Screw Winter Doldrums! The Get a Big Bat and Call It an Offseason Thread

[Tryptamine]

Yes, god forbid the Cubs start throwing their supposed financial strength around, the one thing that gives them an advantage. Meanwhile MLB is trying to think of more ways to throw as many extra draft picks at the supposedly poor teams as possible

[Hot Sauce]

2 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

To quote John Candy in Stripes," But that's me, I'm an aggressive gambler, Mr. Vegas". I would sign Gallen and Bo and then strut around like Vince McMahon at the WWE compound whenever I saw another division rival's GM. 

And this will be all of us when Jed signs Gallen, then Bichette, then Tucker...

[Bertz]

Bellinger feels to me like a "yeah it can work now" move than any sort of plan A or frankly even a plan B.  Like it's certainly better than sitting on the money, and it does help with Happ and Seiya hitting FA next winter.  But in my mind a big benefit to specifically using Caissie to acquire Cabrera was clearing up the OF/DH mix.  Bellinger not only undoes that but makes it worse.

[Rcal10]

41 minutes ago, chibears55 said:

Hey if all else fails and they dont land one of the 4 big bats, they can always get Bader 👀 Or bring back Tauchman. 

Don’t they need a utility infielder? That is why Bichette makes so much sense. Shaw moves to utility.

[Connor McConnor]

1 hour ago, chibears55 said:

I think this could be Hoyers plan A right now as they do need a RFer which would allow them to keep Suzuki as DH and ease Mo into it all, and also allow them to keep him in Iowa and work on his catching. 

Bichette is probably plan B and maybe they work with Shaw in the OF to give him/them a little more flexibility.

I think Bregman looking for at least 30 mil which would be too much for the Cubs if the plan is to stay under the Threshold. 

I just dont see Bellinger wanting to return unless of course the price is right and like Bregman, I dont see the Cubs offering more than 25 to anyone unless they go over the Threshold. 

  4 hours ago,  17 Seconds said:

i want tucker back pretty badly

For what it's worth:

"Similarly, a return to Chicago doesn’t seem to be in the cards, because for as good a season as he had as a Cub, Tucker really didn’t seem to enjoy hitting in Wrigley Field, where his slugging percentage was 129 points lower than it was on the road."

From this article:

https://www.mlb.com/news/which-team-needs-kyle-tucker-most

Edited January 8 by Connor McConnor

[chibears55]

38 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Don’t they need a utility infielder? That is why Bichette makes so much sense. Shaw moves to utility.

They do and im hoping for Bichette, just saying if they don't get him or the other 3, they could get one of them  and another utility guy.

Bichette and Tucker are my 1 and 2 choices

[chibears55]

20 minutes ago, Connor McConnor said:

 

  4 hours ago,  17 Seconds said:

i want tucker back pretty badly

For what it's worth:

"Similarly, a return to Chicago doesn’t seem to be in the cards, because for as good a season as he had as a Cub, Tucker really didn’t seem to enjoy hitting in Wrigley Field, where his slugging percentage was 129 points lower than it was on the road."

From this article:

https://www.mlb.com/news/which-team-needs-kyle-tucker-most

Ehhh, that the writer's opinion, WF could be ass or friendly at any given time because of the wind, who to say this year it wont be better.

If the Cubs offer a better contract then any other good team, im sure hed consider returning. 

[ILMindState]

 

[Cuzi]

A bidding war for Bellinger.

[Dfan25]

Steele agreed to a deal for his 26 salary ( 6.775 ). Haven’t seen anything on Asad and Cabrera 

Edited January 8 by Dfan25

[CubUgly]

4 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

Now that we can check off adding a quality starting pitcher my ideal ending to the off season would be:

Trade Tailon

Sign Gallen

Sign Bichette.

That would take them over the first LT line, but they would have enough money to spend at the tdl to add without going to the next level. This would lessen the issue with guys leaving next year. As a major market they should be able to spend beyond that line every so often. TBH, Tom never said they won’t go over. He has said every dollar of revenue the team brings in he spends on the team. It just so happens to conveniently come in right under the LT. 🤢 But if what he says is true he shouldn’t have a problem going over this year. Saved a lot last year and they had 5 home playoff games. So he has more money. Spend it.

FYI, I know this won’t happen. But to me it is an awesome, doable off season. Next year they have Shaw and Bichette at 2nd and 3rd, Mo is the DH and they need 2 outfielders and probably another pitcher. They would have a rotation of Cabrera, Horton, Steele, Gallen and probably Wiggins. Gallen and Bichette replace Tailon and Hoerner now instead of waiting. And they get one year of Hoerner with Bichette. They lose Happ, Suzuki, Imanaga, Boyd, Kelly and Hoerner next year. Pretty sure they can be under the LT while still adding decent pieces to the team. Maybe even bring back Suzuki or Happ.

Not necessarily a fan of the moves you suggest, but I agree they need to get past their self-imposed ban of going over the first level of the LT.  I still don't think they will do it, but I'd love if they would prove me wrong. 

[Thusly Boned]

I'd just be shocked if Bellinger doesn't end up back with the Yankees. They need him, all indications are he loves it there, and the ballpark is a perfect fit.

And he's now on the wrong side of 30, and I don't think he produces like he did last year virtually anywhere else. If there is a bidding war, I don't want any part of it.

Edited January 8 by Thusly Boned

[Dfan25]

I know Cerami said the interest is legit , but i am mostly ignoring the Bellinger stuff . Not going to happen .

Edited January 8 by Dfan25

[Hortonhearsawho]

Bellinger makes more sense than Tucker because he's going to cost half as much. Yankees probably still resign him if they really want him back badly as reported but I'm not super surprised that the Cubs are checking in on him. 

[Tryptamine]

5 minutes ago, Hortonhearsawho said:

Bellinger makes more sense than Tucker because he's going to cost half as much. Yankees probably still resign him if they really want him back badly as reported but I'm not super surprised that the Cubs are checking in on him. 

There was an article a few days ago that said there's more demand for Bellinger than Tucker right now because of his versatility.

[Hortonhearsawho]

Just now, Tryptamine said:

There was an article a few days ago that said there's more demand for Bellinger than Tucker right now because of his versatility.

The demand is there because of the price tag. How many teams can afford to give Tucker over 300M? 2? But a lot more teams could afford to give Belli 140M.

[chibears55]

Steele and Cubs avoid Arb and agree on 1 yr 6.77 mil

[Rcal10]

43 minutes ago, Hortonhearsawho said:

Bellinger makes more sense than Tucker because he's going to cost half as much. Yankees probably still resign him if they really want him back badly as reported but I'm not super surprised that the Cubs are checking in on him. 

His annual is not going to be half of Tucker. Probably only $6M to $8M less. 

[mul21]

1 minute ago, Rcal10 said:

His annual is not going to be half of Tucker. Probably only $6M to $8M less. 

Total dollars are likely to be half, not AAV.

[Bertz]

Assad getting a team option is....interesting.  I feel like you usually only see multi-year arb deals with stars, where the team either wants to futz with the LT or at least just lock in some cost certainty.  Assad was projected for $1.9M...short of like a Cy Young season he probably wouldn't crack $5M next year.

I think this is a sign he's on the trade block.

 

[Rcal10]

5 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Assad getting a team option is....interesting.  I feel like you usually only see multi-year arb deals with stars, where the team either wants to futz with the LT or at least just lock in some cost certainty.  Assad was projected for $1.9M...short of like a Cy Young season he probably wouldn't crack $5M next year.

I think this is a sign he's on the trade block.

 

I would guess he is, but what can they really get for him? To me, trading Rea makes more sense because it lowers the payroll. Gives them room to sign Bichette, Bergman or Bellinger. 

[Post Count Padder]

2 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I would guess he is, but what can they really get for him? To me, trading Rea makes more sense because it lowers the payroll. Gives them room to sign Bichette, Bergman or Bellinger. 

It's not a lot of room but it's something. Rea did the job last year but he and a healthy Assad are redundant. Especially with Brown, Wicks, Wiggins, etc back there and Steele coming back, there's not really room for both and our depth is decent.

[Post Count Padder]

Quote

The Yankees have made multiple offers to Cody Bellinger in recent weeks. Brendan Kuty of The Athletic reports that the most recent had an average annual value north of $30MM. However, the sides are still held up on contract length.

Kuty writes that Bellinger’s camp continues to push for a seven-year contract.

 

[Bertz]

Steele and Assad pretty close to estimates, Cabrera got a nice little bump likely as a welcome gift/goodwill gesture.

[Rcal10]

6 hours ago, mul21 said:

Total dollars are likely to be half, not AAV.

I’m more concerned about annual than I am total. But, sure, Tucker’s total, if he gets a 10 year deal,  might be twice Bellinger if Bellinger gets 6 years. Maybe Belliger gets $160M and Tucker $320,000. Annually it is less that $6M a year.