Cubs offseason chit chat...

[WhyCantWeWin]

1 hour ago, ToolDRT said:

Not to always be the pessimist, but what really scares me about this offseason (even more so after reading the MLBTR free agent predictions) is how little depth there is. More on the position player side. 
 

It’s almost like you hit on a big free agent like Ohtani, Yamamoto, Bellinger, etc or you go the trade route. Cause I seriously don’t want us overpaying for freaking Matt Chapman. 
 

I like Ohtani. A lot. If I could pick one piece  for this offseason he’d be it. But I also don’t want to get stuck waiting for him and everything else dries up. 

Yeah I wouldn't mind Chapman at like 4 yr 70 mil but that 150 mil prediction by mlbtr is wild. Would rather them just go the trade route for Drury even though he didn't play 3B last year, think he's got solid numbers at third over his career. Or maybe Turner on a 1 year deal to split time at 3B and 1B

[Rcal10]

I realize Burger is not a very good fielder, but depending on what the Marlins wanted for him, I wouldn’t mind him at 3rd. With GG in the middle the Cubs might be able to slack off on defense a little at 3rd. He would give them a lot of power from 3rd. Others in a trade would be Torres, if he agreed to move to third or Polanco if he moved to 3rd(or is he a FA?)

[Stratos]

Sonny Gray is probably going to regress.  By a far a career low in HR/FB last year, his K's have been down a bit the last 2 years.  His xFIP the last 2 years haven't changed from career norms but his ERA has been down.  I think he's more of a 3.50 ERA guy than the 3.00 ERA guy he has put up the last 2 seasons, so I wouldn't overypay.  I'd target someone younger.

Edited November 9, 2023 by Stratos

[Stratos]

2 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

The Cubs have no say in where Morel plays on his winter ball team. While I do believe they will try him there, I don’t see him playing first in that team as something the Cubs initiated. 

I would have to think the MLB teams have some leverage.  They can donate some cash or pull their players from the league etc.

[Stratos]

I think Morel ending up at 1B longterm is a waste.  Just trade the guy if he can't play 3B.  Doesn't hurt to play him at 1B a bit just to see, but learning yet another new position for him is also not ideal.  Better than DH though I guess.

[Rex Buckingham]

22 minutes ago, Stratos said:

He's probably going to regress.  By a far a career low in HR/FB last year, his K's have been down a bit the last 2 years.  His xFIP the last 2 years haven't changed from career norms but his ERA has been down.  I think he's more of a 3.50 ERA guy than the 3.00 ERA guy he has put up the last 2 seasons, so I wouldn't overypay.  I'd target someone younger.

Who are you talking about?

[Stratos]

17 minutes ago, Rex Buckingham said:

Who are you talking about?

Sorry, Sonny Gray

[chibears55]

Morel would more then likely be a guy they trade if they do go after one of Soto, Alonso, or a TOR SP.

I wouldn't look too much into him playing 1B, if anything it just another position they can play him at to keep his bat in the lineup during the season if they do keep him.  

[chibears55]

https://twitter.com/jonmorosi/status/1722445862952226982?t=5ng8J0mcoGhFs54yHRzSEw&s=19

[Rcal10]

3 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Morel would more then likely be a guy they trade if they do go after one of Soto, Alonso, or a TOR SP.

I wouldn't look too much into him playing 1B, if anything it just another position they can play him at to keep his bat in the lineup during the season if they do keep him.  

If they are going to trade him I hope it is for a young controlled pitcher. I would be fine with for Soto too, but they better then sign him long term. Not interested in Morel for 1 year of Alonso and not sure I would want to sign Alonso to a deal over the time he is looking for. 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

6 minutes ago, TomtheBombadil said:

I really would like to trade for Logan Gilbert this offseason

Who says no first?

Cubs: Logan Gilbert RHSP, Ryan Bliss IF. Jeter Martinez RHP

Mariners: Matt Shaw SS/OF/IF, Brendan Hughes LHR, Alex Canario OF, Haydn McGeary 1B

 

BBTV says the Cubs are roughly a PCA and a Wesneski short in that deal (they don't have Martinez in their DB so just assuming him at 0).  It has Gilbert as one of the most valuable trade commodities in the game.  If the target has to be Gilbert among the Mariners pitchers, I think the reasonable path is hoping they have a high value on both Morel and Horton and those two being the main pieces.

[Y2J]

https://www.si.com/mlb/cardinals/prospects/cardinals-acquire-highly-intriguing-slugger-from-cubs-after-strong-2023-season-scott7

Didn't see this posted anywhere, but got a good laugh from it. 

[Stratos]

14 hours ago, Bertz said:

Curious if he very specifically means in free agency or if he meana in totality for the offseason.  If it's the latter it would likely point to the payroll cap being the 2nd LT threshold

Bruce kinda seems like he speculates a lot.  We get these kinds of comments from him but is this just his "feeling" or does he have anything, or maybe pieced together from different tid bits he hears?  It rarely sounds like anything solid from him.

I don't even know if "50-60m" is still under or over the cap with Stroman opting out.

Edited November 9, 2023 by Stratos

[thawv]

14 hours ago, Chicago Al said:

How do you guys feel about Sonny Gray? I think for a 2 or 3 year deal he would be a solid #2/3 starter.

We already have a 2/3 pitcher.  We need a true ace.  He's not the answer.

[thawv]

13 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

BN story on 10/24 is where I read about Morel going to the DR. That is where I got the information that in the DR they will play a player where there is a need. And not necessarily in a position the ML team wants him to work at. I don’t know how to post that article, but that is what I am referencing. 

This is from the article on Oct 24

"Morel, a Dominican Republic native, is expected to spend upwards of a month playing in the competitive winter league.

This isn't just a practice league either.

These games are taken seriously with the goal of winning a championship.

So, while Chicago would love for Morel to get reps at third base, it's ultimately up to Aguilas to decide what gives them the best chance to win."

 

[thawv]

7 hours ago, Stratos said:

Bruce kinda seems like he speculates a lot.  We get these kinds of comments from him but is this just his "feeling" or does he have anything, or maybe pieced together from different tid bits he hears?  It rarely sounds like anything solid from him.

I don't even know if "50-60m" is still under or over the cap with Stroman opting out.

They are 52 million under the cap.  Assuming they non tender a few guys, they should have about 57 million to spend to the cap.  So this is not exciting news at all.  It's very ho hum.

[Jason Ross]

GM meetings will conclude early, as there is apparently a virus going around. Everyone is heading home today. 

[Jason Ross]

59 minutes ago, thawv said:

This is from the article on Oct 24

"Morel, a Dominican Republic native, is expected to spend upwards of a month playing in the competitive winter league.

This isn't just a practice league either.

These games are taken seriously with the goal of winning a championship.

So, while Chicago would love for Morel to get reps at third base, it's ultimately up to Aguilas to decide what gives them the best chance to win."

 

While accurate, as stated, I fully believe the Cubs have a significant power advantage in these relationships. It's not a practice league, the DR teams want to win, but I cannot imagine his DR team is looking around right now saying "Hey, you know what gives us the best chance to win right now? Playing Christopher Morel at a new position he's literally never played before!" In the same vein I think MLB teams would have a literal conniption if a DR team decided someone was their best catcher (who wasn't really a catcher) or over threw a pitcher, I think MLB teams have the ability to..."gently" inform a DR team that Christopher Morel is going to learn a new position this winter and it's on them to help.

For example if it wasn't brought on by Hoyer, I believe his comments would have been "Despite Morel's DR team having him play some first base, we as a team still view him as..." Instead it was "we want to find him new opportunities". Hoyer's own words make it clear; this isn't random.

Edited November 9, 2023 by 1908_Cubs

[Y2J]

16 hours ago, Chicago Al said:

How do you guys feel about Sonny Gray? I think for a 2 or 3 year deal he would be a solid #2/3 starter.

Hard pass for me, but my fear is that he feels like the kind of move we've made over the last several off-seasons.

[Rcal10]

20 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

While accurate, as stated, I fully believe the Cubs have a significant power advantage in these relationships. It's not a practice league, the DR teams want to win, but I cannot imagine his DR team is looking around right now saying "Hey, you know what gives us the best chance to win right now? Playing Christopher Morel at a new position he's literally never played before!" In the same vein I think MLB teams would have a literal conniption if a DR team decided someone was their best catcher (who wasn't really a catcher) or over threw a pitcher, I think MLB teams have the ability to..."gently" inform a DR team that Christopher Morel is going to learn a new position this winter and it's on them to help.

For example if it wasn't brought on by Hoyer, I believe his comments would have been "Despite Morel's DR team having him play some first base, we as a team still view him as..." Instead it was "we want to find him new opportunities". Hoyer's own words make it clear; this isn't random.

While I pretty much agree with you, if the DR team had a guy or guys they were playing at 3rd regularly that may not have been an option for them. So with the Cubs blessings they put him at first.  Maybe there was not an opportunity for him to play 3rd. So first is a new opportunity. Maybe the Cubs have someone specifically in mind to work with him at 3rd. So they do that after the winter league. While not getting time at 3rd now is not ideal, I don’t think that closes the books on that idea. 

[Jason Ross]

29 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

While I pretty much agree with you, if the DR team had a guy or guys they were playing at 3rd regularly that may not have been an option for them. So with the Cubs blessings they put him at first.  Maybe there was not an opportunity for him to play 3rd. So first is a new opportunity. Maybe the Cubs have someone specifically in mind to work with him at 3rd. So they do that after the winter league. While not getting time at 3rd now is not ideal, I don’t think that closes the books on that idea. 

I think that's very hopeful. The Cubs have had a lot of opportunity to get a look at Morel previously in the minors and basically, ignored him at the position last year. Morel's DR winter ball team isn't teeming with MLB talent in the infield; there are a lot of former MLB stars, but most of them are long since passed; Morel is probably their best player at multiple positions across the diamond considering he put up a 119 wRC+ in the MLB last year while guys like Luis Valenzuela, Starlin Castro and Jonathon Villar...didn't (those are players on his team). It also appears the Cubs had been working Morel at 1b last season, as well.

"Morel took reps at first base throughout the season before games, in addition to his work at other spots around the diamond. But doing so consistently, along with game reps in a high-intensity setting, could allow him to grow into the role."

Link to article from Marquee

Much like with Matt Mervis, while I can't tell you exactly how the team feels, there are plenty of tea leaves to read that make it pretty likely that the Cubs don't trust Christopher Morel at 3b for whatever reason (just as though the team seems not very high on Matt Mervis). They've had opportunities, but it always seems to come back to "anything but". I don't mean to suggest they're all knowing or even correct, but I'm pretty confident when I take a step back that the Cubs just don't think Morel is an MLB option as a 3b. And as much as I wish they'd give Mervis more of chance, I think I just have to accept the Cubs aren't on team-Merv.

[chibears55]

Trevor Bauer was at the meeting,  yea or nay on him ?

[cl smooth]

4 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Trevor Bauer was at the meeting,  yea or nay on him ?

horsefeathers trevor bauer.

seriously, horsefeathers that dude. 

[Cubfanintheknow]

20 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Trevor Bauer was at the meeting,  yea or nay on him ?

I will never, ever be that desperate for a World Series trophy.

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, 1908_Cubs said:

I think that's very hopeful. The Cubs have had a lot of opportunity to get a look at Morel previously in the minors and basically, ignored him at the position last year. Morel's DR winter ball team isn't teeming with MLB talent in the infield; there are a lot of former MLB stars, but most of them are long since passed; Morel is probably their best player at multiple positions across the diamond considering he put up a 119 wRC+ in the MLB last year while guys like Luis Valenzuela, Starlin Castro and Jonathon Villar...didn't (those are players on his team). It also appears the Cubs had been working Morel at 1b last season, as well.

"Morel took reps at first base throughout the season before games, in addition to his work at other spots around the diamond. But doing so consistently, along with game reps in a high-intensity setting, could allow him to grow into the role."

Link to article from Marquee

Much like with Matt Mervis, while I can't tell you exactly how the team feels, there are plenty of tea leaves to read that make it pretty likely that the Cubs don't trust Christopher Morel at 3b for whatever reason (just as though the team seems not very high on Matt Mervis). They've had opportunities, but it always seems to come back to "anything but". I don't mean to suggest they're all knowing or even correct, but I'm pretty confident when I take a step back that the Cubs just don't think Morel is an MLB option as a 3b. And as much as I wish they'd give Mervis more of chance, I think I just have to accept the Cubs aren't on team-Merv.

I understand what you are saying, but then there is always this: From Jed regarding Morel:

It’s an ongoing conversation, but we’ve talked a lot about finding him a home and I do think we wanna give him some work at first and see how he reacts to that,” Hoyer said. “I mean he’s shown he can play third, he can play second, he can play in the outfield, but finding a home for him is something that would be really valuable ….

So here he is saying he has shown he can play 3rd….. 

Now he didn’t say he can play it well. I get that. But maybe that is what spring is for.

As for Mervis, I agree with you. It appears the Cubs so not believe in him.