Rob
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Everything posted by Rob
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The opt-out isn't always last day of spring training. Sometimes there's another month or two on it.
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It depends on the jurisdiction. Most places, there's no statute of limitations on murder. Some places, that's also true of sex crimes or crimes against children. And because this is America, in some places bouncing a check doesn't have a statute of limitations.
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Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Personally, I'd be more inclined to grab a left-handed batter with some thump instead of Cooper (or Wisdom). If Tauchman is in LF until Happ gets healthy, having Mastrobuoni as the only lefty on the bench is a rough spot. Peralta/Smith/Mervis might make sense in that respect, and they could also slot in as DH for bad matchups.
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Only if all the winners get temporary bans. -
Guess what a guy who used to play for the Cubs did this time...
Rob replied to SeldomSeen's topic in General Baseball Talk
For those of us without an instagram, why are we specifically avoiding his? -
Sad to see the current writers lose their jobs, but that site was a shell of its former (sometimes glorious) self. I need more articles about A.J. Daulerio getting high on LSD and trying to throw a no-hitter in a video game.
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Maybe a little bit too soon to declare Boras lost the offseason... Snell's value just jumped with that news.
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Yeah, historically you've still been able to play these guys in major league camp. I don't remember how it's typically done, and it may be more of a thing when there's split-squad games. But you definitely didn't imagine it. The only thing surprising about PCA getting sent down was the timing. He'd have needed to come out firing on all cylinders to have a chance to make the roster in the immediate aftermath of the Bellinger signing. Once that happened, he was ticketed for AAA. I thought they'd want to keep him up and challenge him against major league pitching a bit longer, though.
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I thought about that, but I've meant to do that multiple years and always forgot to post closer to the deadline.
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Any new, up-and-coming Cubs writers you're following?
Rob replied to Brock Beauchamp's topic in Chicago Cubs Talk
I don't know about current up and coming bloggers, but you ought to be begging TT to start writing longform articles. -
C - Adley Rutschman ($75) 1B - Matt Olson ($200) 2B - Mookie Betts ($150) 3B - Rafael Devers ($100) SS - Bobby Witt Jr. ($100) LF - Yordan Alvarez ($100) CF - Aaron Judge ($150) RF - Fernando Tatis Jr. ($75) DH - Mike Trout ($50) Total - $1,000 Will PM with Bench players.
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I'm still convinced he might have had a little something left in the tank (after all, even a dead cat bounce from a .115 BABIP will help considerably). But I can't blame him for calling it quits after a season like 2023 -- he probably wasn't getting offers worth anywhere near what he perceives his worth to be. And he's got generational wealth at this point.
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AAA has a weird mix, but it's usually "pick one" of major league velocity or major league control. There's plenty of guys down there with a cannon and trouble locating. It can also help him work on swing decisions.
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I think "can't miss prospects" has been driven out of the lexicon. Rather, there's a lot more focus now on "high floor" prospects, "MLB-ready" prospects, and "low risk" prospects (with the implicit caveat that that last category is referring to relative risk, rather than absolute risk.)
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Yeah, Happ is good. But between Tauchman, PCA, Canario, etc... we're not missing a ton if he goes down for a couple series. We've got a lot of capable OF guys.
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That's a steal. I wish we had signed him to that contract.
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Pretty much zero chance it's Madrigal. Health permitting, he's probably in line to rack up a plurality of innings at 3B this season. It's probably Thompson DFA'd. If we're looking at position players, I think Mervis is most likely.
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- cody bellinger
- matt mervis
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It's not even the arm that's the issue. He's got a 60, maybe even a 70 grade arm -- blasted thing is a cannon. Rather, his problem is the mechanics and accuracy. It's like having yips-era Chuck Knoblauch firing across the diamond.
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It's an awkward setup right now. Mervis could have a shot at starting the season as our DH. But to do so, he needs to have a big spring (unlikely), PCA needs to be in AAA (probable), and Morel needs to be capable of faking it at 3B (less probable). There are additional factors to consider -- Dom Smith could rediscover whatever voodoo magic led to his 2020 season. Patrick Wisdom could have an April like he did last year. Maybe a nagging injury moves one of our regulars to DH for a bit. Etc... There's factors in his favor too. But he's really gonna have to thread the needle to snag any playing time early on. I just don't see it.
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My post covered the potential downside, the potential upside, and ended with the conclusion that I liked the deal. It's literally no different than saying about any player "he's injury prone, but they're mostly fluke injuries and if he stays healthy he could easily be worth this." Don't get bent out of shape. I'm not trashing the deal.
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The David Peralta contract did that.
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Bellinger's signing makes it so that only one of Busch/PCA needs to take a step forward, which is nice. I'm wondering now if it doesn't make sense to start getting Busch a bunch of reps at 3B as well, in case the Morel experiment fails miserably.
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ZiPS has Bellinger's projection at .267/.327/.441 and 2.7 fWAR. If he does that, he's worth something like $20-25M per season, depending on the $/WAR figure you use. So this $80M guarantee is probably a bit high. It would, of course, be worthwhile if he's showing the skills to outperform his projections. But if he's doing that, he's also opting out. So in the event we actually pay out the $80M, it's quite possible we are "wasting" like half of that money due to injuries or underperformance. But I have always maintained that it is incredibly hard to have an albatross of a short-term contract. And Bellinger has the physical tools and upside (and health) that might enable him to vastly exceed the projections. The risk/reward ratio here feels about right, and since I don't have to worry about this thing for the next 6-8 years, I'm reasonably happy with the signing.
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No, now we get to complain about the people who were complaining about Jed.
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Dom Smith is nothing for anybody. If he's not mashing he stands in nobody's way.
