Mooney: Cubs sign Justin Turner

[Rcal10]

8 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Yeah on February 19th you'd probably love to throw a pile of cash his way, enough to get him comfortable with being a 5th outfielder at best. But he's done enough to warrant more PAs and went and got that opportunity. Go trade for him in a couple months if need be. 

Would he have cost that much had the Cubs not released him. I know it is hindsight and am not ripping Jed for not keeping him. I am just saying how things played out he would have been a good fit now. 

[squally1313]

Just now, Rcal10 said:

Would he have cost that much had the Cubs not released him. I know it is hindsight and am not ripping Jed for not keeping him. I am just saying how things played out he would have been a good fit now. 

Forgot he didn't have the 6 years of service time, good call, probably would have been $2m-$2.5m? 

I get your point but also think they're leaning towards a second bench person with the ability to play 3B/SS/2B, especially given Hoerner's health status and Shaw having 0 PAs. Having Shaw/Dansby/Hoerner/Berti to cover three positions feels a little thin.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I still don't think Tauchman is much of a fit for this roster, generally the LHH bats are in the OF and the RHH bats are in the IF, so a LHH 2B/3B will get much more mileage.  Hopefully that's Workman, but also in the alternate case they did bring in 2 bench players(Turner and Berti) that are much more split neutral than the typical bench player.

[Post Count Padder]

2 hours ago, BigbadB said:

Workman hasn't played an inning above AA ball. He's probably better off if the Cubs make some sort of trade official and dumping him to AAA where he can hit everyday rather than rotting on the bench as a little used lefty bat. Or just return him to Detroit and find a lefty hitting INF/OF option.

Yeah this is what I've been saying for awhile. I like Workman quite a bit and he's already a solid defender but it makes little sense for him to be on the roster now. I really would like to work out a deal to keep him and stash him in Iowa.

And I like Canario a lot too but it is notable how RH our bench is. Maybe we could package him and one of Merryweather/Thompson for a lefty or switch-hitting OF.

[Bertz]

Canario is getting DFAd for Turner

So PCA does not get a platoon partner.  Berti's the backup CF until Alcantara comes up full time.

[Jason Ross]

This felt pretty likely. The Cubs never seemed to overly love Canario and couldn't figure out what to do with him. 

For his sake I hope someone like the A's or the White Sox or another OF'er needy team grabs him. 

[squally1313]

12 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Canario is getting DFAd for Turner

So PCA does not get a platoon partner.  Berti's the backup CF until Alcantara comes up full time.

Could Turner be his platoon partner? 

[Bertz]

3 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Could Turner be his platoon partner? 

I think that would require Tucker regularly playing CF.  Doesn't seem unreasonable but we haven't heard anything to that effect yet AFAIK.

[squally1313]

8 minutes ago, Bertz said:

I think that would require Tucker regularly playing CF.  Doesn't seem unreasonable but we haven't heard anything to that effect yet AFAIK.

Yeah I forgot just how little he's played there. Seems like it would be easier in Wrigley than in Houston but still hasn't touched the position in a few years. Would solve the Seiya 'complaints', gives you a lineup that, besides Shaw and with Kelly, would be filled entirely with above average hitters v LHP based on 2024 results. 

If you can get Tucker on board (and maybe sell it as something that he could point to in his free agency), maybe it's Turner for PCA against LHPs in Wrigley, Turner for Busch on the road against LHPs. 

[Bertz]

1 minute ago, squally1313 said:

Yeah I forgot just how little he's played there. Seems like it would be easier in Wrigley than in Houston but still hasn't touched the position in a few years. Would solve the Seiya 'complaints', gives you a lineup that, besides Shaw and with Kelly, would be filled entirely with above average hitters v LHP based on 2024 results. 

If you can get Tucker on board (and maybe sell it as something that he could point to in his free agency), maybe it's Turner for PCA against LHPs in Wrigley, Turner for Busch on the road against LHPs. 

It won't happen, but I'd play Seiya in CF against some lefties.  I've always heard that CF is the easiest position on the diamond if you have the requisite athleticism.  Seiya does, and that would get him more in the field time to hopefully keep him as happy as possible.

[Post Count Padder]

Absolutely not a fan of losing Canario for nothing. He's still a useful player who was a good prospect. Hopefully they can get something for him but I worry as with Arias we'll get "cash" for PTR. 

Edited February 20, 2025 by Post Count Padder

[KCCub]

 

 

[Backtobanks]

6 hours ago, Bertz said:

I think that would require Tucker regularly playing CF.  Doesn't seem unreasonable but we haven't heard anything to that effect yet AFAIK.

I'm not sure Turner even brought a mitt with him to spring training.

[Rcal10]

Any chance the Cubs send Canario to the Tigers for a Workman? If that did happen does Workman have to be in the 40 man roster? 

[Post Count Padder]

17 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Any chance the Cubs send Canario to the Tigers for a Workman? If that did happen does Workman have to be in the 40 man roster? 

I suppose that's a possibility though it might still feel like losing Canario for nothing. I think we would technically return Workman to the Tigers and they would trade him to us. He would then not require a 40 man spot. I assume the reason they haven't tried a trade for his rights is they're still seeing if he could help the bench right away (basically if they think he will need a 40 man spot anyway).

[Rcal10]

1 minute ago, Post Count Padder said:

I suppose that's a possibility though it might still feel like losing Canario for nothing. I think we would technically return Workman to the Tigers and they would trade him to us. He would then not require a 40 man spot. I assume the reason they haven't tried a trade for his rights is they're still seeing if he could help the bench right away (basically if they think he will need a 40 man spot anyway).

Right, your scenerio is what I am suggesting. I just don’t see Workman being on the 26 man roster all year. It would make sense, if the Cubs like him, to figure out how to get him here and not have to have him on the 40 man. If giving him back to the Tigers and then trading Canario does that it might make sense. 

[Manny Trillos Brother]

The CHGO guys don't seem to be happy at all with DFA'ing Canario. They are kind of downplaying injury concerns and saying we should have traded him last year. Am I missing something? I'm just not too upset about this.

[squally1313]

9 minutes ago, Manny Trillos Brother said:

The CHGO guys don't seem to be happy at all with DFA'ing Canario. They are kind of downplaying injury concerns and saying we should have traded him last year. Am I missing something? I'm just not too upset about this.

I mean, knowing what we know now about his complete arc as a Cub, of course there were better times to try and trade him for value. But that's a dumb road to go down. He got passed by PCA and Alcantara, the corner spots didn't open up, and he ran out of time. It happens. 

[Jason Ross]

18 minutes ago, Manny Trillos Brother said:

The CHGO guys don't seem to be happy at all with DFA'ing Canario. They are kind of downplaying injury concerns and saying we should have traded him last year. Am I missing something? I'm just not too upset about this.

I think they're being dramatic. Even last year, his value was pretty limited. He was returning from a pretty devastating injury, all while striking out 28% of the time with low contact% numbers in Iowa, undoing the 2022 progress. No one was going to give up much for that. His peak value was in that short time between 2022 and when he got hurt in winter league, but even then the contact% increase was iffy to continue and you'd really want to see it a bit longer than he flashed that skill. 

[Bertz]

8 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

I mean, knowing what we know now about his complete arc as a Cub, of course there were better times to try and trade him for value. But that's a dumb road to go down. He got passed by PCA and Alcantara, the corner spots didn't open up, and he ran out of time. It happens. 

Sharma at one point said they were planning to trade him the winter of '22/'23 but when he had that gruesome winterball injury that obviously scuttled things.

[Manny Trillos Brother]

This is exactly where I'm at on it. If we get to a point this year where we are kicking ourselves for DFA-ing a guy who was a good prospect two years ago, we were toast well before that time.

[sweetpeteman]

On 2/20/2025 at 1:53 PM, Post Count Padder said:

Absolutely not a fan of losing Canario for nothing. He's still a useful player who was a good prospect. Hopefully they can get something for him but I worry as with Arias we'll get "cash" for PTR. 

 

And you were right: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/02/mets-to-acquire-alexander-canario-from-cubs.html

[Post Count Padder]

35 minutes ago, sweetpeteman said:

 

And you were right: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/02/mets-to-acquire-alexander-canario-from-cubs.html

I horsefeathers hate it. 

[Jason Ross]

I think we should probably consider the things that are being traded here in exchange for these players. The Mets already have a pretty full outfield - they have Soto, Nimmo and Siri. They also have Jesse Winker (who's probably more of a DH but can moonlight in the OF). They have Jeff McNeil who can play corner OF. They have Tyrone Taylor and Starling Marte. And to get Canario, they paid cash. 

If Canario had value in a trade, an OF needy team would have given something up for him. Instead, a team who isn't OF needy on paper traded just cash for him. 

Probably a good reminder that Canario just isn't viewed very highly in Chicago (they have given him little chance to earn a spot, then they DFA'd him) nor around the league. And likely for cause.

[Bertz]

8 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

I think we should probably consider the things that are being traded here in exchange for these players. The Mets already have a pretty full outfield - they have Soto, Nimmo and Siri. They also have Jesse Winker (who's probably more of a DH but can moonlight in the OF). They have Jeff McNeil who can play corner OF. They have Tyrone Taylor and Starling Marte. And to get Canario, they paid cash. 

If Canario had value in a trade, an OF needy team would have given something up for him. Instead, a team who isn't OF needy on paper traded just cash for him. 

Probably a good reminder that Canario just isn't viewed very highly in Chicago (they have given him little chance to earn a spot, then they DFA'd him) nor around the league. And likely for cause.

The Royals and Marlins both passing on a free outfielder speaks volumes.