General Offseason Priorities

[Tim]

12 hours ago, Stratos said:

Also curious what the EV and bat speed numbers are for Shaw.

You can look up statcast data for AAA players

[Stratos]

2 hours ago, Tim said:

You can look up statcast data for AAA players

Wow amazing, thanks!  Where do we find this, Baseball Savant?

[Tim]

15 minutes ago, Stratos said:

Wow amazing, thanks!  Where do we find this, Baseball Savant?

yep

[Stratos]

7 hours ago, Tim said:

yep

Maybe im an idiot but I can't find any statcast data for minor league hitters on BB Savant.  Do you have a link?

[Tim]

1 hour ago, Stratos said:

Maybe im an idiot but I can't find any statcast data for minor league hitters on BB Savant.  Do you have a link?

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast-search-minors

[Stratos]

Besides catcher how could we get more HR into the lineup?  Would involve a trade but i'm not against that idea.

[CubinNY]

I am really at a loss about what the Cubs should do. They should not run out a similar team to the one on the field the last two years. I haven't a clue how to accomplish it. 

[LBiittner]

Good pitching always Trump good hitting. 

Go out and get more pitching

[squally1313]

26 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

I am really at a loss about what the Cubs should do. They should not run out a similar team to the one on the field the last two years. I haven't a clue how to accomplish it. 

Would you consider a team similar to the one on the field in the second half of last year? Because that team played at a 91 win pace. I don't like reducing sample sizes more than necessary, but this team with Productive PCA and Paredes instead of Morel (or really just...not having Morel), was a little different than opening day. 

And yes, please, go get a starter to challenge Shota and Steele, or go make a trade for a 140 wRC bat. Or do both. With Bellinger opting in, it gets a lot harder to see the options for drastic change. I just think the baseline is a little higher than others do. 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

If you want to say the 2025 team will be too similar to last year that's your prerogative, I don't particularly agree especially given the bullpen/pitching depth was such an issue and that's obviously going to be different.  But the team will be dramatically different than 2023, trying to frame things as if 2023 -> 2025 is a marginal change isn't reality.

[Bertz]

9 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

If you want to say the 2025 team will be too similar to last year that's your prerogative, I don't particularly agree especially given the bullpen/pitching depth was such an issue and that's obviously going to be different.  But the team will be dramatically different than 2023, trying to frame things as if 2023 -> 2025 is a marginal change isn't reality.

Also the 5 guys in the lineup who are remaining from 2023 are really good!  Happ, Suzuki, Belli, Swanson, and Hoerner combined for nearly 18 wins last year. and project for around 15 this year.

There's this weird thing where the fanbase has convinced itself the problem last year is that Dansby Swanson and Ian Happ aren't Corey Seager and Bryce Harper.  No, the problem last year is that until a few days before the all-star star break anyone who played Catcher or 3B for this team played like they were suffering from a wasting disease.

[muntjack]

One thing I like about having Tauchman is that he's the kind of quality bench bat that keeps PAs away from 75wRC+ types. Perhaps that wouldn't happen,  but  I'm never going to fully recover from watching thousands of PAs in the 2000s- early 2010s go to guys who shouldn't have made the roster.   Tauchman is devoid of power but is a pain in the ass AB no matter who is on the mound, and that has value. 

[squally1313]

21 minutes ago, muntjack said:

One thing I like about having Tauchman is that he's the kind of quality bench bat that keeps PAs away from 75wRC+ types. Perhaps that wouldn't happen,  but  I'm never going to fully recover from watching thousands of PAs in the 2000s- early 2010s go to guys who shouldn't have made the roster.   Tauchman is devoid of power but is a pain in the ass AB no matter who is on the mound, and that has value. 

I think it's 3 things for me. 

• In a perfect healthy world, there's one spot in the lineup where you could foresee the benefit of having Tauchman PH (catcher). And that's before we potentially try and upgrade that position. And that's also before the idea of getting a lefty masher, who further reduces that opportunity, or trading/for signing a true starter bat, which pushes a current starter to the bench to take those PH spots. 
• In a regular injury world, you still have to gameplan out pretty pessimistic scenarios where you'd be like 'man, I really wish we had Mike Tauchman'. Suzuki could slide back into the outfield, Caissie is knocking on the door, Alcantara isn't far behind. 
• He's still good, and has value for a team that needs a cheap 3rd/4th outfielder. We don't need those things, but we need other things. Trade him. 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Also, while I don't *expect* it, Tauchman's performance itself is less than certain.  He turns 34 next month and was a pop-up find.  We've seen in the past that those types often have an expiration date even if their peripherals were solid(Valbuena and Ortega stick out in my mind), so there's also the sense of better to act a bit too soon than too late, especially given the roster situation.

[imb]

im starting to wonder if the plan should be just to shotgun out all the resources on pitching, hope half of the additions stick, and ride that to 90 wins? there aren't a lot of obvious upgrades offensively out there, we're getting a full year of Paredes who yes, i did say sucks, but he's better than morel, and PCA, who i really think is gonna have a good 2025.

[squally1313]

3 minutes ago, imb said:

im starting to wonder if the plan should be just to shotgun out all the resources on pitching, hope half of the additions stick, and ride that to 90 wins? there aren't a lot of obvious upgrades offensively out there, we're getting a full year of Paredes who yes, i did say sucks, but he's better than morel, and PCA, who i really think is gonna have a good 2025.

Yeah I don't see a lot of attractive free agent offensive options (besides the one obvious one). Keep the lines open on Rooker, Tucker, Vlad, etc through a trade, and if so then you start to lean harder on turning the AAA bats into MLB pitching. But if you don't make a serious offensive upgrade, throw money at the rotation/bullpen, minimize the chances of giving significant PAs to offensive anchors, lean on above average production up and down the line up and hope for Caissie or Shaw to show they're elite. 

[muntjack]

Valid points about Tauchman.  

I still argue that this is a great time to pony up and overpay in a trade for an ace.  If you can't overwhelm Detroit, move on to Seattle or San Diego.  

Steele and Imanaga would make an amazing 2/3. 

[Bertz]

5 minutes ago, muntjack said:

Valid points about Tauchman.  

I still argue that this is a great time to pony up and overpay in a trade for an ace.  If you can't overwhelm Detroit, move on to Seattle or San Diego.  

Steele and Imanaga would make an amazing 2/3. 

This is where I'm ending up too. 

- Trade for the best SP you can

- Spend ~$20M on relief help

- Use the rest of cash on hand buffing up the bench

Maybe try and trade for a young catcher instead of signing a boring vet if the SP trade doesn't clean you out too much.

[Rex Buckingham]

saw a projection on The Athletic (Tim Britton, I think) that Carson Kelly would get 2/14... how would we feel about that to split the catching duties with Amaya?

[Cuzi]

15 hours ago, TomtheBombadil said:

I saw these in the MLBTR chat:

 

I can see how they wouldn't want to move Miller or Butler, but I don't know how much I buy they wont negotiate on Rooker, Miller and Butler just started their clocks but Rooker is in arbitration now and they have nothing in the minors thats on the way to making another 2-3 year run of competitive baseball with Rooker.

[Cuzi]

6 minutes ago, Rex Buckingham said:

saw a projection on The Athletic (Tim Britton, I think) that Carson Kelly would get 2/14... how would we feel about that to split the catching duties with Amaya?

With Bellinger in the fold now, this team needs better than Carson Kelly. I liked Kelly as a solid addition with major moves to boost the offense at other positions where you look for offense.

You kind of have to throw caution to the wind and go after O'Hoppe/Langeliers with offers they cant refuse, imo. See if you can get a guy like Reid Detmers involved in the deal.

Edited November 4, 2024 by Cuzi

[mul21]

Travis d'Arnaud just had his option declined by the Braves.  No idea how the defense is but he's not an offensive black hole.

[Bertz]

6 minutes ago, mul21 said:

Travis d'Arnaud just had his option declined by the Braves.  No idea how the defense is but he's not an offensive black hole.

Statcast likes his defense, DRS has historically liked it but not this year.  His contact numbers slipped a bit this year too.

If he wasn't 36 I don't think anything in his profile would raise an eyebrow.  But as is I'd probably try to keep him to 1 year, but be very happy if we could.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I believe the scuttlebutt is d'Arnaud is either staying in Atlanta or retiring, but would be a nice option to have on the market if not.

[LBiittner]

Wasn't Yan gomes 36 in 2024? Looking for part deux?