2019-20 Offseason Rumors/General Chit-Chat

[minnesotacubsfan]

More relievers!!

[Post Count Padder]

Now that's someone who would've made sense for us on a minor league deal

 

The Phillies have agreed to sign infielder Logan Forsythe to a minor league deal, MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo tweets. Forsythe will receive an invitation to Philadelphia’s big league Spring Training camp.

[Cubswin11]

[Post Count Padder]

I think I prefer Holt but I wouldn't say no to Kipnis. He hasn't been much of anything the last couple years but maybe the change of scenery will help. I'm sure he'd take a cheap deal being this late in the offseason and how well he's played (and that it would be a homecoming of sorts).

[Bear Cub]

I could live with Kipsis.

[squally1313]

That would definitely push Hoerner to AAA to start the year, which is fine. Would push Bote into essentially a roving back up as the short side of that platoon, with KB backing up Schwarber directly and Happ indirectly? Still don't really have a backup shortstop, but Javy doesn't really need days off. Would definitely fit their strategy of targeting guys who were once good, and more recently terrible.

[Brian]

sign him, show him his at bat in the bottom of the 9th of game 7, DFA him

[Cubswin11]

That would definitely push Hoerner to AAA to start the year, which is fine. Would push Bote into essentially a roving back up as the short side of that platoon, with KB backing up Schwarber directly and Happ indirectly? Still don't really have a backup shortstop, but Javy doesn't really need days off. Would definitely fit their strategy of targeting guys who were once good, and more recently terrible.

It could also push Descalso off the OD roster. Either way, it sure seems like were gonna add one of Kipnis, Holt or Scooter. All three certainly won’t/can’t find more than bench/platoon roles guaranteed. Probably comes down to whichever one comes cheapest and/or takes a non-guaranteed deal.

 

In your scenario Bote is backup SS to start the year. Which is fine, in the event Javy goes down Bote takes over for a game and Nico is up overnight. I do hope they give Javy a little more rest this year once Nico is up though. They rode Javy a little too hard last year, especially once he got dinged up.

 

Adding Kipnis/Holt/Scooter could also signal Nico to CF is a thing they’re considering.

[Bertz]

I don't like Kipnis for the role because he doesn't do anything particularly well. Even if we're resigning ourselves to scraping the bottom of the barrel for a LH caddy for Nico, I'd aim for Scooter Gennett or Brad Miller. Gennett's splits make me think he's likely to at least be a useful platoon partner. And Brad Miller's only nominally a 2B, but maybe we can shift our way into him not being a defensive disaster in order to get a capable bat into the lineup.

 

Kipnis is just blah and without a skill that can be leveraged to make him useful.

[cl smooth]

mets gonna mets:

 

Billionaire Steve Cohen’s bid to buy Mets is on life support

 

Sources close to the situation are confirming that the billionaire hedge fund manager is ending negotiations with the Wilpons on his purchase of an 80 percent stake in the franchise. According to those sources, Cohen is deeply unhappy with the Wilpons changing the terms of the deal at a very late stage and has decided to walk away.

[Deeg]

Not factoring in the draw that Kipnis is a nice Jewish boy from Northbrook, he's actually not a bad hitter if you strictly platoon him. My bigger concern is that his defense has declined as you would have expected for a MIF approaching his mid-30's, and he's a liability with the globe at this point. And his bat, even against righties, isn't good enough to compensate.

[Bertz]

https://twitter.com/lindseyadler/statuses/1225159492515614722

[Derwood]

So we signed this dude to a minor league deal. I'm all in on the hair/mustache combo

 

[Brian]

Berrios is a pitcher I'm keeping an eye on for his FA date

 

Extend Javy and we might get a family discount on Berrios

[jersey cubs fan]

Super hot take: I have minimal interest in a Baez extension

I too am a javy coward

 

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=407&p=270020&hilit=whispers#p270020

[Ding Dong Johnson]

goony and Tom are basically twins.

[Cubswin11]

Super hot take: I have minimal interest in a Baez extension

I’m in the same boat. It would have to be in the neighborhood of the Bogaerts extension for me to do it, anything much more (or certainly if he’s thinking 150-200+) I’m good letting it play out.

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

Super hot take: I have minimal interest in a Baez extension

I’m in the same boat. It would have to be in the neighborhood of the Bogaerts extension for me to do it, anything much more (or certainly if he’s thinking 150-200+) I’m good letting it play out.

I hope that Tom RIckets is required to write out a check for half a million dollars made out to "El Mago" before every meal until his demise. Anyone who does not agree is not a fan of the Chicago Cubs and/or fun. Extend Javy for insane money for insane years. Now.

[UMFan83]

My desire to keep Javy around as long as possible is based 90% on the fact that he's so insanely likable and fun to watch. Not sure he'd be as fun to watch when his quick reaction times and impressive range fade a little with age. Please smart baseball people prove me wrong, but he doesn't appear to be a player that stands to age well.

[squally1313]

My desire to keep Javy around as long as possible is based 90% on the fact that he's so insanely likable and fun to watch. Not sure he'd be as fun to watch when his quick reaction times and impressive range fade a little with age. Please smart baseball people prove me wrong, but he doesn't appear to be a player that stands to age well.

Yeah most of my arguments for a Javy extension, you could probably do the same thing for a Rizzo extension, so I always thought it was weird that a Javy extension was assumed and a Rizzo extension had no chance/was really dumb.

[SouthSideRyan]

goony and Tom are basically twins.

 

So Tom is the good one?

[Bertz]

My desire to keep Javy around as long as possible is based 90% on the fact that he's so insanely likable and fun to watch. Not sure he'd be as fun to watch when his quick reaction times and impressive range fade a little with age. Please smart baseball people prove me wrong, but he doesn't appear to be a player that stands to age well.

 

My understanding, and I don't think I've seen a refreshed study on it so it could be a weird steroid era anachronism, is that super athletic players age far more gracefully. The idea being that these guys have multiple way of contributing, so if one area falls off they still provide value in others. When Miguel Cabrera dropped to being a league average hitter last year, he was completely unplayable. When Javy is 35, he'll probably still be solid defensive 2B/3B who mashes lefties.

 

This could be out of date though, for the same reasons that aging curves have started skewing younger and younger.

[CyHawk_Cub]

goony and Tom are basically twins.

 

So Tom is the good one?

 

[Cubswin11]

My desire to keep Javy around as long as possible is based 90% on the fact that he's so insanely likable and fun to watch. Not sure he'd be as fun to watch when his quick reaction times and impressive range fade a little with age. Please smart baseball people prove me wrong, but he doesn't appear to be a player that stands to age well.

 

My understanding, and I don't think I've seen a refreshed study on it so it could be a weird steroid era anachronism, is that super athletic players age far more gracefully. The idea being that these guys have multiple way of contributing, so if one area falls off they still provide value in others. When Miguel Cabrera dropped to being a league average hitter last year, he was completely unplayable. When Javy is 35, he'll probably still be solid defensive 2B/3B who mashes lefties.

 

This could be out of date though, for the same reasons that aging curves have started skewing younger and younger.

I’m more worried about Javy’s offensive profile eroding long term (high Ks, low BB, low Contact%, quick twitch bat speed, base running, etc) than I am about defense. I have faith he can be fine and even plus defensively somewhere well in to his 30s (2B/3B/LF). It’s an extreme but look how quickly Carlos Gomez fell off.

[minnesotacubsfan]

My desire to keep Javy around as long as possible is based 90% on the fact that he's so insanely likable and fun to watch. Not sure he'd be as fun to watch when his quick reaction times and impressive range fade a little with age. Please smart baseball people prove me wrong, but he doesn't appear to be a player that stands to age well.

 

My understanding, and I don't think I've seen a refreshed study on it so it could be a weird steroid era anachronism, is that super athletic players age far more gracefully. The idea being that these guys have multiple way of contributing, so if one area falls off they still provide value in others. When Miguel Cabrera dropped to being a league average hitter last year, he was completely unplayable. When Javy is 35, he'll probably still be solid defensive 2B/3B who mashes lefties.

 

This could be out of date though, for the same reasons that aging curves have started skewing younger and younger.

I’m more worried about Javy’s offensive profile eroding long term (high Ks, low BB, low Contact%, quick twitch bat speed, base running, etc) than I am about defense. I have faith he can be fine and even plus defensively somewhere well in to his 30s (2B/3B/LF). It’s an extreme but look how quickly Carlos Gomez fell off.

 

my love for Javy is so strong that it couples with my hate for the Ricketts in a way that I have no problem with the idea of watching El Mago swat at mosquitoes with his bat for the next 15 years in a Cubs uni

 

its not like ownership is going to buy a WS, and we've seemingly forgotten how to build a farm system anyway