Spring Training Moves/Transactions Thread

[Hot Sauce]

27 minutes ago, Bertz said:

 

Weird flex but okay.

[Stratos]

4 hours ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Why hasn't any team signed the guy who has 7 consecutive years of being an above average hitter? Maybe he's hurt, IDK. 2 months ago he said he had absolutely no market and here we are about to start the season and he's never mentioned being linked to any team. It's a little strange. 

Could be different things, like inflated asking price or can't find a spot for an everyday role.  Overall he's a below-average player and 36 y/o.  There's no open spot for him on the Cubs to get much playing time so if I were him the Cubs would be far from my 1st choice.

Based on the limited playing opportunity at 1B/3B/DH for an FA here maybe the Cubs would be better making a minor trade for that type.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

5 hours ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Why hasn't any team signed the guy who has 7 consecutive years of being an above average hitter? Maybe he's hurt, IDK. 2 months ago he said he had absolutely no market and here we are about to start the season and he's never mentioned being linked to any team. It's a little strange. 

I think the bear case for Canha is that he's more or less a 1B/DH, and at his age the optimistic outcome is repeating 2024(an OBP-heavy league average line), which isn't exactly a profile you're eager to lock in at 1B/DH.  It is a little odd that no one believes in the bat or glove a bit more to make that signing happen though.

[Stratos]

57 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I think the bear case for Canha is that he's more or less a 1B/DH, and at his age the optimistic outcome is repeating 2024(an OBP-heavy league average line), which isn't exactly a profile you're eager to lock in at 1B/DH.  It is a little odd that no one believes in the bat or glove a bit more to make that signing happen though.

Yeah well below average power for a 1B/DH plus corner OF is a tough sell, especially for the Cubs.

[Rcal10]

9 hours ago, Stratos said:

Yeah well below average power for a 1B/DH plus corner OF is a tough sell, especially for the Cubs.

Cubs bench was terrible last year. If they can sign someone who puts up numbers better than league average for a bench bat, for not a lot of money, how is this not a good idea? Not every move has to be for a starter. We are talking about adding one guy at less than $5M to fill in for Busch occasionally against a rough lefty. Maybe also DH once in a while if Tucker moves to center to give PCA a day off. No, he isn’t going to be counted in as a key piece to the team, but it would be nice to have one above average bat in the bench.

[17 Seconds]

cerami says the cubs signed turner

[chibears55]

Just now, 17 Seconds said:

cerami says the cubs signed turner

https://x.com/Michael_Cerami/status/1891860150140506187?t=pBd-6BemOVJ-x9m8pzbHwQ&s=19

[CubinNY]

Given the team structure, the bench is a little less relevant. The bench is in Iowa for any player who will go on the IL for a longer term. 

[Jason Ross]

Turner offers something the team just didn't really have - someone who is RHH and can play 1b. I suspect any long term injury to Busch or Suzuki will see the Cubs promote Caissie as a LHH compliment to Turner, but Turner gives a RHH handcuff. 

Chance at 40 he's just cooked - this happens with this age where they just show up done. But likely one year deal, and he was good enough last year to make you think he's got another 105-110 wRC+ in the tank in 150-200 curated PAs.

[Derwood]

I’m pretty meh about Turner. 

[Rcal10]

1 minute ago, Derwood said:

I’m pretty meh about Turner. 

He isn’t someone to get overly excited about. But who would be as a bench bat. I think he is about the best they could have gotten. 

[squally1313]

I think the conversation about Canha probably looking for a starting role applied to Turner too...he's had over 500 PAs every healthy year for a while now. Either he wants a lesser role, he exhausted his options as a potential starter somewhere (or, a combination of the two, he didn't want to go start for like, the White Sox)....or we made some promises about more starts/PAs than maybe we were anticipating here. 30 games off for PCA, 30 games off for Busch, 40 games off for Shaw, etc. Who knows. 

[chibears55]

Dave Kaplan says it for 6 mil.(Turner).

He'll be primary a backup for Shaw and Busch, two young players, so hopefully he'll provide more coaching for them then actually filling in throughout the season. 

 Bench is pretty much set then with Kelly, Turner, Berti, and Canario.

Id still like to see them add another lefty to the pen,  maybe they'll add Chafin to the same deal.

 

[CubinNY]

1 minute ago, chibears55 said:

Dave Kaplan says it for 6 mil.(Turner).

He'll be primary a backup for Shaw and Busch, two young players, so hopefully he'll provide more coaching for them then actually filling in throughout the season. 

 Bench is pretty much set then with Kelly, Turner, Berti, and Canario.

Id still like to see them add another lefty to the pen,  maybe they'll add Chafin to the same deal.

 

He's not playing 3rd

[squally1313]

6 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

He's not playing 3rd

Agreed. I said something about him taking Shaw's spot above but looking deeper into where/how he played the last couple years, his days at 3B are over. 

I wonder if there's a chance we see him as more of a short side of a platoon with PCA? Busch had a 103 wRC against LHPs last year, so maybe they're more comfortable letting him start every day regardless of the pitcher. Sit PCA against lefties, give Suzuki the time in the outfield he obviously still wants, in those games PCA becomes a pinch running/pinch hit bunt thread/defensive replacement. Against righty starters, Turner is your standard first bat off the bench against lefty relievers for Busch, PCA, Amaya, maybe even a struggling Shaw/Swanson/Hoerner. 

[Rcal10]

2 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Agreed. I said something about him taking Shaw's spot above but looking deeper into where/how he played the last couple years, his days at 3B are over. 

I wonder if there's a chance we see him as more of a short side of a platoon with PCA? Busch had a 103 wRC against LHPs last year, so maybe they're more comfortable letting him start every day regardless of the pitcher. Sit PCA against lefties, give Suzuki the time in the outfield he obviously still wants, in those games PCA becomes a pinch running/pinch hit bunt thread/defensive replacement. Against righty starters, Turner is your standard first bat off the bench against lefty relievers for Busch, PCA, Amaya, maybe even a struggling Shaw/Swanson/Hoerner. 

I think he ends up with 250-300 PA Between maybe 10 off days for every outfielder/DH and filling in for Busch against tougher lefties and maybe 7-10 games at 3rd he could be in the lineup 3 days a week. I agree if there is an injury that takes someone out and puts them on the IL, most likely a minor league guy will fill that spot. But even so, there is going to be enough opportunities for Turner to step to the plate 250-300 times IMO. 

[gflore34]

I believe there's a strong chance Turner is cooked, then what?

[Jason Ross]

In terms of playing time, I'm assuming that the goal is to have Turner get  around 250 PA's or a bit less. He got 114 PA's against LHP last year and that's probably going to be on the high end of how many he picks up in Chicago. I don't think the Cubs envision him picking up more than 150, against RHP on the year. 

He probably will not be used as a primary starting player, regardless of any single injury - it would probably require more of a rash of injuries for him to get that kind of action. Instead, I suspect he'll be used more as a RHH to fill in at 1b/DH against tough lefties and to spell someone in the lineup from time to time. 

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, gflore34 said:

I believe there's a strong chance Turner is cooked, then what?

Then you release him. He's on a one year, $6m deal and the Cubs are under the LT still by leaps and bounds. 

[Bertz]

1 minute ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Then you release him. He's on a one year, $6m deal and the Cubs are under the LT still by leaps and bounds. 

If Turner's cooked he's probably going to hit a lot like Jon Berti or Carson Kelly, coincidentally the two guys who'd get that playing time of we didn't bother signing Turner to start with.

[CubinNY]

22 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

I believe there's a strong chance Turner is cooked, then what?

The six million dollar man. We can rebuild him, make him stronger, faster...

Edited February 18, 2025 by CubinNY

[Outshined_One]

23 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Then you release him. He's on a one year, $6m deal and the Cubs are under the LT still by leaps and bounds. 

Plus, by the time you release him, you'll know if any of the AAA kiddos are ready, or if a trade will be needed to replace his spot on the bench.

[Tryptamine]

The bench badly needed this.  Go out and snag Cease then I'll bow down and ask for Jed's forgiveness.

[Stratos]

Nice to have Turner as DH/1B backup and able to let guys like Long, Ballesteros, Caissie etc get more time in AAA.

The age risk is big so it's a gamble but I guess the choices were slim at this point.

Let's keep adding.

 

[Bull]

This will never happen, but I’d love them to go trade disgruntled DHs with Boston. Devers plays 3B 60% of the time, DHs 40%, while Shaw picks up that 40% and 40% at 2B letting both Hoerner and Dansby rest or DH. Give or take 10% here or there.