General Offseason Priorities

[Stratos]

59 minutes ago, Cuzi said:

We are the Cubs, not the Oakland A's. Swanson's contract is not a deciding factor on his future with the team.

It's a deciding factor on whether he's more or less valuable than Murphy.

[Cuzi]

28 minutes ago, Stratos said:

It's a deciding factor on whether he's more or less valuable than Murphy.

To who? I can guarantee the Cubs aren't proposing to trade Swanson for a catcher that just put up 0.8 fWAR. That's generally a bad way to improve a roster.

[Rex Buckingham]

Please stop suggesting that Busch play 2nd base

[Backtobanks]

12 hours ago, Cuzi said:

We are the Cubs, not the Oakland A's. Swanson's contract is not a deciding factor on his future with the team.

He's owed $138 million over the next 5 years (ages 31-35), so maybe a team that seems obsessed with staying under the LT ought to take a look at it.

[Jason Ross]

27 minutes ago, Backtobanks said:

He's owed $138 million over the next 5 years (ages 31-35), so maybe a team that seems obsessed with staying under the LT ought to take a look at it.

The luxury tax line will continue to rise for the next few years (and likely again after the next CBA). The most recent CBT line was $237m. Swanson hits around $25 AAV currently...that's roughly just a bit over 10% of the number and will decrease over that span.

I say this as someone who didn't love the Swanson contract at the time it was signed, and I'm not going to sit here and defend the Cubs spending practices (they can do so much better and more) but the Chicago Cubs are not going to be hampered by Swanson's contract. He's likely to remain a quality player for a few years. The Cubs aren't a poverty franchise and while sometimes they pretend they're not a big market, they don't act like the Pirates, either. The Cubs do not need to, nor should they be looking to dump a contract like Swanson unless somehow they're making out on the back side in talent on the field (which is pretty unlikely).

[chibears55]

1 hour ago, Backtobanks said:

He's owed $138 million over the next 5 years (ages 31-35), so maybe a team that seems obsessed with staying under the LT ought to take a look at it.

Hoyer definitely won't be looking to trade Swanson , now next offseason with possibly a new POBO and GM, it a possibility.

I think Swanson will have a bounce back season though, not spectacular but better then this one, especially with HRs and OBP 

[Rcal10]

13 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Hoyer definitely won't be looking to trade Swanson , now next offseason with possibly a new POBO and GM, it a possibility.

I think Swanson will have a bounce back season though, not spectacular but better then this one, especially with HRs and OBP 

I would guess a little better numbers could be in order for next year. Like you said, maybe a few more homers and a better OBP. But he wasn’t that far from his average year. And even with laser numbers he was a 4 WAR. He isn’t going anywhere because he shouldn’t go anywhere. A small bounce back is definitely possible, but even a similar year to last year is fine. 

[chibears55]

Alot obviously depends on Bellinger return or not, but if he stays, Hoyer will likely put his main focus more on upgrading the pitching and bench .

They are rumored to be heavy favors on landing Japanese pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano.

I can see Hoyer staying with Amaya and Bethencourt as their Catchers as both are cost controlled which will give him more flexibility to add elsewhere. 

 

I personally hope he moves Paredes and upgrade 3B and see if they can get a ready or close to ready pitching prospect for Amaya and upgrade at starting Catcher.

[Joj]

On 10/10/2024 at 5:57 PM, Backtobanks said:

Saw this trade proposal on MLBTR:

Dansby Swanson for Sean Murphy and Jorge Soler.  

Doesn't pass the sniff test, Swanson is untradeable.  I don't see anything on MLB traderumors.  Did you just make this up?

[Cuzi]

4 minutes ago, Joj said:

Doesn't pass the sniff test, Swanson is untradeable.  I don't see anything on MLB traderumors.  Did you just make this up?

Probably in the comment section posted by a Braves fan.

[Joj]

3 minutes ago, Cuzi said:

Probably in the comment section posted by a Braves fan.

Lol my first thought too.  Some girl from ATL misses that hot guy that used to be around.

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, chibears55 said:

Alot obviously depends on Bellinger return or not, but if he stays, Hoyer will likely put his main focus more on upgrading the pitching and bench .

They are rumored to be heavy favors on landing Japanese pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano.

I can see Hoyer staying with Amaya and Bethencourt as their Catchers as both are cost controlled which will give him more flexibility to add elsewhere. 

 

I personally hope he moves Paredes and upgrade 3B and see if they can get a ready or close to ready pitching prospect for Amaya and upgrade at starting Catcher.

Where did you see them as heavy favorites to land Sugano? Also, why do you  feel they should move Parades? You have been on him since they got him. Similar to how you were with Busch. I think Parades is here to stay. I also hate the idea of sticking with Amaya and Bethancourt. I absolutely do not think Jed will do that. I don’t feel they need to stay cheap at catcher for flexibility. I think there is enough money to add who they want, even if they upgrade catcher. Especially so, if Sugano is their pitching upgrade. 

[Backtobanks]

1 hour ago, Joj said:

Doesn't pass the sniff test, Swanson is untradeable.  I don't see anything on MLB traderumors.  Did you just make this up?

Sorry baseballtradealues.com.  I guess the trade proposal was a bad contract deal for all the players involved.

 

Edited October 12, 2024 by Backtobanks

[Bertz]

So this whole conversation was just a "Chili's is the new golfcourse" deal?

[LBiittner]

Hahaha 

[Tryptamine]

21 hours ago, LBiittner said:

Happy 35th Birthday to Tomoyuki Sugano.

Will he be one of the two starting pitchers jed wants? Projected $15-20m per

I would quite literally vomit if the Cubs gave Sugano anything near 20M annually. I'm not giving that to just about any 35 year old pitcher, let alone one who has never thrown a pitch in MLB. He struck out 111 in 156.2 IP last year. That absolutely will not work in MLB. 

[Rcal10]

1 minute ago, Tryptamine said:

I would quite literally vomit if the Cubs gave Sugano anything near 20M annually. I'm not giving that to just about any 35 year old pitcher, let alone one who has never thrown a pitch in MLB. He struck out 111 in 156.2 IP last year. That absolutely will not work in MLB. 

Agreed.  I am really not interested in him, at all. Not sure why the Cubs are heavy favorites to sign him. 

[Tryptamine]

Starting pitchers with a 6.38 K/9 or lower in MLB who also pitched more than 100 innings

 

Jose Urena  

Kyle Hendricks 

Bailey Falter

Cole Irvin

Austin Gomber

 

These are the type of guys you pick up off waivers, not give 15-20M a year to.

 

[LBiittner]

36 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

I would quite literally vomit if the Cubs gave Sugano anything near 20M annually. I'm not giving that to just about any 35 year old pitcher, let alone one who has never thrown a pitch in MLB. He struck out 111 in 156.2 IP last year. That absolutely will not work in MLB. 

I'm not sure why he's projected to get a better deal than imanaga. But I remember reading somewhere jed was taking a gander while visiting Japan earlier. 

For me he's a big NO deal 

[thawv]

23 hours ago, squally1313 said:

Why do you think teams employ the bullpen guys that way?

I have no idea.  

[thawv]

52 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Agreed.  I am really not interested in him, at all. Not sure why the Cubs are heavy favorites to sign him. 

If they actually are favorites, it's because he's not a top pitcher, and can be had for less money.  It's the intelligent spending way. 

[LBiittner]

Not sure where to post this:

For cubfans from my generation, Big Lee Arthur Smith had a heart transplant recently.

[Bertz]

Anyone have an actual link to something having the Cubs being tied to Sugano, much less being favorites to sign him?  As far as I can tell we just have "Jed visited Japan" and "It feels like a Jed move" and that's it?

[thawv]

1 hour ago, Bertz said:

Anyone have an actual link to something having the Cubs being tied to Sugano, much less being favorites to sign him?  As far as I can tell we just have "Jed visited Japan" and "It feels like a Jed move" and that's it?

I know opinion articles mean nothing, but here's something.  Talking 2/30 deal.

https://www.si.com/mlb/cubs/news/tomoyuki-sugano-predicted-to-sign-with-chicago-cubs-in-free-agency

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, Bertz said:

Anyone have an actual link to something having the Cubs being tied to Sugano, much less being favorites to sign him?  As far as I can tell we just have "Jed visited Japan" and "It feels like a Jed move" and that's it?

Chibear posted it. I did ask where he got that info. Haven’t heard where it came from. 

But if I bad to guess where he came away with the Cubs being the heavy favorites it would be the article thawv just posted. So just an opinion. 

Edited October 12, 2024 by Rcal10