Cubs offseason thread

[Banedon]

After reading up on the case I personally dont think Chapman ever hit her.

 

I feel so much better now.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I'd love to see the Orioles undervalue Zach Britton our way

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Yeah, Hudson is intriguing too. Plenty of non closer(for us anyway) type of arms out there.....The question is how many guaranteed contracts do we add to the pen? Currently, the pen looks like this....

 

CL Edwards?

SU Strop

MR Rondon(if he gets healthy this changes obviously)

MR Grimm

MR Pena

Swing- Zastryzny

 

LOOGY options- Rosscup, Leathersich

 

MR Candidates- Patton, Johnson, Rosario, Rivero

 

This doesn't even look awful, as it is. If you add in Montgomery, it looks decent. My guess is Monty gets about 15 starts and is out of the pen for half the year.

 

I think we'll definitely add a lefty of some sort. If Monty is pen bound, I guess I'd see us add a lesser type. If he's starting, then I could see an upper echelon type.

 

We'll be getting a closer. That's almost a definite, I guess? Unless they DO want to give Edwards a chance and address it at midsesson, if it becomes a need?

 

I think they'll add a righty middle reliever too. But definitely a lesser guy, IF they add a closer. If they don't add a closer, I could see Ziegler or basically anyone.....

 

So, I say we're adding 3 guaranteed contracts. Closer, right handed MR, and a LOOGY.....

 

Man, you're more optimistic than I am on the current pen options. If Rondon really is broken and Monty goes to the rotation, I count two guys that I really feel comfortable with in high leverage situations.

[Brian]

so guy at work said the rumor is floating around that the Cubs offered Soler, Baez and any 2 minor league pitchers not named Dylan Cease for Chris Sale. I feel like he pulled this horsefeathers at the deadline, talking about "rumors" that I can't find anywhere online. I just can't figure out if someone else is making them up and telling him or what is going on.

[Thed Hoyerstein]

so guy at work said the rumor is floating around that the Cubs offered Soler, Baez and any 2 minor league pitchers not named Dylan Cease for Chris Sale. I feel like he pulled this horsefeathers at the deadline, talking about "rumors" that I can't find anywhere online. I just can't figure out if someone else is making them up and telling him or what is going on.

 

I'd be shocked if Dylan Cease was really off the table for freaking Chris Sale. And that deal would be a huge winner for the Cubs.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

lol at "any two minor league pitchers not named Dylan Cease"

 

that's like saying you can take any penny you want from the find a penny/take a penny tray

[USSoccer]

That would make the team 100% more unlikable, so there's that.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

That would make the team 100% more unlikable, so there's that.

 

think of the scarecrow/halloween crossovers with Sale in the playoffs though

[Cubswin11]

so guy at work said the rumor is floating around that the Cubs offered Soler, Baez and any 2 minor league pitchers not named Dylan Cease for Chris Sale. I feel like he pulled this horsefeathers at the deadline, talking about "rumors" that I can't find anywhere online. I just can't figure out if someone else is making them up and telling him or what is going on.

I would imagine if that offer was out there right now we'd do it

[Gmoney08]

After reading up on the case I personally dont think Chapman ever hit her.

 

I feel so much better now.

 

Well have you looked into the case details?

[Banedon]

After reading up on the case I personally dont think Chapman ever hit her.

 

I feel so much better now.

 

Well have you looked into the case details?

 

Yes. It was discussed ad nauseum here when the trade happened. The man is garbage. We used him for what we needed, now he can go somewhere away from my team.

[Gmoney08]

 

I feel so much better now.

 

Well have you looked into the case details?

 

Yes. It was discussed ad nauseum here when the trade happened. The man is garbage. We used him for what we needed, now he can go somewhere away from my team.

 

Well okay then. I disagree and dont think he actually hit her after looking into it. But,again I see why some wouldnt want him back.

[davell]

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Hmm. This doesn't make it sound like Chapman, Jansen, or Melancon are all that likely. I get that you should be on the lookout for the next Miller, but I'm hoping for a bigtime guy to go with him.

 

And I saw a quote we're looking for "OF depth?" That doesn't sound great for Dex either.......

 

I get that they said they were having 2 offseasons last year, but after winning the WS, surely we at least retain Dex or add a major closer. Don't see why it shouldn't be both.....

[Tryptamine]

Doesn't sound like they're going to be doing any kind of FA spending this season as they spent all their money last offseason knowing this offseason would be weak.

 

http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-cubs/why-cubs-arent-planning-another-free-agent-extravaganza-winter

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Maybe they don't spend much this offseason, but didn't they make similar cautions the last 2 years? They've shown they can handle a payroll north of 170m even before the world series windfall, and they're under 150 now with very few roster spots to fill.

[davell]

Maybe they don't spend much this offseason, but didn't they make similar cautions the last 2 years? They've shown they can handle a payroll north of 170m even before the world series windfall, and they're under 150 now with very few roster spots to fill.

 

Did they? They made it a point to remind they hadn't spent the Tanaka money, during that offsesson. So we knew they wanted to grab Lester. And they were mentioned with Heyward and Price and guys last year too.

 

I'm taking them at face value, since they've been as upfront about stuff as you could possibly be. That's why Jed's comments don't sound great to me.

[raw]

The Cubs have shown interest in the past in Nate Eovaldi. He always seemed like a guy that could potentially make a dominating late reliever. Really good fastball and a splitter. Only once thrown more than 154 innings, and has had some injury issues the 2 years since then. Seems like a very good candidate, with Bosio's help, to be a late inning guy that could give you multiple innings late in the season. Granted, he still does have a lot of value as a starter but I'd really love to add him and let him, Montgomery, and a young guy with options battle it out for the 5th starter spot next year.

 

Then potentially have a playoff pen of Edwards and Strop for a single inning at a time and Eovaldi and Monty for multiple innings at a time.

 

Also think "not focusing on Chapman or Jansen" makes a guy like Brett Cecil even that more attractive.

 

Rondon, Strop, Cecil, Edwards, Grimm, Zastryzny, Eovaldi/Montgomery makes for a pretty good pen, even though you may not have a extremely trustworthy closer out of that group. Also allows you to potentially to bring back Fowler, and we saw having a great closer for the regular season isn't super necessary for a team with this type of offense and starting pitching.

[jehr]

It's too late now... but I was kind of hoping they'd put Hammel into Cahill's role of the long, RH guy out of the pen. With his late season history, putting him in the pen and saving the innings on his arm seemed to make sense to me. He could always revert to be the 5th starter if needed as well. For the additional $10mil it would have cost them, he'd be a little pricey, but I'd be okay with that. On the open market, someone's going to try to get 180+ innings out of him and will pay him for it.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Maybe they don't spend much this offseason, but didn't they make similar cautions the last 2 years? They've shown they can handle a payroll north of 170m even before the world series windfall, and they're under 150 now with very few roster spots to fill.

 

Did they? They made it a point to remind they hadn't spent the Tanaka money, during that offsesson. So we knew they wanted to grab Lester. And they were mentioned with Heyward and Price and guys last year too.

 

I'm taking them at face value, since they've been as upfront about stuff as you could possibly be. That's why Jed's comments don't sound great to me.

 

Yes, every year you'll see reminders from the front office that they aren't going nuts in free agency, and that they shouldn't have tunnel vision on [popular FA target]. It's partially a reminder to overzealous fans who just want to buy all the things, and also hedging their bets in case things go south with a particular player. I don't think Jed says anything wrong there, but I also think the Cubs should be more motivated to pay the certainty premium for Jansen/Chapman given the state of the rest of the bullpen. Sure, adding a couple interesting arms and hoping one rises to the top isn't a terrible strategy, and might prove more ideal in practice if one works out real well. It also carries the risk of the bullpen undermining a championship contending season, just like the 2016 Giants.

[Banedon]

I read Jed's statement as "we aren't gonna go get 3 or 4 big free agents....Heyward, Zobrist, Lackey style. I don't think that precludes one big pickup, like Jensen, and then some other smaller "fill-in" type moves.

[raw]

Eovaldi had TJ in August and is expected to miss 2017. One of the big, understated plusses with guys like Miller and Davis were their relatively healthy, surgery free arms when converting.

 

I womder if the Yankees would trade Betances?

 

Ah horsefeathers, I thought he avoided surgery. My bad.

[davell]

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Nothing we didn't know obviously, but a decent breakdown overall.

[davell]

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We ARE interested in Holland.

[jehr]

Are there any lower end starting pitchers that profile well through the first time through the order but drop off on the second? I'm thinking they might be looking hard at starters who might be prime candidates to transition to a long relief role. Cashner is mentioned in one of the links above as a possibility. I think the market is going to be higher than normal on relievers, whether you're talking trade or FA. Buying low on a starter as a swing man / long reliever might provide better return on investment than getting a known good reliever.

[Bull]

Are there any lower end starting pitchers that profile well through the first time through the order but drop off on the second? I'm thinking they might be looking hard at starters who might be prime candidates to transition to a long relief role. Cashner is mentioned in one of the links above as a possibility. I think the market is going to be higher than normal on relievers, whether you're talking trade or FA. Buying low on a starter as a swing man / long reliever might provide better return on investment than getting a known good reliever.

This sounds ridiculous, but I think its true.