Offseason Rumors & Transactions Thread

[SouthSideRyan]

@DandCShow Gammons, "I get the feeling that the Cubs think Jon Lester is going back to Boston".

 

The actual comment

 

Let's hope Gammons got his one scoop for the offseason yesterday.

 

So Gammons did say this, but there was a lot more too it, and it didn't sound like it was nearly a done deal when you listen to the actual audio clip. They just played it on the Score.

 

Care to elaborate on what he did say?

[Guest]

of course we have the worst weather i ever remember having on November 18th for Lester.

 

Ya know he spent like 6 years in Boston

 

Nah. Only my [expletive] teams.

[Guest]

You know, getting the best value doesn't even come close to meaning getting the best production.

 

You are way more certain about the performance gap between Lester and the 'hipster alternatives' than I am.

 

So you're boiling this down to just being about Lester? That's an effective way to frame your argument. Yeah, this is all just about Lester. Sure. I get it now!

 

Just the opposite in fact. I don't know how many times I can say 'make the team better, whether it involves getting Player X or not or whether it involves spending a bunch of money or not'.

 

It's the principle. They should spend everything they can. We have a smart FO that can find good value and that's awesome. I don't want them taking advantage of that fact so that PTR can keep more money. I want to take advantage of that so that we can win more games and sign the guys who will make us even better inefficiently too.

I believe what TT is saying is that everyone will end up happy with the offseason if we trade for Tyson Ross + Grandal from SD, sign Maeda and trade Jackson for Crawford + cash.

 

Having a great offseason requires us adding very good to great players, it doesn't require us signing big name FA.

 

I'm saying I don't agree with the "whether it involves spending a bunch of money or not" part.

The only part of the hypothetical I laid out that involves spending a "lot" of money is Maeda.

 

I am curious if they are looking to shift much of the budget to signing Moncada, though, since that would require a heck of a lot of 2015 dollars.

[SouthSideRyan]

 

I am curious if they are looking to shift much of the budget to signing Moncada, though, since that would require a heck of a lot of 2015 dollars.

 

And if we don't get him, just roll it into the Tanaka fund.

[Guest]

It's the principle. They should spend everything they can. We have a smart FO that can find good value and that's awesome. I don't want them taking advantage of that fact so that PTR can keep more money. I want to take advantage of that so that we can win more games and sign the guys who will make us even better inefficiently too.

I believe what TT is saying is that everyone will end up happy with the offseason if we trade for Tyson Ross + Grandal from SD, sign Maeda and trade Jackson for Crawford + cash.

 

Having a great offseason requires us adding very good to great players, it doesn't require us signing big name FA.

 

I'm saying I don't agree with the "whether it involves spending a bunch of money or not" part.

The only part of the hypothetical I laid out that involves spending a "lot" of money is Maeda.

 

I am curious if they are looking to shift much of the budget to signing Moncada, though, since that would require a heck of a lot of 2015 dollars.

 

Wasn't really referring to anything in your scenario. If they make a team that looks good without spending a lot, I'll be disappointed they didn't spend more to make it even better.

 

We're not in "no point in going from 70 wins to 74" territory anymore.

 

I'd also be pretty unhappy if they took that much out of the budget of a team that can contend in 2015 to sign an IFA.

[RammyFanny]

 

I am curious if they are looking to shift much of the budget to signing Moncada, though, since that would require a heck of a lot of 2015 dollars.

 

And if we don't get him, just roll it into the Tanaka fund.

You'll be thankful for the Tanaka Martin Moncada fund when it's time to sign Bryant to his 13 yr/$500 mil extension.

[Guest]

You know, getting the best value doesn't even come close to meaning getting the best production.

 

You are way more certain about the performance gap between Lester and the 'hipster alternatives' than I am.

 

So you're boiling this down to just being about Lester? That's an effective way to frame your argument. Yeah, this is all just about Lester. Sure. I get it now!

 

Just the opposite in fact. I don't know how many times I can say 'make the team better, whether it involves getting Player X or not or whether it involves spending a bunch of money or not'.

 

But you consistently qualify that by eliminating the best options off the list and pretending that it is a good thing. This team has to get a lot better and you don't accomplish that with waiver claims.

 

 

I want them to make the team better but I am all for avoiding the most expensive free agents and not trading for available guys who might be too expensive.

 

 

Make up your mind. If you don't want to sign the talent and don't want to trade for the talent you don't want to go get talent. You want to worry more about efficiently acquired marginal upgrades as opposed to the most wins possible.

 

Again, you're far more convinced about what options constitute 'best', and I'm not really talking about $/WAR. Lester, Hamels, Liriano, and McCarthy have basically identical 2015 FIPs in Steamer. That's not gospel but it illustrates the range of outcomes where a guy like Lester or Hamels doesn't crash but isn't necessarily the best option either. C.J. Wilson's contract is a good example if you want a past instance.

 

If Maeda gets posted I can promise you there's basically no contract that will scare me off. I've been all in on Japanese pitchers so getting a good one at that age is well worth whatever it costs. Before yesterday I wanted to trade for Heyward and immediately give him 25 million per to keep him around. I'd take on salary to get Carl Crawford, and I've been banging the 'trade for Montero to form an expensive platoon with Castillo' drum longer than anyone. I'd be aggressively looking to trade one of Alcantara or Baez to mitigate 2015 risk and potentially get pitching that will be as good now and better later than FA options. Don't be Davearm and try and build this strawman of someone terrified of spending money for fear of inefficiency.

[jersey cubs fan]

there's no strawman, it has been the same story for 3 years now.

 

 

 

stop lamenting the Cubs not signing guys because there are so many other options until all those options dry up and it really wasn't the time to do it anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

If you want to acquire talent you have to aggressively pursue talent. You can't wait for things to fall in your lap and then congratulate yourselves for not being the silly team that overpaid.

[Guest]

there's no strawman, it has been the same story for 3 years now.

 

 

 

stop lamenting the Cubs not signing guys because there are so many other options until all those options dry up and it really wasn't the time to do it anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

If you want to acquire talent you have to aggressively pursue talent. You can't wait for things to fall in your lap and then congratulate yourselves for not being the silly team that overpaid.

 

especially when your payroll situation is such that you're doing yourself a disservice by not throwing caution to the wind

[Elrhino]

 

I am curious if they are looking to shift much of the budget to signing Moncada, though, since that would require a heck of a lot of 2015 dollars.

 

And if we don't get him, just roll it into the Tanaka fund.

You'll be thankful for the Tanaka Martin Moncada fund when it's time to sign Bryant to his 13 yr/$500 mil extension.

 

Hopefully by that time we'll somehow be the equivalent of today's Marlins when it comes to spending payroll resources for elite players.

Edited November 18, 2014 by Elrhino

[Guest]

If you want to acquire talent you have to aggressively pursue talent. You can't wait for things to fall in your lap and then congratulate yourselves for not being the silly team that overpaid.

 

lol okay, good talk

[bukie]

@DandCShow Gammons, "I get the feeling that the Cubs think Jon Lester is going back to Boston".

 

The actual comment

 

Let's hope Gammons got his one scoop for the offseason yesterday.

 

So Gammons did say this, but there was a lot more too it, and it didn't sound like it was nearly a done deal when you listen to the actual audio clip. They just played it on the Score.

 

Care to elaborate on what he did say?

Gammons actual comment was

 

IasdfalkdjgetablkjthelkajsdbfeelinglalksthatlkjasdltheljkcgpCubsjasd;flkjasethinkasdlvJonaamzxdLesteragheteisbnaethgoingq6598backthgabtoaghBoston

[Banedon]

@DandCShow Gammons, "I get the feeling that the Cubs think Jon Lester is going back to Boston".

 

The actual comment

 

Let's hope Gammons got his one scoop for the offseason yesterday.

 

So Gammons did say this, but there was a lot more too it, and it didn't sound like it was nearly a done deal when you listen to the actual audio clip. They just played it on the Score.

 

Care to elaborate on what he did say?

 

Sorry, had to do actual work for a little bit.

 

Here's the full quote:

 

“I think there’s a chance, I really do,” said Gammons. “I think the one thing — obviously the Cubs are going to make every play — I get the feeling the Cubs think he’s going to go back to Boston. I think it’s very smart for Lester and his agents to hold for another week. I think there is a feeling it is going to go past Thanksgiving, maybe into the first week into December and the hope is that the Yankees look at that starting rotation and they think — I mean how do they know [Masahiro] Tanaka, [Michael] Pineda and [ivan] Nova are going to be healthy next year and they start thinking about, ‘OK, we have great bullpen, but…’

 

“That is Red Sox ownership’s worst nightmare — the Yankees and Theo Epstein negotiating against them. But, after spring training when ACES told them [they would see what the market bears], they are finding out the market is going to bare more than they ever imagined.”

 

http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2014/11/18/peter-gammons-on-dc-on-jon-lester-i-get-the-feeling-the-cubs-think-hes-going-to-go-back-to-boston/

[Guest]

They've been doing all of this hipster crap for 3 years. Finding slight values where no one else thinks it's important to look.

 

Can we just spend a bunch of money on someone who is real good?

[jersey cubs fan]

@DandCShow Gammons, "I get the feeling that the Cubs think Jon Lester is going back to Boston".

 

The actual comment

 

Let's hope Gammons got his one scoop for the offseason yesterday.

 

So Gammons did say this, but there was a lot more too it, and it didn't sound like it was nearly a done deal when you listen to the actual audio clip. They just played it on the Score.

 

Care to elaborate on what he did say?

 

Sorry, had to do actual work for a little bit.

 

Here's the full quote:

 

“I think there’s a chance, I really do,” said Gammons. “I think the one thing — obviously the Cubs are going to make every play — I get the feeling the Cubs think he’s going to go back to Boston. I think it’s very smart for Lester and his agents to hold for another week. I think there is a feeling it is going to go past Thanksgiving, maybe into the first week into December and the hope is that the Yankees look at that starting rotation and they think — I mean how do they know [Masahiro] Tanaka, [Michael] Pineda and [ivan] Nova are going to be healthy next year and they start thinking about, ‘OK, we have great bullpen, but…’

 

“That is Red Sox ownership’s worst nightmare — the Yankees and Theo Epstein negotiating against them. But, after spring training when ACES told them [they would see what the market bears], they are finding out the market is going to bare more than they ever imagined.”

 

http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2014/11/18/peter-gammons-on-dc-on-jon-lester-i-get-the-feeling-the-cubs-think-hes-going-to-go-back-to-boston/

 

I think that is somehow less helpful than your original comment.

[Guest]

[expletive] Gammons...

[sneakypower]

Here's the full quote:

 

“That is Red Sox ownership’s worst nightmare — the Yankees and Theo Epstein negotiating against them. But, after spring training when ACES told them [they would see what the market bears], they are finding out the market is going to bare more than they ever imagined.”

 

http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2014/11/18/peter-gammons-on-dc-on-jon-lester-i-get-the-feeling-the-cubs-think-hes-going-to-go-back-to-boston/

my nightmares would certainly never involve bidding against Theo Epstein

[Guest]

[Gmoney08]

Unfortunately guys Ricketts has invested the Cespedes, Darvish, Tanaka, Lester fund in Crude Oil over at TDAmeritrade..

 

Its now become the Brandon McCarthy ETF.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

If we miss on Lester, there's still Scherzer and trades.

 

I'm not going to go ballistic on the front office until they *actually* strike out on the offseason, not when they are in an 0-2 hole or whatever.

 

But it's still stupid when fans try to convince us that it's a good thing they struck out or whatever.

[UMFan83]

Apparently the Braves are meeting with Lester on Thursday.

[Banedon]

Apparently the Braves are meeting with Lester on Thursday.

 

So...the Braves are our offseason nemesis this season, I see.

[sneakypower]

Lester to Boston rumors seems like agent jockeying to me, more than anything

 

in the spring they offered him 4/70 and he swiftly gave that the Mutombo treatment...what's changed in the ensuing 8 months to cause them to presumably double their offer? it doesn't make much sense

[Guest]

Lester to Boston rumors seems like agent jockeying to me, more than anything

 

in the spring they offered him 4/70 and he swiftly gave that the Mutombo treatment...what's changed in the ensuing 8 months to cause them to presumably double their offer? it doesn't make much sense

 

and theo and jed are [expletive] with gammons again and using him to put the fake sense of resignation out there so lester comes back like "NO NO I WAS JUST KIDDING. SIGN ME UP!"

 

right???!

[Butterscup1679666578]

probably not.