davell

Theo came out today and said we're not looking for hitting. Nothing's imminent and they're still expecting most improvement to come from within, for pitching. I think they'll add 2 guys, but both just depth types. Maybe the pen arm is solid, there's lots of them out there.

I'm with you on the broader point(those hypothetical deals are very Cubs friendly), but this is a pet peeve of mine. Happ has shown himself to be a 3 win player with 5 years of team control. That is really freaking valuable. There exist players with more potential and less current production, and depending on the acquiring team those might be preferred(I'd argue the Mets would prefer the production), but the idea that Happ as a headliner is a non-starter is silly. I can see that. Happ is an excellent player. A 3 WAR guy is extremely solid. That said, I think you'd have to have a guy with a bit more of an upside, or perceived upside, than Happ. Not to mention, I'd let it at a top 10-15 guy, a top 50 guy, a top 10 from a solid system, and an interesting flier, to get the Mets to seriously consider moving him. And I'm not sure they'd do it then.

Tim, there's other teams in baseball that would like to add. There's not a team out there that's contending, that's not going to be interested in some of these guys. A Happ-led package isn't getting Thor. They'd hold onto him for longer, if that's all they could get. Throw Amaya in too, that STILL wouldn't get him. We don't have the lead piece needed to snag a guy like that. As for Bryce. No way. It's not a matter of what he may or may not actually be worth via trade. It's star power and the public relations nightmare you'd cause your team by trading him. That alone makes it much, much harder to deal him. It wouldn't even be worth offering what we'd be able to, it's getting laughed at. This isn't even taking into account that they want him back next year and could easily lose a bit of leverage, if they dealt him away. Explain to your fans you just dealt away Bryce for an injured, borderline bottom of the top 100 pitching prospect? Sorry, it's just not nearly enough.

They really opened it up this draft..... Top 10 bonuses Hoerner SS 2.724(1st) Roederer HS OF 1.2(2nd Rd Supp) Davis HS OF 1.1(2nd) Franklin HS RHP .540(6th) Herron OF.520(3rd) Richan RHP.450(2nd Rd Supp) Weber 2B .400(5th) Artis OF .250(7th) Americaan OF .208(35th) Thompson RHP .200(11th) Other 100k+ bonuses Allen RHP .150 (20th) Mort RHP .140 (8th) Roberts RHP .130 (4th) Casey RHP .130 (9th) Reynolds 3B/1B .125 (10th) Sanders RHP .125 (12th) Pagan HS OF .125 (13th) McCauley RHP .125 (14th) Sawyer LHP .125 (16th) Durna 1B .100 (15th) Slaughter SS .100 (18th), With a solid chance Greindl gets added to the list. Pabon got 50k too. This HAS to be the most 6 figure bonuses they've handed out by a wide margin probably.

And we got a dude! With an awesome name too.

I don't know, your hopes may come true..... (I thought his price tag was 2 mill?)

Back in my day we'd tape it up and get out there. Back in your day, teams didn't care about protecting their investment. In this case, a multi million dollar one that they've literally just given.

https://twitter.com/TomParkerjr/status/1014901642062450690?s=19 Parkers dad

Jesus. Bye bye Parker.

We need a good reliever, a vet backup C that can frame, and a spot starter. We'll find a reliever in this market. The C isn't the end of the world, if we don't. Spot starter will be easy too. We don't need to go panic and trade for an elite starter. We've got them and they'll begin to pitch like it at some point. If we DO need one in the offseason, we've got the ammo to find one via trade.

Idiot liquored up, backup catchers.....

I don't remember that story.

I go Amaya, Alzolay, Lange, Hoerner, Ademan, Bote, Marquez, Abbott, Pereda, Robinson...... 11-20 goes ODLC, Little, Mekkes, Swarmer, Gallardo, Davis, Roederer, Kelli, Morel, and Zagunis..... And holy horsefeathers, we need some guys to turn it on, because this is laughably weak.

I think when I checked their boxscore, they were in a delay.

Some interesting comments from Longenhagen, with live look ins..... Brailyn Marquez, LHP, Chicago Cubs (Profile) Level: Short Season Age: 19 Org Rank: 14 FV: 40 Line: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 R, 8 K Notes Marquez has a 20:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio at Eugene. I saw him up to 96 last year, but he was 88-93 in extended spring training, and his body had matured and gotten somewhat soft pretty quickly. It didn’t affect his advanced fastball command, though, or his arm-side command of his breaking ball, which comprise a large chunk of Marquez’s current plan on the mound. He projects as a No. 4/5 starter with several average pitches and above-average control. Notes from the Field There are lots of interesting players in the AZL right now despite the current inactivity of several early-round draftees. The Cubs have two impressive Mexican middle infielders on one of their two AZL teams. One, Reivaj Garcia (Reivaj is a palindrome of Javier), is still just 16 and will be until mid-August. He has advanced bat-to-ball skills for an AZL hitter, let alone for a 16-year-old, and has been fine at second base and shortstop in my looks. He shares middle-infield duties with 17-year-old SS Luis Verdugo, who is the best defensive shortstop I’ve seen at a complex since extended began. Smooth, rangy, and acrobatic, he projects a plus defender pretty comfortably. Verdugo’s bat is light, though he has added lots of good weight just over the last several weeks, which scouts and I have eyeballed at about 8-10 pounds. He was tied up by a ball inside last night and I noticed him shaking his hand in pain several times throughout the rest of the night while taking weaker swings than he had earlier in the game, so if there’s more power on contact thanks to the added weight, it wasn’t on display last night for circumstantial reasons. The Cubs also have an interesting teenage arm in Yovanny Cruz. He sat 90-93 with natural sink, which pairs well with his diving, plus-flashing changeup. The shape and quality of the movement on Cruz’s pitches vary significantly, but there’s workable stuff here, and pitchers like Cruz, whose stuff dictates they work down in the zone instead of up, are becoming an endangered species. Lots of high-spin fastball/curveball guys who work up in the zone are in the Arizona right now.

Wow, that's awesome. And now we've got 4.6M of our 4.9ish committed. Maybe we will see a small deal for some money, because you know we've got at least another 10 guys coming in and I doubt they'd fall under our current cap.

Confirmation on Morel signing.

Well, that ain't happening today. At least not for an amount to get Mesa. He's middle-aged yet, he's not worked out for anyone yet, and it's not even known where he's at. That money will get dealt once he's available. It'd be nice to add a bit of money though, add an extra flier or two, that we don't already know about.

According to FG, we're giving Gallardo 800k and Machado 400k, to go with Lopez at 1.5 if Morel gets 800k, that's 3.5 of our close to 5 mill spent. I'm sure the rest is accounted for, but the low numbers on Gallardo and Machado could have us getting some more interesting guys too, without trading for money. I'd love to get Mesa for next year.