Cubs sign RHP Colin Rea

[Rcal10]

4 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

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.

That is fair. I just don’t get the signing. Trying to make sense of it. I would rather they signed him to fill in as middle relief because they are trading Assad, and then spending bigger (either on a guy they traded for or a FA) on a solid #2 or #3 starting pitcher and go with what they have in the back end than go with Rea in the rotation and sign Yates. 

[Bertz]

The Cubs currently have a clear top 4.  They also an hour ago already had 8 depth starters:

Ben Brown

Javier Assad

Cody Poteet

Jordan Wicks

Brandon Birdsell

Cade Horton

Connor Noland

Caleb Kilian

Colin Rea is better than most of these guys right this second (ZiPS has him behind the top 3 and tied with Wicks) but man does this not feel like an appropriate use of resources unless the 8 names above is about to be more like 5-6.

Edited January 10, 2025 by Bertz

[Jason Ross]

2 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

That is fair. I just don’t get the signing. Trying to make sense of it. I would rather they signed him to fill in as middle relief because they are trading Assad, and then spending bigger (either on a guy they traded for or a FA) on a solid #2 or #3 starting pitcher and go with what they have in the back end than go with Rea in the rotation and sign Yates. 

I think the most likely reason they signed Rea can boiled down to one of two things:

1. The Cubs plan on moving from Javier Assad or Jordan Wicks in short order (likely the first) for something; Willi Castro? Pablo Lopez? Dylan Cease? And Assad or Wicks is apart of some package to help something else and the Cubs remain steadfast in adding another SP

2. The Cubs finances are worse than we expected and they're going to sign Rea to start him. 

They're not the only options, but they feel like the most likely. 

[Jason Ross]

4 minutes ago, Bertz said:

The Cubs currently have a clear top 4.  They also an hour ago already had 8 depth starters:

Ben Brown

Javier Assad

Cody Poteet

Jordan Wicks

Brandon Birdsell

Cade Horton

Connor Noland

Caleb Kilian

Colin Rea is better than most of these guys right this second (ZiPS has him behind the top 3 and tied with Wicks) but man does this not feel like an appropriate use of resources unless the 8 names above is about to be more like 6.

Yeah, there comes a point when you just...don't need eight depth starters. It's good to have depth, but eight is exorbitant and feels like you're ignoring the forest through the trees. Yes, Counsell asked for more depth, but I think he'd also like a good SP.  

[Transmogrified Tiger]

3 minutes ago, Bertz said:

The Cubs currently have a clear top 4.  They also an hour ago already had 8 depth starters:

Ben Brown (55 Pro IP in 2024)

Javier Assad (147)

Cody Poteet (77)

Jordan Wicks (67)

Brandon Birdsell (135)

Cade Horton (34)

Connor Noland (134)

Caleb Kilian (59)

Colin Rea is better than most of these guys right this second (ZiPS has him behind the top 3 and tied with Wicks) but man does this not feel like an appropriate use of resources unless the 8 names above is about to be more like 5-6.

I think the bolded I added in is where this comes into greater focus.  If I get to pick between Rea and that list for any given start, he's either 4th or 5th on my board as things stand today.  The problem is at different points in the season I don't know how many of that list will actually be available to choose.  If you get rid of Assad then you could have an outright problem if there's any injury.  That's why to me this points so clearly to something going on with Assad(or one of the worse outcomes you alluded to, especially injury).

[Rcal10]

3 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I think the bolded I added in is where this comes into greater focus.  If I get to pick between Rea and that list for any given start, he's either 4th or 5th on my board as things stand today.  The problem is at different points in the season I don't know how many of that list will actually be available to choose.  If you get rid of Assad then you could have an outright problem if there's any injury.  That's why to me this points so clearly to something going on with Assad(or one of the worse outcomes you alluded to, especially injury).

I don’t disagree with this. If they signed Rea to be that swing starter because Assad is dealt that is fine. However, if they trade Assad+ for Lopez, between Lopez and Rea they are taking $26M of that salary they have available. They might want that for bench strength. So they might not sign a late inning pen arm. 

[SOFNR]

42 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

First time since the Tucker trade that I'm actually a little scared about their offseason plan. Sure hope it's #1.

[Irrelevant Dude]

This is the type of signing a loathe, giving not insignificant amounts of money to borderline depth pieces rather than pooling that money to sign an actual quality player.  It's the same thing every year, always rounding out the roster with semi-expensive garbage and then wondering why none of them can get outs in the 9th inning.

[Post Count Padder]

I'm still trying to make sense of this and if they are talking trade, then this makes a lot of sense as a safe and steady but unexciting back of the rotation filler. IF it is a trade, and I've been thinking, I really want to make something happen with Minnesota. Say Assad and Wicks and Caissie for Lopez and Jax and one of their infielders. Castro, Miranda and Julien have played around the infield and could be the stopgap at 3B and the backup elsewhere.

But if they traded for Tucker, only to take him to arbitration and not really upgrade the team around him then I think it's time for a front office (and ownership) overhaul. 

[Bertz]

Roster Resource is updated after this move and all the arb action yesterday and it has the Cubs at $198M, $43M under the LT.  Let's say Tucker wins his arb case and the team wants ~$10M set aside for the TDL.  That's $30M in usable money remaining if we treat the LT as the payroll target

If Rea closes the book on the rotation and Jed's not going to go way out of character and sign Tanner Scott, it honestly gets a little tough to spend $30M. Kirby Yates, Jorge Polanco, and Mark Canha maybe?  But you'd need to go absolutely top of the scale from here.

There's gotta be a fun trade on the precipice or I really really don't like this.

[Max Power]

Jed has a type.

[Rcal10]

33 minutes ago, Post Count Padder said:

I'm still trying to make sense of this and if they are talking trade, then this makes a lot of sense as a safe and steady but unexciting back of the rotation filler. IF it is a trade, and I've been thinking, I really want to make something happen with Minnesota. Say Assad and Wicks and Caissie for Lopez and Jax and one of their infielders. Castro, Miranda and Julien have played around the infield and could be the stopgap at 3B and the backup elsewhere.

But if they traded for Tucker, only to take him to arbitration and not really upgrade the team around him then I think it's time for a front office (and ownership) overhaul. 

I don’t think that’s is enough for all 3 of those guys. But that is exactly what I am hoping too. Maybe add Palancia and Wiggins. 🤷love to somehow do one stop shopping and come away with Jax, Lopez and one of those infielders. 

[Post Count Padder]

18 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I don’t think that’s is enough for all 3 of those guys. But that is exactly what I am hoping too. Maybe add Palancia and Wiggins. 🤷love to somehow do one stop shopping and come away with Jax, Lopez and one of those infielders. 

Yeah they can add Palencia or someone else. That was just a starting guess. 

But speaking of....

Our 40 man is full before the Rea signing. Someone is getting DFA'd or a trade is around the corner.

[Bertz]

One thing I'll say is I don't hate the contract in a vacuum.  So if next week Javier Assad is a Padre and we find out Jordan Wicks elbow finally gave out, my attitude towards the deal will shift pretty drastically

 

[Rcal10]

3 minutes ago, Bertz said:

One thing I'll say is I don't hate the contract in a vacuum.  So if next week Javier Assad is a Padre and we find out Jordan Wicks elbow finally gave out, my attitude towards the deal will shift pretty drastically

 

I assume Cease is here? 

[Tryptamine]

In a offseason in which the Cubs had 60M to spend, their big signing is going to be Matt Boyd. That's almost impossibly awful.

[LBiittner]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

I don’t think that’s is enough for all 3 of those guys. But that is exactly what I am hoping too. Maybe add Palancia and Wiggins. 🤷love to somehow do one stop shopping and come away with Jax, Lopez and one of those infielders. 

Quite frankly, I'm expecting Marcus Stroman and DJ Lemahieu from the yanks coming here. Yanks payoff lions share of their 2025 $, while cubs assume their full balance of 2026 $. Cubs give away a couple kids in exchange.

God I pray I'm drunk

[Rcal10]

1 minute ago, LBiittner said:

Quite frankly, I'm expecting Marcus Stroman and DJ Lemahieu from the yanks coming here. Yanks payoff lions share of their 2025 $, while cubs assume their full balance of 2026 $. Cubs give away a couple kids in exchange.

God I pray I'm drunk

I actually thought of Stroman with the Yankees taking a portion of his contract. He was actually not bad on the road last year. He got hit hard by lefties in Yankee stad. Short right field. I would bet he wouldn’t suck here. But he definitely would not be one of my top 5 choices. I don’t think you have to worry about Lemahieu. Probably not Stroman either. 

[CubinNY]

The Ricketts need to go buy the Royals and hire Jed to run the club. This is not what a team who plans on winning in the post season does.

[LBiittner]

3 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I actually thought of Stroman with the Yankees taking a portion of his contract. He was actually not bad on the road last year. He got hit hard by lefties in Yankee stad. Short right field. I would bet he wouldn’t suck here. But he definitely would not be one of my top 5 choices. I don’t think you have to worry about Lemahieu. Probably not Stroman either. 

Lemahieu is insurance 2b & 3b and if yanks pay down his deal ?

I dont like it

Edited January 11, 2025 by LBiittner

[Rcal10]

4 minutes ago, LBiittner said:

Lemahieu is insurance 2b & 3b and if yanks pay down his deal ?

I dont like it

If the Yankees DFA Lemahieu I am pretty sure the Cubs wouldn’t pick him up. He is done. 

[LBiittner]

22 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

If the Yankees DFA Lemahieu I am pretty sure the Cubs wouldn’t pick him up. He is done. 

He didn't age well going into his year 37,

LoL

[chibears55]

What icks me, is that they spend 1 to 5 mil per on a handful of pitchers that most will probably not even play with them all season or get DFA and end up in AAA, when they can use that sum of that money towards someone who can actually be a good part of the rotation or bullpen.

[LBiittner]

3 hours ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

This is the type of signing a loathe, giving not insignificant amounts of money to borderline depth pieces rather than pooling that money to sign an actual quality player.  It's the same thing every year, always rounding out the roster with semi-expensive garbage and then wondering why none of them can get outs in the 9th inning.

Aside from Tucker (which is fantastic)

Cubs have acquired Zastrysny, Bickford, Morgan, Kristen, Boyd, Workman, Kelly, Poteet, Brujan, Heller, Thielbar, Festa, Rea.

Hardly close to the pitching staff and roster we had been hoping to spend 60 million for to push us onward towards the holy holy. Jed better step up in the next month and spend $ or collateral or both? 

[Bertz]

Mooney, who is very much not a cheerleader for this front office, makes this sound like an addition rather than the addition.

Quote

 

The Cubs have another month before pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to Arizona for spring training. Meaning there is still time to make a more impactful addition to their rotation. For now, though, it’s a solid group that’s projected to include Shota Imanaga, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon, Matthew Boyd and Javier Assad.

Rea is expected to bring some dependability and know-how to the pitching staff. The Cubs were down a swingman after including Hayden Wesneski in the Kyle Tucker trade with the Houston Astros. Their starting depth also features Ben Brown and Jordan Wicks.

Counsell prefers to develop versatile pitchers and give his starters extra rest when possible. Jed Hoyer’s front office will keep looking to give the manager more options for the 162-game marathon.