Spring Training Chit Chats

[Irrelevant Dude]

More revenue?  What happened to all that Marquee money?  Isn't that the revenue we were promised?  

It is convenient that the Cubs' "natural place" just so happens to be right below an arbitrary tax threshold.

[UMFan83]

1 minute ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

More revenue?  What happened to all that Marquee money?  Isn't that the revenue we were promised?  

It is convenient that the Cubs' "natural place" just so happens to be right below an arbitrary tax threshold.

He's using the RSN issues as an excuse.  He said somehing about all teams having challenges right now with RSNs.  BS.  At this point its pretty clear there's always going to be some issue in the way.  They'll spend when they have a title caliber team and hang out below the luxury tax when they don't. 

Edited February 19, 2024 by UMFan83

[Illiterate Scholar]

I read that and take it to mean they're not going over the tax. So for rest-of-offseason scenarios we're looking at either 1) Bellinger or Chapman only or 2) one of the DHs + Stanek?

Edited February 19, 2024 by Illiterate Scholar

[Transmogrified Tiger]

15 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

They'll spend when they have a title caliber team and hang out below the luxury tax when they don't. 

Not making a broader point other than illustrating what this looks like in practice for everyone else, but this statement appears to describe every team save for the Dodgers, Yankees, and (probably) the Mets.

[Michael Busch Light]

Tommy boy really needs to consider not giving interviews.  He can’t help but come off as a spoiled brat who has had everything handed to him 

[CubinNY]

34 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

More revenue?  What happened to all that Marquee money?  Isn't that the revenue we were promised?  

It is convenient that the Cubs' "natural place" just so happens to be right below an arbitrary tax threshold.

They have all the revenue they need. They own all the land around Wrigley. It's just horsefeathers.

[Bertz]

38 minutes ago, Illiterate Scholar said:

I read that and take it to mean they're not going over the tax. So for rest-of-offseason scenarios we're looking at either 1) Bellinger or Chapman only or 2) one of the DHs + Stanek?

Yeah this feels right, especially with the two rehabbing pitchers off the market this AM.

[Jason Ross]

40 minutes ago, Illiterate Scholar said:

I read that and take it to mean they're not going over the tax. So for rest-of-offseason scenarios we're looking at either 1) Bellinger or Chapman only or 2) one of the DHs + Stanek?

Pretty frustrating in general, as most people assumed (myself included) they had purposefully stayed under the tax last year to go over this year, and it appears as though that is not the case.

[SOFNR]

15 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Pretty frustrating in general, as most people assumed (myself included) they had purposefully stayed under the tax last year to go over this year, and it appears as though that is not the case.

Yah, man. I has been sitting in the pessimistic on Ricketts being willing to spend camp for a while. Basically "Ill believe it when i see it". But somehow I'd really managed to talk myself into them being ready to atleast cross that line again. That's pretty horsefeathers discouraging. 

Edited February 19, 2024 by SOFNR

[Rcal10]

23 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Pretty frustrating in general, as most people assumed (myself included) they had purposefully stayed under the tax last year to go over this year, and it appears as though that is not the case.

Absolutely sucks. Do they even have enough under to sign Bellinger and still have a little for the trade deadline? Man, Ricketts sucks! 

[Tryptamine]

Apparently buying up half of Wrigleyville and having Marquee is not enough income to exceed the cap, which is so laughably disgusting. Just another reason I have no idea why you people give that ghoul even a dollar of your money. The worst part is we're probably stuck with this jackass for the next few decades.

[Stratos]

21 minutes ago, SOFNR said:

Yah, man. I has been sitting in the pessimistic on Ricketts being willing to spend camp for a while. Basically "Ill believe it when i see it". But somehow I'd really managed to talk myself into them being ready to atleast cross that line again. That's pretty horsefeathers discouraging. 

I doubt they'll go over the cap unless they're in some kind of real winning position like before.  Which is ridiculous.

Edited February 19, 2024 by Stratos

[Tryptamine]

I did have a fear earlier in the offseason when we found out the Cubs basically weren't even really in on Ohtani or Yamamoto, but I didn't think it would actually come to fruition. That fear was that Counsell wasn't the splash move we thought it was. In fact it was actually an incredibly cheap move. Why throw hundreds of millions of dollars on a player(s) to energize the fan base, when you can instead only throw 30M at a manger that will energize the meatballs just as much?

[Brian707]

6 minutes ago, Stratos said:

I doubt they'll go over the cap unless they're in some kind of real winning position like before.  Which is ridiculous.

In the year 2124 Tom Ricketts IV will go over the cap to end a 108 year drought. 

[Rob]

8 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

I did have a fear earlier in the offseason when we found out the Cubs basically weren't even really in on Ohtani or Yamamoto, but I didn't think it would actually come to fruition. That fear was that Counsell wasn't the splash move we thought it was. In fact it was actually an incredibly cheap move. Why throw hundreds of millions of dollars on a player(s) to energize the fan base, when you can instead only throw 30M at a manger that will energize the meatballs just as much?

That won't energize the meatballs all that much.

Jed's reasoning is pretty simply. A win costs $8M or so in free agency right now. If Counsell is worth a win or two more than what we had (check), then he's a relative bargain compared to spending that money on the roster.

[CubinNY]

The other thing that bothers me about PTRs comments is the stuff about how much money it takes to win the division. 
 

winning the division is not the goal. And with that mentality it’s going to happen less often than it should. 

[Sammy Sofa]

Look, the Ricketts have a lot of money that they need to shamelessly funnel to a particular someone in this particular year.

[Backtobanks]

1 hour ago, Stratos said:

I doubt they'll go over the cap unless they're in some kind of real winning position like before.  Which is ridiculous.

And there's a good chance they won't get in that winning position without spending money or trading prospects.

 

[Michael Busch Light]

52 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

The other thing that bothers me about PTRs comments is the stuff about how much money it takes to win the division. 
 

winning the division is not the goal. And with that mentality it’s going to happen less often than it should. 

Yeah that was embarrassing.  Competing in the Central should be the floor for this team every year.  I can believe how big of a ghoul Tom became in recent years.  The entire family is a clown show 

[Tryptamine]

5 minutes ago, Michael Busch Light said:

Yeah that was embarrassing.  Competing in the Central should be the floor for this team every year.  I can believe how big of a ghoul Tom became in recent years.  The entire family is a clown show 

I've said this before, but it's actually kind of amazing that the owner who finally brought the Cubs a championship has managed to make himself hated this quickly. You almost have to actively try to ruin that type of good will. You have guys from the '85 Bears who will never pay for a drink in Chicago until the day they die, meanwhile, the vast majority of Cub fans hate Ricketts less than a decade after a World Series.

[javy knows my name]

It's really great to hear straight from the horse's ass that he's totally cool with mediocrity as long as he continues to make a fuckton of money every year 

[chibears55]

I said this last offseason and I'll say it again,  Hoyer/Ricketts is looking to do what they did in 2015, 2016 with the prospects. 

They're not going to give out multi year deals over 4+ years to position players ( Swanson aside) until he sees what he has with the prospects that are ready/near ready.

Happ, Hoerner,  and Suzuki are the only other position players signed pass this season through 2026. 

We'll be seeing PCA, Caissie,  Shaw, Alcantara, Busch, Triantos, etc.... this season and next season up with the Cubs with Morel, Amaya, and Canairo.

I personally am not expecting any big FA signing for a couple seasons. 

[Rcal10]

2 hours ago, Tryptamine said:

Apparently buying up half of Wrigleyville and having Marquee is not enough income to exceed the cap, which is so laughably disgusting. Just another reason I have no idea why you people give that ghoul even a dollar of your money. The worst part is we're probably stuck with this jackass for the next few decades.

cubs are signing David Peralta. Didn’t mean to have this as a response to your post. Just wanted to get this news out there. 

Edited February 20, 2024 by Rcal10

[chibears55]

Cubs agree with David Peralta on a non roster deal..

More basement bargain signing

[CubinNY]

20 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

I said this last offseason and I'll say it again,  Hoyer/Ricketts is looking to do what they did in 2015, 2016 with the prospects. 

They're not going to give out multi year deals over 4+ years to position players ( Swanson aside) until he sees what he has with the prospects that are ready/near ready.

Happ, Hoerner,  and Suzuki are the only other position players signed pass this season through 2026. 

We'll be seeing PCA, Caissie,  Shaw, Alcantara, Busch, Triantos, etc.... this season and next season up with the Cubs with Morel, Amaya, and Canairo.

I personally am not expecting any big FA signing for a couple seasons. 

I totally agree with this. Jed is betting they cracked the drat and development code. 
 

also, Horton, Brown, Wicks, and a few other promising pitchers.