davell

There's still plenty of unanswered questions in my mind, in regards to how to acquire these players....We can dip into our 2018-2019 budget and/or use what we've got left over currently......I wonder if you can mix and match? Use 300k from the 2017-2018 budget(since that's still our max and I'm unsure how much we even have as a total) and then use the rest off your 2018-2019 budget? Just trying to find a way to give us the biggest impact we can get out of this......I know Maitan showed up fat, but he's a year removed from being compared to Miggy. I'd love to take a gamble on him. Even if its a multi million dollar gamble at this stage. Gutierrez has some nice upside. Contreras and Rosario are both very projectable arms...... At any rate, add some of these guys now. Then trade back for more pool money to still get an impact class next year too.

Boom. You're allowed to dip into your 2017-2018 budget to sign these guys, if you want.

Seriously, what the horsefeathers did they do that's worse than the federal crime the Cards committed?

This is really getting fun.

Mooney got let go. That one kind of sucks.

I guess we'll see. But, Fujinami walked 6.9/9 this year, his K's dropped to 6.3/9 for 9.4/9 and he was even sent down to their minors this year at some point. Definite step backwards from a guy that wasn't known for having control or command to begin with. Not doubting he's got talent, but its far from a hot take to think he's better off coming out of the pen either. Again, we'll see. I think Longenhagen is about as good as we've got left to go from, so I'll continue to listen to what he says.

I don't think anyone's actually necessary, outside of Alzolay and de la Cruz. My guess is Bote gets added with them.

Longenhagen says Fujinami is a reliever, when and if he comes over. Kikuchi is the best pitching prospect over there, after Ohtani, at this point.

I would be floored if the Cubs left any of their IFA pool unspent. At this point it's obvious that they aren't going to be shelling out $3 million to one of the LA bonus babies in the 2018 class, so I wonder if they are taking the shotgun approach or if they knew that they would need the majority of their pool for a Japanese or Cuban player? I think they've held out for one of the Cubans personally. I'm very hopeful they try to add IFA money and get a hell of a class, considering the system is weak currently. Wouldn't shock me to see them add one of the Braves guys either, depending on if they make it to July 2nd.

love it won't be much longer before lavine is back too, right? maybe 3ish weeks? Yeah, but I'm OK with them milking this as long as possible lol. I am looking forward to seeing him play though.

Great tank W. Lauri with 26 and 13. Dunn had 17, 6, and 6.

I'm not saying this means you get Colome for a song, but if the Rays know they can make a deal that cuts 14 million(Colome + Ramos), maybe they don't haggle quite so much knowing that the rest of their offseason then has a lot more flexibility, considering there probably isn't a line of suitors for Ramos and the other contracts they could clear are almost all guys who are more crucial to their success(save maybe Odorizzi, who won't clear as much $ as Ramos anyway). Ok, yeah, I can see that. Kind of a path of least resistance approach, but it does make sense. I hope they blow it up. Considering we've heard no rumors on other SP's being available thru trade, I really do think Archer is going to be dealt. Too many teams in need. On the other hand though.....With all the pen arms on the market, I think that'll hurt the Colons market quite a bit. I can see them holding off on him until mid season, where reliever prices go up dramatically anyway.

I'm not following? I'd think they could move Ramos pretty easily, if they want to. I might be understating Ramos's trade value, but if a team is looking to contend, they're probably not too jazzed about Ramos as anything but a backup given his injuries and inconsistency(only 1 year in the last 4 with a 95+ wRC+). As a backup he's pricey for all but a few teams. If a team isn't looking to contend, Ramos's bounce back potential only goes so far since he's over 30 and is only under control for a year(and is never going to get a QO). It's not a difference in trade return like the Jays potentially moving Martin would be, but it could help make things a bit easier. Like Topkin says in his article, if they want to clear salary without touching Archer/Longoria, they can try their best to dump the middling players that have commitments, and packaging Colome/Ramos would be a way to get rid of a sizable bit of payroll(for them) while still getting something worthwhile in return. I guess its possible. I just doubt they'd give a break on Colome's price though. They supposedly want to drop 15 mill off their payroll. They've got a bunch of ways to get there. In Ramos' case, I'd guess they'd hold him until a contenders C got hurt and suck whatever bit of value he's got, that way. At any rate, this encourages me on Archer's possibility of moving even more.

I'm not following? I'd think they could move Ramos pretty easily, if they want to.

Markkanen wasn't involved much in the second half, but finished with 16 and 7. Dunn had a hell of a game, going 22, 5, and 7. Only 1 TO too. He's probably going to flash enough to where he could be a low end starting PG. I guess there's a slight hope he can be more than that, at this point. But, they won.

From a "everyone needs young pitching" standpoint....Then fine, Tampa does too. But, if they deal Archer, they're still set up with Odorizzi, Faria, Andriese, Honeywell, and Snell. With Cabrera, Schultz, Yarbrough, and DeLeon all relatively close or ready to contribute. That's much, much, much better than they're young hitting looks. There's extremely few elite arms even in the minors currently. A guy like Alzolay can easily be looked at as a 2nd tier guy, after a group of 5 to 7 or 8, at most. They need hitting.

Loaded question. He'd still be better than all but 2 current Bulls.

I'm thrilled with any of Doncic, Porter, Ayton, or Bagley. Will be fine with Bamba too. I'm really hoping to add some picks by taking on bad contracts. I'm thinking they'll have some nice opportunities over the next month or two.

Or Reyes. Same thing. There's not many elite pitching prospects out there right now. The Braves could quantity their way there, but I doubt AA is going to make that type of move yet. I think if Archer gets dealt, we're in a damn good position.

Adames is ascending. He's not on the level of Russell or Javy, from their time as prospects.....But, he's getting fairly close honestly. If I'm looking at it from Tampa's perspective, I'd prefer Javy, to Addy. I know Addy has played 2B before, but you're not moving him off SS for Adames. You're also not wanting to move Adames either, so taking Javy makes more sense for them, in my mind. And unless Addy(or Javy) broke out huge offensively, I don't see them making Archers money over the next 4 year. From our standpoint, it'd shift us needing Cozart, to needing Neil Walker.

So, Rosenthal says they ARE going to lose prospects, as PART of the punishment. They'll be treated with the same rules as if they were first on the market. Teams will bid accordingly. But, since its likely they'll get to keep their first bonuses, I'm just not sure they'd wait or not, until the next period. Who knows? My guess is if Maitan gets taken away from them, he'd bring back another 3-4 mill from a team.... So maybe he'd wait? Or the Yanks or Rangers could grab him.

What IS fun though, with the new CBA......Is that its capped, but you can trade for up to 75% more than your budget for the next 2 years, then 60% after that...... So, you're ABLE to always be in the top tier of spending teams, if you want to be. Especially since there's only 3 tiers of initial money, 5.75, 5.25, and 4.75 mill..... Although, the trick may be finding teams willing to trade their pool money. Still, I hope we ask for it in any and every deal we make......There's no more 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th slots now, you can just trade a specified amount now.

Miles Mikolas is becoming intriguing. But, it may be because his nickname is The Lizard King.

I am the walrus: Agree or not? The Cubs will likely sign a lower FA pitcher (Cobb), sign a lower end closer (Reed), sign a middle rp (Mcgee) or two, send a regular (Happ) for a fairly high ceiling young pitcher and spend around $30M of there $70 salary they have to spend. 12:56 Dave Cameron: I think they’ll go bigger on the closer. 12:56 Dave Cameron: If I had to guess, it’d be more like sign Cobb, trade Russell+ for Archer/Colome, sign Reed or Morrow or whoever, call it a winter. Sign me up.