The Bryce is Right, Bitch

[Brian]

With the Washington door seemingly shut, I believe we are down to 3 scenarios

 

A.) The lure of being a Yankee is too strong, he signs with the Yankees

B.) He wants to go to LA, he signs with the Dodgers

C.) He signs with the Cubs

 

I 100% believe there is absolutely no way there is any amount of money /years above what the Cubs will offer that will overcome the Cubs presentation and what they have to offer (unless A or B is true).

 

 

 

 

wild card: Ricketts says no

[Sammy Sofa]

All of the hemming and hawing over Machado now means diddly squat; dude's been worth the same total fWAR as Harper this season and the previous three (a bit more, I believe), and he's been at least a 6 WAR player for 3 of those 4 seasons. Plus Harper's defensive value with FG is more hideous, too (yeah, I get SS is a more premium position; even if the Cubs HAD to play Machado there, it's seemingly not killing his value as much as Harper is a sinkhole out there). The Cubs need to land one of these dudes, and it's not like one is this hugely disappointing consolation prize vs. the other. Edited September 27, 2018 by Sammy Sofa

[Tim]

All of the hemming and hawing over Machado now means diddly squat; dude's been worth the same fWAR as Harper this season and the previous three, and he's been a 6 WAR player for 3 of those 4 seasons. Plus Harper's defensive value with FG is more hideous, too (yeah, I get SS is a more premium position; even if the Cubs HAD to play Machado there, it's seemingly not killing his value as much as Harper is a sinkhole out there). The Cubs need to land one of these dudes, and it's not like one is this hugely disappointing consolation prize vs. the other.

[Brian]

Our luxury tax would probably be more than some teams payrolls in that scenario. (which would be awesome)

[Backtobanks]

All of the hemming and hawing over Machado now means diddly squat; dude's been worth the same total fWAR as Harper this season and the previous three (a bit more, I believe), and he's been at least a 6 WAR player for 3 of those 4 seasons. Plus Harper's defensive value with FG is more hideous, too (yeah, I get SS is a more premium position; even if the Cubs HAD to play Machado there, it's seemingly not killing his value as much as Harper is a sinkhole out there). The Cubs need to land one of these dudes, and it's not like one is this hugely disappointing consolation prize vs. the other.

 

Let's not forget that we could certainly use some right-handed power to help Baez because Bryant and Contreras have lost the ability to hit homers and Russell no longer exists in this world.

[Cubswin11]

All of the hemming and hawing over Machado now means diddly squat; dude's been worth the same total fWAR as Harper this season and the previous three (a bit more, I believe), and he's been at least a 6 WAR player for 3 of those 4 seasons. Plus Harper's defensive value with FG is more hideous, too (yeah, I get SS is a more premium position; even if the Cubs HAD to play Machado there, it's seemingly not killing his value as much as Harper is a sinkhole out there). The Cubs need to land one of these dudes, and it's not like one is this hugely disappointing consolation prize vs. the other.

I will be perfectly happy if we get Machado and he's a plenty good player, but I won't be upset if they lose out on him. I'll only be upset if they lose out on Harper. I'd rather do other things than sign Machdo if we miss on Bryce and allocate that money elsewhere. Machado is plenty good like I said but I don't know if I'd be willing to commit to him the money it will take to get him, there's just some red flags to me that he's not truly elite. You cited those 6 war seasons but that was largely due to playing elite defense at 3B (a position we presumably aren't signing him to play) and offensively he's also never been this player before this year he's always been more of a 7% BB guy and not 10%+ like this year and while 7% is fine it's not great, he already has 2 major leg/knee injuries and a bigger body that I don't see him handling SS long term and he doesn't even handle it great now, Harper has elite on base skills and the power is probably better while Machado does have good power but not special on base skills, Harper's defense this year is also with him playing a lot of CF which I doubt he plays with us much at all he's fine in the corners and maybe even moves to 1B down the line in the post Rizzo years, just looking at their career numbers Harper is a elite bat that I'll be disappointed to miss on, Machado is a good to very good bat that I won't be all that mad to miss on for the money he'll cost. Machado has been a lot more like the player he's always been since his trade to the Dodgers too after his crazy start, which again is plenty good but idk if I'd pay the $300million to have that (.267/.333/.486 slash line, 8% bb rate and 18% k rate, wRC+ of 119). I'd just rather spend that money on some bullpen options, look to trade and maybe take on some money for a guy (idk who that may be but like Brandon Crawford maybe?), or sign other FAs like Marwin Gonzalez or Eduardo Escobar to fill SS/MIF.

 

Again Machado is plenty good and I'd be happy to have him because he does make us better I just have some reservations on how good he actually is and don't necessarily think giving him the huge money deal is the smartest thing when we could allocate it better and probably make us as good in adding 3-4 other pieces with it.

[imb]

harper is first choice but machado playing elite defense at third while Bryant moves to RF is not far off assuming bryant is a. healthy and b. cool with it

[Cubswin11]

harper is first choice but machado playing elite defense at third while Bryant moves to RF is not far off assuming bryant is a. healthy and b. cool with it

I just don't know if either Machado or Bryant would be cool with that move, Machado has already been pretty adamant of bing a SS only. Maybe that changes once teams start making offers and talking to him, also idk how great of a full-time OF option Bryant is he looks a little shaky out there and he'd probably rate as a negative over a full season. But yeah I think this scenario would warm me up a lot more to Machado than having him be the full-time SS.

[CyHawk_Cub]

Yeah I long ago accepted that signing an elite bat (strong preference for Harper) is a necessity, not a luxury. However they get there, it needs to happen. Salary dump as much as possible.

[treebird]

All of the hemming and hawing over Machado now means diddly squat; dude's been worth the same total fWAR as Harper this season and the previous three (a bit more, I believe), and he's been at least a 6 WAR player for 3 of those 4 seasons. Plus Harper's defensive value with FG is more hideous, too (yeah, I get SS is a more premium position; even if the Cubs HAD to play Machado there, it's seemingly not killing his value as much as Harper is a sinkhole out there). The Cubs need to land one of these dudes, and it's not like one is this hugely disappointing consolation prize vs. the other.

I will be perfectly happy if we get Machado and he's a plenty good player, but I won't be upset if they lose out on him. I'll only be upset if they lose out on Harper. I'd rather do other things than sign Machdo if we miss on Bryce and allocate that money elsewhere. Machado is plenty good like I said but I don't know if I'd be willing to commit to him the money it will take to get him, there's just some red flags to me that he's not truly elite. You cited those 6 war seasons but that was largely due to playing elite defense at 3B (a position we presumably aren't signing him to play) and offensively he's also never been this player before this year he's always been more of a 7% BB guy and not 10%+ like this year and while 7% is fine it's not great, he already has 2 major leg/knee injuries and a bigger body that I don't see him handling SS long term and he doesn't even handle it great now, Harper has elite on base skills and the power is probably better while Machado does have good power but not special on base skills, Harper's defense this year is also with him playing a lot of CF which I doubt he plays with us much at all he's fine in the corners and maybe even moves to 1B down the line in the post Rizzo years, just looking at their career numbers Harper is a elite bat that I'll be disappointed to miss on, Machado is a good to very good bat that I won't be all that mad to miss on for the money he'll cost. Machado has been a lot more like the player he's always been since his trade to the Dodgers too after his crazy start, which again is plenty good but idk if I'd pay the $300million to have that (.267/.333/.486 slash line, 8% bb rate and 18% k rate, wRC+ of 119). I'd just rather spend that money on some bullpen options, look to trade and maybe take on some money for a guy (idk who that may be but like Brandon Crawford maybe?), or sign other FAs like Marwin Gonzalez or Eduardo Escobar to fill SS/MIF.

 

Again Machado is plenty good and I'd be happy to have him because he does make us better I just have some reservations on how good he actually is and don't necessarily think giving him the huge money deal is the smartest thing when we could allocate it better and probably make us as good in adding 3-4 other pieces with it.

 

what is this a desire for a business meeting with the star of gary unmarried in which he just shows me the same chart twice

 

cause i need mohr pair of graphs

[Clem Fandango]

harper is first choice but machado playing elite defense at third while Bryant moves to RF is not far off assuming bryant is a. healthy and b. cool with it

I just don't know if either Machado or Bryant would be cool with that move, Machado has already been pretty adamant of bing a SS only.

 

I don't think the Machado to SS thing was him being like "I WANT TO BE A SHORTSTOP FOREVER DAMNIT!" and it was more "I want to prove I can play shortstop so I can maximize my profits this offseason"

 

He probably won't give a horsefeathers where he plays as long as he gets his money.

[Derwood]

If someone is trying to convince themselves that the Cubs came out OK by not signing either, which is what that would technically be, they are a damn lying insane nerd.

 

There are a great many people who have already convinced themselves that signing neither is the best case scenario. I don't know if it's general insanity or just massive pre-rationalization

[soccer10k]

harper is first choice but machado playing elite defense at third while Bryant moves to RF is not far off assuming bryant is a. healthy and b. cool with it

I just don't know if either Machado or Bryant would be cool with that move, Machado has already been pretty adamant of bing a SS only.

 

I don't think the Machado to SS thing was him being like "I WANT TO BE A SHORTSTOP FOREVER DAMNIT!" and it was more "I want to prove I can play shortstop so I can maximize my profits this offseason"

 

He probably won't give a horsefeathers where he plays as long as he gets his money.

 

I was just about to post the same thing. Maybe he does really want to play SS but I’m guessing he just hoped it would increase his contract value.

[David]

Gimme some rumors on this RIGHT DAMN NOW and hook them up to my veins

[David]

At the risk of making this like LeBron Summer 2010 part 2

 

[tweet]

[/tweet]

[Cubswin11]

Gimme some rumors on this RIGHT DAMN NOW and hook them up to my veins

[tweet]

[/tweet]

 

[David]

imagine if trout hadn't signed that stupid ass extension

[Tim]

So, with no other changes, we'd have:

 

Zobrist (Bote)

Harper

Bryant

Rizzo

Baez

Schwarber (Happ)

Contreras (Caratini)

Heyward (Almora)

 

 

I mean, that lineup *should* score a crap ton of runs.

[David]

So, with no other changes, we'd have:

 

Zobrist (Bote)

Harper

Bryant

Rizzo

Baez

Schwarber (Happ)

Contreras (Caratini)

Heyward (Almora)

 

 

I mean, that lineup *should* score a crap ton of runs.

 

as long as we no longer employ chili davis that is

[squally1313]

So, with no other changes, we'd have:

 

Zobrist (Bote)

Harper

Bryant

Rizzo

Baez

Schwarber (Happ)

Contreras (Caratini)

Heyward (Almora)

 

 

I mean, that lineup *should* score a crap ton of runs.

 

Yeah that lineup is pretty Joe-proof. The most likely way he'll screw it up is if Zobrist goes back to 2017 (or just being 38 years old in general) and Maddon inevitably keeps throwing him up at the top.

[imb]

god it's going to be amazing when he signs with the yankees and everyone here rushes out to inject mexican heroin into their foreheads

[Sammy Sofa]

god it's going to be amazing when he signs with the yankees and everyone here rushes out to inject mexican heroin into their foreheads

 

So, with no other changes, we'd have:

 

Zobrist (Bote)

Harper

Bryant

Rizzo

Baez

Schwarber (Happ)

Contreras (Caratini)

Heyward (Almora)

 

 

I mean, that lineup *should* score a crap ton of runs.

 

[Narrator]It didn't.[/Narrator]

[Brian]

god it's going to be amazing when he signs with the yankees and everyone here rushes out to inject mexican heroin into their foreheads

 

I've bee reading people saying the Yankees were going to sign him since he was in high school, I refuse to let it happen.

[imb]

god it's going to be amazing when he signs with the yankees and everyone here rushes out to inject mexican heroin into their foreheads

 

I've bee reading people saying the Yankees were going to sign him since he was in high school, I refuse to let it happen.

 

he even said it himself!*

 

*when he was 16

[Cubswin11]

god it's going to be amazing when he signs with the yankees and everyone here rushes out to inject mexican heroin into their foreheads

 

I've bee reading people saying the Yankees were going to sign him since he was in high school, I refuse to let it happen.

 

he even said it himself!*

 

*when he was 16

Then his BFF went to the Cubs and he named his dog Wrigley.