Cubs offseason chit chat...

[Stratos]

I'm sure there's still multiple teams wanting to dump (trade) players for salary reasons before ST or OD.  If Jed is playing this like the trade deadline it could go down to the wire haha.

[JHBulls]

5 hours ago, Stratos said:

I'm sure there's still multiple teams wanting to dump (trade) players for salary reasons before ST or OD.  If Jed is playing this like the trade deadline it could go down to the wire haha.

 

Hopefully after the Christmas holidays, Jed comes back nice and refreshed after all the hard work he did in 2023. 

Edited January 1, 2024 by JHBulls

[thawv]

15 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

But the Guardians would have a pretty good argument for more, if Sale got a guy in that level. Maybe the Cubs can give a couple guys. Canario+ kind of deal. 

Boston also had to kick in 17 million to get him.

[thawv]

17 hours ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Higher. He was 21 and put up a 135 wRC+ in AAA. There's some question on the overall power profile and if he's really a SS, but I'd put him in the 2nd tier of prospects. I'd have PCA (floor) and Horton (I think he's that good) above him. Grissom would live with the Shaw/Alcantara/Caissie group for me. Rank 'em at your pleasure.

Thank you!  After seeing more information about him, he's really made huge strides in the last 3 years.  I rethought my position on him, and I'd put him in the #3 to #7 range.  I really didn't realize how good he recently got.  Thanks again for pointing it out. 

[Rcal10]

31 minutes ago, thawv said:

Boston also had to kick in 17 million to get him.

Yes, but that brought Sale’s salary down to a similar salary of Bieber. His trade value was actually much lower than Bieber’s if the team taking him had to take on the entire contract. 

[Jason Ross]

James Paxton is purportedly meeting with the Mariners ownership group tonight. TIFWIW. but the guy who says he saw Paxton with the Mariners broke his last two contracts.  

[gocubs218]

Morel for Bryce Miller please,

[Petrey10]

Wake up Jed it’s 2024

[Jfoley89]

Hey, we got someone new for player development.  Jason Kanzler from Houston. At least it's sort of an acquisition 

[WhyCantWeWin]

So the Cubs are spending all their money this offseason on coaches and executives. While every one of the other 29 major teams is spending on money on players. Is Jed ahead of the curve here? Are players overrated? 

[thawv]

10 hours ago, gocubs218 said:

Morel for Bryce Miller please,

Why would Seattle trade him?  He would be a great catch!

[PackLandVA]

Link to BleedCubbieBlue

Al Yellon makes 5 BOLD predictions for 2024:

1. Adbert gets 40+ saves

2. Cubs ink Cody to 8 yr / $200 million

3. Justin Steele is NL Cy Young winner

4. Morel is adequate at 3rd and hits 40 HRS

5. Cubs win NL Central with 90+ wins

 

What is least likely to happen?  I'd go with Steele winning Cy Young.

[Jason Ross]

Here's a question that I don't have a concrete answer on: does AZ Phil have sources within the Cubs, or is he just a really good source of information for the Complex League? Has he any history of breaking information/sources/or anything connected to real information?

I ask because he recently posted this, which suggests the Cubs have set the spending limit at the CBT threshold. Is this him speculating because of the lack of action? Or is Phil relaying some fairly concerning information? Not trying to doom-boner, but curious as to how connected AZ Phil is, as I'm honestly not sure. I've always used him as a killer way to follow the Complex and haven't paid attention outside of that. The reality is that if the Cubs aren't going above the CBT, the Cubs offseason is handicapped to hell.

[Derwood]

 

 

Jed did a thing!

[Cuzi]

1 hour ago, PackLandVA said:

Link to BleedCubbieBlue

Al Yellon makes 5 BOLD predictions for 2024:

1. Adbert gets 40+ saves

2. Cubs ink Cody to 8 yr / $200 million

3. Justin Steele is NL Cy Young winner

4. Morel is adequate at 3rd and hits 40 HRS

5. Cubs win NL Central with 90+ wins

 

What is least likely to happen?  I'd go with Steele winning Cy Young.

They are all pretty close to 0% but Steele winning the Cy Young stands out as the one lone minor possibility to me.

#5 is TBD because the Cubs havent done horsefeathers beyond minor moves so far.

Edited January 2, 2024 by Cuzi

[Transmogrified Tiger]

20 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Here's a question that I don't have a concrete answer on: does AZ Phil have sources within the Cubs, or is he just a really good source of information for the Complex League? Has he any history of breaking information/sources/or anything connected to real information?

I ask because he recently posted this, which suggests the Cubs have set the spending limit at the CBT threshold. Is this him speculating because of the lack of action? Or is Phil relaying some fairly concerning information? Not trying to doom-boner, but curious as to how connected AZ Phil is, as I'm honestly not sure. I've always used him as a killer way to follow the Complex and haven't paid attention outside of that. The reality is that if the Cubs aren't going above the CBT, the Cubs offseason is handicapped to hell.

I'm not familiar with Arizona Phil having broken news or revealed anything that wasn't otherwise widely reported.  Generally speaking, when he starts talking anything related to roster building, I tune out.  That in particular looks like he's just pattern matching the lack of movement thus far with something he believes to be true about last year.  There's about 5 different ways I would hesitate to make the same extrapolation, and especially given the phrasing I wouldn't really put stock into it.

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I'm not familiar with Arizona Phil having broken news or revealed anything that wasn't otherwise widely reported.  Generally speaking, when he starts talking anything related to roster building, I tune out.  That in particular looks like he's just pattern matching the lack of movement thus far with something he believes to be true about last year.  There's about 5 different ways I would hesitate to make the same extrapolation, and especially given the phrasing I wouldn't really put stock into it.

Yeah, I'm probably more along these lines as well, as I just haven't paid any attention to his reporting outside of the Complex. I figure he's made some connections with scouts and the ilk being so well known for his CPX coverage, and why I didn't immediately throw this into the "speculation bin" without any one else providing more context for me. I figure he wouldn't want to upset anyone just saying stuff, which would hurt his access (likely) while at the same time knowing that scouts probably aren't the most "in the know" on the Cubs budget, too.

[Cuzi]

If he was in the know he wouldnt start out his data points with "it seems as though."

[We Got The Whole 9]

They were probably only willing to go beyond the threshold if he had managed to reel in a whale

[Backtobanks]

1 hour ago, PackLandVA said:

Link to BleedCubbieBlue

Al Yellon makes 5 BOLD predictions for 2024:

1. Adbert gets 40+ saves

2. Cubs ink Cody to 8 yr / $200 million

3. Justin Steele is NL Cy Young winner

4. Morel is adequate at 3rd and hits 40 HRS

5. Cubs win NL Central with 90+ wins

 

What is least likely to happen?  I'd go with Steele winning Cy Young.

1/2 of #4 seems pretty unlikely to happen.  Morel has a chance at 40HRs, but probably won't be adequate at 3B and will get most of the HRs as DH.

 

 

[NorthsideAvenger]

1 hour ago, PackLandVA said:

Link to BleedCubbieBlue

Al Yellon makes 5 BOLD predictions for 2024:

1. Adbert gets 40+ saves

2. Cubs ink Cody to 8 yr / $200 million

3. Justin Steele is NL Cy Young winner

4. Morel is adequate at 3rd and hits 40 HRS

5. Cubs win NL Central with 90+ wins

 

What is least likely to happen?  I'd go with Steele winning Cy Young.

We have not heard new rumors on Hoskins or Bellingers, only rehashing of previous rumors. Makes me wonder if the Cubs signing Cody to 8/200, would be the case of the Cubs actually bidding against themselves (ala Chris Davis/Orioles), given the frozen market of Cody's right now. 

[Tryptamine]

1 hour ago, Backtobanks said:

1/2 of #4 seems pretty unlikely to happen.  Morel has a chance at 40HRs, but probably won't be adequate at 3B and will get most of the HRs as DH.

 

 

If he hits 40 bombs and is adequate at 3B, he's going to put up like a 5 fwar season. I have extreme doubts about that.

[Bertz]

1 hour ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

They were probably only willing to go beyond the threshold if he had managed to reel in a whale

I still tend to think the team would have crossed the LT threshold last year if the plan was not to this year.  The marginal value of even just an additional ~$10M was extremely high last offseason.  At the deadline another 3-5 would have made a more substantial relief upgrade pretty easy.  Even for someone as conservative as Jed I don't think you leave that on the table just for the ~20% chance you come down with Ohtani.

[CubinNY]

4 hours ago, PackLandVA said:

Link to BleedCubbieBlue

Al Yellon makes 5 BOLD predictions for 2024:

1. Adbert gets 40+ saves

2. Cubs ink Cody to 8 yr / $200 million

3. Justin Steele is NL Cy Young winner

4. Morel is adequate at 3rd and hits 40 HRS

5. Cubs win NL Central with 90+ wins

 

What is least likely to happen?  I'd go with Steele winning Cy Young.

Steele for sure. He's more likely to have a meh or worse year

 

[chibears55]

3 hours ago, username said:

https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs/2024/01/02/looks-like-the-cubs-are-signing-righty-colten-brewer/

Dude has pitched 9 MLB innings in the last three years.  

He fits what they look for in a signing 🙄