Cubs offseason chit chat...

[LBiittner]

8 minutes ago, ILMindState said:

 

 

"The" Post of the Offseason

[We Got The Whole 9]

Amaya needs to show significant improvement behind the dish 

[Jason Ross]

24 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Amaya needs to show significant improvement behind the dish 

I think "significant" is the wrong word. He was middle of the pack on many defensive metrics. He wasn't a *bad* defender by most means. He does need to improve a bit, but last year was also his first year back catching since mid-2021, and he was a rookie learning a new staff. I think part of it was rust. I think part of it was being young, too. Hopefully a full offseason working with the Cubs and Counsell's presence (hopefully bringing and imparting some of the things he picked up with Milwaukee) should also move the needle. 

[Jfoley89]

44 minutes ago, ILMindState said:

 

 

Jed collects catchers the way Gruden collected QBs

Edited January 5, 2024 by Jfoley89

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I love the offseason because I get to discover guys like this who apparently have been pumping 96 in relief roles for a half decade and I don't know if I've ever seen his name before.

 

[Jason Ross]

16 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I love the offseason because I get to discover guys like this who apparently have been pumping 96 in relief roles for a half decade and I don't know if I've ever seen his name before.

 

Braiser is an interesting cat. Dude kind of went under the radar younger, but then fell off. Dodgers taught him a cutter last year at age 36 and apparently it's just an absolutely disgusting pitch. He reminds me a bit of a David Robertson type of a sign; older guy but as a 7th/8th inning option with experience would be pretty interesting on a one year deal.

[Rcal10]

44 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

I think "significant" is the wrong word. He was middle of the pack on many defensive metrics. He wasn't a *bad* defender by most means. He does need to improve a bit, but last year was also his first year back catching since mid-2021, and he was a rookie learning a new staff. I think part of it was rust. I think part of it was being young, too. Hopefully a full offseason working with the Cubs and Counsell's presence (hopefully bringing and imparting some of the things he picked up with Milwaukee) should also move the needle. 

If only Amaya was our most pressing concern. What a wonderful team we would have. 
I agree with you. He did fine as a back up catcher. And I expect him a bit better this year. There are definitely more pressing needs. 

[ILMindState]

15 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

If only Amaya was our most pressing concern. What a wonderful team we would have. 
I agree with you. He did fine as a back up catcher. And I expect him a bit better this year. There are definitely more pressing needs. 

What happens if the 5th string catcher gets hurt?

[LBiittner]

9 minutes ago, ILMindState said:

What happens if the 5th string catcher gets hurt?

Dude, I have to laugh at myself everytime I see your photo icon. Because first thing that enters my mind , welp that ASTRO fan is back again

[We Got The Whole 9]

1 hour ago, 1908_Cubs said:

I think "significant" is the wrong word. He was middle of the pack on many defensive metrics. He wasn't a *bad* defender by most means. He does need to improve a bit, but last year was also his first year back catching since mid-2021, and he was a rookie learning a new staff. I think part of it was rust. I think part of it was being young, too. Hopefully a full offseason working with the Cubs and Counsell's presence (hopefully bringing and imparting some of the things he picked up with Milwaukee) should also move the needle. 

We will see. In the meantime I'm sure they are kicking the tires on PJ Wiggins for more camp competition.

[Rcal10]

How did we miss out on Nola. I mean Aaron is one thing, but now we missed on Austin too. He would have been the perfect 6th catcher. 

[chibears55]

On 1/4/2024 at 1:55 PM, CubinNY said:

Then you are forcing players to take whatever the offer is from the teams. 

Not really,  they have 2 full months to negotiate instead of 3.

Most players are signed by February 

[chibears55]

On 1/4/2024 at 3:35 PM, JHBulls said:

I don’t believe it, I need to explain the joke. I said Bears hibernate in the winter, it’s winter now, Cubs mascot is a Bear, the joke is that Jed is hibernating like the team mascot. 🙂

I can see that it was a horsefeathers joke. 😞

Too many serious people here 😅😅

[Rcal10]

Bold prediction. By Monday morning the Cubs will have made a move to add someone substantial to the major league roster. Just feeling I have. 

[Stratos]

4 hours ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Amaya needs to show significant improvement behind the dish 

More worried about the bat.  But I don't think anyone is expecting him to be any kind of impact player.  If he's able to play 100 games a year and put up 1.5 WAR or so and be just average i'll be happy.

[Tryptamine]

Red Sox making Yoshida available is a bit interesting to me. I'm not interested in him at 4/72, but if Boston ate some cash he'd have some appeal as a lefty hitter the Cubs badly need. The coaches would have to get him to start elevating ball because a 54.6 GB% is way way too high unless you have 70 grade speed.

[Illiterate Scholar]

12 hours ago, Tryptamine said:

Red Sox making Yoshida available is a bit interesting to me. I'm not interested in him at 4/72, but if Boston ate some cash he'd have some appeal as a lefty hitter the Cubs badly need. The coaches would have to get him to start elevating ball because a 54.6 GB% is way way too high unless you have 70 grade speed.

I'm actually kind of into this. No he's not a great fit for this roster as a LF/DH only, but if the Cubs believe in the bat and the likelihood of him settling in in year 2 in the states (he was really good in the first half, maybe some MLB travel fatigue got him?) I say go for it. Steamer has him projected for a 120 wRC next season. He wouldn't cost much in prospects and with the Sox including some money, his contact wouldn't be crazy either. The Cubs would probably need to have some confidence Morel could play 1B in this scenario if he's on the team (I do not believe 3B is realistic).

[Tryptamine]

On 1/5/2024 at 4:49 PM, 1908_Cubs said:

Braiser is an interesting cat. Dude kind of went under the radar younger, but then fell off. Dodgers taught him a cutter last year at age 36 and apparently it's just an absolutely disgusting pitch. He reminds me a bit of a David Robertson type of a sign; older guy but as a 7th/8th inning option with experience would be pretty interesting on a one year deal.

The Dodgers did a few things.

I was going to do a long stat filled post, but the short story is that Brasier's 4 seam fastball is awful(.389 wOBA in 2022). Even so, Boston had him using it more than any other pitch despite the fact that he actually had a dominant slider. When he went to LA, they drastically reduced how often he threw that 4 seam and incorporated a cutter which also became a dominant pitch. This gave him 2 dominant offerings and he could use the 4 seam to keep batters honest. So yes, the cutter was huge for him, but Boston used him entirely wrong as well. Correcting both of those things turned him into the dominant reliever that posted a .70 ERA and 2.48 FIP in his 38 2/3 innings with the Dodgers. He likely isn't sniffing that ERA again, but there's nothing to suggest that he isn't a guy who could post a sub 3.00 ERA again which is why there's so many teams in on him. I'm actually quite interested in him now even if it's a multi year deal.

[Stratos]

23 hours ago, Tryptamine said:

Red Sox making Yoshida available is a bit interesting to me. I'm not interested in him at 4/72, but if Boston ate some cash he'd have some appeal as a lefty hitter the Cubs badly need. The coaches would have to get him to start elevating ball because a 54.6 GB% is way way too high unless you have 70 grade speed.

They definitely don't need a DH for 4 years, even if the bat is pretty solid.

[Jason Ross]

Manaea to Mets. 2/$28m. Plus opt out.

[Rcal10]

42 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Manaea to Mets. 2/$28m. Plus opt out.

This could be looked at 2 ways. First, it takes a possible back up plan out for the Cubs, as some were starting to like Manaea. But this also most likely eliminates a team from one of the top 3 pitchers. I don’t see the Mets doubling up on anyone pitcher. So we are down to the 3 lefties at the top and a fallback of Paxton and maybe Stroman.
Anyone interested in Clevenger? I think his outside activities are hurting him more than his pitching talent. But someone is going to sign him and he wouldn’t shock me to throw 160+ with an era under 4. MOR starter but a real jackass.

Edited January 7, 2024 by Rcal10

[Jason Ross]

17 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

This could be looked at 2 ways. First, it takes a possible back up plan out for the Cubs, as some were starting to like Manaea. But this also most likely eliminates a team from one of the top 3 pitchers. I don’t see the Mets doubling up on anyone pitcher. So we are down to the 3 lefties at the top and a fallback of Paxton and maybe Stroman.
Anyone interested in Clevenger? I think his outside activities are hurting him more than his pitching talent. But someone is going to sign him and he wouldn’t shock me to throw 160+ with an era under 4. MOR starter but a real jackass.

I'm not sure the Mets were in on any of the big pitchers left, so not sure that math changes. Once Yamamoto went off the board, the Mets weren't thought of as a favorite for Snell, Montgomery or Imanaga. 

[Bertz]

9 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

I'm not sure the Mets were in on any of the big pitchers left, so not sure that math changes. Once Yamamoto went off the board, the Mets weren't thought of as a favorite for Snell, Montgomery or Imanaga. 

They were reported to be sniffing around Imanaga a bit.  Never seen as likely though, so yeah I think net net this doesn't move the needle much

[JD94]

At this point I’m finding it hard to believe the Cubs will field a team better than the 2023 team who also wasn’t good enough to make the playoffs. Better hope some of our prospects are ready fast. Or some big trade happens that we don’t see coming. It doesn’t feel like we get Imanaga. It does feel like we are able to work something out for Bellinger, but even that isn’t close to enough. I’ve kind of been watching from afar since the Dodgers have done literally everything I wish the Cubs would have done. 

[Stratos]

Nice to see the market finally moving a bit again