Sherman - Cubs (and others obv) expected to be in on Alex Gordon

[Guest]

http://www.bleachernation.com/2015/10/30/well-peter-gammons-also-says-cubs-could-go-after-alex-gordon/

 

Gammons apparently saying it too

[davell]

If Hayward is their top option, they've got to have fallbacks if he extends without truly giving other teams a real chance.

[Guest]

If Hayward is their top option, they've got to have fallbacks if he extends without truly giving other teams a real chance.

 

Idk why you keep fearing that this will happen. I have a really hard time seeing the first good prime aged free agent in years going all hometown discount or something. He's going to the highest bidder imo for a lot. Don't see why st louis would be the prohibitive favorite there.

[mul21]

If Hayward is their top option, they've got to have fallbacks if he extends without truly giving other teams a real chance.

 

Idk why you keep fearing that this will happen. I have a really hard time seeing the first good prime aged free agent in years going all hometown discount or something. He's going to the highest bidder imo for a lot. Don't see why st louis would be the prohibitive favorite there.

 

They do have a history of making that happen. Edmonds, Mulder, Holliday for example.

[Guest]

If Hayward is their top option, they've got to have fallbacks if he extends without truly giving other teams a real chance.

 

Idk why you keep fearing that this will happen. I have a really hard time seeing the first good prime aged free agent in years going all hometown discount or something. He's going to the highest bidder imo for a lot. Don't see why st louis would be the prohibitive favorite there.

 

They do have a history of making that happen. Edmonds, Mulder, Holliday for example.

 

Edmonds and Mulder were a million years ago and Holliday was 30 (was that really much of a discount?).

 

This is an era where it's very rare for 26 year old stud players to reach free agency. He's going to get a [expletive] ton of money because this sport is flush with cash and the alternative is giving it to 30+ year olds.

 

I'm not saying there's no way he'll stay or anything. I'm just saying that in an environment like that, I have a hard time worrying about any one team getting him. The market is going to be crazy, IMO.

[davell]

I'm more concerned with him using other teams to gauge his value, then ask them to get close/match or whatever. If they don't hold onto him, I'll be surprised. Although I have seen some rumblings 140 or so may be their stopping point, which obviously falls way short.

[Guest]

I'm more concerned with him using other teams to gauge his value, then ask them to get close/match or whatever. If they don't hold onto him, I'll be surprised. Although I have seen some rumblings 140 or so may be their stopping point, which obviously falls way short.

I would be surprised if he signs with them and they are not the top bidder. Their attitude (probably rightly so) is that they can win without breaking the bank for any one player.

[toonsterwu]

I expect a ton of rumors to involve the Cubs this off-season, as I expect this front office to talk about every single possibility, including dealing possible "core" guys, but I still view Gordon to be a minor possibility at best. When multiple dominoes have to fall to make something happen (Cubs have to address pitching first, clear a roster spot by moving a guy, be willing to pony up for an aging positional player (however solid, he's still aging)), I tend to think it's simply less likely to occur.

 

As for Heyward, if he simply wants the best money, I think he's probably gone. I don't think St. Louis will give him the largest deal - at least, I'd be rather surprised. I do think they might give him a competitive deal, forcing him to decide how comfortable he is leaving. Now, two notes to make is that

 

a) St. Louis actually has a relatively thin system at this juncture (heavy on pitching, but positional assets of note are mostly far away, with Charlie Tilson probably the closest), so unless they like the guys they have, they might have to spend on a replacement anyways (off the top, Brandon Moss is a FA, is Peter Bourjos?) Grichuk/Holliday/Piscotty/Pham/Jay - would they be willing to role with that? I think they'd probably want another guy in the mix.

 

b) Holliday's contract could be off the books after this season, if I remember right, clearing a lot of money up. With their relative lack of upper level positional assets at the moment, I wonder if the Cardinals might also be interested in a short term deal with Heyward as well, giving their guys time to develop.

[ConstableRabbit]

b) Holliday's contract could be off the books after this season, if I remember right, clearing a lot of money up. With their relative lack of upper level positional assets at the moment, I wonder if the Cardinals might also be interested in a short term deal with Heyward as well, giving their guys time to develop.

That's correct -- there's a $17M club option for 2017 that's only guaranteed if Holliday finishes top 10 in MVP voting.

[Guest]

a) St. Louis actually has a relatively thin system at this juncture (heavy on pitching, but positional assets of note are mostly far away, with Charlie Tilson probably the closest), so unless they like the guys they have, they might have to spend on a replacement anyways (off the top, Brandon Moss is a FA, is Peter Bourjos?) Grichuk/Holliday/Piscotty/Pham/Jay - would they be willing to role with that? I think they'd probably want another guy in the mix.

 

Moss still has one more year of arbitration. Bourjos is not a FA but seems very likely to be non-tendered.

[Tracer Bullet]

why not just bring back Fowler

 

Because Gordon is much, much better.

 

Fowler was actually better this year from a fWAR perspective, and Gordon is older and will be more expensive. Presumably this would be with the eye on moving him to CF, which hurts his value further. Gordon is a fine player but giving a 32 year old a 5 year deal to try a more demanding position they have never played doesn't seem like this FO's style.

 

Which is to say that I don't believe this rumor for a second. Sherman + no local reporting on it makes it pretty likely to be an Agent just dropping the name of a team that'll spend money.

 

I love the idea of Schwarber, Gordon, and Soler in the OF. By June, they're just going to stand there and look at each other when a ball is hit to the gap and Addison is going to have to run all the way out to the wall to retrieve it like the kid brother in a sandlot league. Then they'll come to the plate and hit dong dong dong and all will be forgiven.

[TruffleShuffle]

i don't understand why soler is so hopeless in the outfield. he's got a great arm and can run reasonably well. most guys who blow defensively have some sort of physical reason that they're lousy - poor speed, bad agility, bad hands, etc. soler seems to have the tools to play a solid RF, he just seems to have no ability to read the ball off the bat.

[StylesClash]

I'm not excited at all about the possibility of giving a soon to be 32 year old corner outfielder, with minimal power, a 4 year deal worth 20 million per season. Bringing back Fowler, ideally for only three years, and keeping the starting lineup as is would be fine with me.

 

Hopefully Theo doesn't get cute and move Schwarber back to Catcher. The idea of taking an elite bat and putting him into a position that will make him more likely to get hurt and wear down at the end of the season doesn't make much sense to me. The appeal of getting elite offensive production from a position without many dominant bats is understandable. But in my mind its not worth the increased possibility of getting hurt.

 

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that Theo is able to buy low on Shark. I've heard his fastball velocity was fine this season. So if Bosio were to take a look at Samardzija's starts this season and determined his struggles could be fixed with some mechanical tweaks I'd love the idea of a three year deal.

 

So in summary I'm hoping for a three year Fowler contract, Schwarber staying in Left Field and Shark coming back on a two or three year deal. I can't imagine, considering the pitching depth on the free agent market, a fourth year would be needed. Then ideally Baez could be dealt for a high upside starting pitcher.

[biittner77]

I wonder if the Cardinals might also be interested in a short term deal with Heyward as well, giving their guys time to develop.

 

I'm sure they are. I doubt Heyward would though. Some team will offer him a 7 year deal for a lot of money. That would be pretty hard to pass up since he'd still, in theory, be able to get one last contract after that if he's still productive.

 

Other than playing in front of the BFIB, what other reason would he have to stay in St. Louis? It's not a great city, certainly not worth giving up millions of dollars. He's only been there for 1 season so it's not like he has deep roots there. There's no guarantee that the Cards will continue to make the playoffs considering the talent and youth in the division.

[Guest]

Gordon being targeted would really be unexpected. It makes me think Schwarber might be headed out of town. Gordon has only played a grand total of 25 innings of RF in his MLB career, so I can't imagine the Cubs are signing a 32 year old to throw him into a new position.

 

I love how trading Schwarber is talked about so casually.

 

If Schwarber is traded, the return would be greatness, and it would be one of the biggest trades in Cub history.

[Guest]

Gordon being targeted would really be unexpected. It makes me think Schwarber might be headed out of town. Gordon has only played a grand total of 25 innings of RF in his MLB career, so I can't imagine the Cubs are signing a 32 year old to throw him into a new position.

 

I love how trading Schwarber is talked about so casually.

 

If Schwarber is traded, the return would be greatness, and it would be one of the biggest trades in Cub history.

[Guest]

Gordon being targeted would really be unexpected. It makes me think Schwarber might be headed out of town. Gordon has only played a grand total of 25 innings of RF in his MLB career, so I can't imagine the Cubs are signing a 32 year old to throw him into a new position.

 

I love how trading Schwarber is talked about so casually.

 

If Schwarber is traded, the return would be greatness, and it would be one of the biggest trades in Cub history.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

You can say that again!

[minnesotacubsfan]

We aren't trading Schwarber

[Guest]

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/11/06/levine-cubs-doing-homework-on-alex-gordon-jason-heyward/#.Vj0XNULmEtY.twitter

 

The athletic Heyward will also be asked if a full- or part-time move to center filed would be acceptable to him. Heyward moved over to center against the Cubs in the NLDS in October. The Cubs sent out questionnaires to their scouts at the end of the season on many different subjects, and one of the queries asked of those individuals was whether Heyward could play center field in their determination

 

There's stuff on Gordon in there but feeling lazy.

 

i think it moved

[davell]

So 11 days ago, Gammons said Lackey and Gordon were the two guys he heard the most buzz on with the Cubs. He brought up Gordon again today, saying he'd likely play RF if they signed him.

 

If our off season winds up being Lackey, Gordon, Soler trade for a young pitcher, and Span......How happy are we? I think I'm 8/10, maybe even 9/10.....

[Tryptamine]

So 11 days ago, Gammons said Lackey and Gordon were the two guys he heard the most buzz on with the Cubs. He brought up Gordon again today, saying he'd likely play RF if they signed him.

 

If our off season winds up being Lackey, Gordon, Soler trade for a young pitcher, and Span......How happy are we? I think I'm 8/10, maybe even 9/10.....

 

I don't think Span is a viable option without a very good back up CF, which I do not consider Szczur or Baez to be at this point.

[treebird]

So 11 days ago, Gammons said Lackey and Gordon were the two guys he heard the most buzz on with the Cubs. He brought up Gordon again today, saying he'd likely play RF if they signed him.

 

If our off season winds up being Lackey, Gordon, Soler trade for a young pitcher, and Span......How happy are we? I think I'm 8/10, maybe even 9/10.....

 

i would prefer we stop signing old white dudes and start signing jason heyward. that offseason would not make me happy at all unless the young pitcher we got for soler was amazing (and he wouldn't be).

[Bryants Disco Ball]

So 11 days ago, Gammons said Lackey and Gordon were the two guys he heard the most buzz on with the Cubs. He brought up Gordon again today, saying he'd likely play RF if they signed him.

 

If our off season winds up being Lackey, Gordon, Soler trade for a young pitcher, and Span......How happy are we? I think I'm 8/10, maybe even 9/10.....

 

That would be a great offseason. But it's also because I feel like Alex Gordon, while certainly not unappreciated or underrated, would be an amazing addition for this offense while providing top-notch defense and is even better then most think.

 

Also that second pitcher addition would be awesome.

[Tyrant]

would gordon have the same value in rf? i'm sure he can hold his own there but is he going to be as much of an asset while declining and playing a new position?