2019-20 Offseason Rumors/General Chit-Chat

[Cubswin11]

Do it. Megill has three minor league options left so we could use those if we do the trade and it helps make the bullpen more flexible.

 

 

[SouthSideRyan]

If Kris Bryant is being shopped to get under the luxury tax and they have the availability to trade Chatwood’s full contract, then everyone in the organization should be fired

 

The theory is they may have the availability to trade Chatwood's full contract if the right combination of circumstances strike during ST. The Bryant stuff has never made any coherent sense to begin with, everyone in the org should be ashamed at how this winter has transpired, regardless of what restrictions they have.

 

I just don’t see a lot of teams with 13M lying around for a 5th starter. I know ST hasn’t started yet, but you still have Cashner, Vargas, Millone, and McHugh out there for a hell of a lot less money

[Backtobanks]

If Kris Bryant is being shopped to get under the luxury tax and they have the availability to trade Chatwood’s full contract, then everyone in the organization should be fired

 

The theory is they may have the availability to trade Chatwood's full contract if the right combination of circumstances strike during ST. The Bryant stuff has never made any coherent sense to begin with, everyone in the org should be ashamed at how this winter has transpired, regardless of what restrictions they have.

 

I just don’t see a lot of teams with 13M lying around for a 5th starter. I know ST hasn’t started yet, but you still have Cashner, Vargas, Millone, and McHugh out there for a hell of a lot less money

 

Even if you pick up a few million to make him more attractive, you might save 8-9 million.

[Cubswin11]

If Kris Bryant is being shopped to get under the luxury tax and they have the availability to trade Chatwood’s full contract, then everyone in the organization should be fired

 

The theory is they may have the availability to trade Chatwood's full contract if the right combination of circumstances strike during ST. The Bryant stuff has never made any coherent sense to begin with, everyone in the org should be ashamed at how this winter has transpired, regardless of what restrictions they have.

 

I just don’t see a lot of teams with 13M lying around for a 5th starter. I know ST hasn’t started yet, but you still have Cashner, Vargas, Millone, and McHugh out there for a hell of a lot less money

Yeah I don’t see a team eating all $13 million unless we throw in a solid prospect and/or a team has catastrophic pitching losses in spring. I think if we threw in a Giambrone/Short type prospect and $4-7 mil we could save $6-9 million though and I think that’s a realistic trade that’s out there.

[Tim]

Do it. Megill has three minor league options left so we could use those if we do the trade and it helps make the bullpen more flexible.

 

 

 

Problem with this is the Cubs have like a dozen of that possible reliever going all the way to guys like Wyatt Short and Craig Brooks. If trading from the ML squad I'd like to see them bring back a possible starter

I guess we'd trade them Almora so that we can option the Rule 5 pick? That's much more than teams typically pay for that kind of thing. Also, didn't they just trade away a much better version of Almora in Margot? What makes anyone think they'd be interested in Albert? Also, also, they already signed Lagares from that list to a 2020 MiLB contract.

[Cubswin11]

Yeah now that they got Lagares so much for that idea. I’d still be willing to send the Padres a little something so we could use Megill’s options. Maybe they’ll still dump Almora and add Pillar. Lagares only took $1.4 million to sign, Pillar might not take much more than $2 million. So it might only take $500k-$1 million more than what Almora is making for that upgrade if they just trade Almora off or cut him.

[Cubswin11]

[squally1313]

 

The Barstool Chicago guys are saying something similar, for whatever that's worth. I do know that he lives in Chicago (my buddy sees him at East Bank most mornings), so might be a friend of a friend thing here.

[Cubswin11]

[UMFan83]

 

So 2 weeks ago, the message was that our offseason was just starting in terms of transactions. And now it appears done.

[Cubswin11]

[Sammy Sofa]

Someone tell me Kipnis has awesome splits or something, because he blows otherwise. Or is this just boring depth horsefeathers.

[Cubswin11]

Someone tell me Kipnis has awesome splits or something, because he blows otherwise. Or is this just boring depth horsefeathers.

Really good contact rate, 113 career wRC+ vs RHP (though only in the 90s last 3 years). It’s mostly just a depth/platoon move. Like it a lot more if it’s to knock Descalso off the roster.

[Post Count Padder]

https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs/2020/02/11/report-cubs-zeroing-in-on-signing-free-agent-2b-jason-kipnis/

 

What he does have, however, is a solid glove at second base and well above average contact abilities (91.4% contact rate in the zone last year, 81.3% overall … compared to league averages of 84.9% and 76.2% respectively). He also likely comes with a pretty low price tag, which is still somewhat of a requirement for any player the Cubs pursue this winter.

 

It’s also worth noting that Kipnis, who bats left-handed, was/has been much better on the strong side of the platoon last season (91 wRC+ versus righties, 64 wRC+ versus lefties ) and for his career (113 wRC+ versus righties, 82 wRC+ versus lefties).

[squally1313]

Yeah all he has do is prove he's better than Descalso and this is a solid move. If he can show some signs of life and work his way into a Kipnis/Bote platoon at second, even better, though Bote also decided to pull an Almora and abruptly start sucking against LHPs in 2019, so who knows.

[Cubswin11]

Oh well. Love that Almora just gets handed a roster spot out of spring completely undeserved two years in a row with no competition brought in.

 

[Bertz]

 

[Regular Show]

 

 

Why is it that teams and players try to knock out extensions around this time? D'backs and Ahmed, and I think there was another one recently. Cubs and Bote happened around this time last year.

 

It would've made the offseason a lot better if they got this Baez extension done sooner...

[Transmogrified Tiger]

 

 

Why is it that teams and players try to knock out extensions around this time? D'backs and Ahmed, and I think there was another one recently. Cubs and Bote happened around this time last year.

 

It would've made the offseason a lot better if they got this Baez extension done sooner...

 

Extensions almost always happen after the team has their roster for the year set, so they don’t cost themselves flexibility they would need if plans had to change.

[Regular Show]

 

 

Why is it that teams and players try to knock out extensions around this time? D'backs and Ahmed, and I think there was another one recently. Cubs and Bote happened around this time last year.

 

It would've made the offseason a lot better if they got this Baez extension done sooner...

 

Extensions almost always happen after the team has their roster for the year set, so they don’t cost themselves flexibility they would need if plans had to change.

 

That makes sense, but we know they've been working on this a while. Extensions don't generally just get knocked out in a couple weeks or in a relatively quick manner (Bote one being an exception). Cubs have been trying to do some of these extensions for years now...

 

Just seems like there is more expediency around this time in MLB for some weird reason.

[Gilby]

lol I keep thinking about when the Cubs supposedly sent boatloads of people to the winter meetings ready to WHEEL AND DEAL.

 

Now here we are with Steven Souza Jr and Jason Kipnis

[Bertz]

 

Why is it that teams and players try to knock out extensions around this time? D'backs and Ahmed, and I think there was another one recently. Cubs and Bote happened around this time last year.

 

It would've made the offseason a lot better if they got this Baez extension done sooner...

 

Extensions almost always happen after the team has their roster for the year set, so they don’t cost themselves flexibility they would need if plans had to change.

 

That makes sense, but we know they've been working on this a while. Extensions don't generally just get knocked out in a couple weeks or in a relatively quick manner (Bote one being an exception). Cubs have been trying to do some of these extensions for years now...

 

Just seems like there is more expediency around this time in MLB for some weird reason.

 

I wonder how much of it is finally getting face-to-face time. Like teams and agents work through the broad strokes of a deal throughout the offseason, but it doesn't get finished until the player and team are in a room together.

 

Another thing is that most players cut off negotiations at the start of the season. Baseball execs love nothing more than doing jack horsefeathers until the moment before they absolutely have to.

[Tim]

 

Extensions almost always happen after the team has their roster for the year set, so they don’t cost themselves flexibility they would need if plans had to change.

 

That makes sense, but we know they've been working on this a while. Extensions don't generally just get knocked out in a couple weeks or in a relatively quick manner (Bote one being an exception). Cubs have been trying to do some of these extensions for years now...

 

Just seems like there is more expediency around this time in MLB for some weird reason.

 

I wonder how much of it is finally getting face-to-face time. Like teams and agents work through the broad strokes of a deal throughout the offseason, but it doesn't get finished until the player and team are in a room together.

 

Another thing is that most players cut off negotiations at the start of the season. Baseball execs love nothing more than doing jack horsefeathers until the moment before they absolutely have to.

It also has a lot to do with the timing of arbitration hearings.

[Bull]

 

That makes sense, but we know they've been working on this a while. Extensions don't generally just get knocked out in a couple weeks or in a relatively quick manner (Bote one being an exception). Cubs have been trying to do some of these extensions for years now...

 

Just seems like there is more expediency around this time in MLB for some weird reason.

 

I wonder how much of it is finally getting face-to-face time. Like teams and agents work through the broad strokes of a deal throughout the offseason, but it doesn't get finished until the player and team are in a room together.

 

Another thing is that most players cut off negotiations at the start of the season. Baseball execs love nothing more than doing jack horsefeathers until the moment before they absolutely have to.

It also has a lot to do with the timing of arbitration hearings.

Which timing is AWFUL. They need to do arb near the beginning of the offseason so that teams know what they're dealing with.

[Andy]

 

 

Why is it that teams and players try to knock out extensions around this time? D'backs and Ahmed, and I think there was another one recently. Cubs and Bote happened around this time last year.

 

It would've made the offseason a lot better if they got this Baez extension done sooner...

Bote happened a few days into the season, which compounded the weirdness of it.