Anyone worth nabbing from the Mets?

[Bertz]

Also since this got published this morning Bretty Baty got sent to AAA and Omar Narvaez got DFA'd

We talk about how it takes another team willing to sell to be able to buy, and with the Mets' drama this week maybe they're ready to sell early

[JD94]

I’d love Pete Alonso. Adding a 40 HR bat to the middle of the lineup would be pretty nice. 

[Derwood]

6 minutes ago, JD94 said:

I’d love Pete Alonso. Adding a 40 HR bat to the middle of the lineup would be pretty nice. 

Can he play catcher?

[Tryptamine]

No one they get from the Mets is turning this around. They'd need to pull off 2 or 3 fairly big moves.

[JD94]

55 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Can he play catcher?

Ideally I’d love Danny Jansen and Pete. That’s likely wishful thinking, but obviously would totally change our team. I’m not getting my hopes up. Jed has yet to take a risk and do something splashy unless you count trading for Busch. So until he does, I’m not expecting it. Sure you can argue it hasn’t been the right opportunity or they’ve tried, point is they haven’t. We heard all offseason how hard they were working on trades and all we did was do a prospect for prospect trade. Nothing Jed or Carter says scream urgency to make a move either. I know it’s easy for me to say “go trade for Jansen and Alonso” and it’s really not that easy, but that’s 1 & 2 on my wishlist regardless. 

[17 Seconds]

14 hours ago, Tryptamine said:

No one they get from the Mets is turning this around. They'd need to pull off 2 or 3 fairly big moves.

they could easily turn it around, even without adding. i know i'm pessimistic as hell all the time, but it's baseball and there are a million guys on the team underperforming. we don't necessarily need a bunch of pieces, we just need guys to start playing like they have  in the past.

[Rcal10]

15 hours ago, JD94 said:

I’d love Pete Alonso. Adding a 40 HR bat to the middle of the lineup would be pretty nice. 

I don’t get the fan base love for Alonso. He hits homers. That’s it. Bad fielder, strikes out a lot, clogs the bases. His OPS+ is 123. The guy he would be replacing (Busch) is 121. People see Busch strike out and complain about him. What do you think they would do with Alonso? When you factor in the prospect cost to get Alonso, IMO, he isn’t worth it. I don’t see him as this huge upgrade. Besides that, currently the Cubs have 6 guys who should play most days, for 5 positions(which includes DH and 1B). Alonso would add another. Cubs need a catcher who can hit a bit and then they need the guys they already have to play like they are supposed to. That is about all they can do, IMO. They should be looking for pitching. Maybe a starter and definitely a closer. 

Edited June 1, 2024 by Rcal10

[JD94]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

I don’t get the fan base love for Alonso. He hits homers. That’s it. Bad fielder, strikes out a lot, clogs the bases. His OPS+ is 123. The guy he would be replacing (Busch) is 121. People see Busch strike out and complain about him. What do you think they would do with Alonso? When you factor in the prospect cost to get Alonso, IMO, he isn’t worth it. I don’t see him as this huge upgrade. Besides that, currently the Cubs have 6 guys who should play most days, for 5 positions(which includes DH and 1B). Alonso would add another. Cubs need a catcher who can hit a bit and then they need the guys they already have to play like they are supposed to. That is about all they can do, IMO. They should be looking for pitching. Maybe a starter and definitely a closer. 

He does not strike out a lot. His K% (19.3%) is well below league average (22.7%) compared to Busch who is striking out 34.5%. Busch’s overall numbers look solid although they are still inflated from that 6 game stretch where he hit 6 of his 8 HR’s. It’s been mostly bad outside of a hot week although admittedly he has looked a little better recently. I’m not writing him off in anyway, but I’m also not turning down a perennial proven 3-4 fWAR top 5 first baseman in baseball either. Alonso is a power hitting run producer that doesn’t strike out much. He’s never had a wRC+ under 120 in his 6 seasons. I think he would be a huge difference maker in the middle of our lineup. Trade for him and then pay him and keep him. At some point you have to take a leap and get proven major league talent that’s going to improve your team. I love prospects, but they aren’t all going to work out. We absolutely should be trading from our prospect depth to acquire proven big league talent. 

[jersey cubs fan]

[Rcal10]

2 hours ago, JD94 said:

He does not strike out a lot. His K% (19.3%) is well below league average (22.7%) compared to Busch who is striking out 34.5%. Busch’s overall numbers look solid although they are still inflated from that 6 game stretch where he hit 6 of his 8 HR’s. It’s been mostly bad outside of a hot week although admittedly he has looked a little better recently. I’m not writing him off in anyway, but I’m also not turning down a perennial proven 3-4 fWAR top 5 first baseman in baseball either. Alonso is a power hitting run producer that doesn’t strike out much. He’s never had a wRC+ under 120 in his 6 seasons. I think he would be a huge difference maker in the middle of our lineup. Trade for him and then pay him and keep him. At some point you have to take a leap and get proven major league talent that’s going to improve your team. I love prospects, but they aren’t all going to work out. We absolutely should be trading from our prospect depth to acquire proven big league talent. 

He turned down a great offer from the Mets already. The only thing worse than trading for him would be signing him to a long term deal. He will not age well. 

[muntjack]

Busch's batted ball data is right there with Alonso, except he's younger and cheaper.  Morel's batted ball data is superior, and he's also much younger and much cheaper.   There a pretty good chance that they are both better hitters than Alonso moving forward.  Why trade assets for that? 

[JD94]

47 minutes ago, muntjack said:

Busch's batted ball data is right there with Alonso, except he's younger and cheaper.  Morel's batted ball data is superior, and he's also much younger and much cheaper.   There a pretty good chance that they are both better hitters than Alonso moving forward.  Why trade assets for that? 

Batted ball data and expected stats are nice. I generally like those stats. But I also like actual results. Pete gets actual results. We have a 6 year sample size saying you’re getting around 40 home runs, 3+ fWAR, and a 120+ wRC+. I’ve already done it, but making a 1:1 comparison between Busch and Alonso isn’t exactly fair when one guy has like 3 months of MLB experience and the other has 6 years. We don’t know what Michael Busch is or isn’t. There’s not enough sample. And why does it have to be an either / or? Let’s put the 40 HR bat in the middle of the lineup and figure out the rest later. It likely comes down to one of Busch or Morel playing 3rd and the other DH. I know, I know “but defense,” fact is, there isn’t any better options. Then you’re left with figuring out PCA, Tauchman, and Busch. Play the guy that’s playing the best. Simple. 

[Rcal10]

34 minutes ago, JD94 said:

Batted ball data and expected stats are nice. I generally like those stats. But I also like actual results. Pete gets actual results. We have a 6 year sample size saying you’re getting around 40 home runs, 3+ fWAR, and a 120+ wRC+. I’ve already done it, but making a 1:1 comparison between Busch and Alonso isn’t exactly fair when one guy has like 3 months of MLB experience and the other has 6 years. We don’t know what Michael Busch is or isn’t. There’s not enough sample. And why does it have to be an either / or? Let’s put the 40 HR bat in the middle of the lineup and figure out the rest later. It likely comes down to one of Busch or Morel playing 3rd and the other DH. I know, I know “but defense,” fact is, there isn’t any better options. Then you’re left with figuring out PCA, Tauchman, and Busch. Play the guy that’s playing the best. Simple. 

IMO Alonso isn’t worth what the Mets would want. Now if they are willing to take someone near middle to back of the Cubs top 30 prospects maybe. But I doubt they take that. And most likely someone will give them something f  better. Not even comparing him to Busch, because I agree we don’t know about Busch, I don’t really want him. Right now we are playing PCA everyday which moves Bellinger. Happ and Suzuki each are playing, as is Tauchman. Even if I concede and say Alonso would be a good bat in the line up, the question is for who? And does he make that much of a difference. My answer would be no. Cubs need a catcher who can hit. All other positions are filled IMO. 
and as I said, Alonso turned down 7/$158 from the Mets in the off season. I wouldn’t want him for more than 3 or 4 years. So I don’t see extending him.