2020 roster

[Post Count Padder]

Do we still have Tony Kemp under contract? Rather DFA Descalso and keep Kemp.

 

Q is still an affordable rotation option. Would depend on the reliever we're getting back.

[Cubswin11]

Do we still have Tony Kemp under contract? Rather DFA Descalso and keep Kemp.

 

Q is still an affordable rotation option. Would depend on the reliever we're getting back.

Kemp is in Arb 1 next year, but yeah I’d keep him and punt Descalso away.

[Sammy Sofa]

In a far better world they keep neither.

[Cubswin11]

A pair of Phillies infielders may have played their final game in the City of Brotherly Love, cutting the final tie between today’s Phillies and the powerhouse teams of the late-2000s, writes Meghan Montemurro of The Athletic. With Maikel Franco and Cesar Hernandez eligible for arbitration, both are strong candidates to be non-tendered: It would cost a considerable price to keep Hernandez around when Scott Kingery exists as a cheaper, more productive option; likewise, Franco has been streaky and is likely not viewed as a long-term solution for the club. However, they remain as the only links to the days of Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Ryan Howard, bridging the team through the doldrums of 2014-2015 and into a new era of Bryce Harper-led Philly baseball. - MLBTR

 

I'm a fan of flipping Hoerner for a cheap high leverage reliever to pitch in front of Kimbrel lately, and think Hernandez will be one of multiple low commit, veteran options at 2B to pop up that also might luck their way into a good offensive season

Hernandez would be a really great fit for the team. Go horsefeathering get him to help build out the depth. Nico shouldn’t be moved and should be pretty much off limits, imo. I’m not moving him for a RP, that’s for sure. We need to build out the offense depth and profile. I don’t like trading out Nico who compliments things and Hernandez also helps with things we lack. Have both on the roster.

[Cubswin11]

Yeah, C and 2B make sense for me to go "old" because those guys are cheap. Hernandez has been a poor man's Zobrist in that he's a productive switch hitter and has some defensive versaility who settled down at 2B, love his fit here as a transition player at the position. He's easily my favorite of the 2B possibilities if they can get a potential impact arm for Hoerner

Adding him, who’s starter worthy, also would help if they decide to use Nico in CF some. His 81% career contact rate and ~.280/.350/.380 career slash line would be nice diversification on the offense. I’d go as far as say trade like Zack Short for him and extend him for like 3/25 or whatever Jed Lowrie, Marwin, etc go last year. Save some AAV money on his Arb number (~$10 mil) and keep him around a while since he compliments and builds out things nicely.

[Cubswin11]

Hernandez would be a really great fit for the team. Go horsefeathering get him to help build out the depth. Nico shouldn’t be moved and should be pretty much off limits, imo. I’m not moving him for a RP, that’s for sure. We need to build out the offense depth and profile. I don’t like trading out Nico who compliments things and Hernandez also helps with things we lack. Have both on the roster.

 

This is an extreme stance on Hoerner but maybe mine is too. I basically believe the whole case to keep him is that the MIF depth is garbage, he is already here, is so cheap and shiny new that the excuses will roll if he turns out to be more Almora than Grindy McGrinderstein, and we're due to have some contact oriented hitter with lots of hype not immediately collapse even get way better. I totlly get the case for Hoerner mostly I think, but he feels to me like the kind of player the Cardinals give a job to, he kills it for a year or two, and then Hendry gives him a deal or he disappears. I kinda irrationally resent that because pitching is a need and starting 2B is way cheaper than even talented let alone good pitching

Not wanting to trade Hoerner, especially for a RP, and thinking his contact profile compliments the team well is an extreme stance? Bringing a guy like Hernandez is also a nice hedge on him, since you have a legit backup plan to him (vs like Descalso) if he sucks, you want to start him in AAA to work on horsefeathers, or play CF.

 

I get the Almora concerns with him, but there seems to be more pedigree with him and we know between the wrist thing and swing changes he’s still developing. He also is actually fast so the GB/contact profile should work better for him.

[Cubswin11]

Not wanting to trade Hoerner, especially for a RP, and thinking his contact profile compliments the team well is an extreme stance? Bringing a guy like Hernandez is also a nice hedge on him, since you have a legit backup plan to him (vs like Descalso) if he sucks, you want to start him in AAA to work on horsefeathers, or play CF.

 

I get the Almora concerns with him, but there seems to be more pedigree with him and we know between the wrist thing and swing changes he’s still developing. He also is actually fast so the GB/contact profile should work better for him.

 

It's less that single sentence and more the underlying confidence in Hoerner to be an impact guy. Like to me bringing in guys like Jed Lowrie or Cesar Hernandez to be the backup plan to Nico Hoerner at 2B doesn't add up. They're cheap, low commit, have long track records of hitting and playing 2B well, and could start for many contenders...but they're the backup plan to Nico Hoerner. Also don't buy the GB thing. If I'm optimistic about Hoerner it's because offense was down in the SOUL so his line was solid and he put the ball in the air

If you bring in a guy like Hernandez or Lowrie, even with Nico around they’re all going to play plenty. It’s not like they’re only going to play 40 games or whatever. It’s like when we had all of the depth in 15, 16 and 17 all we heard was questioning how all these guys would play and in the end it gets figured out and you ended up needing the dept. Nico and either of those guys (or similar guys) have positional versatility. Depth was a huge issue this year, someone is going to get hurt or have splits to shy away from, etc. We need better options than Descalso, Almora, Russell, Robel, Cargo, etc. We also need to build out the roster with more complimentary pieces to what the core guys do, these adds with Nico helps that.

[Tim]

We also have to fill 13 position player positions with guys who won't make claw our eyes out when they play

[Deeg]

Merrifield makes so much sense for this team in so many ways. Pencil him in as the CF, but he's a hedge at 2B if Nico can't cut it (at least yet). Does the cost for Merrifield make sense? That's unfortunately a different question.

[Cubswin11]

Merrifield makes so much sense for this team in so many ways. Pencil him in as the CF, but he's a hedge at 2B if Nico can't cut it (at least yet). Does the cost for Merrifield make sense? That's unfortunately a different question.

I love this idea but the Royals ask will be huge, they also probably think they can win with him. He probably cost multiple of Nico, Amaya, Marquez, Davis too. I’d absolutely love to add him though.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I know that 2B doesn't have an etched in stone starter, but it sure feels like they have everything they need to fill the position capably between Hoerner, Bote, Happ, Kemp, even Descalso if you think his Cub tenure will follow the Kintzler track. With that in mind, I'm not a big fan of using dollar or trade resources for guys who are slight upgrades over one of the options but not necessarily the group. Especially Merrifield, that guy has 'collapses at 30' written all over him. Hernandez I think is a better player, but he's not quite Zobristian at getting on base, and there's no other true strength(hit tool, power, defense, defense at multiple positions) that I'm comfortable banking on(plus he's yet another rental).

[Deeg]

Merrifield makes so much sense for this team in so many ways. Pencil him in as the CF, but he's a hedge at 2B if Nico can't cut it (at least yet). Does the cost for Merrifield make sense? That's unfortunately a different question.

I love this idea but the Royals ask will be huge, they also probably think they can win with him. He probably cost multiple of Nico, Amaya, Marquez, Davis too. I’d absolutely love to add him though.

 

The thing about Merrifield is that despite his contract status he's already an older guy. That potentially lowers the cost a little, and would make the Royals wonder if they could be competitive while he's at peak performance. A deal built around Schwarber would have a chance, I think.

[Cubswin11]

I know that 2B doesn't have an etched in stone starter, but it sure feels like they have everything they need to fill the position capably between Hoerner, Bote, Happ, Kemp, even Descalso if you think his Cub tenure will follow the Kintzler track. With that in mind, I'm not a big fan of using dollar or trade resources for guys who are slight upgrades over one of the options but not necessarily the group. Especially Merrifield, that guy has 'collapses at 30' written all over him. Hernandez I think is a better player, but he's not quite Zobristian at getting on base, and there's no other true strength(hit tool, power, defense, defense at multiple positions) that I'm comfortable banking on(plus he's yet another rental).

I do agree we should have 2B covered internally. But I just want better overall depth and some more contact on the team. Happ, Kemp and likely Nico can play some OF too and we get 13 position players on the roster this year. It wouldn’t be hard to work Hernandez in and in the end it makes us better. Finding another starter capable player to add to the team, with 13 guys now makes a lot of sense and almost is a priority. I’m guessing the good, smart teams have “too many players” going in to the year.

[Tryptamine]

The Cubs are absolutely going to need guys like Nico who are super cheap to offset all the rising salaries. Unless he can land you a SP with some MLB success who is still inexpensive then i have no interest in moving him. You can't have guys at every position making millions and millions.

[Cubswin11]

These are all the vague comments Jesse needs to run the KB is being aggressively shopped and likely traded for two months of click bait articles

 

[Bertz]

Here's mine. For the most part, I lay the problems of the 2019 team more on "too many bad players" than on "not enough good players." So to that end I'm focusing on depth and contingencies.

 

- Sign Castellanos for 4/56

- Sign Will Smith or Ryan Pressly to the Zach Britton Deal (3/39 with an option)

- Sign Billy Hamilton for 1/3

- Trade for a team control CF (Haniger, Dahl, Nimmo, etc.)

- Sign a reliever in February for 3-4 million

 

Position Players:

 

C - Willson, Vic

1B - Rizzo

2B - Nico, Bote

SS - Javy

3B - KB

LF - Schwarber, Happ

CF - Haniger (or whoever), Hamilton

RF - Castellanos, Heyward

 

This really brings us back to that enviable level of depth we had a few years ago. Every position has a strong backup, and every guy has at least one strong skill that can be leveraged situationally off the bench. Billy Hamilton may give people the heebie jeebies, but if you get a manager you trust to play him a lot while only giving him only a nominal number of ABs, that infusion of speed and defense can be very valuable with the extra bench spot next year.

 

Bullpen:

 

CL - Kimbrel

SU - Will Smith, Wick

MR - February Vet, Ryan, Wieck, Underwood/Maples/Etc.

LR - Mills (Graveman by midseason?)

 

The pen was obviously a wet fart this year, but I feel solid about it next year. I would like to add one really high end guy who can anchor things in case Kimbrel is permanently broken, but otherwise I'm fine with tweaking. Last winter they added Ryan, Wick, and Barnette as guys they could stash in Iowa, and Brach as a vet on the eve of ST. They hit on those guys at 50%, which is a big problem when the top of your pen sucks, but for filling out the 6-7-8 spots it totally does the trick.

 

Rotation:

 

Darvish, Kyle, Q, Lester, Chatwood

 

Going status quo here gives me a little hit of heartburn, but most of the available resources have been used to fix the pen and the position players. Chatwood's in an interesting spot. My guess is that he did enough that we could get out of his contract this winter. At the same time, he has done enough that he's again an interesting rotation option. It's a bit of a gamble, but given that Iowa finally has some solid options (plus what Mills did in September), and that other areas of the roster are going to require plenty of resources allocated to them, it's a gamble I am willing to make.

 

This team ends up being around $240M, which given the tv deal starting plus the money saved at the manager position *shouldn't* be an issue. But if money does prove to be a problem, replace Chatwood with a young cost controlled starter.

[Cubswin11]

Nick Pivetta would be a solid, under the radar pick up if the Phillies give up on him. There’s still a lot of talent in him, despite the rough year and and he has 2 options left.

[Post Count Padder]

How shortsighted/dumb would it be to let Mills and Alzolay battle it out for the 5th spot? I like what they both bring to the table. Or should we allow them to do the same for the long-relief role. I honestly thing they'd be better options for 5 than Chatwood, who seems to thrive in a LR role.

[Cubswin11]

Alright let's have another crack at this

 

Internal Moves: Pick up options on Rizzo and Q, Decline options on Phelps and Morrow. Non-Tender Russell, Cut Descalso

 

FA Signings: Brett Gardner 3/35, he's a redass they want. Still plays a good enough CF, is a leadoff and contact guy, Jason Castro 2/15, Howie Kendrick 2/18

 

Trade 1: Q, Almora, Zack Short for Nick Pivetta and Cesar Hernandez. Look to give Hernandez like a 3/18-25 extension to save on some AAV/real cash outlay on his arb number projected in the $10 mil range. Phillies need some innings eaten and consistency in the rotation as they had a rough year there, Q gives them that and not a big commitment. Almora can be a RHH option in their OF, Kingery can move back to the IF. Short is a throw in/sweetener I don't see us having a real use of him. Pivetta still has a lot of underlying things to like, they've clearly soured on him. He is still young and has options left, he may be bullpen bound but gives us an internal SP through 2024 if we can get him righted. We'd save a little money on this deal if we do the Hernandez extension

 

Trade 2: Contreras, Chatwood, Underwood, Giambrone or Zagunis, and Corey Abbot for Jon Gray, Jairo Diaz or Carlos Estevez, Jake McGee and a prospect. Get Gray out of Coors and there's still a TOR starter in him, we have him for 2 years. Diaz or Estevez is a nice cheap and good bullpen arm and McGee helps with money and can still get lefties out hopefully he gets a boost out of Coors as well. Rockies add a bat they really need in Contreras and fill the rotation hole with a guy who's had some okay success there and get some filler with the other dudes.

 

 

26 Man Roster:

 

Position Players:

 

1. Gardner CF

2. Bryant 3B

3. Rizzo 1B

4. Javy SS

5. Schwarbs LF

6. Nico 2B

7. Vic C

8. Heyward RF

 

Bench: 9. Bote 3B/2B, 10. Hernandez 2B/SS, 11. Castro C, 12. Kendrick 2B/3B/COF (vs LHP), 13. Happ IF/OF

 

Rotation:

 

1. Lester

2. Yu

3. Hendricks

4. Gray

5. Pivetta/Mills/Graveman/Rea/Adbert

 

Bullpen: 6. Kimbrel 7. Wick 8. Ryan 9. Diaz/Estevez 10. McGee 11-13. Pivetta/Mills/Gravemen/Rea/Adbert/Wieck/Mekkes/etc.

 

That's a really deep and diverse offense, we take care of some SP concerns over the next two years as we don't need to find 3 guys now next offseason.

[David]

trade willy, sign grandal, find someone to play a good CF who isn't an abysmal hitter and gets on base a little bit.

 

oh and get some bullpen guys from somewhere.

 

obviously will be getting something good in return for willy... maybe that cf. horsefeathers if i know. making up trades that'll never happen isn't really fun.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

How shortsighted/dumb would it be to let Mills and Alzolay battle it out for the 5th spot? I like what they both bring to the table. Or should we allow them to do the same for the long-relief role. I honestly thing they'd be better options for 5 than Chatwood, who seems to thrive in a LR role.

 

I've been thinking about that last rotation spot since listening to Theo talk yesterday. One of the things they've done historically is veered into proven arms, guys who have a bit less combined performance+injury risk. I wonder with the talk of hiring a director of pitching, being a bit more present with the modern game, and especially with potentially limited funds, if they might be willing to let several interesting arms battle it out instead. I'm not sure if it's Mills or Alzolay in particular, Alzolay you can't bank on for 200 IP, Mills isn't optionable, etc, but they could definitely be a part of a group that's competing for it moreso than years past. If they do go that route, they'd almost certainly need to supplement the group through trades. E.g. imagine a world where Contreras is dealt for 3 high end but less proven arms; two battle it out for the rotation, one hopefully becomes a bullpen stalwart, etc.

[UK]

Trade Contreras and etc. for Betts.

 

Sign Grandal if avail. (if not) and just for TT, sign Chirinos to partner with Caratini.

 

Sign Daniel Hudson and Chris Martin for the pen....

 

Offer the world for Cole and hopes he remembers whatever Houston is doing.

[Cubswin11]

Trade Contreras and etc. for Betts.

 

Sign Grandal if avail. (if not) and just for TT, sign Chirinos to partner with Caratini.

 

Sign Daniel Hudson and Chris Martin for the pen....

 

Offer the world for Cole and hopes he remembers whatever Houston is doing.

Did we figure out a way to not pay players to make this all work?

[UK]

Trade Contreras and etc. for Betts.

 

Sign Grandal if avail. (if not) and just for TT, sign Chirinos to partner with Caratini.

 

Sign Daniel Hudson and Chris Martin for the pen....

 

Offer the world for Cole and hopes he remembers whatever Houston is doing.

Did we figure out a way to not pay players to make this all work?

 

Hire Cubbiebum as manager and get 95 wins?

[Thusly Boned]

These are all the vague comments Jesse needs to run the KB is being aggressively shopped and likely traded for two months of click bait articles

 

 

It doesn't make much sense, but I have had a growing feeling that KB is going to be traded. I don't buy that he is being aggressively shopped, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if they are very open to moving him.