Winter Doldrums Thread

[JunkyardWalrus]

37 minutes ago, thawv said:

It's more than obvious that the front office is wrong with their beliefs.  Yes they want to win.  Nobody in their right mind would they that they don't WANT to win.  

 

Jed won't pay market price for wins. 

And they want to win enough to keep fans interested and Wrigley full. That’s the goal, not real contention for a World Series. 

[Geographyhater8888]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

I don’t agree that it is that simple a fact that stars win championships. Not in baseball. Nationals won a WS AFTER their “star” left the team. The Cubs had a star last year in Tucker but lost the division to the Brewers. Who is their star? Sure, the Dodgers have won the last several years but teams have gone far without superstars. Of all the major sports, baseball is the one where you don’t need superstar on the team to win. Or, another way to put it is “a superstar on a team doesn’t mean they will win”. How long was Trout the best player in baseball and not in the playoffs. The only superstars that won last year were house on the Dodgers. There are many superstars that did not win. 
While you might never have said they don’t want to win, you have repeatedly said they don’t try to win. And I disagree. They do try. I don’t necessarily like the way they go about it anymore than you do. But just because they don’t do it like you think they should doesn’t mean they aren’t trying.
Honestly we aren’t that far apart on our views. As a fan I hate the way they go about building a team. I get just as frustrated as you do when they don’t spend to get the big guy. But I stop short of saying they don’t try to win. They do, but in their terms. And I also don’t like their terms. 

The Nationals swapped Harper with Soto so I wouldn’t say they lacked star power. That’s not including Scherzer, Strasburg, Turner, Rendon and Zimmerman. The 2015 Royals are the last team that comes to mind that didn’t feature any real star talent. 
 

Outside of the 2023 Rangers who still rode the bat of their $300 million World Series MVP Corey Seager, catching lightening in a bottle with a bunch of scrappy guys like the 2005 whitesox or 2015 Royals is rare and will always remain that way.

Edited January 3 by Geographyhater8888

[Cuzi]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

I don’t agree that it is that simple a fact that stars win championships. Not in baseball. Nationals won a WS AFTER their “star” left the team.

Correction, after one of their stars left the team.

That 2019 Nationals team still had Juan Soto, Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner, Stephen Strasburg, and Max Scherzer. The Cubs dont have a single one of their equivalents.

Edited January 3 by Cuzi

[chibears55]

2 hours ago, thawv said:

It's more than obvious that the front office is wrong with their beliefs.  Yes they want to win.  Nobody in their right mind would they that they don't WANT to win.  

 

Yea they obviously want to win but in their own way....

Sadly it been this way for the Cubs since Free Agency started in 1975, they signed some free agents but their very first big major FA didn't come until 1987 and that took Andre Dawson giving them a blank contract which ended up being 500K.

Since the 2000s the only really big names they signed were Soriano Lester Heyward Darvish and Swanson.  Did i miss anyone? 

So, I dont know, maybe PK Wrigley haunts the Cubs owners in their sleep and scares them from spending money 🤷🤷🤷😅

CubsWay....  we want to win the cheapest way possible 😅😅

[Dfan25]

Now the Cubs are starting to get linked to guys like Lucas Giolito , Chris Bassit . 😂 Imagine losing Tucker , not adding any meaningful bats and having Lucas Giolito as your  big SP add . This after a playoff season . 
 

 

Edited January 3 by Dfan25

[Jason Ross]

14 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

Now the Cubs are starting to get linked to guys like Lucas Giolito , Chris Bassit . 😂 Imagine losing Tucker , not adding any meaningful bats and having Lucas Giolito as your  big SP add . This after a playoff season . 
 

 

They weren't really "linked" to them. Here's the only mention of those names from the Mark Feinsand article: 
 

Quote

A number of clubs were interested in Imai to varying degrees, but the Cubs seem to have been the most aggressive suitor after the Astros. That doesn’t mean Chicago will now pivot to one of the other top free-agent starters, as Ranger Suárez and Framber Valdez figure to cost significantly more than Imai -- who will earn between $18 million and 21 million in each of the next three seasons depending on performance bonuses and can opt out after 2026 and 2027.

Zac Gallen might be a better fit if the Cubs are intent on adding to the rotation, while Lucas Giolito, Chris Bassitt and Zack Littell also remain available in free agency.

Link

That's not really a report. That's just mentioning those guys are available. Maybe they'll sign Chris Bassitt or Lucas Giolito, but Mark's article isn't suggesting that's what the Cubs are doing so much as "these guys are also available free agents".

[We Got The Whole 9]

5 hours ago, thawv said:

I know you don't want to hear this or will agree with this, but they don't try to win.  They are a value signing team, and not the best player signing team.  They don't even try to hide it.  Jed has said that he's risk averse and he looks for value signings.  His actions very much confirm what he says.  Winning is just not important to the Cubs.  

Winning at all costs is not important to the Cubs, true. 

[Bertz]

Feinsand thinks the Padres are going to get Okamoto.  On the one hand it makes sense because they definitely don't need him to play any 3B, on the other hand Okamoto's bat sounds a bit fringey for 1B/COF?

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, Bertz said:

Feinsand thinks the Padres are going to get Okamoto.  On the one hand it makes sense because they definitely don't need him to play any 3B, on the other hand Okamoto's bat sounds a bit fringey for 1B/COF?

Seems like there's some skepticism out of Japan:

Quote

I think the Padres probably can't offer the kind of high salary that agent Boras would likely demand (15 million dollars per year = 2.3 billion yen). Even if the Padres were to make a formal offer, I'm personally predicting it would be around 5-7 million dollars (about 780 million yen to 1.1 billion yen) for 4-5 years.

-Translation 

Feels like Okamoto is going to be another one of these "no one knows" thing.

[We Got The Whole 9]

46 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

Now the Cubs are starting to get linked to guys like Lucas Giolito , Chris Bassit . 😂 Imagine losing Tucker , not adding any meaningful bats and having Lucas Giolito as your  big SP add . This after a playoff season . 
 

 

JFC the way some of you guys frame these mentions 

[Tryptamine]

Okamoto has to be finished by mid day on the 4th right? If so, we're almost certainly going hear something in the next few hours.

[Jason Ross]

2 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

Okamoto has to be finished by mid day on the 4th right? If so, we're almost certainly going hear something in the next few hours.

Toronto Blue Jays signed him

 

[Bertz]

I wonder if they're attempting this AND Tucker rather than Tucker OR Bichette/Bregman

[Tryptamine]

Just now, Jason Ross said:

Toronto Blue Jays signed him

 

Does this keep them out on Bichette now?

[Jason Ross]

Just now, Tryptamine said:

Does this keep them out on Bichette now?

Heard they think he can play LF. So maybe not. 

[Derwood]

5 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

Does this keep them out on Bichette now?

No. The Blue Jays are the Dodgers of the AL. They'll spend $500 million if it gets them a title

[Tryptamine]

What must it be like to know that no player is off limits. That you can look at a list of FAs and not have to skip half way down the page to find the guys that have any possibility of signing with your team.

Edited January 3 by Tryptamine

[Hortonhearsawho]

Tucker or Bellinger probably makes more sense for them then Bichette or especially Bregman but who knows with that team. 

[mk49]

I guess Tucker or Bellinger + Bichette or Bregman was too expensive, even for the Jays.  So, they went with Okamoto + one of those guys.

[chibears55]

1 hour ago, Dfan25 said:

Now the Cubs are starting to get linked to guys like Lucas Giolito , Chris Bassit . 😂 Imagine losing Tucker , not adding any meaningful bats and having Lucas Giolito as your  big SP add . This after a playoff season . 
 

 

That the route i figured they would take if they added SP, depth type guys.

Imanaga Taillon Boyd Horton Rea/Assad or someone in the middle lower tier addition thatll put Rea/Assad in the Pen.

Then eventually Steele will be back, I just don't feel like they will actually spend or trade for a top quality SP with already having a stable of starters on roster.

[thawv]

2 hours ago, Bertz said:

Feinsand thinks the Padres are going to get Okamoto.  On the one hand it makes sense because they definitely don't need him to play any 3B, on the other hand Okamoto's bat sounds a bit fringey for 1B/COF?

None of these guys know what they are talking about.  

[thawv]

1 hour ago, Tryptamine said:

What must it be like to know that no player is off limits. That you can look at a list of FAs and not have to skip half way down the page to find the guys that have any possibility of signing with your team.

It would be weird!!!  Every off season, I right down who I think the Cubs will be after.  I ALWAYS eliminate the top costing FA's.  It would be cool to have them on that list. 

[Backtobanks]

2 hours ago, thawv said:

It would be weird!!!  Every off season, I right down who I think the Cubs will be after.  I ALWAYS eliminate the top costing FA's.  It would be cool to have them on that list. 

Unfortunately, all of us go on and on for pages about the top FAs and pretending the Cubs will sign them.

[Rcal10]

2 hours ago, thawv said:

It would be weird!!!  Every off season, I right down who I think the Cubs will be after.  I ALWAYS eliminate the top costing FA's.  It would be cool to have them on that list. 

I ageee. And they should be in that list. But not only if their market craters. They should be on the list to win a bid. Unfortunately the Cubs havent won a bid in the high end market since the Theo was here. 

[morrisjon]

17 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I ageee. And they should be in that list. But not only if their market craters. They should be on the list to win a bid. Unfortunately the Cubs havent won a bid in the high end market since the Theo was here. 

Have we extended anyone of real significance since Happ & Nico 3 years ago? Not being able to sign top tier FA's and not being able to extend our core young players is not a great combination.