Cubs offseason chit chat...

[Rcal10]

15 minutes ago, CubbyBlue2008 said:

Yep. It allows PCA to spend more time in AAA and potentially come back up for injuries. The lineup is deep and dangerous. Potentially high upside with Morel and Busch as well. I’d be very excited.

Love that Counsell is trying it. I have suggested it all off season. Guess we will see if he can handle it. If he can, that does allow the Cubs to add a bat only guy. Which could make for a much more exciting offense. 

[morrisjon]

53 minutes ago, ToolDRT said:

If Morel can handle 3rd 🤤🤤🤤

I really like that Counsell thinks Morel has a shot at sticking at 3rd. We have a solid backup plan if it doesn't work out.

Closing out with Bellinger and Martinez would be awesome!

[Rex Buckingham]

who knows if he thinks Morel has a real chance... but there's no reason not to try. It's not like taking ABs from Wisdom and Madrigal is a bad thing

[Derwood]

It's also a message to Boras that his asking price for Chapman is too high. "We have an in-house option, so we're not desperate enough for that price tag"

[ToolDRT]

24 minutes ago, morrisjon said:

I really like that Counsell thinks Morel has a shot at sticking at 3rd. We have a solid backup plan if it doesn't work out.

Closing out with Bellinger and Martinez would be awesome!

Yeah, I can get behind those moves. I still have my doubts about Bellinger, but it does seem like his market is crashing a little and we might be able to get a decent deal. 

[ToolDRT]

11 minutes ago, Derwood said:

It's also a message to Boras that his asking price for Chapman is too high. "We have an in-house option, so we're not desperate enough for that price tag"

I hope they genuinely try it though. Morel handling 3rd would be a huge boon for this team, imho. 

[imb]

6 hours ago, Tim said:

I said enough with the politics.

I guess I should have added enough with the insults, too.

you should have minded your own business

[Bertz]

I'm not super convinced what Counsell said means much, but I'd love to be wrong.  Adding a full time 1B/DH on top of it would make me much more convinced it's something beyond "hey it's spring training why not try it?"

[LBiittner]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

Love that Counsell is trying it. I have suggested it all off season. 

I'm a witness 

[imb]

its probably counsell intuiting that ross is very bald and very dumb and going "i need to see this for myself before i write it off."

[chibears55]

5 hours ago, Banedon said:

Counsell's actual words...

 

Tells us they're not pursuing anyone outside to play 3B, it Morel's spot to lose in ST and at least to start the season at.

So basically 7 of the starting 8 is pretty much set, with CF the only question. 

Gomes, Busch, Hoerner, Swanson, Morel, Happ, Suzuki and Wisdom probably DH

I can see why there's rumors about adding bullpen guys, they're gonna have crap for offense.

[Rob]

52 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Tells us they're not pursuing anyone outside to play 3B, it Morel's spot to lose in ST and at least to start the season at.

I don't agree with any of this.

Morel is currently something like our 4th or 5th best option at 3B because his defense is abysmal. Counsell may be giving him an opportunity to work his way up that depth chart by improving his defense, but by no means is it "[his] spot to lose."

And it's a pretty frequent occurrence to have teams pushing "we're happy with the roster we've got" articles precisely to try to gain leverage in free agent or trade negotiations. This isn't particularly telling at all. I'm sure Hoyer is still in touch with Boras, and is keeping tabs on Chapman. I doubt it goes anywhere, but I'm sure Hoyer would love to swoop in if the value gets where he wants it.

[chibears55]

15 minutes ago, Rob said:

I don't agree with any of this.

Morel is currently something like our 4th or 5th best option at 3B because his defense is abysmal. Counsell may be giving him an opportunity to work his way up that depth chart by improving his defense, but by no means is it "[his] spot to lose."

And it's a pretty frequent occurrence to have teams pushing "we're happy with the roster we've got" articles precisely to try to gain leverage in free agent or trade negotiations. This isn't particularly telling at all. I'm sure Hoyer is still in touch with Boras, and is keeping tabs on Chapman. I doubt it goes anywhere, but I'm sure Hoyer would love to swoop in if the value gets where he wants it.

Chapman suks..  

If they add another starting bat, it going to be Bellinger.

Cubs will likely go with Morel and Madrigal at 3B with an eye on Shaw for the second half of season. 

 

 

Edited February 18, 2024 by chibears55

[Rob]

14 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Chapman suks..  

If they add another starting bat, it going to be Bellinger.

Cubs will likely go with Morel and Madrigal at 3B with an eye on Shaw for the second half of season. 

 

 

Chapman is criminally underrated here.

Each of them came up in 2017. Bellinger has played 875 games, Chapman has played 868. So it's fair to compare them 1-1.

Bellinger has been worth 21.6 fWAR in that time. Chapman has been worth 27.4. Thus far in their careers, Chapman has been the better overall player, and it's not all that close.

I'll grant that there are other considerations such as age, skillset, and our current organizational depth that might make Bellinger a more attractive target for the Cubs if the contracts are roughly equal. But Chapman is a hell of a player. We'd be lucky to get him.

If Morel can play 3B, I'd be thrilled. I was banging the drum for that earlier in the season. But if he plays it like he's done every other position thus far, he might not hold a glove after spring training. Penciling him in for the lion's share of playing time seems absurd until we've seen him show some defensive improvement.

[Brian707]

22 hours ago, The20thK said:

Nope. I never bring it up. But I will respond. 

Your response is 10x worse than whatever was posted and you did it 5 times.

 

 

[Bertz]

I know he's dead to most of the fanbase already but I'm still extremely here for Jose Cuas.  He basically transformed himself on the fly in August, a winter and ST to iron out kinks is going to make a big difference IMO 

 

[Tim]

grrrrrrr

[Crusader]

24 minutes ago, The20thK said:

Then don’t bring it up. This is a baseball forum. Not a politics forum. You keep your political leanings to yourself or else you’re gonna hear mine as well. 

Supporting traitors isn’t political… If you’re gonna be traitorous keep that to yourself. It should be a dirty secret. It’s weird to normalize this type of conduct. I’m saying this as a fiscal conservative. When someone makes fun of a terrorist it’s something we should all be able to collectively join in on.

Edited February 18, 2024 by Crusader

[Rob]

I'm convinced this is a modern day Jonathan Swift.

"If I have to listen to you talking about you and your kids being hungry, then you're gonna have to listen to me as I make A Modest Proposal."

[NorthsideAvenger]

So getting back on topic, can it be both, the Cubs wanting to see if Morel could play 3rd base AND sending a message to Boras about his asking price for Chapman?

[CubinNY]

5 minutes ago, NorthsideAvenger said:

So getting back on topic, can it be both, the Cubs wanting to see if Morel could play 3rd base AND sending a message to Boras about his asking price for Chapman?

Yes. But I don't think they are sending a message to Boars about anything. The message has been sent by 30 clubs.

[NorthsideAvenger]

1 minute ago, CubinNY said:

Yes. But I don't think they are sending a message to Boars about anything. The message has been sent by 30 clubs.

Fair enough. 

[chibears55]

5 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

Yes. But I don't think they are sending a message to Boars about anything. The message has been sent by 30 clubs.

Moral needs a position other then DH to get his bat in the lineup everyday, and with 3B being pretty much the only one without a guy who can take it over, that a spot Moral can try and win and make his during ST.

I can see Counsell using the DH spot more for Wisdom and getting the bench ABs with matchups.

[Rcal10]

12 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Moral needs a position other then DH to get his bat in the lineup everyday, and with 3B being pretty much the only one without a guy who can take it over, that a spot Moral can try and win and make his during ST.

I can see Counsell using the DH spot more for Wisdom and getting the bench ABs with matchups.

If he is going to use DH for Wisdom he might as well just play Wisdom at 3rd and DH Morel. I see more as a move so they can bring a bat in regardless of that bats position. If Morel can play 3rd this allows them to sign someone like Belt or JDM who would take AB away from Wisdom and Madrigal instead of Morel. 

[17 Seconds]

1 hour ago, The20thK said:

Then don’t bring it up. This is a baseball forum. Not a politics forum. You keep your political leanings to yourself or else you’re gonna hear mine as well. 

nsbb has been political for decades