Cody Opts In

[Bertz]

I'm sure people will be totally normal about this

[Rex Buckingham]

Ha, beat me by a minute.

[Cuzi]

Been saying for awhile now that the only thing that made sense to me was him opting out because he believe another team would give him CF on a similar opt out heavy 1 year contract to boost that value for a longer term deal in the future. He wasn't going to come close to that $27.5M though.

Now trade him to the Yankees, because they just declined Rizzo's option.

Edited November 2, 2024 by Cuzi

[Jason Ross]

A bit bummed out, if only because this likely quells some of the options the creativity of the offseason outcomes. With Bellinger, and with Hoerner hurt (not that I really expected the Cubs to move him, just that I think there was a little wiggle room there) it's a little limiting on where the Cubs can change/upgrade offensively. That's not to say the logical side of me cannot understand that Bellinger is not a bad player and that he's a pretty good option, only that the offseason now is going to look a lot more capped in how the Cubs can approach it and I think the flexibility was interesting. 

[Dfan25]

How much money left now ?  70 or so ?

[Jason Ross]

Just now, Dfan25 said:

How much money left now ?  70 or so ?

Closer to $50m

[Post Count Padder]

The extra payroll flexibility would've been nice but he is a very good player who can handle multiple positions and is well liked in the clubhouse. I'm not mad about it. And I think we all assumed this was the likely outcome. 

[Cuzi]

Just now, Post Count Padder said:

The extra payroll flexibility would've been nice but he is a very good player who can handle multiple positions and is well liked in the clubhouse. I'm not mad about it. And I think we all assumed this was the likely outcome. 

Jed didn't. He was out there trying to speak it into existence that he opted out.

[Illiterate Scholar]

I'm very OK with this. It's more money than his replacement would cost, but Jed was in all likelihood going to be staying in the Oneil/Santander/Lowe level of player and Cody is just as likely to have the best all around 2025 as any of those guys. 

With this decision and because the FA pitching is pretty good, I wonder if prospect capital will be used to trade for a catcher.

Edited November 2, 2024 by Illiterate Scholar

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Cool, I expect a little better offensive production from Cody even before the boost everyone ought to get from Wrigley normalizing.

Some things this brings into sharper focus:
 

• Can they do something better than one of the FA at catcher?  The trade options have always been at least somewhat hopeful, and/or have their own warts that make them more of a coinflip with the FA options.  
• Can they use Tauchman to help with their offseason shopping list?  He doesn't have a ton of value but is a useful role player that can be a secondary trade piece or maybe bring a 2nd reliever.  For example, KC needs OF bats and likely trusts their pitching dev, so maybe Tauchman for Bubic is a framework that gets you RP2 on your offseason needs.

[Bertz]

The good:

- Seiya is locked into DH, and next year's defense should be very good

- We have a a very good replacement in CF if PCA backslides.  We have a solid replacement at 1B if Busch backslides

- Depending on your thoughts at catcher, the starting lineup is ready to go.  The bench needs some love, but largely the team can just focus on pitching pitching pitching

- Mike Tauchman’s a decent little trade chip now

The Bad

- It's now harder to add more dong to the lineup

- Likely the guy who would have most directly replaced Cody in the lineup would have made less than $27M per year.  So there's $5-10M to address other items that essentially just went poof

- While I'm pretty okay with Cody on the 2025 team, I'm much less enthused about him being on the '26 squad.  Feels like, especially with him not being a starting CF any more, odds of him playing out his whole contract are decent?

 

[WhyCantWeWin]

Not surprised, he had a very meh season. Wouldnt have this kind of money on the market. 
 

they should be able to trade him for a solid piece if they pick up some money on the deal

[Bertz]

30 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

Can they do something better than one of the FA at catcher?  The trade options have always been at least somewhat hopeful, and/or have their own warts that make them more of a coinflip with the FA options.  

Yeah I wonder if this greatly increases the odds of a trade for O'Hoppe or Langeliers.  

None of the bats we've been throwing around have seemed likely to out-produce Bellinger to a significant degree.  They were guys who would get to that production differently (more dongs, less defense and contact). in a way that we feel fits the roster better.

If you acquire a power hitting catcher though, you can still get to the same spot in the aggregate.  10 dongs at catcher and 30 in RF isn't any different than 20 and 20.

[Post Count Padder]

45 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

Cool, I expect a little better offensive production from Cody even before the boost everyone ought to get from Wrigley normalizing.

Some things this brings into sharper focus:
 

• Can they do something better than one of the FA at catcher?  The trade options have always been at least somewhat hopeful, and/or have their own warts that make them more of a coinflip with the FA options.  
• Can they use Tauchman to help with their offseason shopping list?  He doesn't have a ton of value but is a useful role player that can be a secondary trade piece or maybe bring a 2nd reliever.  For example, KC needs OF bats and likely trusts their pitching dev, so maybe Tauchman for Bubic is a framework that gets you RP2 on your offseason needs.

I would trade Tauchman for Bubic in a heartbeat which means it's unlikely. We did the similar Velasquez for Cuas deal that worked out for no one. I'd also be down for packaging Tauchman and some prospects for a catcher if there's a good fit for both sides. 

[Max Power]

Never quite understood the “he’s opting out” talk.

Common sense on his part . He wasn’t as good, he’s a year older, and there’s a real chance that this MLB offseason plays out similarly to last year.

[chibears55]

Just pretty must cement what I figured would be their offseason plan, focusing on adding better bench players and some pitching.

Depending on their record,  the trade deadline could be pretty active for them if they plan on then to get guys like Caissie, Shaw, and Alcantara regular playing time.

Theyre all just 22 YO, so at least they're still young

 

 

[JHBulls]

Another Jed Hoyer special. 

[chibears55]

Cubs declined Smyly option...

[We Got The Whole 9]

Go hard for Rooker 

[Cuzi]

18 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Go hard for Rooker 

And put him where?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

3 minutes ago, Cuzi said:

And put him where?

I'm gonna assume on the Cubs MLB roster

[Cuzi]

4 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I'm gonna assume on the Cubs MLB roster

Good one. Now can you also assume which player gets sacrificed for his PAs? Since you know... the roster is full.

Go hard after a catcher and pitching. Its the only thing this team can do at this point.

Edited November 2, 2024 by Cuzi

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Just now, Cuzi said:

Good one. Now can you also assume which player gets sacrificed for his PAs? Since you know... the roster is full.

No one, because having 9 good players for 8 (non-catcher) spots doesn't mean anyone is being 'sacrificed'.  Injuries, rest, and performance disappointments will happen.  The Cubs have a higher than average number of 'everyday' players too, and their Top *9* position players combined for about 4800 PA out of the ~5200 they need out of non-catchers.

[Cuzi]

5 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

No one, because having 9 good players for 8 (non-catcher) spots doesn't mean anyone is being 'sacrificed'.

They have this without Rooker.

Going to trade for Rooker and then Bellinger becomes your Tauchman? Cool. Just remove 200 PA's from the guy you are paying $27M so he is assuredly going to opt in again next year.

Edited November 2, 2024 by Cuzi

[squally1313]

27 minutes ago, Cuzi said:

They have this without Rooker.

Going to trade for Rooker and then Bellinger becomes your Tauchman? Cool. Just remove 200 PA's from the guy you are paying $27M so he is assuredly going to opt in again next year.

You have 6 guys (Happ, PCA, Suzuki, Bellinger, Busch, Rooker) for 5 spots (LF/CF/RF/DH/1B), and that's before doing potentially dumb/creative things like giving Busch a second baseman's glove. Everybody gets a day off once a week and you always have an above league average hitter on your bench. Seems plenty workable to me.