Winter Doldrums Thread

[CubinNY]

3 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Yeah I agree with you. They knew his number and figured he was worth the rental price and didnt even worry about making any overtures because they knew they werent close.

The offer is "come back to us if the contract terms are around X dollars for X years and we will see what we can do." 

[Derwood]

Ballesteros is a catcher in the same way Kyle Schwarber is a catcher

[Geographyhater8888]

Freddie freeman wasn’t a need for the Dodgers either. They had a perfectly capable Michael Busch. He was a luxury. Cubs aren’t interested in luxury. 

Edited January 6 by Geographyhater8888

[Outshined_One]

Someone just showed me the We Tried Tracker in case anyone was wondering how the Cubs stack up to other teams when it comes to the, "aw shucks, we made a competitive offer" game.

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, Bull said:

Cassie and Long for Cabrera. Who says no?

I think the Cubs would have to add someone like Brown, Assad or Wicks for this to work. If not one of them, maybe the Marlins would have an interest in a young prospect not currently ranked in the Cubs top 30. I don’t think Cassie and Long are enough. 

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, Bull said:

Cassie and Long for Cabrera. Who says no?

Double post.

Edited January 6 by Rcal10

[CubinNY]

1 hour ago, Derwood said:

Ballesteros is a catcher in the same way Kyle Schwarber is a catcher

That's not remotely true. 

[chibears55]

1 hour ago, Bull said:

I know I'll get some hate for this, but I don't see how he fits on the team if you really believe in Cassie and Ballesteros.

You've got a full catching tandem, so Ballesteros doesn't get 150 PAs there like he will in '27. He has to be a full-time DH in '26. 

Cassie will have to steal PA's from Seiya and Happ as it is. 

If you don't believe in Cassie and Ballesteros, trade them for their equivalents on the mound. (you'll probably not get full value)

I haven't even mentioned Alcantara and Long who are both 23. 

You do what good winning teams do, if you sign a star for multiple years then you trade the top ready assets that blocked for upgrades at other positions.

But in this scenario with the Cubs if they resigned Tucker, Caissie can still be a guy that can replace Happ in LF. 

[Derwood]

5 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

That's not remotely true. 

Get back to me in a year or two

 

[CubinNY]

3 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Get back to me in a year or two

 

I don't need to. All you need to do is look at the number of games he's caught in AAA. His problem, if you want to call it that, is that his bat is so advanced. And of course, the elephant in the room (no pun intended) is his weight. 

[thawv]

2 hours ago, BigbadB said:

End of the day, Jed clearly doesn't have a stack of pre-signed checks waiting for him to just fill in the blanks. He has to operate within the budget PTR dictates. What we are seeing is exactly that, IMO. 

What do we think the Cubs best offer for Tucker might have been while they had exclusive negotiating rights? Wonder how far off that number will be once he finally signs with someone? Sign Tucker and trade for a SP while keeping it below the LT and call it an offseason.

 

There's no question that he has a budget.  For the amount of money he's given to spend, he's done a pretty bad job.  He's given more than enough money to completely take control of that small market division.  When a president doesn't spend him money wisely, he runs out of money to spend.  

[thawv]

2 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

This is what I don’t understand. Why do you put everything on Jed, when it comes to this. You have said you don’t think Ricketts is cheap and if you owned the team you would put profits over winning. As a fan you want to win. So don’t you think this arbitrary payroll limit Tom puts on the team ties the hands of Hoyer a bit? And please don’t tell me how the Brewers win with far less payroll unless you want to hear how the Mets didn’t even make the playoffs, neither did the Astros, Giants or Diamondbacks. The Padres lost to the Cubs, the Yankees and Phillies lost in the same round as the Cubs,, all with higher payrolls. Plus for every Brewer team there are many teams with lower payroll to that don’t do well. On top of that just remember every year the entire NL central, except the Cubs, gets an extra pick in the amateur draft somewhere between 40th and 100th. Those are valuable. Cubs should have a higher payroll because that is their only advantage. Many teams on that above list don’t even have the resources the Cubs have. And while the Cubs do have a higher payroll than the rest of the central they don’t take advantage of their financial muscle. Basically Tom is choosing not to take advantage, fully, of the one advantage he has. That is 100% on ownership, not Jed. 
You will never hear me say Jed is great at his job. I just disagree with you when you suggest he sucks at it and everything he does is stupid. 

Of course it ties his hands.  That goes without saying. 

 

Do you think that 240 million is enough to own a small market division??  I certainly do.  So now it's back on Jed not spending properly.  It's not about how much he spends at all.  That wouldn't make any sense.  He has a large budget.  It's about HOW he spends the ton of money he's given.  And he still can't win this division.  

[Derwood]

12 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

I don't need to. All you need to do is look at the number of games he's caught in AAA. His problem, if you want to call it that, is that his bat is so advanced. And of course, the elephant in the room (no pun intended) is his weight. 

Yes, he has caught way more games in the minors than Schwarber did. He has also played 4 1/2 seasons in the minors compared to 1 1/2 for Schwarber

[Rcal10]

3 minutes ago, thawv said:

Of course it ties his hands.  That goes without saying. 

 

Do you think that 240 million is enough to own a small market division??  I certainly do.  So now it's back on Jed not spending properly.  It's not about how much he spends at all.  That wouldn't make any sense.  He has a large budget.  It's about HOW he spends the ton of money he's given.  And he still can't win this division.  

What does having $240M to spend have to do with a small market team? The Cubs don’t get the benefits of a small market team. They are a large market. There only advantage is to spend money. What makes you an expert on what is enough money to build a winner. The Mets spend over $100M more than the Cubs. What did they win? The league is filled with teams who spend more than the Cubs, many without the financial resources the Cubs have. How many of them had a better season than the Cubs? Enough about not winning the division. They won 92 games and when playing head to head with the Brewers over the regular season, won the series. They can’t control the Brewers winning 97 games. 
I just don’t understand how you put it all on Jed. Ricketts is choosing not to spend to win. 

[Rcal10]

2 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Yes, he has caught way more games in the minors than Schwarber did. He has also played 4 1/2 seasons in the minors compared to 1 1/2 for Schwarber

If I had to guess I would say Ballesteros will not be an everyday catcher or even a guy who plays 60 games a year behind the plate. But he is still very young and it is a little too early to definitely write him off. You are most likely going to end up right. But too early for me🤷

[Derwood]

4 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

If I had to guess I would say Ballesteros will not be an everyday catcher or even a guy who plays 60 games a year behind the plate. But he is still very young and it is a little too early to definitely write him off. You are most likely going to end up right. But too early for me🤷

My point is that I would not pencil him in as our backup Catcher if he makes the roster. Kelly/Amaya should be your primary catching duo

[Rcal10]

2 minutes ago, Derwood said:

My point is that I would not pencil him in as our backup Catcher if he makes the roster. Kelly/Amaya should be your primary catching duo

Absolutely. IMO, unless Cassie is traded Mo should spend all next year at AAA. Strictly working on his catching. Or if they realize he can’t do it, they may have to get him reps in left field. He can’t play first at 5 Ft 8 inches. Maybe he can hide in left. Could he be any slower than Keith Moreland, who played right field for the Cubs in the mid 80’s? 

[thawv]

22 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

What does having $240M to spend have to do with a small market team? The Cubs don’t get the benefits of a small market team. They are a large market. There only advantage is to spend money. What makes you an expert on what is enough money to build a winner. The Mets spend over $100M more than the Cubs. What did they win? The league is filled with teams who spend more than the Cubs, many without the financial resources the Cubs have. How many of them had a better season than the Cubs? Enough about not winning the division. They won 92 games and when playing head to head with the Brewers over the regular season, won the series. They can’t control the Brewers winning 97 games. 
I just don’t understand how you put it all on Jed. Ricketts is choosing not to spend to win. 

I don't know if you're missing the extremely clear point, or you just want to continue to challenge me.  

Our budget has not to do with small market teams.  Our budget is more than enough to win our division due to how much more money we spend. 

The Mets are a poorly run team also.  Spending foolishly almost certainly means they won't win.  There's your Mets.  And it's NOT about how much they spend.  It's about how they spend their money.  

Ricketts is most certainly choosing not to spend MORE to win.  Because winning is not important to him.  His actions scream that.  I'm of the belief that 240 million is more than enough for a good team president to win this small market division just about every year.  If I was Tom and saw that winning wasn't happening under Jed, I wouldn't spend more either.  He just doesn't spend the ton of money he has very wisely.  But since winning is not important to Tom, he gave an unsuccessful team president an extension.  That alone speaks volumes about how Tom feels about winning.  

So at the end of the day, we have an owner who doesn't care about winning, and a team president who doesn't know how to win. 

[Neuby]

https://www.beisbolfr.com/p/mlb-international-signing-period-a21

This is behind a paywall but it actually has the Cubs with 16 signings this  upcoming International period. 

 

Edited January 6 by Neuby

[Hot Sauce]

1 hour ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

Freddie freeman wasn’t a need for the Dodgers either. They had a perfectly capable Michael Busch. He was a luxury. Cubs aren’t interested in luxury. 

Freeman was signed a year before Busch made his ML debut.

[thawv]

50 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

I don't need to. All you need to do is look at the number of games he's caught in AAA. His problem, if you want to call it that, is that his bat is so advanced. And of course, the elephant in the room (no pun intended) is his weight. 

His bat is MLB ready, and his catching is AA.

[Neuby]

5 minutes ago, thawv said:

His bat is MLB ready, and his catching is AA.

Most 22 year old catchers have the same problem and just need reps. 

 

[Geographyhater8888]

Just now, Hot Sauce said:

Freeman was signed a year before Busch made his ML debut.

I mixed him up with Ohtani. My bad.

[Bertz]

34 minutes ago, Derwood said:

My point is that I would not pencil him in as our backup Catcher if he makes the roster. Kelly/Amaya should be your primary catching duo

Yeah I'd let Mo be the personal caddy to someone, Boyd probably, and let injury or (ideally) performance let him earn additional time behind the plate from there.

[Rcal10]

14 minutes ago, thawv said:

I don't know if you're missing the extremely clear point, or you just want to continue to challenge me.  

Our budget has not to do with small market teams.  Our budget is more than enough to win our division due to how much more money we spend. 

The Mets are a poorly run team also.  Spending foolishly almost certainly means they won't win.  There's your Mets.  And it's NOT about how much they spend.  It's about how they spend their money.  

Ricketts is most certainly choosing not to spend MORE to win.  Because winning is not important to him.  His actions scream that.  I'm of the belief that 240 million is more than enough for a good team president to win this small market division just about every year.  If I was Tom and saw that winning wasn't happening under Jed, I wouldn't spend more either.  He just doesn't spend the ton of money he has very wisely.  But since winning is not important to Tom, he gave an unsuccessful team president an extension.  That alone speaks volumes about how Tom feels about winning.  

So at the end of the day, we have an owner who doesn't care about winning, and a team president who doesn't know how to win. 

I’m done thawv. Your right the Cubs should win every year and failure to do so is all Jed’s fault. Happy?