Building around a new Correa? (Signed with the Twins for 3/$105m)

[Irrelevant Dude]

please stop giving jason heyward entitlement at bats

 

dude should be benched or released... i'm so horsefeathering done.

Fast forward to Opening Day when he is starting in RF and batting 5th.

[Rob]

please stop giving jason heyward entitlement at bats

 

dude should be benched or released... i'm so horsefeathering done.

Fast forward to Opening Day when he is starting in RF and batting 5th.

 

He may well be starting, but I'd be shocked if he climbs above the 6th spot this season.

[UMFan83]

Ususal grain of salt stuff but its worth sharing

 

 

Not a random. I have interacted with this account a few times, though never about rumors. Has ~4500 followers

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Curious what's meant by a corresponding move. Replies to the tweet suggested a trade of Hoerner or Madrigal, but that seems unlikely(though not impossible). No one else is displaced or becomes too expensive and has to go, so my mind goes to moves where seeing Correa sign is enough proof of intent to make the player interested. Contreras extension? Schwarber reunion? An SP? Is there a trade target with an NTC?

[Bertz]

Ususal grain of salt stuff but its worth sharing

 

 

Not a random. I have interacted with this account a few times, though never about rumors. Has ~4500 followers

 

Consider me very curious about what "corresponding move" could mean

[UMFan83]

And now im just posting anything that remotely resembles news

 

 

Definitely a lot of smoke.

[UMFan83]

Not particularly new news but since it was tweeted out 15 minutes ago from a mainstream reporter...

 

[17 Seconds]

i hope we sign him just to see how confused non-cubs fans are

[UMFan83]

[17 Seconds]

didn't we already know that any chance we have relies on a massively front loaded deal with opt-outs?

[UMFan83]

 

Certainly seems like all the momentum is going towards Houston. That’s ok we signed a vocally unvaxed dude with a wet noodle for a bat

[CubinNY]

They should be officially referred to as the "Mid Market Cubs".

[UMFan83]

:bye:

 

[CubinNY]

:bye:

 

They're the only ones.

[Rob]

:bye:

 

 

I'm not surprised. Hoping for Correa and Story after signing Simmons seemed like wishful thinking. Those potential roster moves just hand-waved away the question of why Simmons would have choosen to sign on with us.

 

Simmons has been bad lately, but he was a guy pulling 5.0+ fWAR seasons not that long ago. If he was agreeing to sign on cheaply as a backup, it was going to be with a playoff-bound team. He came here because he was presumably promised playing time and an opportunity to rebuild his value.

 

FWIW, I think there's a reasonable chance we get exceptional value out of him. If we still had a large core of good but expensive players, this is exactly the sort of move I'd love to see to round out a weak spot. But it's pretty inexcusable with our payroll -- particularly considering that Simmons skillset isn't one that is likely to make him an attractive trade candidate even if he does rebound.

 

Ultimately, this just looks like more proof that the directive from on high is to shoot for cheaply being a .500ish team who can potentially sneak into the playoffs and get lucky.

[sneakypower]

2018 was a long time ago, Matt Carpenter was a 5 WAR player

[Bertz]

I'm increasingly pessimistic about landing Correa, but Jed would say that regardless. It was notable when right before the lockout he said they weren't happy giving the spot to Hoerner, because the default for most GMs is generally "we're always opportunistic but we're happy with the guys we have."

[jersey cubs fan]

Simmons has been bad lately, but he was a guy pulling 5.0+ fWAR seasons not that long ago. If he was agreeing to sign on cheaply as a backup, it was going to be with a playoff-bound team. He came here because he was presumably promised playing time and an opportunity to rebuild his value.

 

He did that twice, in his age 27 and 28 seasons, and hasn't been close in the three seasons since then. He's 32 now and will turn 33 during the season. He also did sign cheaply as a backup, that's what $4m is.

[Sammy Sofa]

Simmons has been bad lately, but he was a guy pulling 5.0+ fWAR seasons not that long ago.

 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I have zero expectations of Simmons getting to even 3 wins, but setting aside his off-field stuff and the alternatives, I do think he's a smart buy low candidate and his skill set gets maximized with the roster around him. He's always going to be a BABIP reliant hitter, and because of that I don't think it's unreasonable for him to approach his career norms offensively, which combined with his top shelf defense gets you to an average or even slightly above average player. That's not a certainty and I haven't seen much that shows one way or another how predictive his 2021 was at the plate, but for something that isn't super low probability(having a relatively fortunate/normal BABIP year), getting that chance of a league average player who fits the team well for 4 million is a good deal.

[UMFan83]

Different story than the previous quote but of course neither of them really tell us much of anything

 

[Rob]

Simmons has been bad lately, but he was a guy pulling 5.0+ fWAR seasons not that long ago. If he was agreeing to sign on cheaply as a backup, it was going to be with a playoff-bound team. He came here because he was presumably promised playing time and an opportunity to rebuild his value.

 

He did that twice, in his age 27 and 28 seasons, and hasn't been close in the three seasons since then. He's 32 now and will turn 33 during the season. He also did sign cheaply as a backup, that's what $4m is.

 

Not debating that $4M would be a cheap backup. Debating the "backup" part.

 

There's still a few weeks left. I'm hoping I'm proven wrong. But I'd bet dollars to donuts he came he because he was offered significant playing time.

[Rob]

I have zero expectations of Simmons getting to even 3 wins, but setting aside his off-field stuff and the alternatives, I do think he's a smart buy low candidate and his skill set gets maximized with the roster around him. He's always going to be a BABIP reliant hitter, and because of that I don't think it's unreasonable for him to approach his career norms offensively, which combined with his top shelf defense gets you to an average or even slightly above average player. That's not a certainty and I haven't seen much that shows one way or another how predictive his 2021 was at the plate, but for something that isn't super low probability(having a relatively fortunate/normal BABIP year), getting that chance of a league average player who fits the team well for 4 million is a good deal.

 

Exactly.

 

Squeeze a league-average starter out of him and he's worth way more than $4M, and it's not hard to squint and see it happening. This is precisely the sort of move that I would love if the Cubs were a cash-strapped team looking to catch lightning in a bottle.

 

But making him the starter on this team is stupid, as we shouldn't be cash-strapped.

 

I'd be fine with him as a backup, as well. Particularly for injury prone guys like Correa or Story. But I just think Simmons clearly has a high opinion of himself and after one injury-plagued season, one season where baseball was fundamentally broken, and one down season -- I don't think he's going to view himself as a backup yet. And even if he somehow did -- why would he sign on to be the backup on a terrible team like the Cubs? Better teams would offer him that gig.

[jersey cubs fan]

Simmons has been bad lately, but he was a guy pulling 5.0+ fWAR seasons not that long ago. If he was agreeing to sign on cheaply as a backup, it was going to be with a playoff-bound team. He came here because he was presumably promised playing time and an opportunity to rebuild his value.

 

He did that twice, in his age 27 and 28 seasons, and hasn't been close in the three seasons since then. He's 32 now and will turn 33 during the season. He also did sign cheaply as a backup, that's what $4m is.

 

Not debating that $4M would be a cheap backup. Debating the "backup" part.

 

There's still a few weeks left. I'm hoping I'm proven wrong. But I'd bet dollars to donuts he came he because he was offered significant playing time.

A) This isn't a starting quarterback situation, he's a trash player coming off an awful season and didn't exactly have his pick of the litter.

B) He is obviously, and very unfortunately, going to get a lot of playing time because this roster blows and he fits right in.

C) There is no way the Cubs promised him they wouldn't sign a better SS to get more playing time than him. That isn't a guarantee you make to a player like Simmons. You say, "here's $4m, you are going to compete with whoever else we scrounge up for playing time." The $4m is enough of a guarantee that he's going to play.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I think I hate all of the guys who own and operate this franchise.