Offseason Rumors

[jersey cubs fan]

If the Cubs trade their best hitting prospects for pitching prospects I will not be happy.

[Guest]

If the Cubs trade their best hitting prospects for pitching prospects I will not be happy.

 

Certainly not the Marlins pitching prospects at that.

 

If they were to do a trade like that (they won't), it'd be for someone who has already done something in MLB. Something like Vogelbach or Alcantara for Eovaldi or Alvarez is an interesting idea though.

[Guest]

ABTY mentions a couple minor Japanese players that the team is supposedly interested in should they get posted:

 

Team also apparently has interest in Japanese RF Yoshio Itoi if posted. He projects to be had for no more than a few million on posting to go along with a short term contract.

 

Team also is interested in (more realistic, lesser upside option) Starting Pitcher Kenta Maeda if he is posted (which Badler had at 50/50 at last check)

 

Itoi turns 33 this year, but looks like a decent platoon OF at the very least. He'd be a nice Schierholtz replacement, especially if they could get a deal similar to what the Brewers did for Aoki(2.5M posting fee, 3/5M contract).

 

Maeda led the Central League in ERA last year at age 25. He's also at or near the top in BB/9 and H/9 for starters.

 

I'm pretty all in on most Japanese imports, but those two look like smart matches if they get posted, although I'd be curious what the demand for Maeda will be.

[Rob]

If the Cubs trade their best hitting prospects for pitching prospects I will not be happy.

 

I wouldn't worry about it. If the front office felt that hard up for pitching prospects they would have grabbed Gray in the draft instead of Bryant.

[Guest]

ABTY mentions a couple minor Japanese players that the team is supposedly interested in should they get posted:

 

Team also apparently has interest in Japanese RF Yoshio Itoi if posted. He projects to be had for no more than a few million on posting to go along with a short term contract.

 

Team also is interested in (more realistic, lesser upside option) Starting Pitcher Kenta Maeda if he is posted (which Badler had at 50/50 at last check)

 

Itoi turns 33 this year, but looks like a decent platoon OF at the very least. He'd be a nice Schierholtz replacement, especially if they could get a deal similar to what the Brewers did for Aoki(2.5M posting fee, 3/5M contract).

 

Maeda led the Central League in ERA last year at age 25. He's also at or near the top in BB/9 and H/9 for starters.

 

I'm pretty all in on most Japanese imports, but those two look like smart matches if they get posted, although I'd be curious what the demand for Maeda will be.

 

Badler on Maeda:

 

Some scouts also think there’s a chance that Japanese righthander Kenta Maeda could make his way to a major league team this offseason, but most sources put the chances of that happening below 50 percent. The 25-year-old Maeda is a 6-foot, 160-pound control pitcher who several scouts project as a back-end starter in the big leagues. He’s been effective this season for Hiroshima with a 2.26 ERA, 114 strikeouts and 27 walks over 123 2/3 innings, but he’s also missed time this year with tightness in his throwing arm and to his right abdominal/rib cage area. He could benefit from waiting a year and not leaving NPB in the same offseason as Tanaka.

[Splendid Splinter]

ABTY mentions a couple minor Japanese players that the team is supposedly interested in should they get posted:

 

Team also apparently has interest in Japanese RF Yoshio Itoi if posted. He projects to be had for no more than a few million on posting to go along with a short term contract.

 

Itoi turns 33 this year, but looks like a decent platoon OF at the very least. He'd be a nice Schierholtz replacement, especially if they could get a deal similar to what the Brewers did for Aoki(2.5M posting fee, 3/5M contract).

 

 

Just nitpicking here, but Itoi won't turn 33 until July 31st.

[Guest]

Right, he turns 33 this coming season.

[davell]

I think teams would almost have to weight a prospect trade towards hitters, like this article, right?

 

http://www.royalsreview.com/2011/2/14/1992424/success-and-failure-rates-of-top-mlb-prospects

[jersey cubs fan]

If the Cubs trade their best hitting prospects for pitching prospects I will not be happy.

 

I wouldn't worry about it. If the front office felt that hard up for pitching prospects they would have grabbed Gray in the draft instead of Bryant.

 

Presumably, unless they felt they couldn't pass up Bryant and could trade Baez, Almora or Soler.

[Guest]

I think teams would almost have to weight a prospect trade towards hitters, like this article, right?

 

http://www.royalsreview.com/2011/2/14/1992424/success-and-failure-rates-of-top-mlb-prospects

 

Yes, for prospects of equal pedigree, the hitting prospect is worth significantly more. Here's a link that speaks more to the value of that difference: http://www.piratesprospects.com/2012/06/updating-the-trade-surplus-values.html

[Guest]

If the Cubs trade their best hitting prospects for pitching prospects I will not be happy.

Understated.

[gscool89]

RT @CSNMooney: Boras skeptical of Cubs plan: "Their general managers tell us that their budget only allows them to do certain things.”

 

#POORTOMRICKETTS

[Hairyducked Idiot]

As opposed to a budget that lets you do infinite things?

[Guest]

Mark Feinsand ✔ @FeinsandNYDN

 

Source says Mariners have "no interest" in Ellsbury. Market looks thin, but source adds that Cubs are stealthily waiting in the wings.

[SouthSideRyan]

Mark Feinsand ✔ @FeinsandNYDN

 

Source says Mariners have "no interest" in Ellsbury. Market looks thin, but source adds that Cubs are stealthily waiting in the wings.

 

Haven't we been stealth bidders on a bunch of guys we didn't get. It's starting to mean to me that we'll sign him if there's no market for him.

[KingCubsFan]

RT @CSNMooney: Boras skeptical of Cubs plan: "Their general managers tell us that their budget only allows them to do certain things.”

 

#POORTOMRICKETTS

I can't think of any possible reason a general manager would ever want to Scott Boras their budget allows them to do anything they want.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Mark Feinsand ✔ @FeinsandNYDN

 

Source says Mariners have "no interest" in Ellsbury. Market looks thin, but source adds that Cubs are stealthily waiting in the wings.

 

Haven't we been stealth bidders on a bunch of guys we didn't get. It's starting to mean to me that we'll sign him if there's no market for him.

 

Keeping in contact with agents just in case every other team forgets a guy exists and we can get him for free is exactly the kind of jackoffery that this front office really loves themselves over. I put it in the same category as arguing for three days over which foot to hit first base with or whatever.

[Guest]

Mark Feinsand ✔ @FeinsandNYDN

 

Source says Mariners have "no interest" in Ellsbury. Market looks thin, but source adds that Cubs are stealthily waiting in the wings.

 

Haven't we been stealth bidders on a bunch of guys we didn't get. It's starting to mean to me that we'll sign him if there's no market for him.

 

Keeping in contact with agents just in case every other team forgets a guy exists and we can get him for free is exactly the kind of jackoffery that this front office really loves themselves over. I put it in the same category as arguing for three days over which foot to hit first base with or whatever.

At some point they have to start trying to win though, right?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

At some point they have to start trying to win though, right?

 

They tried last year. It seems like they feel burned by it.

[Boris]

We were so close.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

We were so close.

 

If Garza stays healthy and if Castro doesn't suck and if Rizzo and Samarzdija take steps forward and if the bullpen had held together and if we'd gotten some pythagorean luck and if the Pirates hadn't been so awesome.

[A New Era]

We were so close.

 

If Garza stays healthy and if Castro doesn't suck and if Rizzo and Samarzdija take steps forward and if the bullpen had held together and if we'd gotten some pythagorean luck and if the Pirates hadn't been so awesome.

 

I didn't wear my lucky 1986 Cubs shirt that doesn't fit me any more during every televised game and pat my tummy and burp every time a Cubs hitter came up to bat.

[HoopsCubs]

In reacting to the news that Alcantara and Villanueva made the Topps AA All Star Team, two AL scouts told one of my sources today that they wouldn't be surprised if Villanueva was the Cubs starting 3B on Opening Day.

[CubsWin]

In reacting to the news that Alcantara and Villanueva made the Topps AA All Star Team, two AL scouts told one of my sources today that they wouldn't be surprised if Villanueva was the Cubs starting 3B on Opening Day so long as Valbuena, Murphy, and Olt all die in a horrific car crash, they fail to sign a free agent and Baez refuses to make the move to 3B.

I had to spare Baez. I just couldn't bring myself to have him die too...

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Vitters/Sweeney/Lake

Villanueva/Barney/Watkins/Rizzo

SomeScrappyVetToLeadThem