Cubs Expected to Be In On Shota Imanaga Sweepstakes

[Brock Beauchamp]

Patrick Mooney of The Athletic wrote a comprehensive round-up of Cubs rumors and mentioned several note-worthy things:

1. The Cubs are expected to be in on Japanese starting pitcher Shota Imanaga once his (higher-dollar) countryman Yoshinobu Yamamoto selects a team. Imanaga, 30 years old, will come at a much lower AAV and years than Yamamoto.

2. Christopher Morel is trade bait but the Cubs appear to be wary of trading him for a pure rental player.

3. The Cubs realize they need a third baseman but don't appear closely linked to any specific players at this point in time.

If you'd like to read the entire rundown and many bullet points I did not list, click the link above.

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[chopsx9]

Sorry Matt Chapman is not a "foundational" player.

[Brock Beauchamp]

6 hours ago, chopsx9 said:

Sorry Matt Chapman is not a "foundational" player.

I agree with that. Over the next three years, who is worth more wins? Chapman or Bellinger?

[chopsx9]

4 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

I agree with that. Over the next three years, who is worth more wins? Chapman or Bellinger?

Bellinger.  More importantly offense is a bigger part of his profile - which I think the Cubs desperately need.

[Rob]

I do worry if there's some question of diminishing returns when it comes to infield defense. After all, Swanson is as good as anybody in the game at SS right now.

[Brock Beauchamp]

56 minutes ago, chopsx9 said:

Bellinger.  More importantly offense is a bigger part of his profile - which I think the Cubs desperately need.

I think Bellinger likely outperforms Chapman but if Chapman can be had for four years at lesser money  instead of 6+ years and $200m for Bellinger, I might prefer Chapman.