What will we spend our money on this offseason?

[SouthSideRyan]

Whoops, went from memory on Wood, was thinking he was 4.9. (And yes I realize I copied his '14 salary in my post) He's fair. I mean ultimately, worst case is it's short by 3M or so, it's a drop in the bucket.

[Felix Leiter]

I don't think we'll be pursuing Scherzer. There's been next to no smoke connecting us to him

 

Scherzer rejected 6/$144M offer from the Tigers earlier this year. That's $24M per. YIKES!!!

 

Lester and Scherzer are pipedreams.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I may be completely off here, but I think they will be shopping, but only for players they really like. I think we go into 2015 as a year to find out what we really have and may not purchase players that could block some of our better players on the farm.

 

I think that means Rizzo-1b, Baez-2b, Castro-SS, Bryant-3b, Soler-RF, Alcantara- CF. That only leaves openings at catcher and left. If Russell forces his way up next year, an infielder will have to move to left. Also, I think they will stick with Castillo at catcher until they know for a fact Schwarber can handle it or not. If not, he will need a spot in the OF. Now, some of these guys may not be ready until 2016 or so, but my guess is we won't sign or acquire a long-term contract on a bat unless it is a no brainer like Stanton or a really good value.

 

If we spend money this offseason it will be stopgap guys or pitching.

 

I may be wrong, but that's my take.

[Vinestal]

I think a major addition is coming via trade in the offseason and like Vance said they will add guys they like at positions that are open.

[Guest]

I think a major addition is coming via trade in the offseason and like Vance said they will add guys they like at positions that are open.

As long as that major addition is Mike Stanton, I'm cool. They can have Russell or Baez, but not both.

[davell]

I honestly think we're going to get Lester. But if we miss on him, Scherzer, and Shields, who is your favorite of the rest?

 

Brett Anderson

Jorge De La Rosa

Jason Hammel

Francisco Liriano

Justin Masterson

Brandon McCarthy

Brandon Morrow

Jake Peavy

Ervin Santana

 

I've seen 3 years already attached to McCarthy, which would take him from 1st on my list to off it completely.

[Vinestal]

I honestly think we're going to get Lester. But if we miss on him, Scherzer, and Shields, who is your favorite of the rest?

 

Brett Anderson

Jorge De La Rosa

Jason Hammel

Francisco Liriano

Justin Masterson

Brandon McCarthy

Brandon Morrow

Jake Peavy

Ervin Santana

 

I've seen 3 years already attached to McCarthy, which would take him from 1st on my list to off it completely.

 

Liriano depending on how much he'd cost

[Cubswin11]

Wouldn't mind Morrow on a "flier"

[Clem Fandango]

I honestly think we're going to get Lester. But if we miss on him, Scherzer, and Shields, who is your favorite of the rest?

 

Brett Anderson

Jorge De La Rosa

Jason Hammel

Francisco Liriano

Justin Masterson

Brandon McCarthy

Brandon Morrow

Jake Peavy

Ervin Santana

 

I've seen 3 years already attached to McCarthy, which would take him from 1st on my list to off it completely.

 

1) McCarthy

2) Liriano

 

Don't really care about anyone else.

[Guest]

I'd rather have Maeda than any other FA SP.

[davell]

I'd rather have Maeda than any other FA SP.

 

Crap, forgot about him and I'd agree. I'd like Anderson or Masterson as a 2nd guy, Bosio project type. Morrow would be fine in that role too.

[davell]

One of you guys will know this: Is there any truth to the old theory that power arms do better in the postseason? If so, having Hendricks and Maeda throwing in the playoffs may not be a great idea. Again, no clue if there's any truth to it or not.

[Cubswin11]

One of you guys will know this: Is there any truth to the old theory that power arms do better in the postseason? If so, having Hendricks and Maeda throwing in the playoffs may not be a great idea. Again, no clue if there's any truth to it or not.

It was recently discussed in one of the threads, I think in Cubs Discussions. Pretty sure the findings didn't lead to much of a validation of the theory and I think it may have been debunked.

[seanimal]

One of you guys will know this: Is there any truth to the old theory that power arms do better in the postseason? If so, having Hendricks and Maeda throwing in the playoffs may not be a great idea. Again, no clue if there's any truth to it or not.

 

if "power arms" correlate positively with k%, there could be meat on that bone

[Guest]

i know secret sauce was debunked

 

the power/high K pitching this is probably largely a myth too, though it does feel more comfortable having them

Edited August 29, 2014 by David

[seanimal]

i know special sauce was debunked

 

the power/high K pitching this is probably largely a myth too, though it does feel more comfortable having them

 

i don't feel comfortable waving away the value of high-k's. they are god's gift to run prevention, which i have been led to believe correlates greater with winning than run production. my guess here though is that the difference is likely marginal as you very well can't come up with a 12-man pitching staff that all profile as this type of player. that said, the playoffs can amplify the frequency we see a certain starting pitcher, so what may look marginal in theory could become almost significant in application

[SouthSideRyan]

The only thing that ever made sense to me was having a few elite pitchers rather than a lot of above average ones due to the shortened rotations/pens. But that just seems common sense

[Guest]

I think a major addition is coming via trade in the offseason and like Vance said they will add guys they like at positions that are open.

 

with all this payroll flexibility (just for you ssr) we have i'd much rather acquire guys for money if we can than give up assets.

 

even if we can only put a $100M team out there that's a lot to spend on a few spots.

[SouthSideRyan]

I think a major addition is coming via trade in the offseason and like Vance said they will add guys they like at positions that are open.

 

with all this payroll flexibility (just for you ssr) we have i'd much rather acquire guys for money if we can than give up assets.

 

even if we can only put a $100M team out there that's a lot to spend on a few spots.

 

Use the flexibility to buy asset(s). Trade assets before they get bad for prospects. Flip prospects for younger assets.

 

Unless contracts escalate quicker than I assume they will, I'd give us even playoff odds with 100M payroll

[WrigleyField 22]

The only thing that ever made sense to me was having a few elite pitchers rather than a lot of above average ones due to the shortened rotations/pens. But that just seems common sense

There's some truth but pitchers are just fluky in general. You can have an 06(?) Cardinals situation where a bunch of waiver wire retreads pitch like Aces for 2 months and an 84 win team wins the WS.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mul21]

The only thing that ever made sense to me was having a few elite pitchers rather than a lot of above average ones due to the shortened rotations/pens. But that just seems common sense

There's some truth but pitchers are just fluky in general. You can have an 06(?) Cardinals situation where a bunch of waiver wire retreads pitch like Aces for 2 months and an 84 win team wins the WS.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

They got healthy the last week of the season too. It wasn't a complete fluke, although they never should have been in the playoffs to begin with. Turds.

[Guest]

we will spend all money on case for our dongs

[Northsider]

Since the consensus seems to be that Castillo is a stopgap, what does everyone think about Rene Rivera?

 

He's playing at about 2 fWAR this year for the Padres, shouldn't cost any draft pick, and StatCorner loves his framing abilities (which should make Arrieta et. al. even more effective).

 

The Cubs could give him a longer contract, too, since he's been a backup for so long, offering him more time while Castillo stopgaps and using the extra years to have him mentor Schwarber or Zagunis when one of them comes up.

[Guest]

Since the consensus seems to be that Castillo is a stopgap, what does everyone think about Rene Rivera?

 

He's playing at about 2 fWAR this year for the Padres, shouldn't cost any draft pick, and StatCorner loves his framing abilities (which should make Arrieta et. al. even more effective).

 

The Cubs could give him a longer contract, too, since he's been a backup for so long, offering him more time while Castillo stopgaps and using the extra years to have him mentor Schwarber or Zagunis when one of them comes up.

 

might as well stick with Castillo.

[davell]

Grandal is the guy I want from the Pads.