only it were that easy)...I don't think they'd rule out big money to a 30 year old pitcher if they're in point B to point C mode.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

 

Tanakas they'll sign any and every day (if only it were that easy)...I don't think they'd rule out big money to a 30 year old pitcher if they're in point B to point C mode.

 

Without Tanaka, we're not in point B to point C mode next offseason without hitting like the 95th percentile of our development projection.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

 

No, it's really not. It's perfectly logical. If you disagree, great.

 

Arbitrary and logical are not mutually exclusive.

 

Yes and my post was not arbitrary. And it was logical.

 

This is going to be the thing you want to grind into a pulp the way only you can? Can we go back to USS, et al making the same joke every other post? I suddenly long for those.

 

It was alogical and arbitrary.

[sneakypower]

sign all of Brett Anderson, Brandon Morrow and Josh Johnson at reasonably reduced rates and you'll come upon a TOR arm (or two!) somehow or another

 

Wasn't this your plan for this offseason only replace morrow with Hughes or something?

yeah, for the most part (last offseason, too), but we didn't pursue any of those avenues...pretty annoying

[davell]

 

While it may be simplistic to say we look like a low 70's win team in 2014, there are too many guys we just don't know what to expect from, to make it easy to figure what positions we'll even be targeting.

 

I think it's pretty easy to look at the organization and say we'll need to target ofers and starting pitchers. Very little can happen in 14 that would make me think otherwise

Starting pitching, sure, I'll give you that. Outfielders? What if Olt looks solid at 3B, or Villanueva, for that matter? KB comes up as a RFer, because he's not nearly as good at 3B as either of them. If Soler and Almora both look to be mid 2015 callups and are both top 20 prospects still, are you considering the OF as a bigtime hole? I have no issue trading Alcantara and Vogelbach for an OFer, even in this situation, but I think I'd prefer dealing them for a SP instead.

[Guest]

 

Tanakas they'll sign any and every day (if only it were that easy)...I don't think they'd rule out big money to a 30 year old pitcher if they're in point B to point C mode.

 

Without Tanaka, we're not in point B to point C mode next offseason without hitting like the 95th percentile of our development projection.

 

Depends on the TV deal too.

[Tracer Bullet]

I'll go out on a limb and say there will not be as attractive a starting pitcher available for nothing but money in the next 2 offseasons

 

There's not a single name on this list that you'd like to sign as a FA that you think will actually make it to FA next year? And even if that's true, it's good that the Cubs are still allowed to trade.

 

He very clearly said "as attractive".

 

Great. You pay Tanaka $225m and I'll pay Mad Max $150m.

 

Look, we missed out on the prom queen and that sucks. But it'd be great if we could have 1-2 posts of ridiculous before we move on rather than 10 pages of it. There are other fish in the sea. If 2014 shows that some of our top prospects are ready to produce in 2015, I'll be as furious as any of you if we don't make some major moves to contend in 2015. But we made the best offer to the best FA and he decided to go somewhere else. What the [expletive] do you want?

 

I don't think Scherzer even makes it to FA, but if he does he'll certainly get more than 150 and he'll still be 4 years older than Tanaka

 

Regarding Tanaka, Well he took what he deemed was the best offer, so for starters I wanted to make the actual best offer

 

You don't get to decide what offer Tanaka takes. We gave him the same out clause. We offered him more money. We can't move the team to New York and have a couple dozen titles. Tell me, how would you have changed the offer? $300m for 2 years? Your name or your brains will be on this contract? You're bitching at the FO because a player wanted to play somewhere else for less money.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

 

Tanakas they'll sign any and every day (if only it were that easy)...I don't think they'd rule out big money to a 30 year old pitcher if they're in point B to point C mode.

 

Without Tanaka, we're not in point B to point C mode next offseason without hitting like the 95th percentile of our development projection.

 

Depends on the TV deal too.

 

It really doesn't. We proved this offseason yet again that it doesn't matter how much money we have to spend: We aren't targetting multiple post-prime FAs even if we can afford it.

[Clem Fandango]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ly4qhgdHGu1qzkyd5o2_500.gif

[Tracer Bullet]

 

No, it's really not. It's perfectly logical. If you disagree, great.

 

Arbitrary and logical are not mutually exclusive.

 

Yes and my post was not arbitrary. And it was logical.

 

This is going to be the thing you want to grind into a pulp the way only you can? Can we go back to USS, et al making the same joke every other post? I suddenly long for those.

 

It was alogical and arbitrary.

 

You're going to waste your 20 posts a day making an ass of yourself?

[d_money]

There are too many really good to great prospects/young players right now for all of them to bust or disappoint. Some of them are going to be really, really good players. It would take awful luck for that not to be the case.

 

famous last words

Exactly