Cubs Sign C Yan Gomes

[cl smooth]

[bukie]

Why spend $13 million on a backup catcher? ... oh.

[Tim]

Bye Willson. :(

[Bertz]

 

This is a good signing, I'm just not sure if we went big at "backup" catcher because Willson is on the way out or because Amaya's arm exploded.

[champaignchris]

Gomes is a nice final piece to a championship caliber team that has everything else it needs to win.

[Tim]

They could also be serious about the conversation that they need a better backup so that they don't run Willson into the ground.

 

But it probably means that they'll trade Willson to further restock the farm while trying to stay competitive (or competitive-adjacent) this year.

[UMFan83]

Oof. Guess the Cubs don't want any of those loser championship winning players around

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Looks good to me. Give yourself the option to trade Willson without requiring a catcher in return if that's the intended path, a strong backup if you keep Willson to maximize his production/let him DH, and the dollar amount over a lesser backup will not be consequential to other decisions on a 2 year time horizon.

[jersey cubs fan]

This is a "we got to get back above the salary floor" kind of signing. Terrific

[Tim]

Yeah, I like the move itself.

 

It's the implications of the move I'm trying to sort through. Like - what does this do to the negotiations between Willson & the team on an extension?

[jersey cubs fan]

Yeah, I like the move itself.

 

It's the implications of the move I'm trying to sort through. Like - what does this do to the negotiations between Willson & the team on an extension?

If they come out of all this with Willson as the one guy they sign long-term..., well that would just be silly.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

It's the implications of the move I'm trying to sort through. Like - what does this do to the negotiations between Willson & the team on an extension?

 

Impossible to know the emotional reaction, but there's a very truthful point you can make to Willson that the number of games he's catching has hurt his production, and with the DH they can get better production from the same amount of PAs while also having a capable backup where there is currently none anywhere in the org.

[Bertz]

Yeah, I like the move itself.

 

It's the implications of the move I'm trying to sort through. Like - what does this do to the negotiations between Willson & the team on an extension?

 

I don't think Willson gets extended. I think the plan was that this year they'd have Willson start and Amaya come up in the 2nd half and apprentice. Now with his injury, I think Willson and Gomes split catcher ~50/50, Willson also gets the plurality of DH at bats, and then in '23 there's a Gomes to Amaya handoff.

 

That or Willson gets traded and Gomes is now already in house as the starter.

[UMFan83]

 

Yikes...odds that he never dons a Cubs uniform again are high.

 

 

Willson is totally going to be that former player that hits like 4 HR in every series that he faces the Cubs for the rest of his career.

[UMFan83]

[Old Style]

horsefeathers the Cubs

[CubinNY]

:flythew:

[Bertz]

 

Yikes...odds that he never dons a Cubs uniform again are high.

 

 

Willson is totally going to be that former player that hits like 4 HR in every series that he faces the Cubs for the rest of his career.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that Willson has admitted he loves stirring up horsefeathers on Twitter. I'd totally believe that this time it's real, but Willson loves a good troll job.

[UMFan83]

 

Yikes...odds that he never dons a Cubs uniform again are high.

 

 

Willson is totally going to be that former player that hits like 4 HR in every series that he faces the Cubs for the rest of his career.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that Willson has admitted he loves stirring up horsefeathers on Twitter. I'd totally believe that this time it's real, but Willson loves a good troll job.

 

We'll see how it plays out. If they do intend to keep Willson, the report that they aren't currently having extension talks with him is not a great sign, though that could be something they are saving for after their offseason moves (given Willson has repeatedly said he doesn't want to sign with a rebuilding team).

[Post Count Padder]

I'm fine with it. Yan gives them an actual decent catcher behind Willy and it could allow Willy to get some rest or DH. We used like 7 catchers last year so this seems like a worthwhile signing. Doesn't necessarily mean Willy is gone.

[SaorsaDaonnan]

There’s a nice efficiency to having two good hitting catchers if you usually have the one not catching on a given day as your DH, in that it basically subtracts your backup catcher spot from your 26-man roster count. You get not only injury and slump resistance through better depth, but a free bench or pen player too.

 

IMO it’d be especially a plus for the team’s utilization of a player like Willson, but it’s a general phenomenon too.

 

That said, I bet Jed shops Willson and is currently agnostic about Contreras’ future as a Cub. Not the “we plan to trade him but aren’t counting chickens or publicly giving away leverage” agnostic, but “genuinely comparing the above value to possible trade returns” agnostic.

[Backtobanks]

There’s a nice efficiency to having two good hitting catchers if you usually have the one not catching on a given day as your DH, in that it basically subtracts your backup catcher spot from your 26-man roster count. You get not only injury and slump resistance through better depth, but a free bench or pen player too.

 

IMO it’d be especially a plus for the team’s utilization of a player like Willson, but it’s a general phenomenon too.

 

That said, I bet Jed shops Willson and is currently agnostic about Contreras’ future as a Cub. Not the “we plan to trade him but aren’t counting chickens or publicly giving away leverage” agnostic, but “genuinely comparing the above value to possible trade returns” agnostic.

 

Contreras will be traded. If they wanted a backup catcher they could have resigned Chirinos for $1 million.

[David]

While the Cubs trading Contreras is an obvious possibility at some point in the future, the team offered Gomes an opportunity to share the workload with Contreras in a role that would be more than a traditional backup catcher, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. The Cubs cycled through eight backup catchers last season, putting too much stress on Contreras’ body and sapping his offensive production. The Cubs expect 2022 to be the first season of the full-time designated hitter in the National League and a recovery year for top catching prospect Miguel Amaya after Tommy John surgery.

 

As a former catcher, Cubs manager David Ross values pitching, defense and a strong game-planning system. Gomes, a one-time All-Star with Cleveland, played against the Cubs in the 2016 World Series and earned a championship ring with the 2019 Nationals. The catching options are so limited on the free-agent market that the Cubs had to commit $13 million and guarantee a second year for Gomes, who will turn 35 next summer. Gomes’ contract also includes a third-year option worth $6 million and $1 million in performance bonuses each season based on games started, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported.

[Cubswin11]

They have really overworked Willy with poor usage/backup plan in years past but this just seems like a move made a few years late. Willy may not be worth keeping at this point with the breakdowns and overuse, plus this wasn’t like the last piece of a contender. There has to be so many moves made for this to make sense.

 

This team is really going to suck for awhile.

 

[squally1313]

There's multiple posts saying this....When did the/a backup catcher job become designated as the last piece on a contender? Yan Gomes or a similar catcher would be the One Man a contender calls upon in it's darkest hour? Really? I have doubts!

 

If you can got into to two-three RBs in the NFL, you're already ready for The Future of catching probably

You'll forgive us for being a little skeptical and disappointed that this is the biggest offensive free agent pickup since Jason Heyward, especially considering it either pushes Contreras to the (still theoretical!) DH spot, which makes yesterday's other signing more of a mystery, or it makes it more likely that they are going to trade our best offensive player. But go ahead, get pumped over a mid 30s catcher signing a multiple year deal I guess.