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

[CubinNY]

16 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

The concern I have about being opportunistic and being the last team standing is that it could potentially hurt the Taillon trade market, and going into the year with Taillon as your 6th starter and past the second luxury tax tier seems like a less than ideal situation. But you also can't jump the gun on Taillon and risk being stuck with the Wicks/Brown/Assad carousel in the 5/6 slot. 

I think if they trade Tailon (which I wouldn't be for), it will be a straight dump and they will pay a portion of his salary for whatever they can get. There should be more than a few takers. But my hope is, if they get Gallen, they pull a Dodgers and everyone has a mystery injury at different times of the season so everyone is fresh come October. They are should walk through this division this year. 

Edited January 30 by CubinNY

[Geographyhater8888]

The return for Taillon would likely be a salary dump similar to Bellinger..

[Tryptamine]

1 hour ago, CubinNY said:

I think if they trade Tailon (which I wouldn't be for), it will be a straight dump and they will pay a portion of his salary for whatever they can get. There should be more than a few takers. But my hope is, if they get Gallen, they pull a Dodgers and everyone has a mystery injury at different times of the season so everyone is fresh come October. They are should walk through this division this year. 

Why would they have to pay Taillon's salary for "whatever they can get". If Taillon is a FA right now, he definitely gets the 18M he's due this year. If they ate salary I'd expect a legit prospect coming back.

[Bertz]

I would assume Cubs' interest was before McCormick and Carlson?

 

[Bertz]

That was a fun 15 minutes

 

[Dfan25]

Hays was never all that likely to sign with the Cubs . Cubs simply don’t have the AB available .
 

For that same reason Andujar will most likely go elsewhere as well . I suspect they are basically done with the roster , unless a creative deal with Gallen becomes realistic 
 

 

[Post Count Padder]

Yeah I wasn't sure Hays was an option recently. And now with McCormick and Carlson lined up against Alcantara for the bench I don't think it was going to be likely we give real money to another outfielder, barring an attempt to add a big bat at DH/RF and Hays does not fit that bill.

[Neuby]

That early Tyler Austin signing to Major league deal seems even weirder now that Andjuar ,Goldschmidt, and Ozuna  still don't have jobs. Scouting play by the front office.

[Post Count Padder]

Nico nor Shaw going to SF now. Arraez will be their 2B.

[Bertz]

On the one hand giving up the farm for Nico when Arraez is right there and cheap is probably a poor use of resources.

On the other hand unless they come down with Framber the Giants are basically having the offseason the most manic depressive people around here were convinced Jed was going to do.  And they're right in the thick of the WC3 mix, where marginal wins are at their most valuable.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Arraez is a career -13 defender at 2B, and the last 2 years in limited time it's been more like -18.  If you're gonna pretend defense is fake why not pay Suarez or a league average hitter that might hit more than 7 XBH in a full season so you have some offensive upside to go with your defensive catastrophe.  Heck tell Devers to do it, that guy loves moving around the infield

[CUBDOM4life]

Is SF really gonna roll with Arraez at 2b and Devers at 1st? There’s no way you can have those two play on the same side of the infield together. Would be very funny to watch 

[Post Count Padder]

2 minutes ago, CUBDOM4life said:

Is SF really gonna roll with Arraez at 2b and Devers at 1st? There’s no way you can have those two play on the same side of the infield together. Would be very funny to watch 

With Adames at SS and Chapman at 3B. Talk about a full spectrum of defensive competence in one infield.

[Gjfificifjdej]

Between having Arraez and that fat piece of horsefeathers Devers, can’t say I’ll be watching too many SF games lol

[chibears55]

13 hours ago, Dfan25 said:

Hays was never all that likely to sign with the Cubs . Cubs simply don’t have the AB available .
 

For that same reason Andujar will most likely go elsewhere as well . I suspect they are basically done with the roster , unless a creative deal with Gallen becomes realistic 
 

 

Andujar still can be a possibility if the Cubs do trade Shaw to Boston 

[Geographyhater8888]

Gallen on a short term deal with an opt out after this year would be an odd lateral move for the rotation assuming they dump Tailon. If they keep everyone you’re going over the second threshold for a guy who brings only a moderate amount of upside.

 

Edited February 1 by Geographyhater8888

[Rcal10]

30 minutes ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

Gallen on a short term deal with an opt out after this year would be an odd lateral move for the rotation assuming they dump Tailon. 

 

I agree. I think if they did sign Gallen, the opt out couldn’t be until after year two. It doesn’t make sense at one year. They would lose another pitcher after ‘26 and they lose the pick they got for Tucker to make that deal. Just doesn’t work for me if he leaves after 1. Honestly I would rather see a simpler deal like 3/$60M. Add a 4th for another $20M or a $5M opt out. Maybe that is a little high, but in order to know he won’t opt out, that is what they may need to do. Or if they aren’t sure in him, just pass on him all together. 

[17 Seconds]

9 hours ago, Gjfificifjdej said:

Between having Arraez and that fat piece of horsefeathers Devers, can’t say I’ll be watching too many SF games lol

what in the world

[Geographyhater8888]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

I agree. I think if they did sign Gallen, the opt out couldn’t be until after year two. It doesn’t make sense at one year. They would lose another pitcher after ‘26 and they lose the pick they got for Tucker to make that deal. Just doesn’t work for me if he leaves after 1. Honestly I would rather see a simpler deal like 3/$60M. Add a 4th for another $20M or a $5M opt out. Maybe that is a little high, but in order to know he won’t opt out, that is what they may need to do. Or if they aren’t sure in him, just pass on him all together. 

Which is the only possible way he’s a Cub if I were to bet. In the end the health of our high upside arms in Horton, Cabrera and Steele will be key in a playoff series. Boyd, Shota, Tailon, Assad and Rae will keep everyone fresh and will help us beat last place teams with a really strong backend of the rotation and we’ll have the edge in many pitching matchups.

That’s how you finish 54-24 vs sub 500 teams with a +160 RD.

Edited February 1 by Geographyhater8888

[Bertz]

I thought this was interesting.  More or less the Sox are banking on pitchers with plus command playing up in the ABS era.  I'm not totally convinced on that, I actually lean towards the opposite?  Won't ABS benefit pitchers who can more often win in-zone?  But it's interesting to consider the different sides.

What seems less ambiguous is that hitters with good plate discipline should get a bump.  I think that's good news for our already good offense.  In our everyday lineup we've got 6 guys whose plate discipline would range between good and excellent.  We all know about the Seiya strike but guys like Happ and Kelly Dansby all get a boost too IMO.

[Geographyhater8888]

Seems like Suzukis arm extention gives umps the illusion pitches off the plate are strikes.

Edited February 1 by Geographyhater8888

[Bertz]

I would assume this is Boston clearing money for their infield add.  So Geno Smith or Isaac Paredes?

[Jason Ross]

5 minutes ago, Bertz said:

I would assume this is Boston clearing money for their infield add.  So Geno Smith or Isaac Paredes?

I know you meant Geno Suarez, but I'm enjoying the idea of Geno Smith, Raiders QB starting for the Red Sox at 2b. 

[Bertz]

16 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

I know you meant Geno Suarez, but I'm enjoying the idea of Geno Smith, Raiders QB starting for the Red Sox at 2b. 

Raiders are looking to dump him and I bet they'd be happy to get back anything for him if the trade involved some salary relief.  Even guys that play a different sport.

[Jason Ross]

11 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Raiders are looking to dump him and I bet they'd be happy to get back anything for him if the trade involved some salary relief.  Even guys that play a different sport.

How many snaps did they run under center? Probably already has strong ground ball posture.