Backtobanks

If this is the team, what is the point in trading for Hosmer? Nobody is interested in acquiring Hosmer. As much as we rag on Jason Heyward for his performance since signing his contract, even he has vastly outperformed Hosmer since Hosmer signed his big contract four years ago -- 6.0 fWAR to 0.5 fWAR. So whatever you think Heyard's miniscule value on the field is, Hosmer's is ten times less. And Hosmer is owed $15M more dollars than Heyward. The value of Hosmer is the package of prospects the Padres would have to include to get somebody to absorb his contract. I could honestly see the Cubs trading for him and cutting him within the day, just for a chance to get the prospects. Though as far as reclamation projects go, he'd probably be worth giving a month of at bats to and see if a change of scenery from Petco helps at all. But I sincerely doubt anybody sees anything of real value in Hosmer at this point. They both have certainly under preformed their contracts, but the complaint about Heyward is his offense. Since 2016 Heyward's OWar is 4.6, while Hosmer's is 10.1.

If this is the team, what is the point in trading for Hosmer? His bat would be a very slight nice to have for the bench, but the 'why' always has been and always will be the goodies that would come with him. You'd presumably be getting Robert Hassell or Luis Campusano, either one being our clear #2 prospect, and an MLB ready SP in either Chris Paddack or Ryan Weathers. Hosmer + Campusano + Caratini + Paddack + Weathers + Gore for Contreras + Bote + Alcantra + Mills. According to MLBtradevalues, the value comes out pretty even. We get a lefty bat, a cheap backup catcher, a future catcher, and pitching, they get infield help, a starting catcher, a SP, and get rid of Hosmer.

There's one big problem, Freeman wants to be paid what he's worth.

Agreed, as has been the case the last several years, the division is very winnable if the right moves are made. You have to balance that fact with whatever long term plan Jed has I guess. It's getting pretty obvious that the "right moves" aren't going to be made this offseason.

But winning the game without a hit, via a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly, is much more exciting! Are you describing the 2022 Cubs' offense?

Now that Tatis is out, let's flip Simmons to the Padres in the never-ending combination of Hosmer/Myers/Contreras rumors.

Except one of them actually owns a bat.

Because 4 MM is not a lot of money in MLB terms (as David has already stated). It's nothing and throwaway money. And you do remember that the Cubs already spent big on Marcus Stroman right before the lockout, correct? There are a hell of a lot of better directions to throw $4M. This is a smart dumb thing or a dumb smart thing whichever way you want to look at it. Get the backup plan in place first. Assuming Simmons is going to be the backup and not the starter.

Why spend $4 million on a backup SS when you have Hoerner and Alcantra making league minimum? This sounds like another "we didn't trade Darvish for financial reasons" and "signing Gomes doesn't mean we're trading Contreras" statement.

Speaking of 5 years ago, after the lockout we have signed Simmons and Ross.

Unfortunately, you're probably getting a soccer team instead.

They could be if its a short term deal. The Cubs still have a gigantic lack of left handed hitters and the ones they have are not power bats (Heyward, Ortega, Diechmann, Alcantara). Doesn't mean it has to be Rizzo but he would be an option at a position where we can improve. The problem more than his bat IMO is that his defense swan dived last year. I didn't watch a ton of post-deadline Cubs but when I did I continually saw issues defensively at 1B so we need to get better there. Also his recurring back issues make him unreliable so we'd need a backup option to pair with him. Also, I don't think his sentimental status as a former Cub moves Jed at all but his leadership qualities might (outside of the whole vaccination issues). Finally, its very possible he blew all his money on NFT's and will be desperate to take the first contract offered to him after the deadline. I don't remember where I saw it, but someone speculated he might end up with 2 years/$20 million. Signing him certainly makes more sense than giving up any players for Ahmed, Gregorious, etc. because they don't trust Hoerner to do the job.

From MLBTR: Kyle Seager Announces Retirement

I understand doing 2/90 or something crazy like that to lead off the deal changes the math substantially, but I can't imagine they get away with both less total dollars AND less AAV than Seager (or Lindor). That said if this is the opening offer, it feels like Jed will get to a number that *does* do it. Maybe 8/276? Gives him the highest AAV for a shortstop (and I believe non-Trout position player), and that structure probably is roughly equivalent to a more straight up 8/300? Guys this feels real He could take the 2/90 and opt out and still get a 7 or 8 year contract.

Good move for depth, but the Hoyer quotes about being finished with the rotation is worrisome. One more solid rotation piece would certainly go a long way toward respectability.

I still think a deal for Merrill Kelly makes a lot of sense. It would solidify the rotation for a couple of years at a low cost both in prospects and dollars.

Why this dead end every single time? Somehow all the money seemingly magically disappears anytime a player better than a reclamation pitcher or DH trying to play defense gets mentioned! What are the rules? Also I'd respectfully disagree with that last claim based off of nothing anyone's said anyway I'm going by what the Cubs have said about spending and what all of the sportswriters have reported - basically the Cubs aren't going to spend big or long term until they are closer to be seriously competitive. The money hasn't "magically disappeared", it's just that Ricketts has decided to tighten the purse strings and it's his money we're talking about. We could have filled all of the holes if Ricketts decided to go all in by spending top money for 2 or 3 starters, a top SS, and a power LH bat instead of looking for short-term fixes.

The thing with Bryant's FA contract is that it's been set up since Day 1 to be a steal even at 9 figures and 5+ years solely on him reaching FA at 30. It's been the topic with him for half a decade+ now, would be a topic whether he was coming off a 10 or no WAR season, and meanwhile all he did during his pre-FA years was: win basically every player award possible from NCAA-MLB, put up ~32 fWAR during his pre-FA years (basically half a HOF career, 3/4 of a Hall of Badass Players career), win the league MVP on a WS winning team that basically start to finished as the best all around team in baseball (won that MVP in a unique fashion too playing 5-6 different positions), missed the playoffs once, etc etc etc...The one real blemish on his baseball resume, the 60 game covid 2020, requires some real soullessness to take at face value The durability knocks are too flimsy for my tastes too. He's played 87% of the games during his 6 162 game seasons, and GP somewhat undersells the # of PAs he's taken in that span (he's 32nd in GP since coming up, 24th in PAs)...This is before the DH gets to the NL, which proooobably is coming during his career maybe even this next CBA, and opens up yet another position his offense plays Another thing that bugs me about how Kris Bryant remaining a Cub often gets portrayed: it's not an ultimatum between Kris Bryant and building a complete team. It really *should* work the other way around at this stage anyway: if Yusei Kikuchi or Kyle Schwarber at 8 figures stops you from signing a legitimately great player for 9 figures then skip on the 8 figure player. Bryant's versatility keeps a guy like Kyle Seager, a likely cheap due to age LHH with experience at all the non-1B infield positions coming off a 35 HR season with SafeCo as the home park, in play. There's no real reason (outside of understandable pessimism) to think Bryant really takes them out any other high impact FAs right now Unfortunately, you aren't the guy making financial decisions about the Cubs. We can all build the Cubs into winners next year if money doesn't get in the way.

The team’s biggest needs are still players who don’t suck, ideally superstars like Bryant. This team is most definitely not a couple niche-y signings off of being competitive, the big need is talent I totally agree that they need talent (and KB is talented), but they're still woefully weak in the positions mentioned.

As much as we would all love a reunion with KB, he doesn't seem to fit what the team needs (SP, SS, LH power, etc.). Also, he would probably want a long-term contract (6 years).

Offensively I actually like Vogelbach's fit on the roster. I just don't think it's workable defensively. With the Gomes addition meaning Contreras probably DH's one or two days a week, plus the huge number of outfielders on the roster, I don't think a pure 1B fits on the roster. Rivas is nice because he has minor league options, so he can come up after someone gets hurt or gets sent down for sucking. Hoerner and Wisdom are the only guys on the roster who can play the left side of the infield. The team currently has two hitters to add, and I think one needs to be a surefire starter at 3B/SS and the other needs to be able to at least moonlight there. I hope I'm wrong, but I think Contreras will be traded. As mentioned earlier, Villar fits if you can live with his defense.

Rivas is a decent option to keep on the team, but offers no power.

An article on cubinsider.com brought up the idea of Vogelbach as a possibility. He would offer a power LH bat at DH/platoon 1B and is certainly affordable on a short term deal.

I thought about Villar as a cheap possibility for LH bat/platoon SS/3b, but the question is whether it's worth taking his offensive prowess as opposed to his defensive weaknesses.

I'm surprised he turned down the Cubs offer of 3 years, $21 million to return. :lol: