Today's wish list...

[minnesotacubsfan]

If we can both trade Hammel for prospects and still start Hammel, I'm for option 3.

 

I'm taking a shot with Warren, and keeping the other kids to backlog a bit

[Guest]

I now want all the Cubans.

 

 

ALL OF THEM

[Guest]

But seriously, maybe Theo can volunteer to mediate between the US and Cuba and make their national team part of our farm system as part of the deal.

[UK1679666180]

I'm all for letting the bottom of the rotation work itself out and if it doesn't, trade for Sonny.

[TruffleShuffle]

yeah, on paper we should certainly be strong enough to make the playoffs as constructed, and there is plenty of depth at SP. i don't think we need to build a theoretically invincible team on paper. probably the only move i think should be made is to deal coghlan for whatever, since there's really not much need for him and he's a lousy defender in the outfield. deal him, make sure you have an extra outfielder who can play defense, then call it an offseason. go into the year with a plan of arrieta, lester, lackey, hammel, hendricks. if guys underperform or get hurt, use depth and prospects to make trades.

[weis21]

yeah, on paper we should certainly be strong enough to make the playoffs as constructed, and there is plenty of depth at SP. i don't think we need to build a theoretically invincible team on paper. probably the only move i think should be made is to deal coghlan for whatever, since there's really not much need for him and he's a lousy defender in the outfield. deal him, make sure you have an extra outfielder who can play defense, then call it an offseason. go into the year with a plan of arrieta, lester, lackey, hammel, hendricks. if guys underperform or get hurt, use depth and prospects to make trades.

Agreed. And I'm all for signing Austin Jackson if he is affordable/doesn't have a full-time gig elsewhere. Maybe he'll take a slight discount to come back - especially with the familiarity with this team.

 

I wouldn't change anything with this offseason so far (except maybe wishing there was a Lackey-level FA talent that could have been had on Lackey's contract that wasn't actually John Lackey, but at this point I'm whatevs). That being said, I'm going to miss Fowler and Castro a whole lot. 2015 Cubs baseball is always going to hold a special place in my heart. I guess if nothing else it gives me a reason to follow them and their new team and maybe I'll be more interested in watching more non-Cubs MLB games that I have been in light of that. And I (perhaps even irrationally) REALLY don't want to trade Montero because I [expletive] love that dude a lot.

[weis21]

dp

[Cubbie Swagger]

I wouldn't change anything with this offseason so far (except maybe wishing there was a Lackey-level FA talent that could have been had on Lackey's contract that wasn't actually John Lackey, but at this point I'm whatevs).

This is not a valid complaint. "Whatevs" is the correct response.

 

Seriously, this is the best Cubs off-season in my 26 years on this planet. I could not complain if I tried.

 

It's funny, all I wanted was a decent starting pitcher. I wanted Price, but if you told me we were gonna get Lackey, Heyward, and Zobrist... I wouldn't even have believed you. For once, the front office of a Chicago sport team actually exceeded expectations.

[TruffleShuffle]

i'm 100 percent on board with getting a good pitcher on a short term contract and signing heyward for long term. the opt-out is definitely a bad thing for the cubs - he gets more expensive if he plays really well, and he hangs around if he sucks. but he's a very good player in his mid 20s and isn't likely to decline anytime soon. the i'm not sure where the cubs are right now in terms of payroll capability, but the prospect of having two pitchers in their 30s eating up $55 million of the payroll is mildly terrifying, especially when we will probably need a dump truck full of cash to cover arbitration raises of guys like bryant, russell, and maybe soler and schwarber.

[hawkeyecub]

Seriously, though, unless the offer is overwhelming I'd prefer the Cubs just hang onto the young dongers.

 

Definitely. I want to see it all come together now.

 

And wait, did Tim nail the 8/$184M?

[MarkR]

i'm 100 percent on board with getting a good pitcher on a short term contract and signing heyward for long term. the opt-out is definitely a bad thing for the cubs - he gets more expensive if he plays really well, and he hangs around if he sucks. but he's a very good player in his mid 20s and isn't likely to decline anytime soon. the i'm not sure where the cubs are right now in terms of payroll capability, but the prospect of having two pitchers in their 30s eating up $55 million of the payroll is mildly terrifying, especially when we will probably need a dump truck full of cash to cover arbitration raises of guys like bryant, russell, and maybe soler and schwarber.

 

 

I see your point about it being solely beneficial for Heyward, but the way the 2018 FA class stacks up, he may opt out and (if there's money available) sign someone else. That class is stacked.

 

But yeah, i'm not sure if we'll have money if we lock up Arrieta and when our studs hit arbitration.

[Guest]

Seriously, though, unless the offer is overwhelming I'd prefer the Cubs just hang onto the young dongers.

 

Definitely. I want to see it all come together now.

 

And wait, did Tim nail the 8/$184M?

I did, but I can't take any credit. I just used the Fangraphs crowdsourced contract estimates.

[Cubswin11]

I know it's far-fetched and unlikely but my last remaining moves, in a perfect offseason, would be figuring out a way to trade Coghlan and a mess of prospects (Torres, Jeimer, Edwards/Underwood, etc.) for either Odorizzi and McGee or Gausman and then convince Fowler to come back on a 1-2 year deal to be the back-up OF. Edited December 12, 2015 by Cubswin11

[JennieGarthAlgar]

i'm 100 percent on board with getting a good pitcher on a short term contract and signing heyward for long term. the opt-out is definitely a bad thing for the cubs - he gets more expensive if he plays really well, and he hangs around if he sucks. but he's a very good player in his mid 20s and isn't likely to decline anytime soon. the i'm not sure where the cubs are right now in terms of payroll capability, but the prospect of having two pitchers in their 30s eating up $55 million of the payroll is mildly terrifying, especially when we will probably need a dump truck full of cash to cover arbitration raises of guys like bryant, russell, and maybe soler and schwarber.

 

 

I see your point about it being solely beneficial for Heyward, but the way the 2018 FA class stacks up, he may opt out and (if there's money available) sign someone else. That class is stacked.

 

But yeah, i'm not sure if we'll have money if we lock up Arrieta and when our studs hit arbitration.

 

Yeah, Heyward has the upperhand with the opt out now, but we won't know if its a bad thing for the Cubs until after the whole thing comes and passes. If, say, he helps us win 3 rings and then opts out, cashes in with whichever team loses out on Harper, then watches as we plug in Jiminez or someone else who is younger, cheaper, and potentially better at that point in time and helps us win our 4th straight...... basically what I'm saying is, is both sides can come out winners, right?

 

If he mashes the next 3 years and we don't win any rings, he opts out and leaves us without a suitable replacement... then yeah. That would suck. But I think Theo has earned our trust to this point, so I'm not going to second guess these opt outs until I see them happen first.

[JennieGarthAlgar]

I know it's far-fetched and unlikely but my last remaining moves, in a perfect offseason, would be figuring out a way to trade Coghlan and a mess of prospects (Torres, Jeimer, Edwards/Underwood, etc.) for either Odorizzi and McGee or Gausman and then convince Fowler to come back on a 1-2 year deal to be the back-up OF.

 

Maybe Joe Torre would manage Iowa for us too?

[Cubswin11]

I know it's far-fetched and unlikely but my last remaining moves, in a perfect offseason, would be figuring out a way to trade Coghlan and a mess of prospects (Torres, Jeimer, Edwards/Underwood, etc.) for either Odorizzi and McGee or Gausman and then convince Fowler to come back on a 1-2 year deal to be the back-up OF.

 

Maybe Joe Torre would manage Iowa for us too?

I said it was far-fetched, but there's still a lot of guys ahead of him to sign and with next years FA class being so crappy maybe they could convince him to come back on a 1 year deal, hopefully be a part of something special, and cash in next year.

[JennieGarthAlgar]

I suppose what caught me off guard was your suggestion he would be the 4th outfielder. IF Dexter would accept the QO to come back, I have the feeling we wouldn't want a nearly $16mil asset on the bench for most of the game. It would almost certainly mean a trade of Soler.

[Cubswin11]

I suppose what caught me off guard was your suggestion he would be the 4th outfielder. IF Dexter would accept the QO to come back, I have the feeling we wouldn't want a nearly $16mil asset on the bench for most of the game. It would almost certainly mean a trade of Soler.

Yeah I mean it's unlikely but he was here last year to experience it first hand with Joe shuffling guys all around "4th" OF on this team is really in name only. He'd probably start nearly ever game against LHP and probably would appear in about every game he didn't start for defense later in the game. Obviously he's a starting caliber OF, but if his market never materializes maybe they could talk him in to coming back if we make other moves yet. Again it's highly unlikely but if the FO is truly not done yet you could see a scenario with him coming back.

[JennieGarthAlgar]

Yes. I see a scenario in him coming back, but it includes us trading Soler, putting Heyward in RF and Fowler in CF. I realize you said "in a perfect offseason" but realistically, we can't keep them all. If Fowler is on this team then he is the starting CF every game, pretty much.

[Cubbie Swagger]

It should be noted that Heyward only gets to opt out if he plays a certain number of games. If he gets hurt, he does not get to opt out.

[Guest]

It should be noted that Heyward only gets to opt out if he plays a certain number of games. If he gets hurt, he does not get to opt out.

 

The distinction isn't likely to be all that meaningful though, if Heyward misses a chunk of time with injury he's even less likely to want to opt out. The exact details will be really crucial on his deal for a lot of reasons.

[squally1313]

I know Coghlan makes a bit more money than you would like for a back up outfielder, but assuming we're alright on the financial side as things currently stand, I wouldn't mind him sticking around. If we are going to stick with Heyward in center, I'm still somewhat hesitant about handing over 600 PAs in RF to Soler. He's had lingering injury problems in the past, usually struggles in the cold weather, and really outside of the last few weeks wasn't entirely impressive in 2015. Keeping Coghlan around to spot start against the tougher righties, or as a pinch hitter late in games seems to hold a decent amount of value. Sign an all glove outfielder for the 5th spot and call it a day out there (unless Baez thrives there and can fill that role too).

 

The only other variable with this is that Coghlan complained last year about how he thought he was playing well enough to be a starter (which, in his defense, he was). Joe/Theo would have to convince him to buy into that role.

[jersey cubs fan]

It should be noted that Heyward only gets to opt out if he plays a certain number of games. If he gets hurt, he does not get to opt out.

 

The distinction isn't likely to be all that meaningful though, if Heyward misses a chunk of time with injury he's even less likely to want to opt out. The exact details will be really crucial on his deal for a lot of reasons.

It's probably all about timing. He could miss all of 2016 and be in a position where he would want to opt out after year three.

[Sammy Sofa]

It should be noted that Heyward only gets to opt out if he plays a certain number of games. If he gets hurt, he does not get to opt out.

 

The distinction isn't likely to be all that meaningful though, if Heyward misses a chunk of time with injury he's even less likely to want to opt out. The exact details will be really crucial on his deal for a lot of reasons.

It's probably all about timing. He could miss all of 2016 and be in a position where he would want to opt out after year three.

 

https://youtu.be/j4cBRJXSNso

[JennieGarthAlgar]

The only other variable with this is that Coghlan complained last year about how he thought he was playing well enough to be a starter (which, in his defense, he was). Joe/Theo would have to convince him to buy into that role.

 

I certainly wouldn't consider what happened last year as "complaining". Dude was asked by a reporter if he thought he should be a starter down the stretch/in the playoffs. Cogs was confident in himself and he was coming off a season where he was hitting 3rd and picked up an infielders glove for the first time in years. He was a useful, team player and he really only said, "yeah, I think I should be in the lineup".