KingCubsFan

I guess it's possible that he confused Adam Eaton with Chris Sale? I've suggested putting a blockbuster package together for Quintana and Eaton. Baez, Almora/McKinney, Vogelbach, Underwood, ???????? Solve CF and SP in one trade. That may not be enough to get Quintana by himself, let alone Quintana and Eaton.

To me, the overpay comes in the form of the opt-out after three years. He's the highest paid pitcher in history, it's probably tough to get much more money after that.

Did I miss the NSBB contest for who can say Shelby Miller sucks the most? Guy is basically Edwin Jackson! He's no Randy Wells.

Yep. As soon as the local media guys started spinning the "it's better to spend on two mid-level pitchers than a guy like Price" story, you knew it wasn't going to happen.

He flipped to Notre Dame right before classes started. I believe he was the one that Les said didn't have the "stomach" for LSU.

When your best pitcher is 2 years away from free agency, and some of your core will start getting more expensive at the same time, it makes sense that there's a certain "window" for the iteration of this team. Having a 2 year "window" doesn't mean they'll immediately start rebuilding again.

McKinney is not a CF long-term and Happ is going to play 2B next year.

In four years of constant waiver shuffling, the only player of any consequence that has emerged has been Valbuena, unless I'm just completely spacing out and missing someone. One free Valbuena every four years isn't nothing, but let's not overpraise the situation. How could you forget Cody Ransom?

If he'll take 5/80, sign me up.

Are you implying that Maybin and Ross are young? Cameron Maybin will be 29 all of next year. He's not that young. Tyson Ross will be 29 (almost) all of next year. He's not that young. Get a year or two out of Maybin until Almora/McKinney/Happ are ready. Ross at 29 gives us a few years. If Bosio "fixes" Teheran you've got a solid starter for a long time. For the money to spend on a big-time FA, go after Heyward or Upton for RF. Rizzo, Bryant. Schwarber, Heyward/Upton, etc. would provide enough offense to compensate for Maybin in CF. If you're going for defense only in CF, there are better options than paying Maybin $9 million. At that price, I'd rather just throw Almora out there and let him hit 7th.

A guy like Maybin has no business starting on this team. We need something better in CF.

Yeah, this year's team has a lot more athletes than 2012, a much better offense, and a much better QB. In terms of identity, they're completely different from the 2012 team.

It's obviously an assumption on my part, but when several national guys are reporting it, I tend to believe there's some truth to it.

It's pretty rare to have a player like Price communicate such a clear preference for a team, and I think the Cubs need to capitalize on it. In a vacuum, I'd prefer Heyward, but if Price's preferences means the Cubs won't have to get into a bidding war with other teams for Price, they have to jump on it.

I make that deal for Chris Sale and walk away with a massive smile on my face. Sale is durable, doesn't walk many batters,racks up plenty of strikeouts, is only 26, and is signed for four more years at very reasonable rates. While possibly getting 30 homers from a middle infielder is mighty tempting to keep, its not as if we haven't been burned by toolsy hitters with a piss poor approach at the plate time and time again. And while I'm a fan of Soler I wouldn't let him stop me from acquiring an ace with no major flaws (in his prime). I highly doubt Sale is going anywhere, but what about Quintana? I can't believe he hasn't been mentioned yet. I've been a big fan of trading for Quintana for a couple offseasons now. Seems like Baez and Quintana as the main pieces could work well for both parties, but I also haven't seen any indication that the Sox might trade him. With his contract, he'd be a perfect fit. I'd have no problem giving Baez and a top prospect.

Theo can say whatever he wants, everybody knows Schwarber will not be (and never has been projected to be) a full-time catcher. oh ok. Remember when Darwin Barney was a core player? This FO spouts [expletive] frequently.

Theo can say whatever he wants, everybody knows Schwarber will not be (and never has been projected to be) a full-time catcher. And it's not as if Theo is going to pass on the chance to give Fowler a 3 year deal because they've bookmarked CF for Almora. It's more that they might feel comfortable enough going year-to-year on CF because they feel OK about the CF options they have coming through the pipeline, including Almora. So they'll pass on a 5 year deal for somebody like Fowler. Not sure if I agree with it, but I could see it.

That seems pretty far down the list of outrageous things that Phil Rogers has said. The Cubs have shown they're pretty confident in their player development system.

Those guys were definitely good investments by Ole Miss. Treadwell too.

I want either Jaylon Smith or Hargraeves

I think Schwarber is the most likely to be dealt. Its not certain, but its a good bet his value is at its peak after all those sexy postseason homers. He'll always be a defensive liability no matter where he plays, and an AL team in need of a DH would value him very highly. Either way you're right, that is going to make Coghlan very valuable in 2016. I doubt that the FO will be actively shopping Schwarber, but they ought to be listening to any offers from AL teams. If Beane offers Gray in a deal involving Schwarber, they ought to jump on it. Fun fact: Gray had a higher FIP and xFIP than Hendricks last year.

He would have followed a path similar to Ryan Harvey. And there's no way Hendry would have kept him at SS.

So with a bullpen full of guys with minimal postseason experience you don't like the idea of acquiring one of the best clutch relievers in recent memory? And it's not as if Papelbon spends his time drinking beer and eating fried chicken during games, which is something one of our pitchers can't say. He gets hot when he sees players not give max effort. With everyone getting all hot and bothered over a show of emotion, which I'm sure happens several times a year all across the league (just not on television), it's possible he has negative trade value. So I certainly am not against buying low on an excellent postseason reliever (who's only signed for one more year). And my main point for Strasburg is that while his regular season innings pitched history is just tolerable at best, having one more potential ace for October is the key. Plus dealing Baez doesn't create a hole on the roster. Castro and La Stella should atleast be competent at Second Base. Wasn't the pen pretty much outstanding this postseason? Why is getting someone with "postseason experience" worth so much as to bring in a really expensive jerk? Plus, he is getting older, wasn't that dominant this year, and shows signs of his performance collapsing. My main point with bringing up Papelbon is Washington, because of the bad publicity he gained near the end of the season, likely wants to move his contract. So if eating a good chunk of it allowed for the acquisition of a starting pitcher with tolerable regular season durability, and legit ace ability, I wouldn't be opposed to doing it. If taking Papelbon's contract is a condition to getting Strasburg, and the Cubs really wanted Strasburg, I'd hope that the Cubs would just immediately turn around and cut Papelbon. There's no way I'd want him on this team.

The problem you'll run into there is that there are very few teams interested in giving up a good pitcher for non-MLB ready assets at this point, since there's probably 25 teams that fancy themselves a good offseason from playoff contention. Those teams that remain(Philadelphia, Colorado, maybe Atlanta, Miami, or Detroit) generally don't have quality (young) pitching to deal, or they too will want MLB ready players to justify it. Have the White Sox admitted they're terrible yet? Quintana would be a great acquisition.

F pitchers. I'm against giving up a young MLB regular for a pitcher. Go trade Contreras, Torres, McKinney, etc. for pitchers from rebuilding teams.