Cubs offseason chit chat...

[LBiittner]

Julian Merriweather pitched fairly well in 2023. Hopefully he can continue in 24. He was lights- out for awhile but then Ross kinda overused him down the stretch. We need a lefty version of Julian. 

[LBiittner]

8 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Biitner, if you read he entire exchange you would see I am very skeptical of the amount thawv suggest. I think it will be closer to $8M per year. Thawv is who posted 2/8. My point is, if that is true, great. But I don’t think it is true.

I think your dead on at 8m per, in value. But I'm thinking he's wanting 10-11 per 

Hence my new found infatuation for Caleb Thielbar 

Edited January 20, 2024 by LBiittner

[Rcal10]

3 minutes ago, LBiittner said:

I think your dead on at 8m per, in value. But I'm thinking he's wanting 10-11 per 

Hence my new found infatuation for Caleb Thielbar 

I don’t know how they determine value, tbh. Thawv seems to suggest Spotroc has Moorenat 2/$6.8M TOTAL. I have no idea what Spotroc is, but my point was if that is true give me Moore. I think you maybe be a bit high in your end, but really don’t know. I also am not sure he would be the lefty we would want. He seems to do better against right handed batting. I want a lefty to balance the one. Not sure he is it. Thielbar would be fine too. But I see no reason the wrong would want to trade him. 

[Rcal10]

With pen arms being so expensive, what does it cost the Cubs to look into AJ Puk? Would Triantos for Puk work. He has 3 more years of control. Is he someone worth looking into and is he worth Triantos? 

[LBiittner]

5 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

With pen arms being so expensive, what does it cost the Cubs to look into AJ Puk? Would Triantos for Puk work. He has 3 more years of control. Is he someone worth looking into and is he worth Triantos? 

Good one rcal I love that idea

[Tryptamine]

If they're chasing a reliever with a bit of control, I want Hunter Harvey.  He's under contract for 2 years, posted a 2.52 and 2.82 ERA the last 2 years and had a sub 2 BB/9 last year. Having him and Adbert would alleviate a lot of those BB concerns the pen had in 2022. 

[LBiittner]

Sports illustrated contributor had a headline : Cubs miss out on their chance to sign closer Hader.

When did we ever have the chance in hell to sign hader?

Rcal, you and I should hook up with S.I. and write made up drivel for them instead of the drivel we post here. Might be a decent supplement to our SSI.

[Tryptamine]

20 minutes ago, LBiittner said:

Sports illustrated contributor had a headline : Cubs miss out on their chance to sign closer Hader.

When did we ever have the chance in hell to sign hader?

Rcal, you and I should hook up with S.I. and write made up drivel for them instead of the drivel we post here. Might be a decent supplement to our SSI.

SI no longer exists, they fired their entire staff a day or two ago. 

[Bull]

16 minutes ago, LBiittner said:

Sports illustrated contributor had a headline : Cubs miss out on their chance to sign closer Hader.

When did we ever have the chance in hell to sign hader?

Rcal, you and I should hook up with S.I. and write made up drivel for them instead of the drivel we post here. Might be a decent supplement to our SSI.

SI is somehow getting worse. This Brad Wakai guy is writing articles three days late or that have no content whatsoever. His grammar is awful and everything is sourced from what real writers post on twitter three days before. He said that the Imanaga signing and Busch trade were “ a solid stretch for the franchise that had one of the most disappointing offseasons out of any team in Major League Baseball.” 
 

Does he think the offseason is over or does he just not know how to write in the pluperfect tense? Just awful.

 

[LBiittner]

26 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

SI no longer exists, they fired their entire staff a day or two ago. 

Damn. Dream breaker

[LBiittner]

18 minutes ago, Bull said:

SI is somehow getting worse. This Brad Wakai guy is writing articles three days late or that have no content whatsoever. His grammar is awful and everything is sourced from what real writers post on twitter three days before. He said that the Imanaga signing and Busch trade were “ a solid stretch for the franchise that had one of the most disappointing offseasons out of any team in Major League Baseball.” 
 

Does he think the offseason is over or does he just not know how to write in the pluperfect tense? Just awful.

 

LOL I guess he gone now, SI I meant

[Bull]

4 minutes ago, LBiittner said:

LOL I guess he gone now, SI I meant

Someone will come in and scoop up the pieces similar to what happened to hostess. Have to save the Twinkie! SI swimsuit issue is the Twinkie of sports journalism.

[Stratos]

7 hours ago, thawv said:

Right now, they're 40 million under the first level.  I think that between the two of them, it might push them 5 million over the CBT.

They still need to buy relievers

[Stratos]

4 hours ago, LBiittner said:

Since you brought up Darvish, but not necessarily directed at just you.

The Cubs traded darvish at the exact same time the Ray's traded snell.

The Padres landed both established MLB pitchers for a butt-load of hugger prospects. Which team, cubs or rays, benefitted the most from their salary dumps after 3 long freaking years?

My point wasn't that we should have traded Darvish, my point was that it may be possible a player can be traded even if they have a NTC. 

Edited January 20, 2024 by Stratos

[Stratos]

4 hours ago, Bertz said:

They traded Darvish, the Cy Young runner up, for four 18 year olds.  As much as we'd like to handwave it away it is exceedingly difficult to trade long term money.  Doubly so if guys have NTCs.  Happ, Seiya, and Dansby already have them, Bellinger and Chapman would probably get them too.  Hoerner would be the only position player without one.

If you lock up Chapman and Bellinger, payroll in '25 and '26 is already within ~$20M of the luxury tax.  So unless Tom is cool going over three years in a row (which he wasn't at the end of last decade), you're done with major FA signings until 2027.

Fine, we can sit out FA, Jed doesn't do much there anyway, right?  Well you've got 6 lineup spots locked in with veterans meaning your options for improving the lineup deal are:

- Focusing just on 1B/C/DH, three positions that don't tend to get a lot of impact talent making it all the way to FA.  We do have prospects at these spots, but if you need to improve the lineup do you want to count on that improvement coming from kids?

- Trading Hoerner, the guy who is 31st in WAR over the last two years.  Not exactly easy to improve on that

- Do nothing, acknowledging the position player group more or less is what it is for a few years, and just focusing on the pitching staff

Unless the launch of Marquee has fundamentally changed the team's financial equation Jed's got two, maybe three, long term deals he can sign over the next three years.  Using those bullets on Chapman and Bellinger, guys with obvious warts we've been discussing all winter, just because they're the guys here right now is the adult equivalent of the marshmallow test.

If the Cubs stay under the LT, which I think they will, then both Bellinger and Chapman doesn't make sense.  If they expanded their budget over the LT then yes I'd like both.

[thawv]

2 hours ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Recent rumors (which were coming from the ever so iffy Hector Gomes) suggest Neris was seeking $50m total on his deal. That feels entirely out of touch, and considering the source, probably is.

He'll be about 8 million a year if I had to guess.

[Rcal10]

23 minutes ago, Stratos said:

They still need to buy relievers

I am curious, Stratos. Who do you have penciled in as their pen as it is now? How are they adding two? I really think you are making the pen a much bigger issue than it really is. One 7th or 8th inning guy is enough IMO. Unless they make a trade using some of the pen arms they have now, I don’t see how they add 2.

[Rcal10]

2 hours ago, Tryptamine said:

If they're chasing a reliever with a bit of control, I want Hunter Harvey.  He's under contract for 2 years, posted a 2.52 and 2.82 ERA the last 2 years and had a sub 2 BB/9 last year. Having him and Adbert would alleviate a lot of those BB concerns the pen had in 2022. 

He works as well. I was just looking for a lefty for the pen. Puk does have an extra year too. 

[Post Count Padder]

I like the idea of trading with the Marlins. Does Triantos, Mervis, Caissie for Puk and Edward Cabrera do anything?

I like the idea of Ben Brown, Assad and Wicks battling for the 5th starter spot but we need an injection of velocity into the rotation badly.

[Rcal10]

22 minutes ago, TomtheBombadil said:

Catch here is neither of those guys is a starter. Puk might have some conversion potential,  but Cabrera’s still all piss and vinegar with neither the command or control to start full time for a good team 

Cabrera has only been a starter. I am not as high in him as some are, but he is a starter who throws very hard. And Puk is strictly a pen arm, which is what I am looking for. 

[Stratos]

3 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

I am curious, Stratos. Who do you have penciled in as their pen as it is now? How are they adding two? I really think you are making the pen a much bigger issue than it really is. One 7th or 8th inning guy is enough IMO. Unless they make a trade using some of the pen arms they have now, I don’t see how they add 2.

Most people on the other board disagreed with me last Spring Training when I kept repeating that the Cubs were weak in the late innings including closer.  They said we'd "figure it out".  Well I was right and we threw wins down the toilet the first 2 months trying to "figure it out" and the lack of pen depth hurt us in Sept when Jed didn't acquire enough pen help at the deadline.

We had a bad pen last year for 3 months of the season and when it was effective it was held together with duct tape and nothing has changed on the roster so far besides acquiring a below average arm from the Dodgers that they didn't want because he's not very good.  He can compete for a spot in ST but he shouldn't be penciled in for anything.

They lost Fulmer and 1 arm is going to solve their pen issues?  They can add 1 good arm and then they're 1 injury away from being ineffective again.

Rucker sucks.  Our lefties Smyly is meh and Little is unknown and walks lots of guys.  Cuas has good stuff but walks guys.  Almonte has avg stuff and walks guys.  Leiter Jr was abused last summer and faded down the stretch, will he be effective again?  Alzolay was abused also and got hurt, will he get hurt again?  Wesneski is all over the place, Thompson looked bad last year.  Assad can be solid in a swing role.  Brown might stay stretched out in Iowa.

If our strategy is to just throw random arms at the wall and hope a handful stick i'm not enthused by this.  The pen is not a strength and probably won't be with just 1 addition.

 

[javy knows my name]

Could we not bury transaction announcements in this nightmare of a thread?

[Irrelevant Dude]

8 hours ago, CubbyBlue2008 said:

 

We now return you to your "nobody knows anything" part of the offseason.

[Stratos]

Some juicy juiceburgers to update status of top remaining FA:  https://www.mlb.com/news/free-agent-market-update-january-2024

 

Quote

 

"Then there are the Cubs, who must still be viewed as favorites to bring Bellinger back to the North Side. Chicago hasn’t done anything to this point to replace his bat in the lineup, but with few teams making an aggressive push for Bellinger, the Cubs front office has shown great restraint, not wanting to bid against itself to get Bellinger signed.

Ultimately, the widespread belief within the industry is that Bellinger and the Cubs will reunite, but only if/when his asking price comes down."

 

And.:  https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/01/cubs-notes-bellinger-hendricks-bullpen.html

Quote

"As relayed by The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney, veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks recently noted that, contrary to rumors that percolated this past autumn, the sides did not discuss a potential multi-year deal before the Cubs picked up his club option back in November. Hendricks added that the sides similarly haven’t made any sort of progress on a hypothetical contract extension in the months since. "

 

[thawv]

17 hours ago, Stratos said:

They still need to buy relievers

Spending another 35 million on relievers isn't even a consideration for them.  I'd be happy with adding Matt Moore and calling it a day.  That would mean that 3 guys currently in the pen will not be on the OD roster.