Post Winter Meetings Free Agency thread

[Brian707]

[Rcal10]

2 hours ago, LBiittner said:

I understand it's all part of negotiations blah blah blah. but, what a slap in your butthole when your new team can't negotiate a contract with the teams next great american hero but on the same day turns around and  gives 5 mil in 25 and possibly 6 mil in 26 to Colin focking Rea.

Hey buddy, relax. I understand your frustration. But guys OUR age shouldn’t get this worked up. Especially in January about a team who doesn’t even start playing for real until March. I say this because if you are this worked up now I worry about you when the season starts. This is NOT a criticism of you. This is one old timer telling another not to get all worked up. They team doesn’t care about us, so why get so worked up about the team? Being a fan of our age we have seen a lot of bad teams. No reason to get this excited this soon. Enjoy the day and playoff football (another Bearless year) and try not to get so worked up about this team. Just not good for your health. 😅

[LBiittner]

I'm just pointing out how the millennials can worship how focking savy Jeb is with every focking deal he creates. Oooh let's sign gimp arm brooks Raley to possibly pitch 10 or 11 times at the end of the season. Oooh I'm glad we signed boyd for 29 million, because he looked good after a dozen games last year. 

I'm asking you directly rcal, what has Jeb done to correct the major hole in the bullpen to address 26 blown saves? There are-were major candidates to sign this offseason. So far, Jeb is looking at his rear view on all of them. I've seen you mention dozens of times about how much Jeb has left to spend. Guess what? Perhaps he can't spend to last years numbers. This was suppose to be his "all in" season. Brooks Raley and Colin Rea aren't what I'd consider "all in"

 

[I owned a Suzuki]

I thought horsefeathers was the only acceptable substitute for unruly language:)

[I owned a Suzuki]

13 minutes ago, LBiittner said:

I'm just pointing out how the millennials can worship how focking savy Jeb is with every focking deal he creates. Oooh let's sign gimp arm brooks Raley to possibly pitch 10 or 11 times at the end of the season. Oooh I'm glad we signed boyd for 29 million, because he looked good after a dozen games last year. 

I'm asking you directly rcal, what has Jeb done to correct the major hole in the bullpen to address 26 blown saves? There are-were major candidates to sign this offseason. So far, Jeb is looking at his rear view on all of them. I've seen you mention dozens of times about how much Jeb has left to spend. Guess what? Perhaps he can't spend to last years numbers. This was suppose to be his "all in" season. Brooks Raley and Colin Rea aren't what I'd consider "all in"

 

Honest question. Where did the All in come from? I was always under the impression since the Ricketts hire Theo that the Cubs build for the long term, not just anyone season. I am not saying that they have done a good job with that, but that has always been the goal has it not?

[Ding Dong Johnson]

[Rcal10]

21 minutes ago, LBiittner said:

I'm just pointing out how the millennials can worship how focking savy Jeb is with every focking deal he creates. Oooh let's sign gimp arm brooks Raley to possibly pitch 10 or 11 times at the end of the season. Oooh I'm glad we signed boyd for 29 million, because he looked good after a dozen games last year. 

I'm asking you directly rcal, what has Jeb done to correct the major hole in the bullpen to address 26 blown saves? There are-were major candidates to sign this offseason. So far, Jeb is looking at his rear view on all of them. I've seen you mention dozens of times about how much Jeb has left to spend. Guess what? Perhaps he can't spend to last years numbers. This was suppose to be his "all in" season. Brooks Raley and Colin Rea aren't what I'd consider "all in"

 

Actually he started building the bullpen last year. Added Pearson, Miller, brought up Hodge. This year added Morgan and Thielbar. If he can’t spend to close to the LT this year what do you expect him to do? Is that his fault or Ricketts? And if he can’t spend spend he can still add a back end arm like Robertson or Yates. You can certainly get your point across without the anger you have shown in almost every post. Just being honest now. This isn’t that serious to get that worked up about. 

[Bertz]

11 minutes ago, I owned a Suzuki said:

Honest question. Where did the All in come from? I was always under the impression since the Ricketts hire Theo that the Cubs build for the long term, not just anyone season. I am not saying that they have done a good job with that, but that has always been the goal has it not?

It didn't come from anywhere he made it up.

[Tryptamine]

2 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

Actually he started building the bullpen last year. Added Pearson, Miller, brought up Hodge. This year added Morgan and Thielbar. If he can’t spend to close to the LT this year what do you expect him to do? Is that his fault or Ricketts? And if he can’t spend spend he can still add a back end arm like Robertson or Yates. You can certainly get your point across without the anger you have shown in almost every post. Just being honest now. This isn’t that serious to get that worked up about. 

I think that's extremely dubious at this point. 

[Rcal10]

14 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

I think that's extremely dubious at this point. 

Honestly, what do people expect Hoyer to do? The bullpen is such a volatile part of a baseball team. If Jed can’t spend freely how does anyone expect him to improve the pen. It would have to come from small moves like trading for Pearson and Morgan. Picking guys off waivers like Miller. Signing someone like Thielbar. From year to year these pitchers go from good to bad. Look at the Yankees last year. What did they spend on some of the pen arms they picked up. Weaver, Kahnle, Holmes. Going into last year where any of them highly sought after? If Jed can’t spend even to just under the first LT line exactly what is he supposed to do? He may still sign Roberson or Yates. But only if Ricketts allows the payroll to be higher. If he doesn’t, again, what is Jed supposed to do? Best case scenario is the pen improves from players in the system getting it done. Brown, Palencia, Little, Hodge, Assad, Wicks, etc….. Unless Ricketts opens up the pocketbook I am not sure how else it gets better. 

[Bertz]

Rea was certainly not the best tea leaf, but default assumption for payroll should essentially always be "a little under the luxury tax" unless or until there's something more concrete to override that assumption.  Especially since none of the people who actually tend to know things have indicated anything inordinately bad about payroll to this point this winter.

[Rcal10]

13 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Rea was certainly not the best tea leaf, but default assumption for payroll should essentially always be "a little under the luxury tax" unless or until there's something more concrete to override that assumption.  Especially since none of the people who actually tend to know things have indicated anything inordinately bad about payroll to this point this winter.

I agree with that. Which is why I am trying not to overreact to Rea right now. If they can go to just under the LT Rea might be the guy that replaces Assad when they include Assad in a trade for a good starting pitcher. Or, if they really are going to try working out an extension for Tucker they might have to have a cheaper pitcher in the rotation or the pen. They can extend Tucker and still add a solid back end arm, or a solid starting pitcher, but they can’t do both, if either the back end arm or the starting pitcher costs $12M or more. Rea can be either the fall back for the rotation or the pen. It is not ideal, but, again, there is a budget they are going to abide to. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

I'm a little on edge. I said it all along that I preferred to take a quality over quantity approach. If he doesn't come away with one of Scott, Yates, Minter, or Robertson I'll be flatly pissed. I still want Flaherty. 

[chibears55]

https://x.com/jonbecker_/status/1878534718842396916?t=fzdtVwVGSDezVLaQ9CA8uA&s=19

[Rcal10]

2 hours ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

I'm a little on edge. I said it all along that I preferred to take a quality over quantity approach. If he doesn't come away with one of Scott, Yates, Minter, or Robertson I'll be flatly pissed. I still want Flaherty. 

If you set yourself up for being pissed if they don’t get Flaherty or Scott that is more about you not being realistic in your hopes. Nothing the Cubs have done the last several years would suggest they would pay a closer $60M to $80M for 4 or 5 years. And they aren’t going to give Flaherty a 4 or 5 year deal. Now they may still end up with Yates or Robertson. But that is only if Ricketts allows the budget to be close to the LT line. And if he doesn’t it is hard to blame Jed. 

[Stratos]

14 hours ago, LBiittner said:

I'm just pointing out how the millennials can worship how focking savy Jeb is with every focking deal he creates. Oooh let's sign gimp arm brooks Raley to possibly pitch 10 or 11 times at the end of the season. Oooh I'm glad we signed boyd for 29 million, because he looked good after a dozen games last year. 

I'm asking you directly rcal, what has Jeb done to correct the major hole in the bullpen to address 26 blown saves? There are-were major candidates to sign this offseason. So far, Jeb is looking at his rear view on all of them. I've seen you mention dozens of times about how much Jeb has left to spend. Guess what? Perhaps he can't spend to last years numbers. This was suppose to be his "all in" season. Brooks Raley and Colin Rea aren't what I'd consider "all in"

 

We don't really know what's going on in Jed's head.  Assuming worst case doesn't seem productive.  Assuming anything because of Colin Rea or this or that bargain bin reliever isn't wise.  The Cubs and the overall market may be held up with the Sasaki signing.  If Jed has to trade for or sign another quality SP if they miss on Sasaki then it changes the budget for 3B/bench, the pen etc.

They can't even guarantee a starting spot to any FA SP either if they don't know if Sasaki is signing.  Rea is below-average so he probably just wants a job.  As a SP i'd sign here for the strong defense that will bump my numbers (we spank the Dodgers/Padres here) and the good pitching infrastructure.  So we have a solid shot at Sasaki at least.

[Stratos]

7 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

If you set yourself up for being pissed if they don’t get Flaherty or Scott that is more about you not being realistic in your hopes. Nothing the Cubs have done the last several years would suggest they would pay a closer $60M to $80M for 4 or 5 years. And they aren’t going to give Flaherty a 4 or 5 year deal. Now they may still end up with Yates or Robertson. But that is only if Ricketts allows the budget to be close to the LT line. And if he doesn’t it is hard to blame Jed. 

I like Robertson for us.  His velo has been trending up in recent seasons, he's been durable both before and after TJS, and he's been money pretty much his entire career.  We could really use a reliable closer, as long as he doesn't fall off the table from oldness.

[BigbadB]

1 hour ago, Stratos said:

We don't really know what's going on in Jed's head.  Assuming worst case doesn't seem productive.  Assuming anything because of Colin Rea or this or that bargain bin reliever isn't wise.  The Cubs and the overall market may be held up with the Sasaki signing.  If Jed has to trade for or sign another quality SP if they miss on Sasaki then it changes the budget for 3B/bench, the pen etc.

They can't even guarantee a starting spot to any FA SP either if they don't know if Sasaki is signing.  Rea is below-average so he probably just wants a job.  As a SP i'd sign here for the strong defense that will bump my numbers (we spank the Dodgers/Padres here) and the good pitching infrastructure.  So we have a solid shot at Sasaki at least.

Agreed. If the Cubs land Sasaki, who cares about the Rea signing. And actually, the Rea signing kind of mirrors the Thiass signing. Look at it as an insurance policy in the event other things transpire/don't transpire. The Cubs landed a catcher, making Thiass trade fodder. If Sasaki signs here, they haven't blocked anybody significant if Rea is relegated to long relief. If Sasaki doesn't sign here, they can still trade for a starter. They may already have a deal in place with a team like San Diego depending on how the Sasaki sweepstakes unfold.

If Rea was the back end of the rotation starter plan all along and the Ricketts' bank 40m in unused cap money, they deserve all the ire people throw their way. But, we aren't at that point of the offseason to know for sure.

 

[Rcal10]

2 hours ago, BigbadB said:

Agreed. If the Cubs land Sasaki, who cares about the Rea signing. And actually, the Rea signing kind of mirrors the Thiass signing. Look at it as an insurance policy in the event other things transpire/don't transpire. The Cubs landed a catcher, making Thiass trade fodder. If Sasaki signs here, they haven't blocked anybody significant if Rea is relegated to long relief. If Sasaki doesn't sign here, they can still trade for a starter. They may already have a deal in place with a team like San Diego depending on how the Sasaki sweepstakes unfold.

If Rea was the back end of the rotation starter plan all along and the Ricketts' bank 40m in unused cap money, they deserve all the ire people throw their way. But, we aren't at that point of the offseason to know for sure.

 

I agree with all of this. Exactly where I am in this. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

12 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

If you set yourself up for being pissed if they don’t get Flaherty or Scott that is more about you not being realistic in your hopes. Nothing the Cubs have done the last several years would suggest they would pay a closer $60M to $80M for 4 or 5 years. And they aren’t going to give Flaherty a 4 or 5 year deal. Now they may still end up with Yates or Robertson. But that is only if Ricketts allows the budget to be close to the LT line. And if he doesn’t it is hard to blame Jed. 

Look dude, It's pretty horsefeathers clear we have a foundational disagreement on Flaherty's market and I keep being proven right. You've taken November projections as hard-fact. I have been completely realistic in my hopes. Damn near every winter we have these guys who have spotty track-records being left in the cold on the market when they seek long-term deals. Flaherty definitely falls in that bucket. We shouldn't have jumped the market on Matt Boyd and spent so much of our cap on tertiary pieces. We should have added as many impactful players as we could.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/01/anthony-santander-jack-flaherty-reportedly-open-to-short-term-offers.html

 

Per Rosenthal and Sammon, outfielder Anthony Santander and right-hander Jack Flaherty are both now open to considering that sort of deal. Sammon also confirmed previous reports that indicated the camp of first baseman Pete Alonso had made an three-year offer to the Mets that includes multiple opt-outs, though it remains unclear if he’s open to similar short-term offers from other clubs at this point.

 

However I keep thinking about that blurb from a couple weeks ago that spoke about not adding any long-term contracts until the new CBA is set. The way they are operating it seems like they are only interested in inking 1 and 2 year deals, and it is incredibly frustrating. I am not a fan of Ricketts or Hoyer at this point. Still a couple months to change my mind though.

 

[We Got The Whole 9]

22 minutes ago, TomtheBombadil said:

Skip Flaherty then? Didn’t he strike out fewer, walk more, lose a little velo with the Dodgers in the second half? Have like a major shoulder rebuild? 

Sure then if that's your prerogative. 

[Rcal10]

2 hours ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Look dude, It's pretty horsefeathers clear we have a foundational disagreement on Flaherty's market and I keep being proven right. You've taken November projections as hard-fact. I have been completely realistic in my hopes. Damn near every winter we have these guys who have spotty track-records being left in the cold on the market when they seek long-term deals. Flaherty definitely falls in that bucket. We shouldn't have jumped the market on Matt Boyd and spent so much of our cap on tertiary pieces. We should have added as many impactful players as we could.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/01/anthony-santander-jack-flaherty-reportedly-open-to-short-term-offers.html

 

Per Rosenthal and Sammon, outfielder Anthony Santander and right-hander Jack Flaherty are both now open to considering that sort of deal. Sammon also confirmed previous reports that indicated the camp of first baseman Pete Alonso had made an three-year offer to the Mets that includes multiple opt-outs, though it remains unclear if he’s open to similar short-term offers from other clubs at this point.

 

However I keep thinking about that blurb from a couple weeks ago that spoke about not adding any long-term contracts until the new CBA is set. The way they are operating it seems like they are only interested in inking 1 and 2 year deals, and it is incredibly frustrating. I am not a fan of Ricketts or Hoyer at this point. Still a couple months to change my mind though.

 

Dude, we have a difference of opinion in Flaherty, period. And even if he is open to a short term deal, that deal isn’t going to be for a low annual amount. Even if you want to compare him to the guys last year, all of them got a high annual low year deal. Let’s say he does a similar deal to Montgomery. Do you want him at that price? Honestly, I don’t. I definitely do not want to see $20M to $25M tied up on Flaherty. I would much rather trade for Lopez or Cease, or any number of other guys. Maybe you will be right and he will come for a 1 year with a second year option, to the Cubs. But I don’t like that move for the Cubs. 

[Rcal10]

48 minutes ago, TomtheBombadil said:

What definitely isn’t a prerogative is the performative spending that will have a heard section of the fanbase pointing to payroll and reminding us of how good, kind master Ricketts are because payroll is Top 10 or however they talk. If you’re all abt the best of the best of the best then Sasaki or bust in FA 

The problem is they can’t make Sasaki choose them. Sure, he would be awesome. But if he wants somewhere else there is nothing they can do about it. I am sure they did a good presentation. I do believe that is one thing this FO is good at. But Sasaki still might not come. 

[Rcal10]

4 minutes ago, TomtheBombadil said:

OTOH This is literally true of everyone. Swap out Sasaki for Flaherty or any FA and nothing else about this post has to change to be true 

So then you want Sasaki, and if not him no other FA pitcher? Actually I agree with that. I have zero interest in Flaherty, even in a short term deal, and after him their isn’t a guy better than Tailon as a free agent. If the Cubs miss of Sasaki, which they most likely will, I hope they get another starter to drop Tailon and Boyd to 4th and 5th in the rotation, via a trade. 

[imb]

On 1/8/2025 at 12:29 PM, TomtheBombadil said:

Always be producin’ or you’re yesterday’s tomatahs 

it's not a horsefeathers book club, dip horsefeathers, it's a baseball team that's supposed to be winning games. Shut the horsefeathers up