Post Winter Meetings Free Agency thread

[LBiittner]

It's amazing all these millions being given to all these injured pitchers: 

Shows 2 things, the dire need for starting pitchers and the crazy cash cow that mlb truly is and any owner pussyfooting clear of the luxury tax is a fraud.

[Backtobanks]

51 minutes ago, SOFNR said:

55 minutes ago, SOFNR said:

I'm not totally against Buehler. I think he may be being overhyped a bit though. Hasn't pitched over 80 innings in a season since 2021. Was worth negative WAR last year. Has been worth 0.8 WAR over the last 3 years. I don't think anybody in baseball is signing him thinking he might slot in as a TOR starter. He'd have a lot more demand if that were the case. He's purely a bounce back candidate, who's 30 years old, and who's K/9 has been dropping every year. 

Buehler isn't going to sign as a TOR pitcher, but we signed Boyd to a 2-year contract with a total of 1.0 WAR and 123 IP over the last 3 years.

[SOFNR]

6 minutes ago, Backtobanks said:

 

That's part of the reason Buehler is pretty low on my list. We've already got one oft injured guy in the rotation, and unlike Buehler, Boyd was actually good in his limited innings last year.

Edited December 21, 2024 by SOFNR

[Rcal10]

38 minutes ago, SOFNR said:

That's part of the reason Buehler is pretty low on my list. We've already got one oft injured guy in the rotation, and unlike Buehler, Boyd was actually good in his limited innings last year.

I understand your point. I am just posting what I think is something the Cubs might do. I think he is more likely than Burnes. 

[Post Count Padder]

There's a lot of movement ahead of the holiday and I wonder if Jed has anything else up his sleeve the next few days. Again, considering how far along we think the Luzardo talks were and the hard deadline for a Bellinger trade, we could hear about a pitching move soon. Or radio silence until January.

[Stratos]

9 hours ago, thawv said:

I'd say that he's looking at 6/216.  I know it's an over pay, but someone will give it to him, I believe. 

Fried got 8 years.  Think he may get more than 6

Edited December 21, 2024 by Stratos

[thawv]

13 hours ago, Stratos said:

Fried got 8 years.  Think he may get more than 6

You may be right.  But if I had to guess, the length of the contract was the teams doing and not Fried's doing.  They want to keep that AAV down if they can

Edited December 22, 2024 by thawv

[Rcal10]

One less right handed bench bat available with Urshela signing with the A’s. He is the type if guy I was talking about signing. And only cost $2M. I guess for him it makes much more sense signing with the A’s. He will probably play everyday. But he is one guy I would have been fine with as the Cubs veteran bench bat. 

[chibears55]

Supposedly Dodgers are interested in Suzuki,  I would be ok with trading him for pitching prospects in return. 

Then, they should/could look to sign Alonso for 1B/DH

Or

Maybe trade for Vlad for 1B/DH and if needed he can also play a little 3B

[Stratos]

On 12/21/2024 at 8:43 AM, Rcal10 said:

Burnes is going to cost $36M a year? For how many years? That is a very easy pass for me. And IMO even easier for this FO to pass. 

Sean Manaea just got 25m AAV.  He's an average SP of the Taillon mold.  Interested to see how they value Burnes with the declining K/9.

[Stratos]

16 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Supposedly Dodgers are interested in Suzuki,  I would be ok with trading him for pitching prospects in return. 

Then, they should/could look to sign Alonso for 1B/DH

Or

Maybe trade for Vlad for 1B/DH and if needed he can also play a little 3B

Saw a podcast proposing Seiya to Dodgers and Bichette to the Cubs.  I'd consider something like that.  Much easier to find a DH than a 3B.  Shaw or another prospect could also DH potentially, or sign a bat.

[Rcal10]

5 hours ago, Stratos said:

Sean Manaea just got 25m AAV.  He's an average SP of the Taillon mold.  Interested to see how they value Burnes with the declining K/9.

That is just crazy money for a 33 year old MOR pitcher. Further confirms the Cubs will not be looking at Burnes. Who knows that he will cost. He’ll, Buehler on a bounce back contract will probably cost $20M for a year. I think the Cubs next starter added will come from a trade. 

[Rcal10]

5 hours ago, Stratos said:

Saw a podcast proposing Seiya to Dodgers and Bichette to the Cubs.  I'd consider something like that.  Much easier to find a DH than a 3B.  Shaw or another prospect could also DH potentially, or sign a bat.

I don’t like this idea at all. Bichette sucked last year. Suzuki has gotten better every year since coming here. Unless there is more the Xubs way this doesn’t interest me. Plus if they rally think they have a chance at Sasaki, this eliminates that chance. 

[Bertz]

Bo Bichette had a 71 wRC+ last year.  Nick Madrigal had a 76 wRC+ as a Cub.  Bo's probably one of the most likely bounce back candidates in the league for next year, but there's a good chance he's worse than Shaw and a great chance whatever convoluted series of trades brings him in and sends Seiya out makes the team worse.

Ken Rosenthal brought this up in his article that mentioned Suzuki to the Dodgers, but there's just not a lot of good RHH bats to backfill Suzuki with.  You're basically forced to sign one of Teoscar, Alonso, or Santander.  But for this team to actually get better, not just different but better, you need one of those guys to sign a surprisingly small contract or you need Suzuki to bring back a surprisingly large return.  Feels pretty unlikely, especially since the thing kicking off this rumor is Teoscar asking for the moon and the Dodgers sniffing around for alternatives.

[KCCub]

Some fun Shaw projections from JA. Decent thread on how he got there - 

 

 

[Ding Dong Johnson]

[KCCub]

Buehler off the board -

 

 

[Andy]

15 minutes ago, KCCub said:

Some fun Shaw projections from JA. Decent thread on how he got there - 

 

 

I think the Cubs' computers know all this too, and that's why they were perfectly fine trading away Paredes.

[Rcal10]

Looks like Buehler is signing for $21M+. WOW!!! Market has gone wild. I kind of like and now, for his price. I think the only way tendons get smoother is with a trade now. Not sure for who, but they are not spending the crazy money that is happening now. Joc gets 2 for $37.5? So what are the remaining bats wanting? They better keep Suzuki. And trade they make needs to be using their minor league assets. Honestly I am not sure how the FO navigates through this. If FA has gone through the roof, I Imagine the trade market has also gone crazy for a good pitcher. And how many good pitchers are available for minor league assets. Most are on teams that want to win so they want major league talent back. It might end up Sasaki or bust. 

[Rcal10]

2 minutes ago, Andy said:

I think the Cubs' computers know all this too, and that's why they were perfectly fine trading away Paredes.

I would agree. Sure would love those numbers. 

[Outshined_One]

2 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I would agree. Sure would love those numbers. 

The recent defensive reports on Shaw that have been trickling out in the prospect lists have made me feel a heck of a lot better about his chances in the majors.

Again, it's entirely possible he goes PCA on us and falls flat on his face for the first half of the season, hence the need for a stopgap who can take the pressure off him, but even an average defensive 3B putting up those projected numbers in his first season would get votes for NLROY.

[Bertz]

5 minutes ago, Andy said:

I think the Cubs' computers know all this too, and that's why they were perfectly fine trading away Paredes.

There was a line in a Rosenthal article in the last two weeks or so that said the smoke around trading Hoerner was mainly because the team really wanted to open up a spot for Shaw.  

[chibears55]

34 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Looks like Buehler is signing for $21M+. WOW!!! Market has gone wild. I kind of like and now, for his price. I think the only way tendons get smoother is with a trade now. Not sure for who, but they are not spending the crazy money that is happening now. Joc gets 2 for $37.5? So what are the remaining bats wanting? They better keep Suzuki. And trade they make needs to be using their minor league assets. Honestly I am not sure how the FO navigates through this. If FA has gone through the roof, I Imagine the trade market has also gone crazy for a good pitcher. And how many good pitchers are available for minor league assets. Most are on teams that want to win so they want major league talent back. It might end up Sasaki or bust. 

Telling you, he waiting on Sasaki decision. 

Also, who knows, maybe if Sasaki goes elsewhere,  they make an attempt for Burnes if he still available.

I think Burnes with the QO attached to him will likely have to agree or come very close to what any team interested offers.

Hoyer other options via FA if Sasaki goes elsewhere. 

Morton, Verlander and Scherzer on a 1 yr deal...   

Flaherty, Quantrill, Lorenzon, T.Williams if Hoyer just looking for low cost depth for BOR.

 

 

[LBiittner]

Interesting lorenzen agent is trying to market him as a 2-way player, similar to ohtani, Thusly allows buying team to carry an extra pitcher more than mlb limits. Ohtani/dodgers deal was very crafty in this designation.. Dodgers genius at work

[LBiittner]

33 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Telling you, he waiting on Sasaki decision. 

Also, who knows, maybe if Sasaki goes elsewhere,  they make an attempt for Burnes if he still available.

I think Burnes with the QO attached to him will likely have to agree or come very close to what any team interested offers.

Hoyer other options via FA if Sasaki goes elsewhere. 

Morton, Verlander and Scherzer on a 1 yr deal...   

Flaherty, Quantrill, Lorenzon, T.Williams if Hoyer just looking for low cost depth for BOR.

 

 

I love that Flaherty will be low cost. Makes sense for jed to sign him. 🤔