Cody Is Back

[LBiittner]

16 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Really curious who gets let go to make room for Bellinger.  

https://www.mlb.com/cubs/roster/40-man

There is no one on the roster I would consider an easy decision to DFA.  There's also no one we publicly know to be hurt enough to warrant a 60 Day IL stint.  Can Jed quickly swing a trade, or does he burn a little bit of value by DFA'ing like Keegan Thompson or Matt Mervis.

How many days before they have to announce the formal signing?

[Illiterate Scholar]

There's still a few very DFA-able pitchers but I wonder if Tauchman could be on the move. Feels like he'd have a little more value to another team - Padres maybe? Mervis is in the lineup for this afternoon so that makes it seem like he's not getting traded today. Also Busch hasn't played yet, so I wonder if he's dealing with a little something and they may want to hold onto Mervis for a little longer.

[LBiittner]

7 minutes ago, Illiterate Scholar said:

There's still a few very DFA-able pitchers but I wonder if Tauchman could be on the move. Feels like he'd have a little more value to another team - Padres maybe? Mervis is in the lineup for this afternoon so that makes it seem like he's not getting traded today. Also Busch hasn't played yet, so I wonder if he's dealing with a little something and they may want to hold onto Mervis for a little longer.

Showcasing Mervis???

[Bertz]

17 minutes ago, Post Count Padder said:

I think they value Mastrobuoni's versatility. And he hit much better down the stretch last season. 

He's also the only person on the 40 who we know can both play a viable 3B and stay reasonably healthy.

[squally1313]

33 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Really curious who gets let go to make room for Bellinger.  

https://www.mlb.com/cubs/roster/40-man

There is no one on the roster I would consider an easy decision to DFA.  There's also no one we publicly know to be hurt enough to warrant a 60 Day IL stint.  Can Jed quickly swing a trade, or does he burn a little bit of value by DFA'ing like Keegan Thompson or Matt Mervis.

*whispers* Ben Brown and Alcantara for Cease

[LBiittner]

9 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

*whispers* Ben Brown and Alcantara for Cease

All day , every day 

[SOFNR]

I really hope Jed still has a trade up his sleeve here. We've got some expendable depth. Another elite reliever would be great. It's getting sort of late for trades though.

[Derwood]

I love how quickly Twitter comments pivoted from "WHY HAVEN'T WE SIGNED BELLINGER!!" to "THERE'S NO WAY BELLINGER IS ANY GOOD THIS YEAR!!"

[Tryptamine]

Just now, Derwood said:

I love how quickly Twitter comments pivoted from "WHY HAVEN'T WE SIGNED BELLINGER!!" to "THERE'S NO WAY BELLINGER IS ANY GOOD THIS YEAR!!"

I'm enjoying all the hot takes about how Boras took the Cubs to the cleaners on this contract.

[Post Count Padder]

Mervis, Ben Brown, Triantos, Smyly for AJ Puk and Dax Fulton. Clears up the 40 man, gives us a great lefty and another depth starter prospect. Now tell my why this is stupid.

[Irrelevant Dude]

4 hours ago, ILMindState said:

 

I don't get this sort of speculation that implies that the luxury tax is completely off limits.  Who really cares if the Cubs are $1M under or $5M over?  The difference to ownership is negligible and they are likely going to be able to reset next year anyway, so it doesn't make any sense for them to hamstring themselves now for fear of going $1 over.  Obviously no owner WANTS to pay the luxury tax, but that's where we are.

Bruce Levine made a comment on the radio this morning about the Cubs being done, immediately shooting down the idea of any more possible signings because they are "in the luxury tax".  That just doesn't make sense.  If you're going to go into the tax, you don't just stop immediately upon crossing the threshold.  If there are guys who can help the team this year while still leaving some flexibility for midseason additions, those opportunities should absolutely be explored.

[LBiittner]

12 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

I don't get this sort of speculation that implies that the luxury tax is completely off limits.  Who really cares if the Cubs are $1M under or $5M over?  The difference to ownership is negligible and they are likely going to be able to reset next year anyway, so it doesn't make any sense for them to hamstring themselves now for fear of going $1 over.  Obviously no owner WANTS to pay the luxury tax, but that's where we are.

Bruce Levine made a comment on the radio this morning about the Cubs being done, immediately shooting down the idea of any more possible signings because they are "in the luxury tax".  That just doesn't make sense.  If you're going to go into the tax, you don't just stop immediately upon crossing the threshold.  If there are guys who can help the team this year while still leaving some flexibility for midseason additions, those opportunities should absolutely be explored.

Wouldn't revenue from playoff games more than compensate any luxury  taxes? 

And if they're out of contention they could always pull a Cali Angel-like dumpathon to dip under?

[Irrelevant Dude]

4 minutes ago, LBiittner said:

And if they're out of contention they could always pull a Cali Angel-like dumpathon to dip under?

Do we know if Bellinger got a NTC?  I would assume that to be the case, but haven't seen it reported.

[LBiittner]

Good question

[Andy]

16 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Do we know if Bellinger got a NTC?  I would assume that to be the case, but haven't seen it reported.

What I saw was there was no no-trade protection in the contract.

[Irrelevant Dude]

13 hours ago, ToolDRT said:

Damn, Boras actually lost this round. 

I agree as things stand right now, but it will really depend on what happens the next few years.  If Bellinger plays well and opts out into another big contract, this may very well end up being the best possible thing for him (and Boras will spin it as such).  If he regresses and misses his one prime opportunity for a long term deal, then it will be a huge loss for him.  A minor loss for the Cubs, but a huge loss for Cody/Boras.  This deal is high risk for Cody and relatively low risk for the Cubs.  Ultimately though, I think both sides would be thrilled if Bellinger has a great season and opts out after the first year.

[Post Count Padder]

Lisa was interviewed by MLBN Radio lol

 

[Soul]

Man, I’m super happy with this.  Especially considering the concern raised over Belly’s numbers last year.  He gets a chance to prove it wasn’t a fluke and we don’t have to take a chance that it was.

Seems like a win/win.

[Wilson A2000]

[Stratos]

3 hours ago, Rob said:

It's an awkward setup right now.

Mervis could have a shot at starting the season as our DH. But to do so, he needs to have a big spring (unlikely), PCA needs to be in AAA (probable), and Morel needs to be capable of faking it at 3B (less probable). There are additional factors to consider -- Dom Smith could rediscover whatever voodoo magic led to his 2020 season. Patrick Wisdom could have an April like he did last year. Maybe a nagging injury moves one of our regulars to DH for a bit. Etc...

There's factors in his favor too. But he's really gonna have to thread the needle to snag any playing time early on. I just don't see it.

Unless Mervis looks horrendous this spring I don't see why he couldn't take the job on the OD roster.  Even a mediocre spring doesn't mean anything.  There's not a lot of other good options at DH vs RHP besides Morel.  Any injury makes it more like Mervis is on the roster.  Dom Smith won't be ready for OD it sounds like.

[chibears55]

2 minutes ago, Stratos said:

Unless Mervis looks horrendous this spring I don't see why he couldn't take the job on the OD roster.  Even a mediocre spring doesn't mean anything.  There's not a lot of other good options at DH vs RHP besides Morel.  Any injury makes it more like Mervis is on the roster.  Dom Smith won't be ready for OD it sounds like.

I think he going to get plenty of opportunities this spring to get it done.

[Stratos]

3 hours ago, Bertz said:

Really curious who gets let go to make room for Bellinger.  

https://www.mlb.com/cubs/roster/40-man

There is no one on the roster I would consider an easy decision to DFA.  There's also no one we publicly know to be hurt enough to warrant a 60 Day IL stint.  Can Jed quickly swing a trade, or does he burn a little bit of value by DFA'ing like Keegan Thompson or Matt Mervis.

Yeah will be interesting.  My guess is a pitcher or a trade.

[SOFNR]

1 hour ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

I agree as things stand right now, but it will really depend on what happens the next few years.  If Bellinger plays well and opts out into another big contract, this may very well end up being the best possible thing for him (and Boras will spin it as such).  If he regresses and misses his one prime opportunity for a long term deal, then it will be a huge loss for him.  A minor loss for the Cubs, but a huge loss for Cody/Boras.  This deal is high risk for Cody and relatively low risk for the Cubs.  Ultimately though, I think both sides would be thrilled if Bellinger has a great season and opts out after the first year.

I think all he really needs to do is not be terrible the next two years. If he can find another great season in either of those two he probably still gets a chance at another contract at 100 mil or over. 

Edited February 25, 2024 by SOFNR

[Stratos]

3 hours ago, Post Count Padder said:

I think they value Mastrobuoni's versatility. And he hit much better down the stretch last season. 

Very doubtful he's on this team OD unless there's an injury though.  But he's ok as a backup.

[Jason Ross]

40 minutes ago, Stratos said:

Unless Mervis looks horrendous this spring I don't see why he couldn't take the job on the OD roster.  Even a mediocre spring doesn't mean anything.  There's not a lot of other good options at DH vs RHP besides Morel.  Any injury makes it more like Mervis is on the roster.  Dom Smith won't be ready for OD it sounds like.

The Cubs have made it blatantly obvious they don't love Matt Mervis. They didn't include him on the OD roster last year, they gave him a quick shout in the MLB and then buried him back in the MiLB behind players they would later DFA, such as Jared Young, when space opened up. The Cubs already have questionable defensive corners in Patrick Wisdom, and how likely/unlikely the Cubs are to play questionable defensive players like Morel and Busch outside of 1b/DH is yet to be seen at the MLB level. The less playing time those two are going to get away from those position the less chance the Cubs carry around a (likely) 1b/DH (mostly DH) only platoon bat. Especially one they don't appear to like that much.

There's a very narrow path than likely requires one, perhaps two, injuries to occur to see Matt Mervis make the Cubs opening day roster. I truly don't think MLB teams make many decisions based on ST, and with Mervis, they've either already decided or haven't on his future roll with the Cubs before hand.  I'd say the chances are much higher he's traded in the next few days to open up a 40-man slot for Bellinger than it is for him to make the Cubs OD.