2020 roster

[Tim]

That would be cool but how is that a low cost offseason? lol

 

Yeah that stretches past the realm of likely limitations the team is going to have, by at least 10 million, I'd say.

It seemed low(ish) cost compared to my last plan with Cole and Donaldson.

 

Note the many ishes

[Tim]

Is McGee just for salary purposes? Because he hasn't been good in two years. If you want to pick up salary, just grab Ian Desmond and let him crush lefties in left field.

Pitchers have hope of improving when they leave Colorado, plus he only has a one year commit.

[squally1313]

Is McGee just for salary purposes? Because he hasn't been good in two years. If you want to pick up salary, just grab Ian Desmond and let him crush lefties in left field.

Pitchers have hope of improving when they leave Colorado, plus he only has a one year commit.

I know this is cutting down small sample sizes down even more, but he was actually worse away from home this year, once you notice that his BABIP went down 187 points (.397 to .210) from home to road. Ks went way down, HRs went up. He's fine as a means of picking up salary to facilitate a trade, but I don't think he can be relied upon for anything in a solid bullpen.

 

Grey was actually worse on the road too, for what it's worth.

[Named After Maddux]

I'm operating with the assumption the Cubs have $32 million to work with this offseason.

 

Offseason plan: I listed rationale in the spoiler tags.

 

Don't bring in Joe Girardi. I can buy in with basically anyone else that's been brought up (Ross, Beltran, Espada, Fuld, Bard, Loretta). I think it'll be Ross, but my pick would be Espada.

Poach the absolute best pitching and hitting specialists from the Rays, Astros, Dodgers and give them Assist GM/Director positions.

 

 

Trades:

Willson Contreras, Jose Quintana, James Norwood for Drew Waters, Kyle Wright, Ender Inciarte

 

 

Ultimately I don't believe the Braves will consider trading Pache or Ian Anderson. Realmuto was traded for a top 30 prospect in Sanchez, a 3 WAR catcher (Alfaro), and a prospect. Waters is similarly graded (#27 BA, #23 MLB). He can be ready this year and solves CF for a long time as a plus defensive/high OBP player. Inciarte is not the same level as Alfaro, but was fine in the OF and has posted a contact rate >80% every year of his career. He's an injury risk, but fine when combined with Hoerner playing a bit of CF and bench options available. Kyle Wright is still ranked high, but he's been squared up a bit. Maybe a bit more tweaking and experience would allow him to stick in the rotation. Atlanta has pulled back from him a bit. I could see them moving him in the right deal (pun intended). Adding Quintana makes up the difference as he can slide right into the rotation for Atlanta.

If Contreras to Atlanta doesn't work, I like the Padres as a trade partner a lot.

 

 

Ian Happ, David Bote, Duane Underwood Jr. (or Alzolay if needed) for Jon Gray

 

 

I don't know what the price for Gray will be. I've seen others post that a package around Ian Happ and Alzolay wouldn't come close to touching Gray in a trade, but I've also read Tony Andracki mention that Ian Happ would cost Gray + a prospect. I find the latter hard to believe so I felt it settled in the middle. Bote has a good amount of value and is fairly cheap with his contract. Ian Happ made significant changes. Both have plus power and Coors would be an excellent place for them. Truth be told, I like both players in a vacuum, but I think the Cubs are going to prioritize contact rate, defense, and pitching wiffs this offseason.

 

 

Free Agents:

Sign Yasmani Grandal 3 year/$50 million

Howie Kendrick 2 year/$15 million

Billy Hamilton 1 year/$2.5 million (25/26th player)

Sign Dellin Betances 1 year/$2.5 million

Pedro Strop 1 year $2.5 million

 

 

I think Grandal is a no-brainer for this team. He's caught a lot of innings so there's some significant mileage, but you can afford to have Caratini start multiple times a week.

 

Kendrick adds a lot to the team as someone that can play more at 2B early and a bit at 3B without needing to play every day. The defense isn't spectacular, but he's not terrible (outside of in the NLDS). He hasn't posted a contact % less than 79% since 2008.

 

Betances is a complete wild card. He could be a top RP in the league or pitch 0 innings next year. He may cost more than what I listed. I have no idea how to value it. If available for cheap we should look at him as an option. Strop actually looks like a great option to bring back on a cheap deal. He publicly stated he wanted to come back and his stuff finally started to tick back up in September. They need more in this pen though. I'd love for Marquez to be an option in August. It's certainly still a risky part of the team. It wouldn't shock me to see Chatwood moved to a team like the Royals (eating half the salary) for Hill or Barlow. I left him on the team for now.

 

 

Total payroll add is approximately $30 million

 

Pitching staff:

SP) Hendricks

SP) Darvish

SP) Gray

SP) Lester

SP) Wright/Graveman/MIlls

 

RP) Kimbrel

RP) Betances

RP) Wick

RP) Strop

RP) Wieck

RP) Chatwood

RP) Kyle Ryan

RP) Graveman/Mills/Triple AAA filler

 

Position Players:

2B) Hoerner/Kendrick

3B) Bryant

1B) Rizzo

SS) Baez

C) Grandal

LF) Schwarber

CF) Inciarte

RF) Heyward

 

B) Caratini

B) Hoerner/Kendrick

B) Kemp

B) Descalso

B) Almora

B) Hamilton

[Cubswin11]

Pham would be an interesting target if the Rays would make him available/he gets too expensive for them.

[Backtobanks]

Trade Contreras, Almora, Short, and Underwood to Pittsburgh for Marte, Frazier, and Kela.

Trade Chatwood and Bote to Texas for Leclerc and Mazara.

 

Extend Quintana and sign a catcher (?), Maybin, Odorizzi, Liriano.

 

Rizzo

Frazier

Baez

Bryant

Schwarber

Marte

Heyward

Caratini

 

Darvish

Hendricks

Lester

Quintana

Odorizzi

 

Wick

Wieck

Kela

Leclerc

Ryan

Kimbrel

Liriano

 

Happ, Hoerner, Mazara, Maybin, Catcher (26th man- Mills, Alzolay, Norwood, Maples, Kemp, Descalso, Graveman)

[Cubswin11]

Adding Marte and Frazier would be awesome. They’re the exact type of hitters we need.

[Sammy Sofa]

Pham would be an interesting target if the Rays would make him available/he gets too expensive for them.

 

I refuse to accept that much heavy blinking between him and Bryant on the same team.

[Bertz]

Pham would be an interesting target if the Rays would make him available/he gets too expensive for them.

 

I really really like this, assuming he's still a legit CF (and his sprint speed is steady, so he *should* be). I do wonder what the Rays would want in return though. A Contreras/Pham swap works for us, but their hard on for framing has me skeptical of their interest.

[Cubswin11]

Pham would be an interesting target if the Rays would make him available/he gets too expensive for them.

 

I really really like this, assuming he's still a legit CF (and his sprint speed is steady, so he *should* be). I do wonder what the Rays would want in return though. A Contreras/Pham swap works for us, but their hard on for framing has me skeptical of their interest.

Yeah I could see them having more interest in Vic than Willy, actually. Obviously Vic isn’t enough for a 1 for 1 swap. Idk what it would take or if we have stuff they’d want but I’d like him as a target. He’s probably more in the bucket of long shot guys (like Marte) than realistic guys.

[Cubswin11]

Why would the Cubs blow Contreras on a 32 YO Tommy Pham?

I don’t think they’d trade Willy for him. I’m guessing it would be some combo of Happ, Bote, Vic, and prospects for him if they made a move. I’d be willing to move Roederer for him. They also seem like they’d have interest in the Zagunis/Short type guys who are MLB ready but we don’t really have a spot for them. It wouldn’t shock me if Zagunis has a few nice years as a 1B/DH.

[Cubswin11]

Found our CF’er

 

 

 

[ConstableRabbit]

Found our CF’er

 

 

 

I'm all for a plus-plus speed guy who's a great defender in CF, but I see a lot of GB hits that would probably be outs in MLB in that video.

[ConstableRabbit]

With that said, #ShogoWeGo so I'm in.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Statistically it looks like he's got a fair amount of pop in his bat: https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=akiyam000sho

 

Wonder if he's more on the Fukudome or the Aoki end of the spectrum, contractually speaking.

[ConstableRabbit]

Statistically it looks like he's got a fair amount of pop in his bat: https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=akiyam000sho

 

Wonder if he's more on the Fukudome or the Aoki end of the spectrum, contractually speaking.

Good question. Kosuke got 4/$48m, right? I can't imagine that we're talking that much for a 32 year old in our current contract environment.

[Bertz]

Theo specifically mentioned leadoff, contact, and athleticism during his end of season presser. Considering how few domestic options check all three of those options there might be something here.

 

Shogo, Castellanos, and someone to throw into the mix at 2B would be a pretty solid offseason on the position player front.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Something like Shogo, Grandal, Contreras for Gray, plus Happ and/or Almora for relief help with a lower tier FA RP supplement would be a pretty good outcome given the dollars they have to spend.

 

EDIT: Let's make this into something more detailed.

 

Shogo 3/24

Grandal 4/64

Contreras + Happ for Gray + Estevez (Rockies OF needs help and Estevez while promising didn't appear to be more than 4th in the pecking order when everyone was healthy)

Almora for Yoan Lopez (change of scenery for both, Lopez has a rare combo of velocity and control plus some MiLB success to bank on, Almora has pedigree and is an easy Dyson replacement)

Sign/trade for an inexpensive bench OF that has a little pop and preferably LH, let's call it Lonnie Chisenhall to give it a name

 

 

Shogo CF

Bryant 3B

Rizzo 1B

Baez SS

Schwarber LF

Grandal C

Heyward RF

Bote/Hoerner 2B

 

Caratini/Hoerner/Descalso/Kemp/Chisenhall

 

Hendricks/Darvish/Gray/Q/Lester

 

Kimbrel/Wick/Estevez/Ryan/Chatwood/Lopez/AAA shuttle

[Cubswin11]

Something like Shogo, Grandal, Contreras for Gray, plus Happ and/or Almora for relief help with a lower tier FA RP supplement would be a pretty good outcome given the dollars they have to spend.

 

EDIT: Let's make this into something more detailed.

 

Shogo 3/24

Grandal 4/64

Contreras + Happ for Gray + Estevez (Rockies OF needs help and Estevez while promising didn't appear to be more than 4th in the pecking order when everyone was healthy)

Almora for Yoan Lopez (change of scenery for both, Lopez has a rare combo of velocity and control plus some MiLB success to bank on, Almora has pedigree and is an easy Dyson replacement)

Sign/trade for an inexpensive bench OF that has a little pop and preferably LH, let's call it Lonnie Chisenhall to give it a name

 

 

Shogo CF

Bryant 3B

Rizzo 1B

Baez SS

Schwarber LF

Grandal C

Heyward RF

Bote/Hoerner 2B

 

Caratini/Hoerner/Descalso/Kemp/Chisenhall

 

Hendricks/Darvish/Gray/Q/Lester

 

Kimbrel/Wick/Estevez/Ryan/Chatwood/Lopez/AAA shuttle

I like this, I’d try and keep Happ out of the Gray trade and also try and fit in/get Pillar and 1 of Kendrick or Cesar Hernandez in here as well.

[squally1313]

Overall I'm in, outside of having first heard of this Shogo guy about 3 hours ago. Out of curiosity, why do you prefer the outfield bat be left handed? Wouldn't it be more beneficial to get someone who can give Heyward and Schwarber days off against tough lefties?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Overall I'm in, outside of having first heard of this Shogo guy about 3 hours ago. Out of curiosity, why do you prefer the outfield bat be left handed? Wouldn't it be more beneficial to get someone who can give Heyward and Schwarber days off against tough lefties?

 

Mostly because I looked at the bench and didn't like that the only lefty with pop was a catcher. Considering all 3 starting OF are LH in this scenario and Happ and Almora are both traded, I think you might be right that RH would be probably be preferable.

[squally1313]

Overall I'm in, outside of having first heard of this Shogo guy about 3 hours ago. Out of curiosity, why do you prefer the outfield bat be left handed? Wouldn't it be more beneficial to get someone who can give Heyward and Schwarber days off against tough lefties?

 

Mostly because I looked at the bench and didn't like that the only lefty with pop was a catcher. Considering all 3 starting OF are LH in this scenario and Happ and Almora are both traded, I think you might be right that RH would be probably be preferable.

 

It's really unfortunate that Almora completely lost his one ability (hitting LHP), and Happ hasn't had it the last two years. Makes someone like Castellanos that much more valuable, but I still don't think you can justify spending limited resources there when you have a left handed version in Schwarber already on the roster. Without getting into the details, picking up a starter like Grey purely through prospects and the Happs/Botes of the world, and then using Contreras to find a legit starting RH outfielder would create a lot more flexibility out there.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Overall I'm in, outside of having first heard of this Shogo guy about 3 hours ago. Out of curiosity, why do you prefer the outfield bat be left handed? Wouldn't it be more beneficial to get someone who can give Heyward and Schwarber days off against tough lefties?

 

Mostly because I looked at the bench and didn't like that the only lefty with pop was a catcher. Considering all 3 starting OF are LH in this scenario and Happ and Almora are both traded, I think you might be right that RH would be probably be preferable.

 

It's really unfortunate that Almora completely lost his one ability (hitting LHP), and Happ hasn't had it the last two years. Makes someone like Castellanos that much more valuable, but I still don't think you can justify spending limited resources there when you have a left handed version in Schwarber already on the roster. Without getting into the details, picking up a starter like Grey purely through prospects and the Happs/Botes of the world, and then using Contreras to find a legit starting RH outfielder would create a lot more flexibility out there.

 

The other way to think about this is the option cubswin11 keeps pushing, which is just keeping Almora for that spot since he'll probably bounce back, and lefty mashing outfielder is possibly the easiest thing in the baseball world to find if not.

[Cubswin11]

 

Mostly because I looked at the bench and didn't like that the only lefty with pop was a catcher. Considering all 3 starting OF are LH in this scenario and Happ and Almora are both traded, I think you might be right that RH would be probably be preferable.

 

It's really unfortunate that Almora completely lost his one ability (hitting LHP), and Happ hasn't had it the last two years. Makes someone like Castellanos that much more valuable, but I still don't think you can justify spending limited resources there when you have a left handed version in Schwarber already on the roster. Without getting into the details, picking up a starter like Grey purely through prospects and the Happs/Botes of the world, and then using Contreras to find a legit starting RH outfielder would create a lot more flexibility out there.

 

The other way to think about this is the option cubswin11 keeps pushing, which is just keeping Almora for that spot since he'll probably bounce back, and lefty mashing outfielder is possibly the easiest thing in the baseball world to find if not.

Excuse me

[Transmogrified Tiger]

 

It's really unfortunate that Almora completely lost his one ability (hitting LHP), and Happ hasn't had it the last two years. Makes someone like Castellanos that much more valuable, but I still don't think you can justify spending limited resources there when you have a left handed version in Schwarber already on the roster. Without getting into the details, picking up a starter like Grey purely through prospects and the Happs/Botes of the world, and then using Contreras to find a legit starting RH outfielder would create a lot more flexibility out there.

 

The other way to think about this is the option cubswin11 keeps pushing, which is just keeping Almora for that spot since he'll probably bounce back, and lefty mashing outfielder is possibly the easiest thing in the baseball world to find if not.

Excuse me

 

I mean if custom ranks weren't broken I would've made yours "Mr. Almora" a long time ago, we get it, you love the guy