The 2018-2019 Cubs Offseason Rumors & Discussion Thread AKA The Rickettssss take a dump on EVERYTHING

[Cubswin11]

Officially, official. I know the Cubs prospect guy and some other twitter guy had it a few days ago but first I’m seeing a national guy say it.

 

[SpongeWorthy]

how many of you are Mad Online w/r/t the cubs lack of spending because you hate your job/boss?

 

just me?

[squally1313]

how many of you are Mad Online w/r/t the cubs lack of spending because you hate your job/boss?

 

just me?

 

Yes?

[Sammy Sofa]

how many of you are Mad Online w/r/t the cubs lack of spending because you hate your job/boss?

 

just me?

 

IT IS DEFINITELY TWO THINGS.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Pretty sure you can get out of the lending limits by asking MLB or just doing it without telling them. They are never enforced.

[Deeg]

Interesting how Theo used to talk so much about "the window" but you never hear mention of it these days...

[Bear Cub]

Hey Sofa, please remove that Parkey picture. It makes me ill! Thank you.

[Banedon]

I keep thinking it's gotta be the TV projections somehow not being what they were wanting.

Or Bryce is happening and they're waiting for the convention to announce it... please?

 

Harper is meeting with the Phillies in Vegas on Saturday, so this isn't happening.

[SouthSideRyan]

I keep thinking it's gotta be the TV projections somehow not being what they were wanting.

Or Bryce is happening and they're waiting for the convention to announce it... please?

 

Harper is meeting with the Phillies in Vegas on Saturday, so this isn't happening.

 

Or so the Germans Would have you believe

[Bertz]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/somebody-go-get-will-smith/

 

If we're for real "can't even afford a middle reliever" poor, prospects + Duensing for Will Smith is too perfect. The money's nearly a wash, and Duensing would actually look pretty good in AT&T, so the Giants could probably turn around and flip him for another prospect in July. Smith would probably be the best lefty reliever we've had since Sean Marshall. Actually, the more I think about it, we could have $50m to play with and I still want this.

[Brian]

things are heating up

 

[tweet]

[/tweet]

[Cubswin11]

I keep thinking it's gotta be the TV projections somehow not being what they were wanting.

Or Bryce is happening and they're waiting for the convention to announce it... please?

 

Harper is meeting with the Phillies in Vegas on Saturday, so this isn't happening.

Convention is next weekens, right? He’s meeting this Saturday with the Phillies.

[Banedon]

Or Bryce is happening and they're waiting for the convention to announce it... please?

 

Harper is meeting with the Phillies in Vegas on Saturday, so this isn't happening.

Convention is next weekens, right? He’s meeting this Saturday with the Phillies.

 

Oops, thought the convention was this weekend.

[Brian]

Yeah I thought it was this one too, and I was so looking forward to new Ryan Dempster content.

[squally1313]

Yeah I thought it was this one too, and I was so looking forward to new Ryan Dempster content.

 

His Harry Caray call of the Bote grand slam walk off will leave you in stitches!!!

[champaignchris]

This offseason is so weird. Obviously not done yet, but we’re only about 5 weeks to Spring Training. So what’s really going on? I see three options...

 

1. The front office is blowing smoke up the media’s ass, and they sign Harper and/or make some other “go for it” moves in the last few weeks before the Spring; or

2. There was some serious miscommunication between ownership and the front office regarding payroll (or maybe ownership changed its mind) which caused the front office to make moves under the assumption they’d be able to go after Harper and are now finding out that ownership is putting on the brakes; or

3. Something got seriously fucked up and the Cubs actually are under some unexpected financial constraints.

 

Because the combination of moves leading into the offseason, plus the relatively light cost of first year luxury tax penalties, plus the numerous opportunities that will be coming up in the next two years to slash payroll, plus the relatively light free agent pool in 2020 means that nothing else makes sense.

[Cubswin11]

The Cubs would love a shot at Harper, though ownership approval continues to appear unlikely, sources say.

 

https://theathletic.com/759967/2019/01/10/rosenthal-the-question-lingers-how-far-would-the-nationals-go-to-sign-bryce-harper/

 

So either Theo and the FO is leaking this to publicly put pressure on the Ricketts for such a move (which is a whole other issue if there’s division between the FO/Theo side and ownership/business side) or they are playing it like this to throw other teams off the scent or something? Or I guess Rosenthal’s “source” doesn’t know what he/she is talking about or is made up/Boras.

[Sammy Sofa]

or they are playing it like this to throw other teams off the scent or something?

 

This line of thinking makes less and less sense every day that this debacle drags on. How does leaking the idea that there is potentially a rift between the FO and ownership help them, or "throw other teams off the scent?"

 

Everyone else, apparently: "Wow, if Bryce Harper leads to the vaunted Cubs front office and their horrible owners embarrassingly proxy slap-fighting via lame sports media leaks, he must be too toxic to sign! Better stay away!"

 

Drunken Theo: "YOINK."

[SouthSideRyan]

Yeah I thought it was this one too, and I was so looking forward to new Ryan Dempster content.

 

His Harry Caray call of the Bote grand slam walk off will leave you in stitches!!!

 

Because I’ll throw myself down the stairs

[champaignchris]

The front office having the rug pulled out from under them by ownership would make some sort of sense out of what we've seen (or not seen, rather) this off season. As has been said a number of times in this thread, there are several transactions the Cubs front office should obviously not have done if those transactions were going to prevent the team from pursuing Harper.

 

And if Theo had the "all clear" to pursue Harper right up until early November, I can certainly see why ownership changing its mind at that late date would cause a rift.

 

Is it time for the gorilla suit?

[Sammy Sofa]

Yeah; Theo's relatively shitty pitcher track record aside, I just can't see the FO trading for Kintzler if they had any inkling the wallet was going to be suddenly snapped shut.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

“Theo blew all his money on meh pitching and now we can’t afford Harper” is still by far the simplest explanation for everything we are seeing

[Brian]

There is still no logical explanation for picking up Hamels option if money is that tight.

[Sammy Sofa]

There is still no logical explanation for picking up Hamels option if money is that tight.

 

There (arguably) is if they're genuinely concerned about the starting rotation. I could, unfortunately, see them figuring/hoping the offensive side of things bounces back, so they decided to use their limited resources on the area of greatest concern. Given that Theo kinda sucks at pitchers...yeah, it sadly makes sense.

[squally1313]

There is still no logical explanation for picking up Hamels option if money is that tight.

 

And even on the small chance that it is, you can still fix that! if the Cubs felt it was incredibly important to pick up the Hamels option at that point, that means they thought they were getting a good deal, and he'd be worth more on the open market. That means he still is. Yes, he can block trades to 20 teams, but you know the 10 teams that are options would be contenders. If that doesn't work, Hamels and Quintana are projected to be basically identical pitchers next year. Quintana definitely has value. Go save yourself that money.

 

I can understand that the Ricketts may be frustrated based on the last couple years. The plan was waves of homegrown talent. The team won 97 games in 2015, and then went out and signed the most expensive hitter on the market. Last year, we signed the most expensive pitcher on the market. Now they're asking to sign the biggest contract of all time. Neither has worked out so far, and it doesn't look great going forward. It's a legit criticism. But it shouldn't keep them from Bryce. Or from trusting Theo.