Rob

I'm still not sure I'm ready for opening day. The Cubs won the World Series last year. All my life, I've waited for that to happen. And it feels like I've had so little time to properly enjoy it and really let it sink in. I guess they'll just have to do it again. Go Cubs !!

My reactions. Pitch clock: "Okay, I guess. They could probably stand to increase the pace a bit." Automatic IBB: "I don't really like this one. Some really memorable plays happen on these, however infrequently. Besides, an IBB is usually a sign that the tension is really high right now, and I like to savor those moments." Runner on 2B in Extra Innings: "What the heck is Manfred smoking? These are some of the best and most memorable games -- why ruin that?"

If Anderson shows he's healthy in ST I'm fine with him being the 5th starter and Monty starting the year in the pen Definitely not, Montgomery has to explicitly fail out of the rotation. Otherwise as things stand you're signing yourself up for having 2 incumbent SP after '17 with the benefit being that Anderson is hopefully a small bit better and doesn't have his arm fall off. I hate to say it, but I'd rather see Montgomery in the pen for the first month or two. He's maxed out around 150 IP in the minors, and only threw 100 IP last year. I'd rather he not be gassed at the end of the season when things actually matter -- it's not like we're projected to actually need him to win the division outright. Give Anderson the 5th SP gig out of spring training. Let him start while he's healthy. If by some miracle all of our starters are still healthy and effective when Montgomery is ready to transition back to starting, we can explore using a six man rotation or trading Anderson.

Wow. Such a shame.

He's definitely been mentioned and for good reason, but for me I don't know that I'd even bother trying to make him a starter anymore. I throw him in the pen and try and turn him into a closer. There was some talk about that with Arrieta too. I'm glad they gave him a few more months to prove what he could do.

No, that is not the only acceptable ballot. That's dumbass Joe Sheehan inflammatory rhetoric. People can discount time spent at DH or time spent in Coors or defensive metrics or whatever differently than you without being Murray Chass. ETA: I'd add Sosa and Sheffield to ensure they stay on the ballot, and drop Schilling because he's an horsefeathers and ain't getting in this year anyway, and Martinez because of a DH punishment. Fair enough. Let me rephrase: If you're a math nerd who doesn't care about PEDs or racism, that is the only acceptable ballot -- provided you aren't playing ballot triage in an attempt to get some lesser (but still deserving) candidates a real shot in a year or two. I will admit that there's definitely a need for the triage component. Some candidates who should have been very, very close (Brown, Lofton, Edmonds) have dropped off the ballot with little fanfare while people pretended Jack Morris was something other than a less effective version of Frank Tanana. I want to be receptive to the argument against Schilling solely for his being an awful human being. But this isn't a borderline candidate who broke some laws... His numbers are definitely HOF worthy and he hasn't done anything illegal. I don't see a way to keep him out of the Hall forever. But maybe he's the type who doesn't deserve to enjoy it while he's alive? I dunno. As for Bonds, Clemens, Pudge, and anybody else accused/convicted of PEDS... I don't care. It would appear that everybody in the 90s and early 2000s was using them, and those are the guys who still managed to rise above the rest.

I forgot to put together a Christmas list this year, but the one thing my family knew I couldn't get enough of was Cubs world series swag. So I got a bunch. Autographed Kris Bryant World Series ball. 8 disc box set 3 Sweatshirts 2 T-shirts Thermos Set of 4 beer mugs Blanket Growler And probably a few more items I'm forgetting at the moment. The holidays were nuts this year.

There was an article on fangraphs the other day that said every single division is projected to be won by 5 games or more right now. That includes the Astros in the AL West, where the Rangers strong record last year came with just a +8 run differential -- they were just an insane 36-11 in one-run games.

Bagwell Bonds Clemens Martinez Mussina Raines Ramirez Rodriguez Schilling Walker This is the only acceptable ballot. Sheffield, Guerrero, and Sosa are all a step behind Walker. And voting for closers is dumb, especially when there's a logjam of deserving candidates and a stupid 10 person per ballot limit.

Yeah, I can't be anything but happy for Fowler. He got that multi-year deal that he deserves. If the Cardinals weren't a pit of mediocrity I might feel different. But it's not like the Cardinals are actually threatening us for the division title right now even with Dexter, so that helps to make this easier to swallow.

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I'd have more interest in the recently non-tendered Rubby de la Rosa anyways.

I think we're trying to keep some payroll flexibility for Harper or Otani or whoever in the coming seasons. This isn't a FA market that we should be spending big on.

[tweet] [/tweet] Something tells me that's probably not all guaranteed.

I think there's more payroll room than that. I'd be highly surprised if we don't trade Montero and Soler. We may have to eat a good chunk of Montero's contract, but that's still some savings.

They've got about $30 mil to play with, give or take, after arbitration if they want to match last year's opening day salary total. I just didn't expect 25% of it to go to a platoon outfielder for Almora. I think that's underselling it. It's the strong side of the platoon, and he helps to fill in for some very real weaknesses on our team as presently constructed (like the idea that Schwarber or Soler might pretend to play defense in the late innings). Jay is going to play in a lot of games this year, if healthy. When MLB revenues go up like 10% annually, this is the sort of thing that happens. $8M now is basically what $4-5M was when Theo and Jed took over.

a one WAR salary for a one WAR player? Is that how much 1 WAR is worth now? Was just watching MLB Now today and they said a replacement level 1 WAR player is worth about $5 million. If the going rate is actually $8 million that's nuts. The last time I saw it mentioned at Fangraphs, it was at $8.5M per WAR now. This is fine. I dislike that it makes it even less likely we're bringing Fowler back, but Jay is a nice fit in that case.

I just found myself thinking about the Florida Marlins and Loria's roster teardowns after they would push all-in for a season. Just imagine how bad it would suck if Tom Ricketts was like "well, that was great. Now Theo, I need you to get rid of everybody."

If that's true, I get this weird gut feeling we're about to see Billy Beane trade for Sale and then flip him to the Cubs.

Bauer has 4 years, Odorizzi has 3. Odorizzi I probably still like better as a pitcher, but if you think his HR problem is more structural to him than the Rays, or that he won't be able to start getting righties out(he has a very odd reverse split), then Bauer is close enough to be as attractive an option, especially when you consider the team control and likely player cost. Yeah, I'm not sold on Bauer as enough of a "team player" to fit the Cubs. He's tough to coach and stubborn about his routine, so the upside and versatility are both limited.

I think this really illustrates the misunderstanding of the scale that relievers operate on. I'd give Chapman something absurd like 6/180 before I considered Cecil at 7-8 million. Chapman and Jansen are cheat codes and have proven themselves far more immune to the volatility that suppresses reliever cost than Cecil. Part of it is I just don't like Chapman as a person. I didn't want us to trade for him because of it, and I'd rather we not sign him for it now. And I'm just not buying that there's a reliever that is that much more immune to volatility. It wasn't that long ago that people were talking about Craig Kimbrel like they're talking about Jansen now. I'll agree that I don't want Cecil at that price, but I still think it's fine to spread the money among cheaper options and hope you get guys like Rondon and Strop have turned out to be.

Damn, I sorta wanted Cecil rather than see us spending on Jansen/Chapman.

I love Eovaldi as a rehab target.

I'm pretty shocked by this, to be honest. Hammel has been dealing some injuries and been less effective as a result, but we must not think we're going to be able to get him anywhere near peak to not be worth just $12M for one year. I'd be surprised if we're just handing a rotation spot to Montgomery. Something tells me this is a signal that the front office has big plans again this offseason. I'm guessing we will see Soler moved in a deal for a young SP.

I believe that deadline is tomorrow.