Cubs Pre-Offseason Mega Thread

[Jason Ross]

5 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

Someone who I trust very much has mentioned elsewhere that this probably isn't what went down. Nothing definitive but TIFWIW.

Backing up this:

 

[BKHoo]

Steve Miller hire - that is a solid upgrade.  Well done. 

[Bertz]

Thinking about Reid Detmers I'd love to nab the next Reid Detmers instead of paying retail for the current one.

Detmers was a pretty obvious breakout candidate: big stuff, top prospect pedigree, horrendous ERA not really backed up by peripherals.  And unlike say Ben Brown and his only two pitches there wasn't even some flimsy rationale for why Reid might stay an outlier in the wrong direction.

There's not as obvious of a Detmers out there currently, but there are some guys that catch my eye:

- Emmet Sheehan's about as close to a slam dunk as it gets.  That said he's obvious enough and the Dodgers rotation being full of glass cannons makes it feel like he'd be tough to match up on

- Zebby Mathews on the Twins is an interesting guy.  We're now at 250 innings over parts of three seasons of him drastically underperforming his peripherals.  But he throws hard, throws strikes, and while he didn't so much in '26 he's shown the ability to miss bats.  He needs a weapon to get lefties out, both his cutter and change are ass, but it feels like there's a pretty decent chance for a mid rotation starter and an obvious floor of late inning relief

- The A's have a guy I'd never heard of named Jack Perkins who I now really like.  Big time swing and miss, good stuff, throws enough strikes.  He got murdered by dongs this year, but that seems to be the dumb Sacramento ballpark.  He also has some big reverse splits.  I suspect there's a pretty simple "switch from a sweeper to a gyro slider and move to a legitimate ballpark" path to having a pretty damn good pitcher

[Rcal10]

8 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Thinking about Reid Detmers I'd love to nab the next Reid Detmers instead of paying retail for the current one.

Detmers was a pretty obvious breakout candidate: big stuff, top prospect pedigree, horrendous ERA not really backed up by peripherals.  And unlike say Ben Brown and his only two pitches there wasn't even some flimsy rationale for why Reid might stay an outlier in the wrong direction.

There's not as obvious of a Detmers out there currently, but there are some guys that catch my eye:

- Emmet Sheehan's about as close to a slam dunk as it gets.  That said he's obvious enough and the Dodgers rotation being full of glass cannons makes it feel like he'd be tough to match up on

- Zebby Mathews on the Twins is an interesting guy.  We're now at 250 innings over parts of three seasons of him drastically underperforming his peripherals.  But he throws hard, throws strikes, and while he didn't so much in '26 he's shown the ability to miss bats.  He needs a weapon to get lefties out, both his cutter and change are ass, but it feels like there's a pretty decent chance for a mid rotation starter and an obvious floor of late inning relief

- The A's have a guy I'd never heard of named Jack Perkins who I now really like.  Big time swing and miss, good stuff, throws enough strikes.  He got murdered by dongs this year, but that seems to be the dumb Sacramento ballpark.  He also has some big reverse splits.  I suspect there's a pretty simple "switch from a sweeper to a gyro slider and move to a legitimate ballpark" path to having a pretty damn good pitcher

Those sort of guys are exactly what I would hope the Cubs can get for Ramirez. Or maybe not even him. A guy with great stuff, some past pedigree, but who for whatever reason just hasn’t broke out yet. This is the sort of guy they need to “get lucky” with. Then they can go big with FA signing of pitching and maybe even get a quality bat instead of having to dumpster dive on platoon bats.

You know way more about these sort of guys so I will ask you, is Garrett someone who fits that bill? Did they already do this once? 

[Jason Ross]

3 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Those sort of guys are exactly what I would hope the Cubs can get for Ramirez. Or maybe not even him. A guy with great stuff, some past pedigree, but who for whatever reason just hasn’t broke out yet. This is the sort of guy they need to “get lucky” with. Then they can go big with FA signing of pitching and maybe even get a quality bat instead of having to dumpster dive on platoon bats.

You know way more about these sort of guys so I will ask you, is Garrett someone who fits that bill? Did they already do this once? 

Braxton Garrett would not be one of those on the surface. His fastball velocity sits under 92mph. He's not really a guy who's stuff jumps off the page.

He's a favorite of the pitching development side of things. He was a low-risk, controlled arm that the team wanted to get into the fold. I've heard they see parallels between what Garrett does as LHP and Steele. I wouldn't take that as Garrett = Steele, but that they have enough similarities in the shape of their fastball and arm slot that they like their chances of making him back into a viable MLB SP.

[Bertz]

4 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Braxton Garrett would not be one of those on the surface. His fastball velocity sits under 92mph. He's not really a guy who's stuff jumps off the page.

He's a favorite of the pitching development side of things. He was a low-risk, controlled arm that the team wanted to get into the fold. I've heard they see parallels between what Garrett does as LHP and Steele. I wouldn't take that as Garrett = Steele, but that they have enough similarities in the shape of their fastball and arm slot that they like their chances of making him back into a viable MLB SP.

Yeah Garrett's being slept on.  He was really good before his TJ and if you account for the run environment was really good in AAA this year.

I know we as a fanbase are sick of lefties who throw 92 but he's probably still another good one.  I'm just hoping we build up sufficient depth where he's out of necessity in the Colin Rea role to open the year.

[Jason Ross]

13 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Yeah Garrett's being slept on.  He was really good before his TJ and if you account for the run environment was really good in AAA this year.

I know we as a fanbase are sick of lefties who throw 92 but he's probably still another good one.  I'm just hoping we build up sufficient depth where he's out of necessity in the Colin Rea role to open the year.

Yeah, I don't hate Garrett. He's had some success and if the Cubs can use the fastball shape he has and reinvent him a little more into a Justin Steele type, you can find sneaky value there. I wouldn't enter with any "specific" expectations for him (like, I'm not handing him a rotation spot) but I'd group him in with the Javier Assad's and say "I've got one or two spots for you guys, battle it out in Spring Training" while the others sit in wait for the inevitable injuries. 

It's hard to find cheap starters who have some qualities you like. Cubs got him in early enough that they can give some directives before the lockout and that should probably help even more.

[We Got The Whole 9]

23 hours ago, muntjack said:

Wow, that would have been ideal.  For the addition of Wiggins you upgrade to a younger, better starter under control for multiple years.  It's a shame that didn't get done.  

It's a shame they really only have 1 arm even worthy of that conversation

[Stratos]

With the lockout looming it wouldn't be the ideal offseason to change pitching coaches.

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, Jason Ross said:

Braxton Garrett would not be one of those on the surface. His fastball velocity sits under 92mph. He's not really a guy who's stuff jumps off the page.

He's a favorite of the pitching development side of things. He was a low-risk, controlled arm that the team wanted to get into the fold. I've heard they see parallels between what Garrett does as LHP and Steele. I wouldn't take that as Garrett = Steele, but that they have enough similarities in the shape of their fastball and arm slot that they like their chances of making him back into a viable MLB SP.

Got it. So he doesn’t pass the “great stuff” criteria. But seems you and Bertz both feel he could be a sneaky good move. Honestly, if they add 2 great stuff higher end pitchers I am fine with seeing if Garrett can amount to something like what Steele was. Even 80% of Steele is a back end starter. As you said, you aren’t comparing them or expecting him to be that. But that is probably what he the Cubs are hoping for in that under the radar trade.