Cubs offseason chit chat...

[Bertz]

1 minute ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Surprised the slueths didn't uncover all of this sooner

The beauty of being 5'10" instead of 6'4"

[Jason Ross]

3 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Surprised the slueths didn't uncover all of this sooner

Same here. Kind of crazy. I know he's only guaranteed $53m (unless he opts out) so he's not the biggest free agent on the planet but imagine if Sonny Gray was essentially living in Chicago doing this (someone in that same kind of tier of SP, IMO). Or if Marcus Stroman was living in New York just going to the Publix, or whatever they have in NY. Benefit of being in a foreign land, I guess.

[WhyCantWeWin]

29 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Apparently Shota Imanaga:

- Was at Conor Bedard's first home game in November

- Bought a Michael Jordan jersey

- Has been shopping at a Japanese market place in Arlington Heights multiple times

- Working out at a gym near O'Hare

Lmao I go to that market place all the time but I have no clue what he looks like. Probably walked past him

[UMFan83]

27 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Apparently Shota Imanaga:

- Was at Conor Bedard's first home game in November

- Bought a Michael Jordan jersey

- Has been shopping at a Japanese market place in Arlington Heights multiple times

- Working out at a gym near O'Hare

FWIW his agency's baseball office is located in Chicago so he likely set up a base of operations here while he was preparing for/going through FA.  Certainly an advantage for the Cubs for him to get comfortable here though.  And thankfully the weather wasn't too bad in December.

[Jason Ross]

2 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

FWIW his agency's baseball office is located in Chicago so he likely set up a base of operations here while he was preparing for/going through FA.  Certainly an advantage for the Cubs for him to get comfortable here though.  And thankfully the weather wasn't too bad in December.

Oh yeah. It's less why he was here, just kind of funny to think he was essentially living in Chicago and the surrounding areas for weeks and no one was like "Yep, was at the store today, ran into Shota Imanaga!" Understand Americans likely wouldn't recognize him off the beat, but it'd be next to impossible for Matt Chapman to basically be shopping in SF for 3 weeks and go unnoticed himself. Like I said, benefit of living in a foreign country. 

[jersey cubs fan]

37 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Apparently Shota Imanaga:

- Was at Conor Bedard's first home game in November

- Bought a Michael Jordan jersey

- Has been shopping at a Japanese market place in Arlington Heights multiple times

- Working out at a gym near O'Hare

Seems like the cubs have a Chicago problem 

[LBiittner]

14 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Oh yeah. It's less why he was here, just kind of funny to think he was essentially living in Chicago and the surrounding areas for weeks and no one was like "Yep, was at the store today, ran into Shota Imanaga!" Understand Americans likely wouldn't recognize him off the beat, but it'd be next to impossible for Matt Chapman to basically be shopping in SF for 3 weeks and go unnoticed himself. Like I said, benefit of living in a foreign country. 

We need to have Jesse Rogers look into whether or not Belli has been in town the last couple days getting ready for his Cubs Convention unveiling? 

[Tryptamine]

40 minutes ago, WhyCantWeWin said:

Lmao I go to that market place all the time but I have no clue what he looks like. Probably walked past him

Absolutely love Mitsuwa. I've been there dozens of times and the food court is really nice too. On site that have that bakery "Pastry House Hippo", but there's an even better one like 5 minutes away called "Mont Blanc". The Fruit tart is top notch.

[Derwood]

3 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

I don’t think so. I think you lose the DH once you put him at a position. But I am not positive.

In this scenario, the Player X DH would be pulled from the game while a position player would move to DH

[Michael Busch Light]

It would be really cool for Belli to sign and show up at the Convention.

[PackLandVA]

7 minutes ago, Javy Bystro said:

It would be really cool for Belli to sign and show up at the Convention.

Maybe he could do the Dex/ST arrival.

[Outshined_One]

15 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

Absolutely love Mitsuwa. I've been there dozens of times and the food court is really nice too. On site that have that bakery "Pastry House Hippo", but there's an even better one like 5 minutes away called "Mont Blanc". The Fruit tart is top notch.

That food court has the best ramen (Santouka) in an area that features the best ramen in the Chicago metro.  I used to work out there and it was so awesome having so many good options for lunch.

[Jason Ross]

35 minutes ago, Derwood said:

In this scenario, the Player X DH would be pulled from the game while a position player would move to DH

I do not believe a position player is allowed to move into the DH role as the designated hitter must be "designated" before the game. They can be replaced with other hitters on the bench, or enter the game defensively (and lose the DH) but position players are not allowed to then become the DH.

[WhyCantWeWin]

41 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

Absolutely love Mitsuwa. I've been there dozens of times and the food court is really nice too. On site that have that bakery "Pastry House Hippo", but there's an even better one like 5 minutes away called "Mont Blanc". The Fruit tart is top notch.

Thanks I'll check it out. I mostly go for snacks, everything is usually cleaned out by the time I head over haha 

[Jason Ross]

Hicks to SFG 4/$44m.

Per Passan. 

He will start.

[Tryptamine]

32 minutes ago, PackLandVA said:

Maybe he could do the Dex/ST arrival.

The Dex walking onto the field at ST signing where none of his teammates knew, was the coolest free agent signing there has ever been.

[Bertz]

That's awesome.  Give him 2-3 months to try and make it work in one of the best pitching dev ecosystems in the sport, and if it doesn't you've got a dynamic reliever and Cobb/Ray coming back from rehab.

While scouring for Imanaga news I ventured into Giants Twitter and they all hate Farhan for most of the same reasons Cubs fans hate Jed.

[CubinNY]

10 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Hicks to SFG 4/$44m.

Per Passan. 

He will start.

I've been thinking about that scenario a lot, but I thought it if I suggested it, it would get roundly criticized. 

[Backtobanks]

4 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

This is true. But I want them to keep Morel. And besides that Morel doesn’t have near the value of Luzardo. So what else would be needed becomes an issue. As an example, if it is Morel AND PCA that hurts a bit. But it could be both. 
 

I do like the thought of Morel being on the team and the Cubs adding Bellinger and Hoskins. They just need to figure out who can at least adequately handle third between Morel and Busch. I would think it would be Busch since his biggest issue there is arm strength. Sound similar to Madrigal, who the Cubs turned into a decent 3rd baseman. Maybe the Cubs can do the same with Busch.  

But, IMO, another trade is coming. I think at least one of Assad, Wesneski or Wicks will be moved. Probably with a prospect or two. If you look at the Cubs team now they would probably have Wicks as a 5 and then a one that would have Alzolay, Lieter, Merryweather. Almonte, Wesneski, Assad, Smyly and maybe Little. They still have several others to consider. And they claim to want to add a pen arm. They can only have 8. Seems something has to happen. They also are at 40 on the 40 man roster. So adding Bellinger and Hoskins or whoever they do add, means someone has to go. I can easily see a 3 for 1 sort of deal. 

If they sign Bellinger and Hoskins, then I would think one of PCA or Morel should be traded because of their trade value.  Getting a young, controlled, TOR would make this the team we have been hoping for.  The trade would put 5 good starters  with whoever is left of Assad, Wesneski, or Wicks providing depth.  I don't think we can seriously offer the kind of package necessary to obtain that young, controlled TOR pitcher without including PCA or Morel.

 

[Jason Ross]

It's an interesting twist, for sure. He's essentially a two pitch pitcher. He throws 98% of his pitches as some variation of a fastball (or a sinker) and a sweeper. We've seen Spencer Strider be useful as a two-pitch pitcher (though he has added the changeup to the arsenal now) and Justin Steele is essentially, a two-pitch pitcher (though I think you can make an argument that Steele really throws "three" pitches between the fastball, slider and a cutter, but that the cutter gets misinterpreted). 

Worst case you have a good back end reliever at $11m, which isn't an insane price for elite relievers.

[Bertz]

 

 

[We Got The Whole 9]

16 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Hicks to SFG 4/$44m.

Per Passan. 

He will start.

Holy horsefeathers that's a desperation move

[CubinNY]

17 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Holy horsefeathers that's a desperation move

Or brilliant if it works out.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Jordan Hicks has the most hittable 100 mph fastball in history, bad command, and no semblance of a third pitch, so they're gonna have him start and drop a few more ticks off the fastball and give hitters multiple looks?

[Tryptamine]

I wasn't even very enamored with Hicks the reliever, let alone Hicks the starter.