Yoshinobu Yamamoto to...the Dodgers? Really? Again?

[Brian707]

14 hours ago, ToolDRT said:

This team can be a real f****** disgrace at times. I’d do just about anything to have Hoyer fired and a different owner. 

Why would PTR sell? His family's investment 15 years ago has quadrupled. Jed has to dumpster dive because they sign his paycheck 

[CubinNY]

53 minutes ago, Brian707 said:

Why would PTR sell? His family's investment 15 years ago has quadrupled. Jed has to dumpster dive because they sign his paycheck 

I don't think it is fair to assume that Jed dislikes dumpster diving, though, just for the record. He wants to be known as the guy responsible for building a dynasty. I think the Ricketts have a philosophy for how things are supposed to be done and I think Jed shares that philosophy or he would have pulled the ripcord like Theo did. 

They love cheap labor and rolling in 100-dollar bills like Scrooge McDuck. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

15 hours ago, ToolDRT said:

This team can be a real f****** disgrace at times. I’d do just about anything to have Hoyer fired and a different owner. 

Would a new owner be any better?  There was a time where you could hope for a real baseball guy to buy the team with a primary goal of winning, but with franchise values what they are now I think virtually all of those guys have been weeded out.  I'm not a fan of the Ricketts family ownership, but at least they have some level of connection to the Cubs and the city. Whoever buys the team in the future is likely doing so with the sole intention of making huge profits, with the baseball side of it being an afterthought.  We could end up with the 21st century version of the Tribune Company.  Maybe that isn't much worse than the current regime, but I'm just not sure anyone is out there who is going to buy the team and start throwing Steve Cohen money into payroll.

[Jason Ross]

5 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Would a new owner be any better?  There was a time where you could hope for a real baseball guy to buy the team with a primary goal of winning, but with franchise values what they are now I think virtually all of those guys have been weeded out.  I'm not a fan of the Ricketts family ownership, but at least they have some level of connection to the Cubs and the city. Whoever buys the team in the future is likely doing so with the sole intention of making huge profits, with the baseball side of it being an afterthought.  We could end up with the 21st century version of the Tribune Company.  Maybe that isn't much worse than the current regime, but I'm just not sure anyone is out there who is going to buy the team and start throwing Steve Cohen money into payroll.

Yeah, I think this is a good point. I'll throw it out there again for anyone who doesn't know me quite that well yet; I cannot stand Tom Ricketts. Cannot. Stand. Tom Ricketts. But he's no better or no worse than almost...any other owner in baseball right now except for the extremes. He's not Steve Cohen. He's not John Fisher. He's...everyone else, basically. I think the next owner will be very much the same guy. Owners now a days want to invest in a team because it's a safe money making venture, especially long term. It's a symptom of being an owner right now across the sport. That's not to absolve them in the least, only stating the reality. But in the end, he's just one of the other guys. We'll get a new Tom Ricketts. Whomever that would be...

Edited December 14, 2023 by 1908_Cubs

[Rcal10]

31 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

I don't think it is fair to assume that Jed dislikes dumpster diving, though, just for the record. He wants to be known as the guy responsible for building a dynasty. I think the Ricketts have a philosophy for how things are supposed to be done and I think Jed shares that philosophy or he would have pulled the ripcord like Theo did. 

They love cheap labor and rolling in 100-dollar bills like Scrooge McDuck. 

I think there is enough blame to go around for all. I think Jed is doing exactly what he and Tom want. 

[CubinNY]

A new owner might be better, but a better owner might not get through the review process by the other owners. I don't know for sure, but I'm reasonably confident that Mark Cuban's bid for the Cubs was in line with the Ricketts but he never had a chance for approval by Bud and the rest of the Montgomery Burns like owners of the other teams. 

[JHBulls]

19 hours ago, ToolDRT said:

This team can be a real f****** disgrace at times. I’d do just about anything to have Hoyer fired and a different owner. 

I vote for the next President of Baseball Operations guy to be Carter Hawkins, the man who looked dead inside at the Craig Counsell press conference.

Dead inside is how Chicago Cubs fans are feeling. So it makes perfect sense. 

[UMFan83]

4 hours ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Would a new owner be any better?  There was a time where you could hope for a real baseball guy to buy the team with a primary goal of winning, but with franchise values what they are now I think virtually all of those guys have been weeded out.  I'm not a fan of the Ricketts family ownership, but at least they have some level of connection to the Cubs and the city. Whoever buys the team in the future is likely doing so with the sole intention of making huge profits, with the baseball side of it being an afterthought.  We could end up with the 21st century version of the Tribune Company.  Maybe that isn't much worse than the current regime, but I'm just not sure anyone is out there who is going to buy the team and start throwing Steve Cohen money into payroll.

Guggenheim Baseball Group or whatever the horsefeathers its called purchased the Dodgers around the same time the Cubs were purchased.  At the time the Dodgers were worth $800m, the Cubs $700m.  Now the Dodgers are worth $4.8m and the Cubs $4.1m, so they've been able to increase the franchise value by $600m more over a similar time span.  Maybe it's not fair to compare the Dodgers, who play in a larger market, have a deeper pocketed ownership group and had the benefit (or foresight) of creating a lucrative cable channel at the start of the bubble, but circa 2012 the Dodgers were just another solid team, not really a franchise that was on much stronger footing that the Cubs.  Their ownerhsip group turned them into a juggernaut on and off the field.

 

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Tom Ricketts got to 2nd base (over the shirt and bra) with his future wife in the bleachers when he was a much younger nerd. He’s our guy until we’re all dead. 

[Bertz]

There's some buzz on Twitter about Yamamoto going to the Red Sox, but best I can tell it's just based on his Instagram follows?

[Bertz]

Would hopefully imply he's close-ish to signing somewhere (by Christmas?), and mercifully open up the rest of the market

 

[Tryptamine]

2 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Would hopefully imply he's close-ish to signing somewhere (by Christmas?), and mercifully open up the rest of the market

 

Yes, open the market like Ohtani signing was supposed to.

[Derwood]

I would bet large sums that he ends up a Yankee

[WhyCantWeWin]

Yeah I'm guessing Yankees too, looking forward to seeing him pitch. He put up some insane numbers in Japan. 

 

[Thusly Boned]

I'd be surprised if it's not the Yankees. I think they just need him most, particularly after putting so many eggs in their offensive basket, and specifically in 2024, and at the expense of what was already a less than deep pitching staff.

I think there's huge pressure on them to add top shelf pitching.

[Jason Ross]

So one thing I think we're maybe not paying attention to on the Yamamoto front is the Red Sox strong pursuit and the Cubs seemingly...lack of pursuit. Craig Breslow is now running the Red Sox and as we all should know...Breslow was a very important part to our pitching infrastructure the last four seasons (and our assistant GM).  What I think is an interesting look is how the Cubs dropped out basically, around the time Breslow left. The Cubs, over the summer, were sending scouting contingencies to Japan to personally watch Yamamoto. They were considered a "favorite" to sign him at the start of the offseason. After Breslow left for Boston, we get pretty luke warm comments on Yamamoto from Hoyer. Since then, the Cubs are arguably, the only top-market not with vested interest and meeting with Yamamoto. Breslow and the Red Sox are seemingly among one of the teams still "in" on Yamamoto. 

Breslow, now the VP of the Red Sox, appears to be willing to go $300m on Yamamoto, a player he likely, is very well knowledgeable on. The Cubs, seemingly, have no interest on that front. Is Breslow better at scouting pitching? Is he a rookie VP of Baseball Ops who is overvaluing Yamamoto? Does Hoyer just not like 10+ year contracts but actually likes Yamamoto? It's hard to tell.

Interesting thread here I don't think is getting the love it probably deserves. 

[JHBulls]

Another FO off to some other club and Jed is left holding his (probably) large **** in his hand again. Very nice. 

#Sadface.

Edited December 22, 2023 by JHBulls

[LBiittner]

17 minutes ago, TomtheBombadil said:

Is $300 overValuing Yamamoto when like 6 weeks ago the refrain was that he was Actually the best FA in the class? Maybe it’s because money is completely made up but the hoops it asks my brain to jump through in service to it’s masters never seem to end 

Yamamoto’s biggest issue may end up being that media and fans are going to want $300 million of Production every year. Dude’s awesome and before the Free Agency price tag predictably moved towards what we’re told is alot there was no questioning the talent!

 

A 25 yearold possibly in New York city. Pressure could be overwhelming 

[JHBulls]

OMG!

 

[s2obed]

Lol Dodgers. This is laughable. The only question that remains to be seen is whether they actually win a WS with these guys.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

The Mets collapsing on themselves is pretty hard to beat in terms of schadenfreude, but the 2024 Dodgers going out in the NLDS to the Reds would give it a run for its money.

[UMFan83]

Damn we didn’t get him?

[ToolDRT]

Good for them. They have good ownership and a front office not petrified of their own shadows. Legit contemplating being a fan of them. 

[s2obed]

1 minute ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

The Mets collapsing on themselves is pretty hard to beat in terms of schadenfreude, but the 2024 Dodgers going out in the NLDS to the Reds would give it a run for its money.

Dodgers would top the Mets easily if they fail to advance in the 1st round. 

[s2obed]

2 hours ago, Derwood said:

I would bet large sums that he ends up a Yankee

You were saying?