Encarnacion to World Series Runner Up

[UMFan83]

Not a bad get at all to replace Napoli

 

[Derwood]

Really curious about the contract. EE thought his market was much better than what it turned out to be.

[David]

Really curious about the contract. EE thought his market was much better than what it turned out to be.

 

60M for 3

[Derwood]

Really curious about the contract. EE thought his market was much better than what it turned out to be.

 

60M for 3

 

No chump change, but he thought he was an $80M player this off season

[sweetpeteman]

Really curious about the contract. EE thought his market was much better than what it turned out to be.

 

 

3 yr at $20m per with a 4th year option of $20m or a $5m buyout. So $65m/3yrs or $80m/4.

[Post Count Padder]

Good for the Indians. Got a legit power threat in that lineup. If Brantley and the rotation are healthy, they'll be right back in there again.

 

Another aspect of this is the market should heat up again. A lot of free agents and teams were waiting for the next domino to fall.

[David]

I think they'll win the central easily.

 

Obviously things change and very unexpected things happen, but right now I think teams not named the Red Sox, Indians, Nationals, Cubs, and maybe the Dodgers in those divisions are playing for second place.

[Derwood]

Its a good move for the Tribe and its nice to see them investing money into an already good team. If EE can be a power threat in that lineup, they'll win a lot of games

[davell]

 

Good for them. Hope they make it back next year.(to get swept)

[jersey cubs fan]

Cleveland was runner up? I thought they had a 3-1 lead.

[17 Seconds]

things just keep looking up for the reigning world series participants

[Ding Dong Johnson]

who?

[Tim]

who?

Columbus, I think. Or Erie. One of the two.

[Rob]

I think they'll win the central easily.

 

Obviously things change and very unexpected things happen, but right now I think teams not named the Red Sox, Indians, Nationals, Cubs, and maybe the Dodgers in those divisions are playing for second place.

 

There was an article on fangraphs the other day that said every single division is projected to be won by 5 games or more right now. That includes the Astros in the AL West, where the Rangers strong record last year came with just a +8 run differential -- they were just an insane 36-11 in one-run games.

[imb]

This is kind of an interesting example of how hard it is to win the world series more than once. I keep lamenting this offseason because it seems like the teams in our "bracket" keep getting better, and we're not exactly doing a lot. But that's because we did a lot last year, and the year before. We won the world series because we spent a lot of money two offseasons in a row, and it's hard to keep doing that. I imagine it's that way for a lot of world series winners -- a spike in spending and wins, and then a period of stagnation.

[WrigleyField 22]

This is kind of an interesting example of how hard it is to win the world series more than once. I keep lamenting this offseason because it seems like the teams in our "bracket" keep getting better, and we're not exactly doing a lot. But that's because we did a lot last year, and the year before. We won the world series because we spent a lot of money two offseasons in a row, and it's hard to keep doing that. I imagine it's that way for a lot of world series winners -- a spike in spending and wins, and then a period of stagnation.

Fivethirtyeight.com just had a good article on this. Cubs had one of the biggest salary spikes ever in a two year period. They compared them with the 97 Marlins.

[NOLA]

This is kind of an interesting example of how hard it is to win the world series more than once. I keep lamenting this offseason because it seems like the teams in our "bracket" keep getting better, and we're not exactly doing a lot. But that's because we did a lot last year, and the year before. We won the world series because we spent a lot of money two offseasons in a row, and it's hard to keep doing that. I imagine it's that way for a lot of world series winners -- a spike in spending and wins, and then a period of stagnation.

Fivethirtyeight.com just had a good article on this. Cubs had one of the biggest salary spikes ever in a two year period. They compared them with the 97 Marlins.

I read that article too, but comparing the two teams payroll spikes is a little misleading. That Marlin team overhauled their roster and signed players from other teams. The Cubs did sign Lester, Zo and Heyward, but much of the payroll for the Cubs went to players either already in their organization or acquired via trade.

[raw]

Team blows a 3-1 lead in the championship series and then signs the best player from the team they beat in the semifinal series. Where have I heard this before?

[imb]

Team blows a 3-1 lead in the championship series and then signs the best player from the team they beat in the semifinal series. Where have I heard this before?

 

you can go right to hell

[David]

main difference is the cubs were the warriors in the regular season without being the finals warriors

[Clem Fandango]

To be honest I'm surprised it was this low. Obviously people see him as a DH and not a 1B and with his age people didn't want to pay for past performance, but he's still been, on average, a 4 win player for the last 5 years. He's easily one of the Top 20-25 best bats in all of baseball. I would've thought 4/100 would've been easy for him to get.

 

If anything, it means Bautista is gonna get far less than what he's demanding, too. I think Bautista wanted the same, if not more than Encarnacion didn't he?

[Cubswin11]

To be honest I'm surprised it was this low. Obviously people see him as a DH and not a 1B and with his age people didn't want to pay for past performance, but he's still been, on average, a 4 win player for the last 5 years. He's easily one of the Top 20-25 best bats in all of baseball. I would've thought 4/100 would've been easy for him to get.

 

If anything, it means Bautista is gonna get far less than what he's demanding, too. I think Bautista wanted the same, if not more than Encarnacion didn't he?

This kinda wants me to see us get Bautista on a 1 year deal or 1+option. He's definitely getting less than EE. Move Heyward to CF and Almora/Jay are backups with Bustista in RF and Schwarber in LF. Have Bautista lead off who can replicate Fowler's OBP from last year.

 

Bautista RF

Schwarber LF

Bryant 3B

Rizzo 1B

Zobrist 2B

Russell SS

Contreras C

Heyward CF

[David]

To be honest I'm surprised it was this low. Obviously people see him as a DH and not a 1B and with his age people didn't want to pay for past performance, but he's still been, on average, a 4 win player for the last 5 years. He's easily one of the Top 20-25 best bats in all of baseball. I would've thought 4/100 would've been easy for him to get.

 

If anything, it means Bautista is gonna get far less than what he's demanding, too. I think Bautista wanted the same, if not more than Encarnacion didn't he?

This kinda wants me to see us get Bautista on a 1 year deal or 1+option. He's definitely getting less than EE. Move Heyward to CF and Almora/Jay are backups with Bustista in RF and Schwarber in LF. Have Bautista lead off who can replicate Fowler's OBP from last year.

 

Bautista RF

Schwarber LF

Bryant 3B

Rizzo 1B

Zobrist 2B

Russell SS

Contreras C

Heyward CF

 

that might be the worst defensive OF in mlb history

 

Not that necessarily wouldn't do it

[Cubswin11]

To be honest I'm surprised it was this low. Obviously people see him as a DH and not a 1B and with his age people didn't want to pay for past performance, but he's still been, on average, a 4 win player for the last 5 years. He's easily one of the Top 20-25 best bats in all of baseball. I would've thought 4/100 would've been easy for him to get.

 

If anything, it means Bautista is gonna get far less than what he's demanding, too. I think Bautista wanted the same, if not more than Encarnacion didn't he?

This kinda wants me to see us get Bautista on a 1 year deal or 1+option. He's definitely getting less than EE. Move Heyward to CF and Almora/Jay are backups with Bustista in RF and Schwarber in LF. Have Bautista lead off who can replicate Fowler's OBP from last year.

 

Bautista RF

Schwarber LF

Bryant 3B

Rizzo 1B

Zobrist 2B

Russell SS

Contreras C

Heyward CF

 

that might be the worst defensive OF in mlb history

 

Not that necessarily wouldn't do it

They can be bad for 4-6 innings and score a billion runs then Jay and Almora can come in for super defense

[raw]

To be honest I'm surprised it was this low. Obviously people see him as a DH and not a 1B and with his age people didn't want to pay for past performance, but he's still been, on average, a 4 win player for the last 5 years. He's easily one of the Top 20-25 best bats in all of baseball. I would've thought 4/100 would've been easy for him to get.

 

If anything, it means Bautista is gonna get far less than what he's demanding, too. I think Bautista wanted the same, if not more than Encarnacion didn't he?

This kinda wants me to see us get Bautista on a 1 year deal or 1+option. He's definitely getting less than EE. Move Heyward to CF and Almora/Jay are backups with Bustista in RF and Schwarber in LF. Have Bautista lead off who can replicate Fowler's OBP from last year.

 

Bautista RF

Schwarber LF

Bryant 3B

Rizzo 1B

Zobrist 2B

Russell SS

Contreras C

Heyward CF

 

I've been wondering if a lot of these FAs sit out here longer than expected, if the Cubs might be more likely to pull a late surprise ala Fowler last spring. Maybe Joey Bats on a 1-year deal, Matt Wieters or even bringing Jason Hammel back.