So...Now What?

[Ding Dong Johnson]

and that closer better strike this mother funker out.

[Backtobanks]

The insinuation is that as a Hendry apologist you were embarrassed by the success of the Theo era you predicted would go so horribly wrong so you stayed away until things started to get worse again and you could come in and complain about the team some more.

 

I never went away.

 

search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&author_id=314&start=825

 

then why are these your oldest posts (after the winter 2015-16 board crash)

 

Now that you mention it, I remember trying to get on the site and not being able to for quite awhile. Maybe that's what you were talking about.

[17 Seconds]

 

I never went away.

 

search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&author_id=314&start=825

 

then why are these your oldest posts (after the winter 2015-16 board crash)

 

Now that you mention it, I remember trying to get on the site and not being able to for quite awhile. Maybe that's what you were talking about.

 

oh yeah i remember when the site crashed for 2 years

[NOLA]

Not all of us....but then again, I thought Heyward would be a beast, so we're all fallible. Contact > power will be the FOTM among some fans for a while. Until they remember that dingers rock and that needing 3 straight hits to score sucks in a different way.

I think you can have some happy medium of contact bats and guys that hit dongs.

 

You probably can, but I don't want it. Walks and dongs please.

Which is kinda what Theo promised, right? Lots of long battling at bats with walks and lots of pop to bring them in. I know it’s baseball wide, but the strikeouts just crushed this team.

[toonsterwu]

For fun, I decided to see Kantrovitz's run as the Cardinals scouting director. I don't actually know if he was totally in charge of things or hey they appropriated it, but I'm not going to look that up. I don't believe he was in charge of scouting at all with Oakland. Luckily, he has a Linkedin so there's no need to look for the years - he was scouting director for the Cardinals from January 2012 to December 2014.

 

2012 draft - they had 5 in the top 59. Looks like 9 guys made it to the bigs (including Patrick Wisdom). 2 were short cups of tea, Wacha/Piscotty the best of the bunch. Not bad.

 

2013 - 2 first rounders. Looks like 5 made it to the bigs, 4 with multi-year runs. Marco Gonzales/Luke Voit/Mike Mayers.

 

2014 - 2 firsts, 2 2nds, 4 in the top 71. 5 saw time in the bigs, including a former Cubs draft pick, Daniel Ponce de Leon (curious if anyone every interviewed how he got his name). Luke Weaver, Jack Flaherty, Trevor Megill, Austin Gomber. Not bad to hit solidly on both first rounders. Gomber actually looked pretty solid this year, and he helped land them Nolan Arenado.

 

All in all, not bad. A lot of picks, but no high picks, so hitting on a few starters in the early portions of the draft is solid. No real late round finds, but that's easier said than done.

[CubinNY]

I think you can have some happy medium of contact bats and guys that hit dongs.

 

You probably can, but I don't want it. Walks and dongs please.

Which is kinda what Theo promised, right? Lots of long battling at bats with walks and lots of pop to bring them in. I know it’s baseball wide, but the strikeouts just crushed this team.

The baseball landscape has changed significantly since Theo took over. High velo relivers are all the rage and SP are not getting a thrid trip through the lineup.

[Sammy Sofa]

 

You probably can, but I don't want it. Walks and dongs please.

Which is kinda what Theo promised, right? Lots of long battling at bats with walks and lots of pop to bring them in. I know it’s baseball wide, but the strikeouts just crushed this team.

The baseball landscape has changed significantly since Theo took over. High velo relivers are all the rage and SP are not getting a thrid trip through the lineup.

 

I really think their approach to pitching is maybe the thing that sunk it all post-2016. I mean, yeah, I get "horsefeathers pitchers" because of the especially inherent unreliable nature of trying to focus on developing them, but man, you just cannot bomb out THAT horsefeathering bad in terms of developing ANY pitchers, period. They had, what, Carl for a couple of years? It's brutal.

 

And the high velocity/fireball thing seemed to really catch them off guard. Clearly I pay next to no attention to the minors, but with the relatively pitchers they were trying to develop, were any of them projected to be power arm-type guys? It felt like so much of their focus was on trying to develop or sign pitchers that weren't going to be able to blow anyone away.

[squally1313]

Which is kinda what Theo promised, right? Lots of long battling at bats with walks and lots of pop to bring them in. I know it’s baseball wide, but the strikeouts just crushed this team.

The baseball landscape has changed significantly since Theo took over. High velo relivers are all the rage and SP are not getting a thrid trip through the lineup.

 

I really think their approach to pitching is maybe the thing that sunk it all post-2016. I mean, yeah, I get "horsefeathers pitchers" because of the especially inherent unreliable nature of trying to focus on developing them, but man, you just cannot bomb out THAT horsefeathering bad in terms of developing ANY pitchers, period. They had, what, Carl for a couple of years? It's brutal.

 

And the high velocity/fireball thing seemed to really catch them off guard. Clearly I pay next to no attention to the minors, but with the relatively pitchers they were trying to develop, were any of them projected to be power arm-type guys? It felt like so much of their focus was on trying to develop or sign pitchers that weren't going to be able to blow anyone away.

 

Yeah they went horsefeathers pitchers for a couple years, which made sense given how unreliable they were and how barren the system was on both sides of the ball. But then it seemed like they tried to course correct after, and speed up the timeline, by just grabbing a bunch of "guys who know how to pitch"....college arms that threw 90 mph but had a 5% chance of turning into Hendricks/Davies/etc, and in theory more quickly than the 17 year old walking everyone but throwing 96. Seems like the only real shortcut to pitching is just to pay for it, but who knows what focusing on actually developing high velocity arms would have cost us offensively (see Appel, Bryant).

[Sammy Sofa]

Is the Astros saving Theo from himself with Appel or the rain delay in Game 7 the bigger Butterfly Effect/Sliding Doors-type moment for the Epstein-era Cubs?

[Bertz]

The baseball landscape has changed significantly since Theo took over. High velo relivers are all the rage and SP are not getting a thrid trip through the lineup.

 

I really think their approach to pitching is maybe the thing that sunk it all post-2016. I mean, yeah, I get "horsefeathers pitchers" because of the especially inherent unreliable nature of trying to focus on developing them, but man, you just cannot bomb out THAT horsefeathering bad in terms of developing ANY pitchers, period. They had, what, Carl for a couple of years? It's brutal.

 

And the high velocity/fireball thing seemed to really catch them off guard. Clearly I pay next to no attention to the minors, but with the relatively pitchers they were trying to develop, were any of them projected to be power arm-type guys? It felt like so much of their focus was on trying to develop or sign pitchers that weren't going to be able to blow anyone away.

 

Yeah they went horsefeathers pitchers for a couple years, which made sense given how unreliable they were and how barren the system was on both sides of the ball. But then it seemed like they tried to course correct after, and speed up the timeline, by just grabbing a bunch of "guys who know how to pitch"....college arms that threw 90 mph but had a 5% chance of turning into Hendricks/Davies/etc, and in theory more quickly than the 17 year old walking everyone but throwing 96. Seems like the only real shortcut to pitching is just to pay for it, but who knows what focusing on actually developing high velocity arms would have cost us offensively (see Appel, Bryant).

 

The Cubs appear to have figured out pitching, or at least gotten comfortable enough with their findings to let it drive their decision making, during the 2018/2019 offseason. That's ahead of the curve, but a good 2-3 years behind the Dodgers/Rays/Cleveland. If the Cubs had been one of those super cutting edge teams, that probably is the difference between what we got the last five years and what the Dodgers have had.

[Bertz]

This is a good objective look at the roster entering next year

 

 

4th in the NL Central and 9 games back of the Brewers with all teams only rolling with what's in house. The Brewers and Reds are going to enter the offseason with approximately the same payrolls they're running this year. So they've likely got one decent sized move each, and then merely some tinkering. The Cubs and Cards on the other hand have a lot of money coming available, which should shrink this gap.

 

Obviously there's a full offseason to go (plus any development from these last two months), bit I'd expect going into next year the Brewers/Cards/Cubs to all project at approximately the same level, and then the Reds a few games back.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I’ll see if I can do a first pass of my own with some specifics, since criticism without alternatives is not terribly sporting.

 

Ended up getting very much in my own head with this, so I’ll braindump a bunch(using spoilers for the detail if you just want to skim) about this iteration which I will probably trash within 48 hours.

 

Assumptions

 

- 26 man payroll could be as high as 165 million.

- Qualifying offers will still exist and the Cubs will be open to sign one QO FA, but not multiples.

- The goal is creating a team that can enter 2023 as a playoff contender

- No one takes a huge step forward the rest of the season

- The DH comes to the NL next year, no other significant changes to roster building(e.g. roster size, service time)

 

 

- Per Cot’s, Opening Day LT payroll was about 148 million, which with 40 man and benefits additions was about 37 million short of the LT threshold. I’m keeping the self-imposed limit 20 million below the LT threshold, because 1) we don’t know what all this will look like after the CBA, 2) we don’t know exactly how long the leash will be from ownership, 3) there’s limited payroll coming off after 2021 so even if they have higher capacity they probably don’t want to eliminate any semblance of flexibility by committing all the way to the LT limit. This would be ~17 million higher than 2021’s opening day payroll

- It’s never been more clear that the path to sustained success is having a farm system consistently producing quality and quantity of talent. The Cubs now have elite depth in the farm system, especially in the lower levels, which means they can easily withstand the loss of a pick in the likely 40-50 range to upgrade the roster. However, the picks/pools from multiples is probably a bridge too far, and we also need to be careful about double dipping with QO FAs and trading from farm depth.

- In order to do this they need to build a team similar to recent Cardinals teams, that would be roughly .500 and maybe break into the playoffs with good fortune. This also doesn’t mean that 1 year deals are verboten, but you don’t want to be playing too much catch up next offseason either.

- This doesn’t mean no one has a good August and September, but more that we aren’t going to assume some roster spots get locked down based on it. So Steele or Thompson can be part of SP depth but not guaranteed a rotation spot, but Wisdom having produced all year we’ll take his total numbers more at face value.

- This feels like a safe assumption given the trajectory CBA negotiations seem to be on. The offseason doesn’t hinge on this though, in fact it’s mostly extra motivation to increase position player depth instead of getting a dedicated DH, especially given that 1B is also open right now.

 

 

With those parameters, I’d go about the offseason this way.

 

- Extend Contreras: 15M AAV

 

 

Pay Willson his money, with as much uncertainty on the roster you can’t afford to bleed his talent after next year.

 

 

- Add a star: Sign Corey Seager, 30M AAV

 

 

Seager is my favorite, but the main thing is going big on one of the FA SS(I’d also be okay with Correa or potentially Baez or Story, but not Semien or the others. Seager is a legitimate star, he hits LH to balance against Nico/Madrigal/Wilson/Davis, he continues the theme of players who make contact(allowing for more speculative offensive additions down the roster), he’s still an excellent player even if he has to move off SS in the future, and he’s young enough that the big FA deal isn’t a poison pill. Plus the Dodgers are likely the least motivated to retain their star SS, between their hesitancy to give big FA deals and the presence of Lux.

 

 

- Find a buy low 1B: Trade Bote for Evan White

 

 

This is an attempt to find the next gen Rizzo trade, though I don’t suspect it will work out as well even in an optimistic outcome. White has been outclassed in his brief MLB time, but he has good pedigree, good defense to make mild contributions more valuable, and has been with a single org that doesn’t exactly set the player development standard. Bote has no future role with Wisdom, Madrigal, and Hoerner around, but fits here since Dipoto loves trades and can easily sell the 2022 bat being an upgrade for minimal expense while giving platoon cover at 2B and 3B they currently don’t have even if he doesn’t break out. If you hate White/love Bote and want a different minimal cost 1B option, that probably doesn’t change much. I also considered trading for one of the TB platoon guys(Choi or Diaz) who may be available given their age and advancing arb years, but that doesn’t feel like a judicious use of resources.

 

 

- Add a LH IF: Sign Brad Miller, 8M AAV

 

 

With Hoerner, Madrigal, and Wisdom all being RH(plus the new DH and the LH OFs not being much of a sure thing), there’s a lot of at bats against RHP to go around. Miller soaks them up as a dime store version of Zobrist. He can also help make sure White integrates at the best pace for his long term success by shielding him from RHP, either for developmental reasons or simply recovery from his hip surgery. Miller isn’t much of a defender but that’s mitigated by his counterparts almost all being plus defenders.

 

 

- Add a RH OF: Trade for Wil Myers (13M AAV)

 

 

With Happ, Diechmann, and Heyward all having platoon tendencies, having a RH option to balance the scales will be helpful. This doesn’t have to be expensive but it should be someone of the caliber that if they do get more than short sided platoon PA, you’re not panicking. Myers salary exceeds his production on a deep roster that’s up against the LT, so the prospect cost should not be significant(some reliever depth could be used here too). Myers is only under contract for 1 year, but corner outfield isn’t so irreplaceable and having his 13 million guaranteed to be free the following year makes sure you aren’t hitting a payroll ceiling too early as well.

 

 

- Add 2 playoff series SP: Sign Dylan Bundy 15M AAV, Trade for Yonny Chirinos, 2M AAV

 

 

The way I’m thinking about the rotation is in the context of a playoff series, less literally and more as a conceptual exercise since I think that’s a more helpful framing than #2 or #4. There’s enough interesting options in the back, but you need 2 more guys with Hendricks who are going to be strong enough to start 2 games in a best of 7.

 

If we’re limiting ourselves to one QO signing and using it on Seager, our pool gets thinner than we like. Gray, Stroman, Syndergaard, Ray, Gausman, and maybe Greinke all seem likely to get one. Of that group I would be most hopeful that Gray doesn’t get one to fill this slot. Instead what seems like the best option is trusting the org’s pitching infrastructure to pick someone up with past success but recent struggles: Velasquez, Heaney, Bundy. Bundy feels unlikely to get 15 million, but we’ll keep that there as a conservative exercise and a hedge that someone from the list above doesn’t get a QA and becomes the primary target.

 

On the trade front, while there are fewer obvious options without as many clear small market sellers, there’s always teams that cash in on SP to avoid them losing value(due to volatility and increasing proximity to FA). Options here could include Miami’s Alcantara, Tampa’s Yarbrough or Chirinos, Seattle’s Gonzales, and Oakland’s Montas. If you are able to get a more primary FA target, you could set the sights a little lower by trading for an older option like Maeda or Bumgarner. I go with Chirinos because it likely carries the lowest prospect cost for the most potential upside, and though it does carry the most risk(especially paired with Bundy), the rotation is where I prefer to take these gambles. Plus this is hedged by the small chance that you do get a good SP for ‘22-‘23 out of the current group of Alzolay/Mills/Steele/Thompson/Kilian. Chirinos’ price will be lower than the others due to his TJS recovery, and the Cubs not having an edict to win a title in ‘22(plus the aforementioned number of backend SP options) make it easier to optimize Chirinos for a substantial 2022 workload

 

 

- Add RP depth: 1-3 relievers, total 5M AAV

 

 

Whatever the reason(good scouting, analytics, pitch lab, etc) the org has had solid luck getting bargain basement reliever contributions recently. To insure the pen doesn’t lack for decent options we should set aside a couple million to play in those waters again.

 

 

- Round out the roster: FA C, buy low position player

 

 

Pick your favorite backup C option, it just needs to be someone who isn’t an embarrassment and Ross will trust enough to not overwork Willson. There’s also an open roster spot on the positional side, this is a good place for a particularly good rule 5 pick(this feels like a really good year to use a Rule 5 pick), non-tender pickup, minor league FA, or reward for one of the fringe AAA guys playing well(e.g. Ortega) or even a low cost FA if we can swing it(e.g. the Duffy/Marisnick mold). I’ll call this spot “other” below.

 

 

What this leaves us with is a position player core that’s fairly amorphous due to the positional flexibility of several guys and the uncertainty of production from many.

 

C Contreras + FA

1B Miller/White

2B Madrigal

SS Seager

3B Wisdom

LF Deichmann/Other

CF Happ (Davis by end of year)

RF Myers/Heyward

DH Hoerner

 

Hoerner is listed as the DH as a nod to his everyday nature without having a set position, I suspect he’ll be in the field most games. Davis serves as insurance/pressure by the end of the year to maintain some production when inevitably several guys in the group don’t pan out. The weakness of this group is in the OF probably, but I’m bullish relative to most on Deichmann/Happ, and that’s also the easiest place for that Other roster spot to make a good contribution, plus there’s more immediate help coming from the farm than on the IF.

 

SP: Hendricks/Bundy/Chirinos/Alzolay/(Steele/Thompson/Mills) (Kilian by end of year)

RP: Current cast of thousands + a couple FA

 

I’m the least happy with this, but that’s the nature of pitching. I’m hopeful on the listed options and we did play it safe on the FA option which could mean there’s a better upgrade for the $, or if you want to spend more prospect capital in trade.

 

 

On the whole, I think this team’s 2022 record wlll underrate their 2023 playoff readiness, they’ll drop some games in the sorting function of figuring out how many hits they have on all the unproven guys they’re trying out, but with a solid success rate they’ll be well equipped with money to spend to make an additional leap in 2023(and with a farm system hopefully ready for even more contributors and trade assets). Plus this roster doesn’t hit the 165M mark I originally set either, so there’s room both at midseason or if you prefer a more luxury option to go that route to further shore things up.

[Irrelevant Dude]

CF Happ (Davis by end of year)

If Happ were on the open market, would you pay him $5M? If not, why even offer him arbitration? He has had plenty of time to figure things out, and he is terrible. Rafael Ortega is playing over his head for sure, but I would much rather let him fill the spot for the next year, whether that be as a 4th outfielder or as a placeholder starter.

[UMFan83]

CF Happ (Davis by end of year)

If Happ were on the open market, would you pay him $5M? If not, why even offer him arbitration? He has had plenty of time to figure things out, and he is terrible. Rafael Ortega is playing over his head for sure, but I would much rather let him fill the spot for the next year, whether that be as a 4th outfielder or as a placeholder starter.

 

Sure I definitely would. Coming into this season he had a career .825 OPS in 1262 PA. Last year he had the 24th highest fWAR for a position player in baseball (yes SSS but still). $5m is worth trying to figure out what has gone wrong this season and whether he can go back to some semblance of the production he had in his previous 4 seasons. I'll trust the 1200 PA over the 300 PA this year, even if that 300 PA is the most recent data point.

[squally1313]

CF Happ (Davis by end of year)

If Happ were on the open market, would you pay him $5M? If not, why even offer him arbitration? He has had plenty of time to figure things out, and he is terrible. Rafael Ortega is playing over his head for sure, but I would much rather let him fill the spot for the next year, whether that be as a 4th outfielder or as a placeholder starter.

 

Sure I definitely would. Coming into this season he had a career .825 OPS in 1262 PA. Last year he had the 24th highest fWAR for a position player in baseball (yes SSS but still). $5m is worth trying to figure out what has gone wrong this season and whether he can go back to some semblance of the production he had in his previous 4 seasons. I'll trust the 1200 PA over the 300 PA this year, even if that 300 PA is the most recent data point.

 

Hm, one bad season as a young outfielder after being pretty consistently an above average hitter. If only we had a similar situation we could look at to see how it played out.

[Bertz]

CF Happ (Davis by end of year)

If Happ were on the open market, would you pay him $5M? If not, why even offer him arbitration? He has had plenty of time to figure things out, and he is terrible. Rafael Ortega is playing over his head for sure, but I would much rather let him fill the spot for the next year, whether that be as a 4th outfielder or as a placeholder starter.

 

Sure I definitely would. Coming into this season he had a career .825 OPS in 1262 PA. Last year he had the 24th highest fWAR for a position player in baseball (yes SSS but still). $5m is worth trying to figure out what has gone wrong this season and whether he can go back to some semblance of the production he had in his previous 4 seasons. I'll trust the 1200 PA over the 300 PA this year, even if that 300 PA is the most recent data point.

 

Yeah, if this were a KB or someone making $15M+ through arb you'd probably cut him, but Happ at $5M is nothing. Especially for a team that's going to be competing but also just trying to sort through guys, you absolutely should buy that $5M lottery ticket. Hell, at this time last year he was an MVP candidate (yes shortened season blah blah blah) so it's not like you have to turn the clock back that far.

[sneakypower]

C Contreras + FA

1B Miller/White

2B Madrigal

SS Seager

3B Wisdom

LF Deichmann/Other

CF Happ (Davis by end of year)

RF Myers/Heyward

DH Hoerner

 

this is pretty good overall but i still kinda hate how uninspiring 1B/DH remains; have to think you can aim a little higher on potential there..with likely DH, Josh Bell becomes a good target or maybe Luke Voit Anthony Rizzo idk

[Tryptamine]

C Contreras + FA

1B Miller/White

2B Madrigal

SS Seager

3B Wisdom

LF Deichmann/Other

CF Happ (Davis by end of year)

RF Myers/Heyward

DH Hoerner

 

this is pretty good overall but i still kinda hate how uninspiring 1B/DH remains; have to think you can aim a little higher on potential there..with likely DH, Josh Bell becomes a good target or maybe Luke Voit Anthony Rizzo idk

 

I kind of like the idea of Mancini if you trade for him and extend him at like 3/45. I don't think he'd take much to acquire and while he's bad in the outfield, he's ok defensively at 1B and you can expect him to give you a 115-120 wRC+.

[Backtobanks]

C Contreras + FA

1B Miller/White

2B Madrigal

SS Seager

3B Wisdom

LF Deichmann/Other

CF Happ (Davis by end of year)

RF Myers/Heyward

DH Hoerner

 

this is pretty good overall but i still kinda hate how uninspiring 1B/DH remains; have to think you can aim a little higher on potential there..with likely DH, Josh Bell becomes a good target or maybe Luke Voit Anthony Rizzo idk

 

I kind of like the idea of Mancini if you trade for him and extend him at like 3/45. I don't think he'd take much to acquire and while he's bad in the outfield, he's ok defensively at 1B and you can expect him to give you a 115-120 wRC+.

 

I totally agree about Mancini, but maybe a "bad contract" trade involving Heyward and Hosmer might work with the necessary tweaking (prospects/cash). Hosmer could give a few years of "adequate" production at 1B, while Heyward could replace Pham or be 4th OF/defensive replacement.

[Bertz]

 

this is pretty good overall but i still kinda hate how uninspiring 1B/DH remains; have to think you can aim a little higher on potential there..with likely DH, Josh Bell becomes a good target or maybe Luke Voit Anthony Rizzo idk

 

I kind of like the idea of Mancini if you trade for him and extend him at like 3/45. I don't think he'd take much to acquire and while he's bad in the outfield, he's ok defensively at 1B and you can expect him to give you a 115-120 wRC+.

 

I totally agree about Mancini, but maybe a "bad contract" trade involving Heyward and Hosmer might work with the necessary tweaking (prospects/cash). Hosmer could give a few years of "adequate" production at 1B, while Heyward could replace Pham or be 4th OF/defensive replacement.

 

[Stu]

Cubs.com reads like it's written by Baghdad Bob these days.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

C Contreras + FA

1B Miller/White

2B Madrigal

SS Seager

3B Wisdom

LF Deichmann/Other

CF Happ (Davis by end of year)

RF Myers/Heyward

DH Hoerner

 

this is pretty good overall but i still kinda hate how uninspiring 1B/DH remains; have to think you can aim a little higher on potential there..with likely DH, Josh Bell becomes a good target or maybe Luke Voit Anthony Rizzo idk

 

I don’t disagree, and this is partially by design. First base is a weird position, and your examples that you’re more comfortable with illustrate that well. Luke Voit was a AAAA nobody before getting sent to New York at 27, Josh Bell had a year where he looked like a franchise cornerstone, and across 2 orgs since then he’s been worth a total of 0.0 fWAR. Since we’re talking about taking a risk I think as long as you aren’t investing assets of significance(trade or $) in your favorite target, it doesn’t make a huge difference.

 

The other thing you could do here is treat 1B as taken by Wisdom and go after a 3B, this mitigates the risk if WIsdom collapses(since 1B is easier to replace), but wastes Wisdom’s competence at 3B, and the 3B options aren’t exactly abundant either.

[sneakypower]

Johan Camargo's intriguing for 3B since Riley's got that spot wrapped up for a while

[Cubswin11]

If we are going to at least halfway try this offseason without doing any 9 figure deals/trading top prospects I wouldn’t mind the following;

 

- Sign one of Nick or Conforto of LF

 

- Trade Bote and Happ for whatever

 

- Do the Hosmer trade and get Hassell back plus other stuff and maybe send Bote or Happ if they want them

 

- Sign Mark Canha for OF/1B/utility

 

- Sign a RHH OF like a Marisnick and a backup C

 

- Maybe sign a backup IF/utility guy like a Freddy Galvis or Asdrubal, this could also be a Jared Young type internally

 

Pitching wise

 

- Sign Jon Gray, there’s still big time ace potential and I wouldn’t mind overpaying

 

- Sign a second tier FA like a Bundy, Desclafani, Eduardo Rodriquez, etc

 

- Sign 1-2 vet RPs, preferably 1 with some closing experience who isn’t completely washed. But I generally trust we have the internal infrastructure we don’t need to go nuts here

 

- Do a reclamation project type SP deal or two like a Trevor Williams.

 

That would give us a

 

1. Willy C

2. Hosmer 1B

3. Madrigal 2B

4. Nico SS

5. Wisdom 3B

6. Nick/Conforto LF

7. Ortega CF

8. Canha RF

9. Backup C

10. RHH CF

11. Heyward OF

12. FA IF/Jared Young/Alcantara

13. Deichman/minor league guy

14-18. Hendricks, Gray, FA SP, Adbert, Steele/internal/reclamation

19-26. Bullpen

[d_money]

For Hosmer, he’s got 4 years left at $18M AAV $72M remaining for ages 32-35

 

For Rizzo, he starts 2022 at 32.

 

Rizzo has more power and looks to have overall better historical numbers. Why not just re-sign Rizzo to a similar deal?