KingCubsFan

I think it has far less to do with available money than it does perceived closeness to being competitive/winning. I think it has a lot to do with both. I don't think they operate the same way the last 3 years if they had $200M or even $150M in the budget (without getting into the existing commitments and how they impact available payroll). I think they would have operated pretty similarly, to be honest. Maybe we get one additional IFA.

Got it. Agreed, Miguel Montero would be a good fit.

Do people actually think Montero can still play catcher? I thought it was a foregone conclusion that he was a DH.

What added revenue streams? We might get less money on our short-term TV contract, and we've seen nothing to support the idea that the ballpark ads will go to anything but funding the renovations. Wasn't the rumor that the renovations were going to be paid for with equity stakes?

.340, .350? I think both Bryant and Soler settle in around .320, .330 in the big leagues. http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view5/2871481/lamont-spit-o.gif I think Cubs fans are going to be stunned when Bryant hits like .220 to .240 every year. He's going to be awesome because of walks and power, though. I don't totally disagree with you on Bryant, but Soler's skill set indicates he should have a slightly higher OBP (unless of course he totally busts).

.340, .350? I think both Bryant and Soler settle in around .320, .330 in the big leagues. http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view5/2871481/lamont-spit-o.gif

Hopefully this ends better than the Brian Roberts thread and Jake Peavy thread.

If you don't think Baez will be a valuable contributor to the major league team next year, you have to trade him this offseason. Otherwise you're just wasting his value.

I believe Theo has said part of the reason for bringing him up this year was to see what adjustments he needed to make so he could "hit the ground running" next year, or something to that effect. Wouldn't make sense if the plan was to send him back to AAA.

Would love anything somewhat close to Portland, even Eugene would be fine. Didn't the Cubs used to be in Eugene?

I'll remain skeptical until he pitches his first game as a Cub. I remain skeptical until he pitches the final pitch for the final out in game 7 of the World series in which the Cubs win. Game 7? I want a cakewalk in 5 games, tops. Complete with a Baez batflip and slow trot around the bases after a solo homerun to go up 10-2 in the clincher.

Every time I read this, I imagine Dusty just sitting in the dugout and repeating this statement in his head over and over as Prior hits 120 pitches for the third consecutive start.

This is reductive nonsense. Having Bryant through age 29 is better than having him through age 28. If history is any predictor, it's a lot better because Bryant will be a really good baseball player at age 29. In order to *guarantee* they have him at 29, they're sacrificing having him on the MLB team at the tail end of a lost season, and for a couple weeks next year. It's a trivial sacrifice for the expected benefit. I say guarantee because despite pretending otherwise, there are no certainties when it comes to Free Agency. Guys leave big market teams all the time. Just last season Cano left the Yankees for more money/years, while the Yankees were in the process of spending a billion dollars in FA and giving the middle finger to the luxury tax. As a result the Yankees are going to miss the playoffs by about one Robinson Cano because they're playing the husk of Brian Roberts at 2B. Moreover, money is not the only consideration here and why this is such a false choice. I'm pretty certain that I want a team option on Kris Bryant for his age 29 season. I'm far less certain that I'll want to guarantee him significant cash through age 34, 36, or even 40(like Cano). So if I can get the former while not at all jeopardizing the latter for the trivial cost mentioned above, it's a no-brainer. Money is the only consideration. It is ridiculous to suggest otherwise. Even if you take into account the other stuff, the only thing that matters in that regard is money. The only reason you would not considering keeping him until he's 40 is money. Money is the only reason and pretending otherwise is foolish. Money is not the only consideration. It's certainty. There's about a 95% chance that, with Boras as his agent, Bryant is hitting free agency as soon as his 6 years is up. And once a player hits free agency, all bets are off.

Schefter reporting Rice has been released.

As a plus, this guarantees Javy will be eligible at SS for fantasy baseball next year.

Usually a guy with Torres' pedigree + performance would make the Top 100. National minor league coverage seems to have been pretty quiet about him though.

I'm not sure about the service time issue, but you'd actually want him to go to arbitration earlier since he goes from making $3mm in 2017 to $4mm in 2018 and arbitration is based on previous year's salary. It's a small amount, but every little bit counts for PTR.

Pretty amazing that we'll have Soler, Baez, Alcantara, Rizzo and Castro in the major league lineup, with the top 2 prospects in baseball waiting in AAA.

Where does Jefferson Mejia rank at the end of the year? Top 20?

No

While we need to spend on pitching, hitting is still a need. Yes indeed. If the strategy is to have an awesome offense and a stable/okay pitching staff, then they are still a very long way away from having an actually awesome offense. True. But at that price, I'd prefer they go after Colby Rasmus, who at least has some sort of track record (albeit uneven). Plus Melky Cabrera and Markakis should be significantly cheaper.

Yeah, I'd prefer the guy with more power who is 4 years younger. At this rate, Tomas will probably get $70-80 million.

I originally preferred Castillo over Tomas, but now that Alcantara has shown he is more than capable in CF, and Bryant may be able to stick at 3B for a few years, Tomas or another corner OF works out just fine.

Olt and Lake are going to tear it up in AAA the rest of the year, causing us all to head into the offseason doubting the AAA performances of Soler and Bryant.

That's 4 years of control. How long do you expect a trade acquisition to be signed for? Isn't he a free agent after 2017? You'd be getting three years, one of which would be a rehab year coming back from TJS.