Winter Meetings catch all

[ToolDRT]

Glad we spent so freely on a manager as opposed to, ya know, people who actually play the game. 

[s2obed]

1 hour ago, PeanutPunch33 said:

Hoskins is so mid, but if they can come away with Yamamoto I almost don’t care what they do after that 

Cubs aren't getting Yamamoto. Mooney and Sharma believe the Cubs won't get into that bidding war.

[gocubs218]

Which is not Glasnow or Hoskins. 

[LBiittner]

To help get my mind off of ohtani, soto, Hoskins, glasnow, chapman, maybe someone can help answer?

Breslow is now in charge in boston. Going by the old Dallas Green philosophy of " we always love the ones we leave" idea. I'm surprised he didn't poach any pitchers off cubs roster in rule 5. 

Is there any match ups in a trade between cubs and redsox? I'm thinking he might "love" some young pitchers he left behind with the cubs

[Dfan25]

Yeah I heard that . Surprising to hear because they don’t normally put too much effort on the bullpen and with them been out of Ohtani and Soto , just not that many impact lefty bats on the market .

[chibears55]

Ohtani probably goes to Dodgers or stays in Anaheim. 

Soto about to get moved to the Yankees.

And now no Yamamoto...

I just dont think the Cubs were ever going to sign or add any big names this offseason. 

Hoskins and mid range players were probably the most they were going to do.

 

[Thusly Boned]

A lot of less than thrilling conjecture out there, but I think I'm gonna wait until a few of our potential targets come off the board before I come down with a case of the vapors.

[gocubs218]

1 minute ago, XZero77 said:

A lot of less than thrilling conjecture out there, but I think I'm gonna wait until a few of our potential targets come off the board before I come down with a case of the vapors.

Yeah it’s obvious they are talking about people we have no idea about. I’ll wait until the January to start taking out the pitch forks, unlike other people in here. 

[UMFan83]

2 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

Yeah I heard that . Surprising to hear because they don’t normally put too much effort on the bullpen and with them been out of Ohtani and Soto , just not that many impact lefty bats on the market .

There's that Cody Bellinger fella, a steal at $300m.

Not surprised about the bullpen seeing as not having enough options was a large factor in sinking last season.  Not that being reactive is a good thing but I think he realized that the all-scrubs bullpen plan has its flaws.

[UMFan83]

7 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Ohtani probably goes to Dodgers or stays in Anaheim. 

Soto about to get moved to the Yankees.

And now no Yamamoto...

I just dont think the Cubs were ever going to sign or add any big names this offseason. 

Hoskins and mid range players were probably the most they were going to do.

 

I think they were interested in all of them.  I just think Jed doesn't want to give out 10 year deals and will under no circumstances bend his principles.  He will happily give these guys the money they want in terms of AAV, possibly even paying more in AAV if they are willing to take less years.  So far Dansby Swanson is the only one that has been receptive to that over the last 2 offseasons.  Jed would rather go into a season with holes than lock in players for 8+ years.

We just have to accept that our head baseball guy has a plan and it doesn't involve locking players in for a decade at increasingly higher costs.  I don't mind the general strategy but I HATE the unwillingness to make exceptions.  If you aren't willing to make an exception for Ohtani, you aren't going to for anyone. 

Edited December 7, 2023 by UMFan83

[Tryptamine]

I'll take it with a grain of salt, because it's too stupid to be true, but if Hoskins is the big FA signing, Jed shouldn't go to bed tonight employed by the Chicago Cubs.

[chibears55]

14 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

I think they were interested in all of them.  I just think Jed doesn't want to give out 10 year deals and will under no circumstances bend his principles.  He will happily give these guys the money they want in terms of AAV, possibly even paying more in AAV if they are willing to take less years.  So far Dansby Swanson is the only one that has been receptive to that over the last 2 offseasons.  Jed would rather go into a season with holes than lock in players for 8+ years.

We just have to accept that our head baseball guy has a plan and it doesn't involve locking players in for a decade at increasingly higher costs.  I don't mind the general strategy but I HATE the unwillingness to make exceptions.  If you aren't willing to make an exception for Ohtani, you aren't going to for anyone. 

One thing to be interested,  it another to actually be serious players..

Everyone and the mothers knew Ohtani was going to be at the very least 10/500 so why make it seem like you're interested if you never had any intentions of being serious bidders 

[Rcal10]

5 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

I'll take it with a grain of salt, because it's too stupid to be true, but if Hoskins is the big FA signing, Jed shouldn't go to bed tonight employed by the Chicago Cubs.

I’m actually ok with Hoskins being the biggest FA signing IF they also make some trades. If they get Glasnow too and maybe with him they get Lowe. Or maybe if the Jays get Ohtani they do trade Bichette. Or the Astros trade Bregman. I agree that Hoskins can’t be the only add iffensjvely, but they can add via trade. Maybe they also deal for a young controlled pitcher. Maybe trade for another bat. Polanco? They can still have a solid off season with Hoskins being the big FA signing. But they have to then make deals to add. 

[UMFan83]

5 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

One thing to be interested,  it another to actually be serious players..

Everyone and the mothers knew Ohtani was going to be at the very least 10/500 so why make it seem like you're interested if you never had any intentions of being serious bidders 

We know he wanted a shitload of money but do we know if he was dead set on 10 years? Would he have accepted $5m more in AAV in exchange for less years?   Also we have no idea if thats really what happened here, I'm really just speculating based on past things Jed has said and past FA pursuits.  It's possible Ohtani just doesn't have an interest in playing for Chicago.  Or the Cubs have a competitive offer out but his camp hasn't met with them in person so they can see the writing on the wall. 

[chibears55]

4 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

We know he wanted a shitload of money but do we know if he was dead set on 10 years? Would he have accepted $5m more in AAV in exchange for less years?   Also we have no idea if thats really what happened here, I'm really just speculating based on past things Jed has said and past FA pursuits.  It's possible Ohtani just doesn't have an interest in playing for Chicago.  Or the Cubs have a competitive offer out but his camp hasn't met with them in person so they can see the writing on the wall. 

Not sure if it was for him or not, I think it was, but I saw something where they may have offered him something that had opt outs in them after 3 or 4 years.

[Thusly Boned]

6 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I’m actually ok with Hoskins being the biggest FA signing IF they also make some trades. If they get Glasnow too and maybe with him they get Lowe. Or maybe if the Jays get Ohtani they do trade Bichette. Or the Astros trade Bregman. I agree that Hoskins can’t be the only add iffensjvely, but they can add via trade. Maybe they also deal for a young controlled pitcher. Maybe trade for another bat. Polanco? They can still have a solid off season with Hoskins being the big FA signing. But they have to then make deals to add. 

Yeah, if Hoskins is the biggest addition of the offseason, that's not gonna be good. But there are lots of potential trades out there, and outside of Ohtani/Yamamoto, there aren't a lot of other names out there substantially better than Hoskins. And I think some people are really sleeping on Hoskins; he's not Trey Mancini.

If people have gotten themselves into a "if we don't get Ohtani or Yamamoto this offseason is a failure" mindset, that's a them problem. There is simply too much competition from the other major market teams to bank on those two. It'll be disappointing, but those were always gonna be fights the Cubs had no guarantee of winning even if they make the best offers (in terms of money).

I'm also guessing we see one or two significant moves no one is even talking about right now. There are multiple avenues to substantially improving the team this offseason, and I'll wait until the shelves start looking bare before I start calling for people's jobs.

Or if we find out that there wasn't really an effort made on some of these fronts.

 

[Rcal10]

4 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Not sure if it was for him or not, I think it was, but I saw something where they may have offered him something that had opt outs in them after 3 or 4 years.

So? What does that mean. I bet every offer he is getting has opt outs for him after 3 or 4 years. That doesn’t mean they didn’t offer 10. People are speculating just to bitch about something. And, the truth is if they don’t get him but it comes out they did offer 10+ years everyone who bitched will never come back in and say they were wrong. Maybe he just doesn’t want to play in Chicago? Doesn’t mean the GO didn’t make a serious attempt at him. 

[chibears55]

1 minute ago, Rcal10 said:

So? What does that mean. I bet every offer he is getting has opt outs for him after 3 or 4 years. That doesn’t mean they didn’t offer 10. People are speculating just to bitch about something. And, the truth is if they don’t get him but it comes out they did offer 10+ years everyone who bitched will never come back in and say they were wrong. Maybe he just doesn’t want to play in Chicago? Doesn’t mean the GO didn’t make a serious attempt at him. 

It means I somewhat answered the posters question about what the cubs possibly offered by telling him what I had saw.

🤷‍♂️

[Thusly Boned]

Just now, Rcal10 said:

So? What does that mean. I bet every offer he is getting has opt outs for him after 3 or 4 years. That doesn’t mean they didn’t offer 10. People are speculating just to bitch about something. And, the truth is if they don’t get him but it comes out they did offer 10+ years everyone who bitched will never come back in and say they were wrong. Maybe he just doesn’t want to play in Chicago? Doesn’t mean the GO didn’t make a serious attempt at him. 

I fully expect any contract Ohtani signs to have opt outs. With the uncertainty around his pitching after a second elbow surgery, it'd be shocking if he didn't angle for at least one, honestly. 

[Jason Ross]

17 minutes ago, XZero77 said:

Yeah, if Hoskins is the biggest addition of the offseason, that's not gonna be good. But there are lots of potential trades out there, and outside of Ohtani/Yamamoto, there aren't a lot of other names out there substantially better than Hoskins. And I think some people are really sleeping on Hoskins; he's not Trey Mancini.

If people have gotten themselves into a "if we don't get Ohtani or Yamamoto this offseason is a failure" mindset, that's a them problem. There is simply too much competition from the other major market teams to bank on those two. It'll be disappointing, but those were always gonna be fights the Cubs had no guarantee of winning even if they make the best offers (in terms of money).

I'm also guessing we see one or two significant moves no one is even talking about right now. There are multiple avenues to substantially improving the team this offseason, and I'll wait until the shelves start looking bare before I start calling for people's jobs.

Or if we find out that there wasn't really an effort made on some of these fronts.

 

Well, what I'll say is this: Sharma just dropped an article in the Athletic. And to give it a quick summary, it doesn't appear there's any surprising moves coming. It's very much that Hoyer is doing this patiently and his way, and he won't jump the market. It talks about Glasnow and Hoskins specifically. But also very much comes to a conclusion that could easily draw you to these being the biggest acquisitions the Cubs are likely to make. 

That doesn't mean they'll be the only moves. Hell, we haven't acquired either yet (though both feel fairly inevitable, if we're being honest). But I think that's the most likely scenario here. 

[Jason Ross]

 

[Stratos]

53 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

I'll take it with a grain of salt, because it's too stupid to be true, but if Hoskins is the big FA signing, Jed shouldn't go to bed tonight employed by the Chicago Cubs.

Everyone wanted to fire Jed when the Cubs starting missing out on the big SS last year.  I think we should just let this play out for a couple weeks and see how things look around Xmas.

[CubbyBlue2008]

10 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

 

This contradicts the Hoskins/Glasnow being primary targets storyline, so that’s weird.

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, CubbyBlue2008 said:

This contradicts the Hoskins/Glasnow being primary targets storyline, so that’s weird.

Yep. It's a weird comment. 

[CubbyBlue2008]

Just now, 1908_Cubs said:

Yep. It's a weird comment. 

Reads more like Ohtani/Soto with bullpen pieces to supplement to me. Which makes no sense with Ohtani/Soto momentum basically gone.