General Offseason Priorities

[Cuzi]

14 minutes ago, Post Count Padder said:

I mean, Matt Thaiss isn't a bad bench bat. But we're not talking about possible fits, we're playing #PTR roulette.

I'm curious to know what about Thaiss makes him "not a bad bench bat."

What part is good? He doesnt chase, so that's a positive, but then he swings and misses 40% of the time so everything about him has been bad as you can see with his career 83 wRC+ and -0.3 fWAR accrued since 2019. Thaiss' career in MLB is probably over with this move. There is no part about him that makes him a viable bench player.

Edited November 14, 2024 by Cuzi

[Bertz]

10 hours ago, Post Count Padder said:

I mean, Matt Thaiss isn't a bad bench bat. But we're not talking about possible fits, we're playing #PTR roulette.

I think if he was a strong defender you could squint and see a fit with his platoon numbers, but as is there's not really anything he does well.  On top of that catcher is probably the spot on the position player side where it's most key to bring in a real upgrade in case Amaya faceplants again.

[Post Count Padder]

16 hours ago, Cuzi said:

I'm curious to know what about Thaiss makes him "not a bad bench bat."

What part is good? He doesnt chase, so that's a positive, but then he swings and misses 40% of the time so everything about him has been bad as you can see with his career 83 wRC+ and -0.3 fWAR accrued since 2019. Thaiss' career in MLB is probably over with this move. There is no part about him that makes him a viable bench player.

I had apparently not paid attention and didn't realize he basically went hitless the final month of the season. I was banking on passable bat with the ability to catch and play multiple positions. I also was thinking of him as a possible 26th man/Iowa shuttle guy vs. a regular contributor. Having said that, his numbers are dismal and he was just DFA'd.

[Stratos]

What do you guys think of this trade proposal?:  Bellinger for Kyle Schwarber.  Maybe throw in some cash.

We get a DH that hits lots of HR and Seiya slides back to RF.  Phils get a CF and improved OF defense and backup at 1B.

We do lose a good backup at CF and 1B.  Bellinger is a good all- around player in every facet but more HR would be nice.  Might be more of a wash though.

[Post Count Padder]

I mean I LOVE Kyle Schwarber. And he'd crank some bombs at Wrigley again. But is the 7 ish mil in savings worth the loss on positional depth? Bellinger is a great fielding OF and 1B and Schwarber cannot play the field. He's a full-time DH. And the Phillies needs (pitching, power, etc) match our own so I don't know that there's an expanded version of the deal to be made.

[Derwood]

I don't know why the Phillies would do that

[jersey cubs fan]

9 minutes ago, Stratos said:

What do you guys think of this trade proposal?:  Bellinger for Kyle Schwarber.  Maybe throw in some cash.

We get a DH that hits lots of HR and Seiya slides back to RF.  Phils get a CF and improved OF defense and backup at 1B.

We do lose a good backup at CF and 1B.  Bellinger is a good all- around player in every facet but more HR would be nice.  Might be more of a wash though.

I don’t think Seiya sliding back into RF is a positive 

[Bertz]

The Phillies want help in the outfield (and at the TDL were reportedly sniffing around Bellinger specifically) and in addition to adding Bellinger directly being able to get Castellanos off the grass would help as well.

I would probably not do it, I'm not so desperate for dongs that I'd be okay with the defensive hit, but it's absolutely worth thinking about.

[Rcal10]

15 minutes ago, Stratos said:

What do you guys think of this trade proposal?:  Bellinger for Kyle Schwarber.  Maybe throw in some cash.

We get a DH that hits lots of HR and Seiya slides back to RF.  Phils get a CF and improved OF defense and backup at 1B.

We do lose a good backup at CF and 1B.  Bellinger is a good all- around player in every facet but more HR would be nice.  Might be more of a wash though.

I think the Phillies wouldn’t consider this for even a minute. 

[Bertz]

Jesus I had heard their OF situation was bad but the Phillies' current outfield is:

Austin Hays - Brandon Marsh - Nick Castellanos 

Their payroll for 2025 is already $25M higher than it was in 2024 as well.  Dombrowski is going to need to get creative.  Actually they make a ton of sense for Tauchman.  Tauchman for a reliever...Alvarado?

[Post Count Padder]

I could get behind that. I've also decided I really want Jeff Hoffman.

[Petrey10]

1 hour ago, Stratos said:

What do you guys think of this trade proposal?:  Bellinger for Kyle Schwarber.  Maybe throw in some cash.

We get a DH that hits lots of HR and Seiya slides back to RF.  Phils get a CF and improved OF defense and backup at 1B.

We do lose a good backup at CF and 1B.  Bellinger is a good all- around player in every facet but more HR would be nice.  Might be more of a wash though.

What do I think? I think that’s a terrible idea.

[Stratos]

5 hours ago, jersey cubs fan said:

I don’t think Seiya sliding back into RF is a positive 

Well yes we lose a bit defensively with Seiya for sure.  We're gaining on offense (OBP, SLG and HR).  They're gaining on defense, speed, contact, versatility. 

Whether the Phills would do it is questionable, but I think it's a pretty fair trade.  Schwarber has a year left on his deal.  The upside on Bellinger is higher IMO.  If he's healthy all year, plays mostly CF, and doesn't DH I think he's a 3+ WAR player and probably better than say Happ.

[Stratos]

5 hours ago, Bertz said:

The Phillies want help in the outfield (and at the TDL were reportedly sniffing around Bellinger specifically) and in addition to adding Bellinger directly being able to get Castellanos off the grass would help as well.

I would probably not do it, I'm not so desperate for dongs that I'd be okay with the defensive hit, but it's absolutely worth thinking about.

I agree i'd probably stick with Bellinger.  We'd get dongs and some more walks but lose on everything else.

Keeping in mind Schwarber hit leadoff last year and got a ton of PA's, so his WAR is going to be a bit inflated from that.  They need to have a stat on FG that shows WAR per 550 PA or something of the sort to make it a rate stat too instead of just cumulative.

[We Got The Whole 9]

12 hours ago, TomtheBombadil said:

The Cubs have him under a rookie deal thru 2026 so it doesn’t have to be this year, but Nate Pearson made Eno Sarris’ list of potential RP to SP candidates:

Not mentioned but having young-er/ish RP/P with a shot at signing FA contracts to start could be a route to having QO-able FAs. Jordan Hicks signed for $4/44 last year IIRC so sticking a QO on a FA to be an org really likes likely to be in that situation seems fine

Him and Porter could give us a couple nice power arms, maybe in 2026.

[Post Count Padder]

I was waiting to see a list like that. Caissie is an obvious choice. I had though he'd get added before the season ended. I have a feeling they'd protect Cowles considering they just traded for him. What's Aliendo's projection at this point? I'd hate to lose him but I don't know if a team would take a gamble on a catcher who hasn't hit AAA yet. And I like Christian Franklin but I could see him used in a prospect swap.

As a guy who also roots for the Phillies, no way all those guys are getting added to their 40 man. I have to think they'll trade one or just risk losing a few guys. McGowen and McGarry throw hard but have run into trouble in the upper minors. De La Cruz has a lot of potential but looked awful in his first go at AAA.

[Bertz]

Christian Franklin should have gotten the call to Iowa when all the Uber prospects did.  The fact that he didn't to me signaled that they wanted to hold off on rostering him but also maximize chances of him surviving the Rule 5.

Aliendo was I believe eligible for some level of minor league free agency.  So him sticking around again feels like he's safe to not roster.

Caissie and Cowles are slam dunk.  There will also be the annual pitcher or two we're not sure about that gets rostered.

[JD94]

If Jed rolls out another .500 squad next season, does Ricketts actually move on from Jed? If so, what type of guy do y’all think they look for to replace Jed? A more aggressive GM like Dombrowski (just an example), or another Jed type that wants to build through prospects and smart spending like Jed. Would the Ricketts be open to a more aggressive GM that wants to spend like a large market team? 

[Post Count Padder]

11 minutes ago, JD94 said:

If Jed rolls out another .500 squad next season, does Ricketts actually move on from Jed? If so, what type of guy do y’all think they look for to replace Jed? A more aggressive GM like Dombrowski (just an example), or another Jed type that wants to build through prospects and smart spending like Jed. Would the Ricketts be open to a more aggressive GM that wants to spend like a large market team? 

I wouldn't be shocked if Ricketts doesn't care that much. The team makes him money. They won a World Series already. He doesn't strike me as an owner that lives and dies by his team as a fan.

[CubinNY]

1 hour ago, JD94 said:

If Jed rolls out another .500 squad next season, does Ricketts actually move on from Jed? If so, what type of guy do y’all think they look for to replace Jed? A more aggressive GM like Dombrowski (just an example), or another Jed type that wants to build through prospects and smart spending like Jed. Would the Ricketts be open to a more aggressive GM that wants to spend like a large market team? 

They’ll get another guy like Jed and hope he’s better. They’ll are not getting a Dombrowski type, ever. 

[Stratos]

I've calculated that if the Cubs sign Soto, Sasaki, Jansen, a closer-type (Holmes or Scott etc) and trade Bellinger for a bag of seeds they will be improved from 2024 by about 9-10 WAR/wins.  I went conservative on Sasaki in his first year based on innings and youth and counted him for only 2 WAR.

The odds of all this happening is basically about 0.005%.

Swap Bellinger for Soto and a TOR FA for Sasaki and we're up about 7 WAR from 2024, which is still around 90 wins, assuming nobody from 2024 improves or regresses or if some do its a wash.  And this is before any possible trade.

[Stratos]

23 hours ago, JD94 said:

If Jed rolls out another .500 squad next season, does Ricketts actually move on from Jed? If so, what type of guy do y’all think they look for to replace Jed? A more aggressive GM like Dombrowski (just an example), or another Jed type that wants to build through prospects and smart spending like Jed. Would the Ricketts be open to a more aggressive GM that wants to spend like a large market team? 

These may all be Ricketts problems, not Jed problems. Hard to say.

Ricketts I'm sure didn't want to do another Theo tank after 2021 to help rebuild, he wanted butts in the seats for most of the season

[CubinNY]

14 hours ago, Stratos said:

These may all be Ricketts problems, not Jed problems. Hard to say.

Ricketts I'm sure didn't want to do another Theo tank after 2021 to help rebuild, he wanted butts in the seats for most of the season

Jed = Ricketts

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, CubinNY said:

Jed = Ricketts

Agreed. It really is hard to separate the two of them. On one hand Tom is setting the budget and is clearly not interested in giving a guy a 10-12 year deal. But on the other end, I think Jed agrees with that philosophy. I also agree with what you said earlier. If/when Tom replaces Jed it will be with the same sort of guy. 

[Bertz]

I believe Tread is considered ahead of Driveline at this point you just don't hear about it as much because he doesn't spend as much time on Twitter as Kyle Boddy.