General Cubs Chit-Chat

[CubinNY]

https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs/2022/11/08/the-ricketts-family-reportedly-have-interest-in-buying-a-different-soccer-franchise/

 

Wasn't sure where to put this.

 

You would think that a group that recently suffered "biblical losses" from owning a sports team wouldn't be so excited about pursuing another team. Unless, of course, they didn't really "suffer" all that much.

Far be it from me to criticize the Ricketts for attempting to buy another business. However, I do question their commitment to the Cubs to winning baseball games.

 

The Cubs are like the toy they are tired of playing with now and just want to see how much money they can extract from it for their next thing.

[Tryptamine]

It's truly amazing that the owner who finally brought the Cubs their first World Series in over a century has only taken about 5 years to completely destroy all of that those feelings and become a loathed figure in Chicago.

[jersey cubs fan]

It's truly amazing that the owner who finally brought the Cubs their first World Series in over a century has only taken about 5 years to completely destroy all of that those feelings and become a loathed figure in Chicago.

Didn’t take 5 years

[javy knows my name]

It's truly amazing that the owner who finally brought the Cubs their first World Series in over a century has only taken about 5 years to completely destroy all of that those feelings and become a loathed figure in Chicago.

Didn’t take 5 years

 

No kidding. Not signing Harper had me there already

[UMFan83]

I know some were hoping that somehow Willson would miraculously decide to accept the QO but that is officially not the case.

 

[Bertz]

Fangraphs has their 2023 projections out. Playing time projections are pretty silly at this phase of the offseason, but looking at guys on a normalized per 600 PAs basis there's some interesting (and mostly positive) stuff.

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/projections.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&type=steamer600&team=17&lg=all&players=

 

This turned into a wall of text, so breaking it up by group and using spoiler tags.

 

The Lineup:

 

 

The projections are largely what you'd expect. Nico and Seiya are very good but not quite stars (both with WARs in the mid-3s). Happ and Morel are projected as quality starters a step behind those top two guys. Most of the rest of the returning players are in that 2nd division starter neighborhood between 1.5-2 WAR. Good news if they get pushed to the bench bad news if they're starting. I think the biggest surprise for me is the bullish Madrigal projection. Obviously the projected playing time has to take a hit, but 2.3 WAR over full allotment of PAs is basically the same guy on a rate basis he was coming into last year

 

 

The Rotation

 

 

Looks a bit uglier than I expected. Steele and Stroman both project as solid SPs, but like #3/#4 types. Steamer thinks Hendricks is cooked, and isn't buying what Sampson did last year AT ALL. The system does like Assad and Chris Clarke more than I expected it to, seeing them as good depth options

 

 

The bullpen

 

 

Much better on paper than I expected. Five guys project with a FIP under 4 in Hughes, Estrada, Alzolay, Wick, and Leiter. Thompson projects a little worse, bit as a bulk inning reliever I think the bar is a little lower for him. Beyond those guys you have Heuer, Roberts, Little, Rucker, and Leigh with projected FIP marks under 4.30 (and Manny Rodriguez just above that mark at 4.31), so there's plenty of quality useful depth beyond the guys you'd happily write into the opening day pen.

 

 

Prospects (Position Players)

 

 

Miguel Amaya, Matt Mervis, and Darius Hill (??) all project as quality everyday caliber players. Yonathan Perlaza and Alexander Canario project as above average MLB hitters right now, and Brennen Davis projects just south of 2 WAR with solid all around contributions. PCA, who hasn't played above A ball, already projects to an 83 wRC+ and 1.1 WAR. His glove just keeps the floor so high

 

 

Prospects (Pitchers)

 

 

Wesneski projects to 1.5 WAR, which is lower than I expected but totally reasonable. Jordan Wicks however projects a smidge better, surprising because I had him pegged as just a cup of coffee guy this year. There's also some weirdness of the projection system assuming guys to the wrong (IMO at least) SP/RP role. So you have to do some intuiting to decide whether the results are positive or not. Ryan Jensen, Riley Thompson, and DJ Herz are all projected as SPs with ERAs under 5. That's not great, but knock off half a run for the SP -> conversion and you could see each being positive 2023 contributions. Conversely Steamer coded Ben Brown and Caleb Kilian as relievers with ERAs just over 4, so as SPs they're probably a bit behind Wesneski and Wicks?

 

[Proven Veteran]

In the article about James Click leaving the Astros, ESPN mentioned that the Astros had a completed deal for Willson that was vetoed by Astro's ownership. Did we know about that before?

[17 Seconds]

In the article about James Click leaving the Astros, ESPN mentioned that the Astros had a completed deal for Willson that was vetoed by Astro's ownership. Did we know about that before?

 

it was talked about here somewhere. it was supposed to be for urquidy. the story before was that dusty vetoed it because he thought willson would be playing for his own numbers

[We Got The Whole 9]

In the article about James Click leaving the Astros, ESPN mentioned that the Astros had a completed deal for Willson that was vetoed by Astro's ownership. Did we know about that before?

That news broke last week I believe. It was a straight-up deal for Urquidy and was actually vetoed by Dusty with concern that Willy wouldn't be happy in a time-sharing role and he would just be gunning for his own numbers.

 

He actually said this stuff.

[Andy]

In the article about James Click leaving the Astros, ESPN mentioned that the Astros had a completed deal for Willson that was vetoed by Astro's ownership. Did we know about that before?

That news broke last week I believe. It was a straight-up deal for Urquidy and was actually vetoed by Dusty with concern that Willy wouldn't be happy in a time-sharing role and he would just be gunning for his own numbers.

 

He actually said this stuff.

To be fair to Dusty, ownership never approved the trade so it probably wouldn't have happened regardless of Dusty's opinion. I just loved that Dusty take. One of those takes where you know it's coming before you even see it.

[Outshined_One]

In the article about James Click leaving the Astros, ESPN mentioned that the Astros had a completed deal for Willson that was vetoed by Astro's ownership. Did we know about that before?

That news broke last week I believe. It was a straight-up deal for Urquidy and was actually vetoed by Dusty with concern that Willy wouldn't be happy in a time-sharing role and he would just be gunning for his own numbers.

 

He actually said this stuff.

To be fair to Dusty, ownership never approved the trade so it probably wouldn't have happened regardless of Dusty's opinion. I just loved that Dusty take. One of those takes where you know it's coming before you even see it.

 

Gotta give playing time to guys like Jose Macias and Neifi Perez because they're clearly not gunning for their own numbers, dude.

 

God I loathe that man. I feel like I'm one of a handful of people who were actively rooting against the Astros because of him.

[minnesotacubsfan]

I'd like to see your math on that one

[NOLA]

That news broke last week I believe. It was a straight-up deal for Urquidy and was actually vetoed by Dusty with concern that Willy wouldn't be happy in a time-sharing role and he would just be gunning for his own numbers.

 

He actually said this stuff.

To be fair to Dusty, ownership never approved the trade so it probably wouldn't have happened regardless of Dusty's opinion. I just loved that Dusty take. One of those takes where you know it's coming before you even see it.

 

Gotta give playing time to guys like Jose Macias and Neifi Perez because they're clearly not gunning for their own numbers, dude.

 

God I loathe that man. I feel like I'm one of a handful of people who were actively rooting against the Astros because of him.

[Rob]

I was rooting against the Astros mostly for the cheating thing.

 

As far as that particular trade is concerned, he also voiced that a good chunk of his opposition was because Urquidy was pitching as well as anybody on his staff at the trade deadline. Which is fair. From June 1 to Aug 3, he had a 2.86 ERA.

 

While I'm still salty about Dusty's time here as the manager, he does seem to have learned a lot of lessons from it (though clearly not all he needed to). He should never be making front office decisions, but his in-game ones are mostly fine now. But on a personal level, he's always seemed like a good dude, so I wasn't upset to see him get a ring.

[UMFan83]

I didn’t see this discussed anywhere:

 

 

Thoughts? Would adding some extra velo help Hendricks at this stage of his career? Obviously more velo always helps but concerned that he might sacrifice his at times impeccable command to throw what would still be a subpar fastball in terms of velocity

[Transmogrified Tiger]

The way the article described it, that program is less aiming to get Hendricks to gain new velocity, and more trying to get him back to previous highs(e.g. 88 mph on the fastball v. 86), plus possibly make his delivery more repeatable.

 

Personally I don't see much to lose given how little we can count on Hendricks' 2023 baseline, but what is sticking in my head is how Kilian's command evaporated right when they were able to upgrade his stuff, so I'm gonna treat it as BSOHL level optimism for now.

[CubinNY]

I'm not sure two to 3 mph is going to give him what he needs. I'd wager they are working on the consistency of the release point or some other mechanics to make sure he keeps the location consistent. His problem has been HRs and the HRs are coming from poorly located pitches up in the zone.

[UMFan83]

Another ASG not at Wrigley:

 

 

Cubs have hosted 1 ASG in the last 62 years. 2026 is spoken for already, so if the Cubs don't get awarded the 2025 game, it will be 2027 at the earliest.

[Tryptamine]

I really thought once the team completed the renovations the Cubs were basically guaranteed an ASG. I'd love to hear the justification for one of MLB's largest markets to get passed over year after year.

[UMFan83]

I really thought once the team completed the renovations the Cubs were basically guaranteed an ASG. I'd love to hear the justification for one of MLB's largest markets to get passed over year after year.

 

MLB prefers to reward teams who get public money to complete stadiums/renovations. The Cubs took no public money and then spent 3+ years crying poor and fielding less competitive teams using the excuse (among others) that they took too much debt on. The Cubs will get one eventually but can't help feeling like they are being punished.

 

Boob reports that the Cubs along with the Jays, Orioles and Braves are the leading candidates for 2025.

[Cubswin11]

Almost have to wonder if Ricketts are holding it off to finish some more development around the stadium to maximize revenue (idk what they have left or going on but would assume they still have some projects going) as a reason we haven’t gotten it yet.

[Tryptamine]

I really thought once the team completed the renovations the Cubs were basically guaranteed an ASG. I'd love to hear the justification for one of MLB's largest markets to get passed over year after year.

 

MLB prefers to reward teams who get public money to complete stadiums/renovations. The Cubs took no public money and then spent 3+ years crying poor and fielding less competitive teams using the excuse (among others) that they took too much debt on. The Cubs will get one eventually but can't help feeling like they are being punished.

 

Boob reports that the Cubs along with the Jays, Orioles and Braves are the leading candidates for 2025.

 

I'd bet the Braves after losing the ASG previously through no fault of their own.

[Derwood]

Another ASG not at Wrigley:

 

 

Cubs have hosted 1 ASG in the last 62 years. 2026 is spoken for already, so if the Cubs don't get awarded the 2025 game, it will be 2027 at the earliest.

 

 

That Texas ballpark is ugly as sin. When they hosted the COVID-World-Series I marveled at how awful it looked on TV

[UMFan83]

Anyone else going to the London games next year? I just bought tickets to the Saturday game, looking forward to the experience.

[17 Seconds]