Cubs Sign Zobrist - 4/$56M

[davell]

Vinestal wanted me as an ally for Castro hate!!!!!

[hawkeyecub]

I've loved Zobrist like most but this is weird. He fits great in the lineup but the age swap stinks. If we're really getting something of value for Starlin I can buy into it more but damn.

[Vinestal]

Vinestal wanted me as an ally for Castro hate!!!!!

I was hoping.

[SouthSideRyan]

If so, davell only one have happiness here

Nah Id be pretty happy to. I don't like Castro and I'd certainly prefer to have Zobrist on the roster than Castro. I just see Castro as a defensive liability and a bit of a mental flake. He's had a pretty inconsistent career.

 

You're going to hate Zobrist's 2B defense if you think Castro is a liability there.

 

Ick, UZR had him terrible in LF too. Did he have nagging injuries or something? He was pretty good at 2B and other-worldly in the OF in '14.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Replace the guy who has been known to put up bizarre near-replacement seasons randomly for guy who projects to 3.1 wins and hasn't been below 2 in seven years. Exactly the kind of move we should be making, even if four years and a bunch of money for Zobrist makes me squirm.

[ctcf]

I just don't see the point here. If the budget is as tight as reported, this seems like a weird way to spend it. Zobrist doesn't fill a glaring need (he's not a CF - 203 career innings in CF) and while he's probably a safe bet to be better than Castro, I have a hard time seeing the difference being worth the price hike. He's also a decent bet to drop a cliff in the near future. I just don't get it at all.

[Cubswin11]

If so, davell only one have happiness here

Nah Id be pretty happy to. I don't like Castro and I'd certainly prefer to have Zobrist on the roster than Castro. I just see Castro as a defensive liability and a bit of a mental flake. He's had a pretty inconsistent career.

 

You're going to hate Zobrist's 2B defense if you think Castro is a liability there.

 

Ick, UZR had him terrible in LF too. Did he have nagging injuries or something? He was pretty good at 2B and other-worldly in the OF in '14.

He had a knee injury early in the year for Oakland last year, iirc.

[ctcf]

If so, davell only one have happiness here

Nah Id be pretty happy to. I don't like Castro and I'd certainly prefer to have Zobrist on the roster than Castro. I just see Castro as a defensive liability and a bit of a mental flake. He's had a pretty inconsistent career.

 

You're going to hate Zobrist's 2B defense if you think Castro is a liability there.

 

Ick, UZR had him terrible in LF too. Did he have nagging injuries or something? He was pretty good at 2B and other-worldly in the OF in '14.

He had a knee injury early in the year for Oakland last year, iirc.

 

Brett from BN had him as below average at 2B in 2 of past 8 years.

[davell]

I just don't see the point here. If the budget is as tight as reported, this seems like a weird way to spend it. Zobrist doesn't fill a glaring need (he's not a CF - 203 career innings in CF) and while he's probably a safe bet to be better than Castro, I have a hard time seeing the difference being worth the price hike. He's also a decent bet to drop a cliff in the near future. I just don't get it at all.

 

You may be able to backload, defer, whatever on Zobrist. So we don't know that part of it. For that matter, we really don't know what the payroll limitations are either. I think he's a substantial upgrade from Starlin for the first 2 years anyway. The versatility is great, the contact is great.....I think he'd be a great addition. And I doubt this has anything at all to do with Heyward.

[weis21]

Yeah he was hurt for a good portion of last year. When he finally came back from his DL stint he was lights out.

 

This is a good article about his value: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/figuring-out-what-to-pay-ben-zobrist/

 

I would be fine with 4/60 (assuming the fourth year is required and assuming he actually is signed)

 

Edit: I'll go out on a limb and say it's 4/64

[ctcf]

I just don't see the point here. If the budget is as tight as reported, this seems like a weird way to spend it. Zobrist doesn't fill a glaring need (he's not a CF - 203 career innings in CF) and while he's probably a safe bet to be better than Castro, I have a hard time seeing the difference being worth the price hike. He's also a decent bet to drop a cliff in the near future. I just don't get it at all.

 

You may be able to backload, defer, whatever on Zobrist. So we don't know that part of it. For that matter, we really don't know what the payroll limitations are either. I think he's a substantial upgrade from Starlin for the first 2 years anyway. The versatility is great, the contact is great.....I think he'd be a great addition. And I doubt this has anything at all to do with Heyward.

 

I JUST WANT HEYWARD DAMNIT

[Tracer Bullet]

Yeah he was hurt for a good portion of last year. When he finally came back from his DL stint he was lights out.

 

This is a good article about his value: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/figuring-out-what-to-pay-ben-zobrist/

 

I would be fine with 4/60 (assuming the fourth year is required and assuming he actually is signed)

 

Edit: I'll go out on a limb and say it's 4/64

 

what does your parenthetical mean?

[davell]

I just don't see the point here. If the budget is as tight as reported, this seems like a weird way to spend it. Zobrist doesn't fill a glaring need (he's not a CF - 203 career innings in CF) and while he's probably a safe bet to be better than Castro, I have a hard time seeing the difference being worth the price hike. He's also a decent bet to drop a cliff in the near future. I just don't get it at all.

 

You may be able to backload, defer, whatever on Zobrist. So we don't know that part of it. For that matter, we really don't know what the payroll limitations are either. I think he's a substantial upgrade from Starlin for the first 2 years anyway. The versatility is great, the contact is great.....I think he'd be a great addition. And I doubt this has anything at all to do with Heyward.

 

I JUST WANT HEYWARD DAMNIT

 

I truly think we're trying for both.

[weis21]

Yeah he was hurt for a good portion of last year. When he finally came back from his DL stint he was lights out.

 

This is a good article about his value: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/figuring-out-what-to-pay-ben-zobrist/

 

I would be fine with 4/60 (assuming the fourth year is required and assuming he actually is signed)

 

Edit: I'll go out on a limb and say it's 4/64

 

what does your parenthetical mean?

that i would rather have him signed for three years and not four. and on top of that, this is a hypothetical in which he actually is signed by the cubs. i'm not sure if my preference isn't still to hang on to castro instead of signing zobrist. but if he's the direction the FO wants to go, i think 4/60ish is fair.

 

probably did sound a little confusing. that make more sense?

[Tracer Bullet]

Yeah he was hurt for a good portion of last year. When he finally came back from his DL stint he was lights out.

 

This is a good article about his value: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/figuring-out-what-to-pay-ben-zobrist/

 

I would be fine with 4/60 (assuming the fourth year is required and assuming he actually is signed)

 

Edit: I'll go out on a limb and say it's 4/64

 

what does your parenthetical mean?

that i would rather have him signed for three years and not four. and on top of that, this is a hypothetical in which he actually is signed by the cubs. i'm not sure if my preference isn't still to hang on to castro instead of signing zobrist. but if he's the direction the FO wants to go, i think 4/60ish is fair.

 

probably did sound a little confusing. that make more sense?

 

yes. i thought you were saying you only wanted to sign him if the 4th year is required, which didn't make sense.

[weis21]

yeah i went back and read my initial post before i hit submit and kind of wondered if it was apparent what i meant. but it was probably clear as mud.

 

Ideally he's signed for three years and not four. but based on all reports that I've heard, I don't think that's likely the case at all.

[UMFan83]

I'm guessing the FO values his contact ability among other things. Saw on Twitter that he had the 11th best contact rate in baseball last year

[Little Slide Rooter]

I know that people far smarter than I like Zobrist. And I don't hate the idea, but I'd just as soon let the Mets and Nats fight over him, go all in for Heyward for CF or Heyward in RF and dive into the Fowler/Bradley/Jackson/Span/Gardner pool to fill CF if they still insist on trading Soler for pitching.

[rawaction]

It would be extremely odd (and honestly, somewhat of a letdown from a personal standpoint) to go from Castro, Soler and/or Baez to Zobrist, Heyward and/or random CF. I understand, still have Rizzo, Bryant, Russell and Schwarber....but jettisoning young, cheap, under long-term control talent to pay older guys for a potential shorter term (if Heyward has an opt out, this is possible), doesn't seem like something a great front office should do. And I kinda feel that they won't do that (trade Castro, then trade Soler and sign Heyward) so I'm not a fan of this potential move for if nothing else but that reason.

[ctcf]

Cubs got him via Rosenthal

 

[tweet]

[/tweet]

[Vinestal]

Ken Rosenthal @Ken_Rosenthal

Source: Zobrist to #Cubs

[Guest]

Anyone think maddon knew this whole chain of events was already in the works when he said he didn't expect javy or soler to be gone next year?

[ctcf]

[Rob]

Wow. That's a bit unexpected.

 

So long, one or two of Starlin and Javy.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Whhhhhhaaa