So...Now What?

[cl smooth]

 

figured it would be a good idea to have one thread about this instead of having multiple conversations in multiple trade threads.

 

so the trades are done. if you're jed and the cubs: where do you go from here? how much money is available to spend this off-season? what do you do with jason heyward and the $44 million still owed to him? are contreras and hendricks part of the long-term vision?

[NOLA]

Is Rossie going to be the new Rick Renteria?

[OleMissCub]

[Cubswin11]

Rebuilds are hard and prospects mostly fail

 

[UK]

 

figured it would be a good idea to have one thread about this instead of having multiple conversations in multiple trade threads.

 

so the trades are done. if you're jed and the cubs: where do you go from here? how much money is available to spend this off-season? what do you do with jason heyward and the $44 million still owed to him? are contreras and hendricks part of the long-term vision?

 

 

Despite the likelihood of it occuring in the very near future, the Cubs will have to develop players who aren't drafted top 10 overall.

[Thusly Boned]

So what is the projected payroll for 2022? Like 40-50MM? I suspect there's a lot of money to spend, even considering the PTR factor.

[Andy]

So what is the projected payroll for 2022? Like 40-50MM? I suspect there's a lot of money to spend, even considering the PTR factor.

Yeah, just to get to the relatively modest payroll of this year would leave a crap ton of money available. They'll definitely spend some, but I doubt they'll spend enough.

[Thusly Boned]

So what is the projected payroll for 2022? Like 40-50MM? I suspect there's a lot of money to spend, even considering the PTR factor.

Yeah, just to get to the relatively modest payroll of this year would leave a crap ton of money available. They'll definitely spend some, but I doubt they'll spend enough.

 

I don't think I'd want the payroll to get jacked back up in one offseason, because that would probably reflect a reckless approach, I definitely think some money will be spent. Maybe acquire and extend a player or two? Who knows. I probably won't be satisfying, but should be interesting.

[jersey cubs fan]

I’m an old man and my only advice is don’t care about these horsefeathers nuts

[Sammy Sofa]

[Thusly Boned]

I’m an old man and my only advice is don’t care about these horsefeathers nuts

 

If it is was that simple I'd have quit this horsefeathers in the 90s

[NOLA]

I’m an old man and my only advice is don’t care about these horsefeathers nuts

 

If it is was that simple I'd have quit this horsefeathers in the 90s

Dunston just needed a few more years to develop.

[BigSlick]

i gotta give Jed credit in one way: he didn't half-ass it. No half measures here.

 

We'll see if it pays off, because this is a team and a franchise in a division where one doesn't need to field an exceptionally strong team to contend for the playoffs year in year out.

[ChiCubsFan]

I kind of think there’s a decent chance Rizzo signs a 3-4ish year deal. I have a hard time seeing Baez or Bryant coming back, though.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

This is not a cohesive plan but just a list of things that could be good ideas.

 

 

- Give Nico every game at SS to see if he can handle it. Him being a good MLB SS doesn’t make or break the roster build, but it gives you clarity on how he and Madrigal can and should coexist.

 

- Give the fringe/AAA players time to try to find a developmental nugget, but remember the house always wins here. Even good performance can be fool’s gold and these should mostly about depth pecking order rather than dreaming if Alfonso Rivas is Max Muncy or Justin Steele has 175 good innings in him.

 

- Give Bote and Happ opportunity to rescue their value to the 2022 Cubs or in trade.

 

- Have a very clear plan of your intentions for Hendricks and Contreras, you cant bleed their value from the MLB roster like you did with this year’s team, that will postpone the build by a year or more.

 

- In the offseason, use FA to quickly improve the rotation. In particular, there’s several very old formerly elite SP that you can likely get to sign short deals to make use of the fact you likely have more flexibility than you can reasonably use in FA.

 

- Use the payroll flexibility to get productive but overpaid players from teams bumping against the luxury tax. The Dodgers have been great at this over the years.

 

- Use the depth of the minor league system to add a multi year piece, theres teams that cash in during arb years all the time. It can be tempting to think in long 5 year time horizons when you arent currently playoff caliber, but recent years should illustrate that even very good players lose form or get bogged down with injuries. With that in mind, don’t be excessively worried if you trade for a guy with 2 years of team control.

[Brian]

maybe it will be a notable trivia answer in a couple of years that Manny Rodriguez had his major league debut on the day the 2016 Cubs were taken behind the barn and shot

 

[tweet]

[/tweet]

[Bertz]

So what is the projected payroll for 2022? Like 40-50MM? I suspect there's a lot of money to spend, even considering the PTR factor.

Yeah, just to get to the relatively modest payroll of this year would leave a crap ton of money available. They'll definitely spend some, but I doubt they'll spend enough.

 

Yeah, the team will enter the winter ~$100M short of where they were to open this season. Which itself is the lowest they've run since 2015. They could do something like Corey Seager, Tommy Pham, and Marcus Stroman without even running a top 10 payroll.

 

I imagine the plan is something akin to what the Blue Jays did last winter. Sign a star to a mega contract (probably one of the shortstops) and then try to be opportunistic with short term deals and pillow contracts.

[Rex Buckingham]

Don't care if Rizzo comes back... 1B is so easy to find someone to play and he's probably going to have more back issues as he ages.

 

Would love to re-sign KB or Javy, with Javy the more likely (and less valuable) of the 2.

 

Gotta get some starting pitching - will be interesting to see how Steele and Thompson respond to being stretched out and see how Alzolay finishes the year. If we can count on 2 of them next year to be in the rotation and Hendricks can stop giving up so many dongs, I like our starting point.

 

Want to see Manny Rodriguez, Ben Leeper, etc. get lots of chances in the pen. Fire as many of Brothers, Ryan, Maples, Winkler, etc. into the sun as necessary and bring up any young arms you think are big league caliber.

 

Convince Ross that Heyward doesn't have to play just because we're paying him too much money.

[Brian]

my favorite Chicago Cub

 

[d_money]

This was a lost season and Jed had to do what he had to do yesterday. But damn it sucks. We are faced with a team with no identity. Someone will surface but it’s not gonna be anything like the talent + personalities of the guys just traded.

 

The trade I’m most pissed about is Kimbrel to the WS. The return is meh. I was hoping for a helluva lot more. Meanwhile, the Cubs have provided key contributors to the crosstown rivals for their playoff run for this year and next. All this for…Madrigal, Heuer and Q. Damn.

[minnesotacubsfan]

with all this fun money this offseason they should just buy out Heyward and send him to Japan. Tank the season with scrubs and get a great draft pick in 2023 while the traded guys start to come up

[CubinNY]

This was a lost season and Jed had to do what he had to do yesterday. But damn it sucks. We are faced with a team with no identity. Someone will surface but it’s not gonna be anything like the talent + personalities of the guys just traded.

 

The trade I’m most pissed about is Kimbrel to the WS. The return is meh. I was hoping for a helluva lot more. Meanwhile, the Cubs have provided key contributors to the crosstown rivals for their playoff run for this year and next. All this for…Madrigal, Heuer and Q. Damn.

The White Sox are just another team and in no way are a rival to the Cubs. That's [expletive] fan stuff.

 

The main knock on Madrigal besides health is that people think he doesn't hit for enough power. My question, what 2nd does? Unless we find out who the other trade options were it's tough for me to criticize what they got for Kimbrel.

[minnesotacubsfan]

This was a lost season and Jed had to do what he had to do yesterday. But damn it sucks. We are faced with a team with no identity. Someone will surface but it’s not gonna be anything like the talent + personalities of the guys just traded.

 

The trade I’m most pissed about is Kimbrel to the WS. The return is meh. I was hoping for a helluva lot more. Meanwhile, the Cubs have provided key contributors to the crosstown rivals for their playoff run for this year and next. All this for…Madrigal, Heuer and Q. Damn.

The White Sox are just another team and in no way are a rival to the Cubs. That's [expletive] fan stuff.

 

The main knock on Madrigal besides health is that people think he doesn't hit for enough power. My question, what 2nd does? Unless we find out who the other trade options were it's tough for me to criticize what they got for Kimbrel.

 

its not that he doesn't hit for enough power, it's that he actually hits for zeeeeeeero power

 

if he can up his BB rate, he could be a special, world-class type of lead-off hitter. but he's probably who he is at this point and thats a decent to good player, max.

[Derwood]

In case anyone wants to head to Wrigley to see some ex-Cubs:

 

CHW: 8/6-8/8

SF: 9/10-9/12

 

No more games vs. NYM or SD, and we don’t play NYY at all

[WrigleyField 22]

This was a lost season and Jed had to do what he had to do yesterday. But damn it sucks. We are faced with a team with no identity. Someone will surface but it’s not gonna be anything like the talent + personalities of the guys just traded.

 

The trade I’m most pissed about is Kimbrel to the WS. The return is meh. I was hoping for a helluva lot more. Meanwhile, the Cubs have provided key contributors to the crosstown rivals for their playoff run for this year and next. All this for…Madrigal, Heuer and Q. Damn.

The White Sox are just another team and in no way are a rival to the Cubs. That's [expletive] fan stuff.

 

The main knock on Madrigal besides health is that people think he doesn't hit for enough power. My question, what 2nd does? Unless we find out who the other trade options were it's tough for me to criticize what they got for Kimbrel.

 

its not that he doesn't hit for enough power, it's that he actually hits for zeeeeeeero power

 

if he can up his BB rate, he could be a special, world-class type of lead-off hitter. but he's probably who he is at this point and thats a decent to good player, max.

I really can just see him being flipped again. Or at least one of him or Hoerner. As soon as this offseason even, depending on if they are really retooling (as opposed to a mini tank).