Cubs acquire Ryan Pressly

[Bull]

5 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

Add Robertson and the pen is filthy. I still hate the bench and really wish there was an addition of a more reliable mid rotation arm than Boyd. With that said, they go out and grab Robertson then add a legit bench bat, then I'm on board. That's a 90 win team.

Question for anyone:

If you have to pick one

1. Mid rotation arm in trade for non top 100 prospects

2. Strong hit-first 1B/DH bench bat

3. Another high-end relief arm.

any of these choices costing in the $10M range, which do you pick?

[Bertz]

52 minutes ago, JD94 said:

 

The Athletic guys said similar:

Quote

Adding Pressly, a team source said, does not preclude the Cubs from signing one of several free-agent relievers the club has been closely evaluating.

 

[We Got The Whole 9]

I figured the return would be better than Canario or Keegan. This is a great trade. Please get Robertson now.

[Rcal10]

With Presley costing $8.5M shouldn’t the Cubs still have enough money for Robertson and a good bench bat? I don’t feel they are even close to $230M. And even at that amount it leaves them plenty of money deadline deals. 

[Bertz]

57 minutes ago, Bull said:

Question for anyone:

If you have to pick one

1. Mid rotation arm in trade for non top 100 prospects

2. Strong hit-first 1B/DH bench bat

3. Another high-end relief arm.

any of these choices costing in the $10M range, which do you pick?

I would take the 1B.  That said there *should* be room for two of these.  In that case I'd take the 1B and the reliever.  One of Mark Canha/Justin Turner and one of David Robertson/Kyle Finnegan rounds this roster out very nicely.

You also can't totally rule out a Bregman or a Flaherty.  Though I think at this point I'd take the two complimentary players and just plan on making another big deadline move.

[Rcal10]

4 minutes ago, Bertz said:

I would take the 1B.  That said there *should* be room for two of these.  In that case I'd take the 1B and the reliever.  One of Mark Canha/Justin Turner and one of David Robertson/Kyle Finnegan rounds this roster out very nicely.

You also can't totally rule out a Bregman or a Flaherty.  Though I think at this point I'd take the two complimentary players and just plan on making another big deadline move.

That would make for a solid off season. Would love Turner, but I think he will end up somewhere where he can get more AB. So Canha is fine. As for the pen, I would take either of those guys with an edge to a Robertson. And I agree, they should have enough money for both. 

[Tryptamine]

1 hour ago, Bull said:

Question for anyone:

If you have to pick one

1. Mid rotation arm in trade for non top 100 prospects

2. Strong hit-first 1B/DH bench bat

3. Another high-end relief arm.

any of these choices costing in the $10M range, which do you pick?

I take the mid rotation arm. The Cubs have some very exciting arms that could fill pen spots like Brown and Neely. I don't think they have any mid rotation arms that are immediately ready to step in.

[Rcal10]

49 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

I take the mid rotation arm. The Cubs have some very exciting arms that could fill pen spots like Brown and Neely. I don't think they have any mid rotation arms that are immediately ready to step in.

I feel the idea of a mid rotation arm has passed. I would have liked that, but I think Rea is the last rotation arm they are signing. I wish they went mid rotation arm before signing Rea. 

[Outshined_One]

Bello was interesting, but he is also the kind of guy who'd need to prove it at every level. The stuff is there for him to be a decent back end of the rotation type, but he's years away from the majors (barring a major uptick in stuff) and, as a result, he runs the standard injury/reliever risk for a guy in his position every year he's not in the majors.

It's a good trade for the Cubs.

[JD94]

1 hour ago, Tryptamine said:

I take the mid rotation arm. The Cubs have some very exciting arms that could fill pen spots like Brown and Neely. I don't think they have any mid rotation arms that are immediately ready to step in.

Brandon Birdsell is a BORP that should be close to helping, no?

[Rcal10]

10 minutes ago, JD94 said:

Brandon Birdsell is a BORP that should be close to helping, no?

Why not Brown and Horton helping as MOR starters? 

[Tryptamine]

42 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Why not Brown and Horton helping as MOR starters? 

Brown's future as a starter is more unlikely than likely at this point and Horton needs to hit 100 innings in a season before I'm ready to pencil him in as a starter.

Edited January 27, 2025 by Tryptamine

[Stratos]

4 hours ago, JD94 said:

 

Heck yeah.  Go get Robinson or another piece

[Stratos]

2 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

With Presley costing $8.5M shouldn’t the Cubs still have enough money for Robertson and a good bench bat? I don’t feel they are even close to $230M. And even at that amount it leaves them plenty of money deadline deals. 

I believe they're at about 208m after Pressly, so they have around 20-25m left if we're assuming they leave around 8-10m under the LT.  They have enough for another closer arm and a quality bench bat.

The Tucker move was big because he'll make surplus salary.  If he were signed as a FA at market prices we wouldn't have any more room to add under the LT.  Buys us potentially a couple more wins on paper.  Value FTW.

[Stratos]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

I feel the idea of a mid rotation arm has passed. I would have liked that, but I think Rea is the last rotation arm they are signing. I wish they went mid rotation arm before signing Rea. 

Probably right, but Id have gone with the mid rotation arm.  Sends all our young arms to the pen or Iowa.  Brown as setup is nice.

Id dumpster dive for the bench (gotta be another Wisdom/Schwindel out there) and rely on the Iowa prospects for injuries.  I don't think Turner or Canhe are good enough to spend 5m or whatever on, they project for under 1 WAR and won't get much playing time.

[BigbadB]

13 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

I get that. But I am sure the Astros made him aware he was being talked about in a trade. He had to know it was possible. I respect he negotiated the right to decide if he will accept a trade or not. And whatever he decides is fine. It is HIS decision. But not deciding is what is annoying. I’m not even suggesting the Cubs should put a time where they pull the deal. I am just strictly speaking about a player making a decision and how it shouldn’t take this long. 

A guy who puts a NO trade clause in his contract probably shouldn't be put in this position at all, since the contract pretty much clearly stated he will honor his part of the contract until it's done, and the team who presented him this contract should also honor their end. Now the team comes to him, expects him to uproot his life and follow their orders or feel the wrath from the team and the fanbase if he elects to enforce the NTC. Not sure why he has to be subjected to similar frustration from the team that is trying to trade for him, also. 

To me, he ought to be able to take as long as he wants. 

[Jason Ross]

8 hours ago, JD94 said:

Brandon Birdsell is a BORP that should be close to helping, no?

Brandon Birdsell will make his MLB debut in 2025 barring injury. I do think there's more juice to squeeze in there than a simple bottom-of-the-rotation type. He's got the profile of a guy who's going to have a somewhat underrated career, IMO.

[Jason Ross]

7 hours ago, Stratos said:

Probably right, but Id have gone with the mid rotation arm.  Sends all our young arms to the pen or Iowa.  Brown as setup is nice.

Id dumpster dive for the bench (gotta be another Wisdom/Schwindel out there) and rely on the Iowa prospects for injuries.  I don't think Turner or Canhe are good enough to spend 5m or whatever on, they project for under 1 WAR and won't get much playing time.

At $5m, however, that's all you're paying them for. Wins are being paid for at around a $9m going rate. This has some flucctuations with it and is not a hard rule, but at $5m, Canha or Turner would be fairly priced, would provide the Cubs with some floor and would fill a needed role. Yes, the Cubs could hope to strike on a Schwindel or a Wisdom, but it's probably important to point out, Schwindel had like, half a good season in his career, and finding a Wisdom would require the Cubs to gamble on a non-MLB type. The cost of going with something more proven is probably within the budget they have remaining and if the team isn't going to get a mid-rotation arm, that's probably the way I'd go over hoping real hard you find a guy who has a career half of a season. 

[CubUgly]

On 1/24/2025 at 6:01 PM, Bertz said:

Fun fact I just found.  Pressly projects slightly better than any Brewers reliever.

They will still have a better bullpen than us on paper, but between our improvements and their losses it's not looking like the major advantage it has been the past 8 years

I did read somewhere that he had a 1.99 ERA in his last 30 some innings so there's that I guess but I live among some passionate Astro fans and almost to a man they are all glad to be rid of him FWIW. 

[Stratos]

1 hour ago, BigbadB said:

A guy who puts a NO trade clause in his contract probably shouldn't be put in this position at all, since the contract pretty much clearly stated he will honor his part of the contract until it's done, and the team who presented him this contract should also honor their end. Now the team comes to him, expects him to uproot his life and follow their orders or feel the wrath from the team and the fanbase if he elects to enforce the NTC. Not sure why he has to be subjected to similar frustration from the team that is trying to trade for him, also. 

To me, he ought to be able to take as long as he wants. 

Technically I think he would have as long as he wants.  I don't see how a team could enforce a deadline, unless it's in the collective agreement or something.

[Rcal10]

8 hours ago, Stratos said:

Probably right, but Id have gone with the mid rotation arm.  Sends all our young arms to the pen or Iowa.  Brown as setup is nice.

Id dumpster dive for the bench (gotta be another Wisdom/Schwindel out there) and rely on the Iowa prospects for injuries.  I don't think Turner or Canhe are good enough to spend 5m or whatever on, they project for under 1 WAR and won't get much playing time.

I disagree. I think a solid bench bat is actually more important than another pen arm. Love to have some to fill in for Busch or PCA against a roigh lefty. Or a solid bat to pinch him. Dumpster diving is not the way to go, IMO. 

[Rcal10]

9 hours ago, Tryptamine said:

Brown's future as a starter is more unlikely than likely at this point and Horton needs to hit 100 innings in a season before I'm ready to pencil him in as a starter.

You might be right in Brown and Horton. But I am talking about filling in for maybe 5 to 8 starts. I was answering JD94 when he suggested Birdsell. I assumed he was talking about filling in. I think between the 5 guys they have in the rotation, + Assad and Wicks, guys like Brown and Horton will only be needed 5 to 8 starts. I am not sure the Cubs closed the door on Brown starting, but I do agree it is probably not likely that he does, full time. (at least for now)

[chibears55]

Hoyer should get Andrew Chafin, he a LH that they need and would be the final piece for that bullpen. 

They definitely need a guy on the bench with power, i don't know how much more of an upgrade Workman and Berti are over Mastrobuoni and Wisdom, can't be much if any.

I dont think Hoyer looking for another SP, I think he set with Assad at 5 and if needed Rea and other depth in AAA for now. He'll wait til the deadline to address a SP upgrade if needed, which is why if they stay 10+ mil under the threshold going into the season, I'll be ok with that only if they use it at the deadline to upgrade where needed to contend for and in playoffs.

[Rcal10]

16 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Hoyer should get Andrew Chafin, he a LH that they need and would be the final piece for that bullpen. 

They definitely need a guy on the bench with power, i don't know how much more of an upgrade Workman and Berti are over Mastrobuoni and Wisdom, can't be much if any.

I dont think Hoyer looking for another SP, I think he set with Assad at 5 and if needed Rea and other depth in AAA for now. He'll wait til the deadline to address a SP upgrade if needed, which is why if they stay 10+ mil under the threshold going into the season, I'll be ok with that only if they use it at the deadline to upgrade where needed to contend for and in playoffs.

I would bet Rea is #5 over Assad. 

[Tim]

Adding Berti + Pressly would put the 40 man at a 42 man. I'm guessing they're working hard to fill a role through an asset consolidation trade.