Willson Contreras Called Up

[Derwood]

You get a heart just because that gif is awesome

[weis21]

You get a heart just because that gif is awesome

i gave him a heart because everyone on this board has a role. and i believe/aspire my role to be a poor man's bob sanders. and if that comes to fruition then i'm happy.

[CubinNY]

I'm willing to bet that I may never spell his first name correctly in a post.

[Cubbie Swagger]

So, hypothetically...

 

If Contreras comes up and posts a nice slash line for the rest of the year, and plays solid defense... is it realistic that we move Montero in the off-season and go into 2017 with Contreras penciled in as our primary catcher?

[Sammy Sofa]

So, hypothetically...

 

If Contreras comes up and posts a nice slash line for the rest of the year, and plays solid defense... is it realistic that we move Montero in the off-season and go into 2017 with Contreras penciled in as our primary catcher?

 

Seems more likely they keep Montero since the team needs two catchers.

[JennieGarthAlgar]

So, hypothetically...

 

If Contreras comes up and posts a nice slash line for the rest of the year, and plays solid defense... is it realistic that we move Montero in the off-season and go into 2017 with Contreras penciled in as our primary catcher?

 

If we did that we would still need a backup catcher, ideally someone who can hit lefty and frame pitches. Giving up on Miggy in his last year will not get us any valuable trade asset back, nor would I assume any trade partner assume most of his remaining salary. Miggy will be making $14mil next year, which is a lot for a backup yes, but considering Contreras will be making minimum levels it'll be something we can absorb.

[David]

So, hypothetically...

 

If Contreras comes up and posts a nice slash line for the rest of the year, and plays solid defense... is it realistic that we move Montero in the off-season and go into 2017 with Contreras penciled in as our primary catcher?

 

Seems more likely they keep Montero since the team needs two catchers.

 

Yup...and conceivably Schwarber is your 3rd guy that lets Joe do all the wacky things his heart might desire.

[Sammy Sofa]

So, hypothetically...

 

If Contreras comes up and posts a nice slash line for the rest of the year, and plays solid defense... is it realistic that we move Montero in the off-season and go into 2017 with Contreras penciled in as our primary catcher?

 

Seems more likely they keep Montero since the team needs two catchers.

 

Yup...and conceivably Schwarber is your 3rd guy that lets Joe do all the wacky things his heart might desire.

 

Exactly. Nobody's likely to give the Cubs anything of real value for Montero unless they basically paid for his whole salary, so might as well ride it out.

[Cubbie Swagger]

I wasn't sure if Montero was going to be content as a backup. Considering how badly most catchers suck, I'm sure there are teams in the league that would value him as a starter.

 

Also, would it make sense that he would be strongly opposed to losing playing time in a contract year? He might be looking for his last decent contract, depending on how his health situation goes. If he only gets a limited amount of playing time in 2017, is that going to hurt his value as a free agent?

[ChiCubsFan]

I wasn't sure if Montero was going to be content as a backup. Considering how badly most catchers suck, I'm sure there are teams in the league that would value him as a starter.

 

Also, would it make sense that he would be strongly opposed to losing playing time in a contract year? He might be looking for his last decent contract, depending on how his health situation goes. If he only gets a limited amount of playing time in 2017, is that going to hurt his value as a free agent?

 

I don't think so. It may even help by masking some of his (potential) injury issues and never starting versus a lefty. With Monteros recent tweet about being proud of WC, I could see him being okay with the situation for a year.

[Sammy Sofa]

I wasn't sure if Montero was going to be content as a backup. Considering how badly most catchers suck, I'm sure there are teams in the league that would value him as a starter.

 

Also, would it make sense that he would be strongly opposed to losing playing time in a contract year? He might be looking for his last decent contract, depending on how his health situation goes. If he only gets a limited amount of playing time in 2017, is that going to hurt his value as a free agent?

 

The guy is going to be a 35-year-old catcher when he's FA next; it's not like he'll really be in a "contract year"-type situation so much as, "damn, I hope I can get a job as a backup, IF I can even keep my job playing baseball." I doubt he'll have much of a problem making $14 million as a backup while clearly on the back end of his career.

[apete6]

I wasn't sure if Montero was going to be content as a backup. Considering how badly most catchers suck, I'm sure there are teams in the league that would value him as a starter.

 

Also, would it make sense that he would be strongly opposed to losing playing time in a contract year? He might be looking for his last decent contract, depending on how his health situation goes. If he only gets a limited amount of playing time in 2017, is that going to hurt his value as a free agent?

 

The guy is going to be a 35-year-old catcher when he's FA next; it's not like he'll really be in a "contract year"-type situation so much as, "damn, I hope I can get a job as a backup, IF I can even keep my job playing baseball." I doubt he'll have much of a problem making $14 million as a backup while clearly on the back end of his career.

 

He really seems like a big time "team first" type of dude that everyone loves as well. It'll be Willson and Miggy as the catchers next year. Then maybe they can put Schwarber as the 3rd guy if he is fully healed. After Montero's contract is up, they'll replace him with another Ross type guy.

[Cubbie Swagger]

I wasn't sure if Montero was going to be content as a backup. Considering how badly most catchers suck, I'm sure there are teams in the league that would value him as a starter.

 

Also, would it make sense that he would be strongly opposed to losing playing time in a contract year? He might be looking for his last decent contract, depending on how his health situation goes. If he only gets a limited amount of playing time in 2017, is that going to hurt his value as a free agent?

 

The guy is going to be a 35-year-old catcher when he's FA next; it's not like he'll really be in a "contract year"-type situation so much as, "damn, I hope I can get a job as a backup, IF I can even keep my job playing baseball." I doubt he'll have much of a problem making $14 million as a backup while clearly on the back end of his career.

Not to be a prick, but he'll be 34.

 

And yes, you may be right. I was just leaving open the possibility that at 34 he might be hanging onto some ideal of maybe finding a 2 year deal as a starter with some team that has a huge hole at catcher.

 

I'm just hypothesizing. Obviously I don't know the guy or anything. Maybe he's totally content being a backup on a really good, really fun team like the Cubs.

[davell]

If he gets 200-250 AB's next year, puts up a solid slash line and looks relatively decent behind the plate, he'll get a starting gig the next year anyway.

[Sammy Sofa]

I wasn't sure if Montero was going to be content as a backup. Considering how badly most catchers suck, I'm sure there are teams in the league that would value him as a starter.

 

Also, would it make sense that he would be strongly opposed to losing playing time in a contract year? He might be looking for his last decent contract, depending on how his health situation goes. If he only gets a limited amount of playing time in 2017, is that going to hurt his value as a free agent?

 

The guy is going to be a 35-year-old catcher when he's FA next; it's not like he'll really be in a "contract year"-type situation so much as, "damn, I hope I can get a job as a backup, IF I can even keep my job playing baseball." I doubt he'll have much of a problem making $14 million as a backup while clearly on the back end of his career.

Not to be a prick, but he'll be 34.

 

And yes, you may be right. I was just leaving open the possibility that at 34 he might be hanging onto some ideal of maybe finding a 2 year deal as a starter with some team that has a huge hole at catcher.

 

I'm just hypothesizing. Obviously I don't know the guy or anything. Maybe he's totally content being a backup on a really good, really fun team like the Cubs.

 

2015 is looking more and more like an outlier in the backslide of his career. Sure, he might decide he wants a big deal, but unless he has an amazing bounceback this year he'd have to be in pretty serious denial. Everything he's done and said indicates he seems to be a pretty good team guy, so fortunately it seems unlikely he's going to press the issue when he's making out like a bandit and making $14 million.

[jumbo]

I wasn't sure if Montero was going to be content as a backup. Considering how badly most catchers suck, I'm sure there are teams in the league that would value him as a starter.

 

Also, would it make sense that he would be strongly opposed to losing playing time in a contract year? He might be looking for his last decent contract, depending on how his health situation goes. If he only gets a limited amount of playing time in 2017, is that going to hurt his value as a free agent?

 

The guy is going to be a 35-year-old catcher when he's FA next; it's not like he'll really be in a "contract year"-type situation so much as, "damn, I hope I can get a job as a backup, IF I can even keep my job playing baseball." I doubt he'll have much of a problem making $14 million as a backup while clearly on the back end of his career.

 

He really seems like a big time "team first" type of dude that everyone loves as well. It'll be Willson and Miggy as the catchers next year. Then maybe they can put Schwarber as the 3rd guy if he is fully healed. After Montero's contract is up, they'll replace him with another Ross type guy.

 

Is it possible that Caratini comes up as a backup/part time player with Contreras and Schwarber catchine one day out of 5? The Cubs would be the envy of the league at C

[Rob]

I wasn't sure if Montero was going to be content as a backup. Considering how badly most catchers suck, I'm sure there are teams in the league that would value him as a starter.

 

Also, would it make sense that he would be strongly opposed to losing playing time in a contract year? He might be looking for his last decent contract, depending on how his health situation goes. If he only gets a limited amount of playing time in 2017, is that going to hurt his value as a free agent?

 

I'm not really sure there is such a thing as a conventional "backup" on a Joe Maddon team.

 

Montero will probably get additional PA when he's playing 3B, or when Contreras is pitching or something equally wacky.

[CubinNY]

 

The guy is going to be a 35-year-old catcher when he's FA next; it's not like he'll really be in a "contract year"-type situation so much as, "damn, I hope I can get a job as a backup, IF I can even keep my job playing baseball." I doubt he'll have much of a problem making $14 million as a backup while clearly on the back end of his career.

 

He really seems like a big time "team first" type of dude that everyone loves as well. It'll be Willson and Miggy as the catchers next year. Then maybe they can put Schwarber as the 3rd guy if he is fully healed. After Montero's contract is up, they'll replace him with another Ross type guy.

 

Is it possible that Caratini comes up as a backup/part time player with Contreras and Schwarber catchine one day out of 5? The Cubs would be the envy of the league at C

I would say yes, but the answer is probably no, because catchers develop more slowly. I've seen him play a few times now and he looks pretty polished behind the plate. But what do I know? He may be more likely to be traded than play for the Cubs.