Cubs sign RHP Colin Rea

[Jason Ross]

 

[Post Count Padder]

How is this an upgrade? Am I missing something? I know it's not a lot of money but he's not better than Assad and we have other, more interesting long relievers.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Jed saw how much we loved a bullpen without an opening day hierarchy and decided to do that with half the rotation as well.  A true man of the people.

[Jason Ross]

1/$5m

 

[Jason Ross]

3 minutes ago, Post Count Padder said:

How is this an upgrade? Am I missing something? I know it's not a lot of money but he's not better than Assad and we have other, more interesting long relievers.

Yeah. I'm struggling on the appeal here. 

Maybe Assad is about to be traded in a move for a better SP? And he's the Assad replacement? But he shouldn't belong in a rotation. And I dont get what role he fills.

[Rcal10]

4 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

1/$5m

 

I don’t understand this signing, at all. What is the point of it? 

[Post Count Padder]

1 minute ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Yeah. I'm struggling on the appeal here. 

Maybe Assad is about to be traded in a move for a better SP? And he's the Assad replacement? But he shouldn't belong in a rotation. And I dont get what role he fills.

That's the only thing that makes sense to me, is that Assad is being used in a trade elsewhere. But I still don't love it. And if that's not the case, then I don't know. Maybe Jed butt-dialed Rea's agent.

[WhyCantWeWin]

Hoyer making moves!!! Adding another ace to the staff, great use of the money saved by dumping Bellingers contract

[ILMindState]

Now we know why we gotta nickel and dime Kyle Tucker.

[chibears55]

These are the type of signing I expected out of Hoyer going forward,  cheap 1-2 yr deals and hopefuls.   

All the hope to get this and that guy goes put the window with Hoyer, he'll i believe the only reason he made the move for Tucker was because he a cheap money wise 1 year rental that will keep fans excited to watch. 

[Rcal10]

19 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Yeah. I'm struggling on the appeal here. 

Maybe Assad is about to be traded in a move for a better SP? And he's the Assad replacement? But he shouldn't belong in a rotation. And I dont get what role he fills.

I just said this in the other link talking about this. Man,I hope WE are right.

Edited January 10, 2025 by Rcal10

[Transmogrified Tiger]

11 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Yeah. I'm struggling on the appeal here. 

Maybe Assad is about to be traded in a move for a better SP? And he's the Assad replacement? But he shouldn't belong in a rotation. And I dont get what role he fills.

My maybe hopeful attempt at the logic is something like that.  Assad or maybe Wicks is about to depart(maybe in a SP deal, maybe for a bat), and if you look at the current rotation without Assad and consider the lack of innings you can count on from the various options 6-10(Wicks/Horton/Brown *combined* for 175 pro IP last year), then adding a rubber arm to the mix makes some sense.  The timing being right after the arb deadline to give you clarity on the price of a trade target might be related too.

[Bertz]

Don't like this.  Possible explanations, in order of how much I don't like them

- There's about to be a trade coming down that impacts the pitching depth, and Rea is backfilling e.g. Assad (I do potentially like this one)

- All of the depth starters are technically optionable, so Rea is the long reliever and all of Assad, Brown, Wicks, Poteet will 100% open the year at Iowa

- One of the guys we've been counting as SP depth is viewed as 100% a reliever, e.g. Brown

- There's an injury we don't yet know about

- This is the other SP we've been promised.  Which would heavily imply that the payroll's indeed been cut

Edited January 10, 2025 by Bertz

[Jason Ross]

2 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Don't like this.  Possible explanations, in order of how much I don't like them

- There's about to be a trade coming down that impacts the pitching depth, and Rea is backfilling e.g. Assad (I do potentially like this one)

- All of the depth starters are technically optionable, so Rea is the long reliever and all of Assad, Brown, Wicks, Poteet will 100% open the year at Iowa

- One of the guys we've been counting as SP depth is viewed as 100% a reliever, e.g. Brown

- There's an injury we don't yet know about

- This is the other SP we've been promised.  Which would heavily imply that the payroll's indeed been cut

Yeah....that's my feeling here as well. I'm hoping it's the first. I'm dreading the last.

[mul21]

Is there a chance he's being signed as a reliever and they're going to significantly cut back his repertoire?  His 4 seamer and sweeper numbers were excellent last year and those 2 along with the curveball were excellent in 2023.  I don't see how this makes sense so maybe that's a path.

[Jason Ross]

2 minutes ago, mul21 said:

Is there a chance he's being signed as a reliever and they're going to significantly cut back his repertoire?  His 4 seamer and sweeper numbers were excellent last year and those 2 along with the curveball were excellent in 2023.  I don't see how this makes sense so maybe that's a path.

It feels like the Cubs are kind of getting to a "capped out" level of "guys who could do something in the BP but might not". And while $5m isn't a lot, it isn't nothing, and they've kind of acquired enough Poteets, Festas' and the like that adding a $5m guy who you might cut bait on...feels excessive.

[Rcal10]

2 minutes ago, mul21 said:

Is there a chance he's being signed as a reliever and they're going to significantly cut back his repertoire?  His 4 seamer and sweeper numbers were excellent last year and those 2 along with the curveball were excellent in 2023.  I don't see how this makes sense so maybe that's a path.

Maybe he is the answer to who the last pen arm will be. Maybe that is the angle. But even if it is. Assad still becomes more expendable.

[17 Seconds]

if rea and boyd are the 2 starters, that's pathetic

[jersey cubs fan]

It wouldn’t be a cubs season if we didn’t have a teachers pet player to vent about 

[Rcal10]

1 minute ago, 1908_Cubs said:

It feels like the Cubs are kind of getting to a "capped out" level of "guys who could do something in the BP but might not". And while $5m isn't a lot, it isn't nothing, and they've kind of acquired enough Poteets, Festas' and the like that adding a $5m guy who you might cut bait on...feels excessive.

It’s not a lot if he is the last pen arm, however. If they are going to sign Flaherty or trade for Lopez they may have decided to scrap the idea of Yates or Robertson and are spending most of the money they have on a rotation piece. Maybe they add Canhu and Moncada to the bench. They don’t spend on the pen but they get a quality starter and a decent bench. I just don’t know.🤷

[Rcal10]

4 minutes ago, 17 Seconds said:

if rea and boyd are the 2 starters, that's pathetic

Sure is. Not any better than Wicks and Assad. 

[Jason Ross]

2 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

It’s not a lot if he is the last pen arm, however. If they are going to sign Flaherty or trade for Lopez they may have decided to scrap the idea of Yates or Robertson and are spending most of the money they have on a rotation piece. Maybe they add Canhu and Moncada to the bench. They don’t spend on the pen but they get a quality starter and a decent bench. I just don’t know.🤷

I highly doubt the Cubs signed him to be a bullpen guy. Or to complete the bullpen. 

[Post Count Padder]

3 minutes ago, jersey cubs fan said:

It wouldn’t be a cubs season if we didn’t have a teachers pet player to vent about 

Augie Ojeda and Jose Macias vibes.

[Rcal10]

Just now, 1908_Cubs said:

The Cubs didn't sign Rea to be a back end reliever. I'm very certain of that. 

They might not feel they need a back end reliever. He might be just who replaces Assad as long reliever. I know you are extremely knowledgeable about baseball and the Cubs. But that doesn’t mean that just because you say they have to get a back of the pen guy, they think they do too. 

[Jason Ross]

2 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

They might not feel they need a back end reliever. He might be just who replaces Assad as long reliever. I know you are extremely knowledgeable about baseball and the Cubs. But that doesn’t mean that just because you say they have to get a back of the pen guy, they think they do too. 

Nothing the Cubs have done makes me think they signed Colin Rea to complete the bullpen. If you want to have that opinion, you're welcome to! I really don't think that's the case.