Backtobanks
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Everything posted by Backtobanks
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The only reason Jake is in any dicussion is because he would get less years and money than Darvish. If the years and money are the same, either Jake's agent needs a big raise or Yu's agent needs to be fired.
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Signing Darvish isn't a sure thing and those relievers are going fast.
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We could hope MLB goes to an offense and a defense like the NFL. Heyward could have trade value as a defensive specialist.
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There may be a big market for RFs who play great defense and hit like 160 lb. middle infielders.
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EDIT: Could've left this one out of the discussion there, guy. Yeah, the odds of the Cubs signing Harper are a whole lot better than the odds of Heyward opting for FA.
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I think the line of thinking is, 1. Cubs were “out” on front line high dollar and years FA pitchers this offseason, 2. Cubs are now “in” on dervish, Ergo, Darvish’s years or AAV must be down. That’s not the only reason the Cubs could be in now. Yeah, they might realize that they still need that TOR starter and the cost in trade assets is too high.
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I am not sure Jake is going to get more than Darvish but i think Jake has not given signs of coming down from his asking price and Darvish may have. That is why the Cubs are after Darvish now IMO. I think Darvish is the better pitcher going forward so if it were me i sign Darvish. I still haven't seen any indication that Darvish "may have" reduced his asking price. Darvish is obviously the better pitcher going forward, but if the numbers end up (not that they will) with Darvish @ 6 yrs/$160 mil. and Arrieta @ 4 yrs./$90 mil. it might be a tough decision.
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lol what other stuff "Well we can't offer Addison Russell but you could have [squints at our top 30] Bobson Dugnutt?" Well we sure aren't gonna trade Steve McDichael, are we? More seriously, Happ, Almora, and Montgomery are the names that leap to mind, though not all of them. If that's not enough to sway Baltimore, I'm okay missing out on one year of Machado and still having the best infield in the game. Apparently the Orioles were holding out for KB, Contreras, and Rizzo to be included.
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Got excited there for a minute thinking they might want Heyward LOL: "Jon Heyman of Fan Rag adds some further details to the situation in a follow-up to Encina’s report. The offers for Machado haven’t been sufficient to this point in Baltimore’s eyes, and the organization will take him off the market in the coming days if the asking price isn’t met. Of course, Heyman also notes that there’s no “hard deadline;” rather, the O’s would “shift to other priorities” if there’s no momentum toward a trade. Interestingly, per Heyman, the O’s see the Jason Heyward–Shelby Miller swap as the kind of arrangement that would pique their interest."
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From MLBTR: Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun reports that if the Orioles are to trade Machado, they hope to come to an agreement with a team by the end of the week. Baltimore isn’t backing down off its asking price of two starting pitchers that it can control for “at least the next four or five years,” Machado will be in Baltimore as long as the asking price stays the same.
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There's no indication that his asking price has dropped. Actually since a lot of the top SP are still available may strengthen his case for more money. When one or two sign, then FAs start to worry and possibly settle for less. i don't disagree that his asking price hasn't necessarily dropped quite yet but... Obviously someone has to be the first to sign, but usually the first pretty much sets the market. The top SP might sign first, but I doubt that he would take a discount. If Arrieta and/or Cobb signed at a reduced rate first, it might force Darvish to rethink his asking price.
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There's no indication that his asking price has dropped. Actually since a lot of the top SP are still available may strengthen his case for more money. When one or two sign, then FAs start to worry and possibly settle for less.
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Hendriks was busy.
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Well we did trade the guy who is a couple of places behind him.
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That's true, but I think there would be a better chance of extending Machado (after being on the team) than bidding on him as a FA. Why? He would get to know the other players, the fans, Maddon, the city, the FO, etc. As a FA, everyone is promising everything and he might not know how he would relate to his teammates, the city, etc.
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Of course that's assuming Harper accepts our offer over the 4 or 5 other $400 million offers on the table. But then nothing would preclude the Cubs from signing Machado instead and trading Russell then. Or just keep Russel and Machado and move KB to left. That's true, but I think there would be a better chance of extending Machado (after being on the team) than bidding on him as a FA.
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Of course that's assuming Harper accepts our offer over the 4 or 5 other $400 million offers on the table.
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I posted a while ago that I thought Russell should be the 2nd name on the list of tradeable assets (behind Schwarber) simply because we have in-house replacements for both of them without missing a beat. Schwarber obviously belongs in the A.L., while Russell would certainly be a centerpiece in a major deal. Baez played flawlessly while sliding back to SS when Russell was out for an extended period and the Cubs went on a roll. Also the Cubs won 103 games during the season while Scwarber was injured. I'm not saying they aren't valuable or have a high potential, it's just that they can be easily replaced while bringing back a TOR starter. Happ doesn't even have a starting job. We don't need an in house replacement for him. Happ didn't have a starting job last year because Maddon kept waiting for Schwarber, Zobrist, and Heyward to regain their offensive capabilities.
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I posted a while ago that I thought Russell should be the 2nd name on the list of tradeable assets (behind Schwarber) simply because we have in-house replacements for both of them without missing a beat. Schwarber obviously belongs in the A.L., while Russell would certainly be a centerpiece in a major deal. Baez played flawlessly while sliding back to SS when Russell was out for an extended period and the Cubs went on a roll. Also the Cubs won 103 games during the season while Scwarber was injured. I'm not saying they aren't valuable or have a high potential, it's just that they can be easily replaced while bringing back a TOR starter. I think a lot of people, not just on here but Cubs fans in general, don't get or understand how much better of a defensive shortstop Russell is than Baez on top of having superior offensive abilities/projection. I'll accept Russell's defensive capabilities, but I disagree with the offensive abilities/projection. The bottom line is that making a deal for a young, controlled starter is going to involve one of the young ML players on the roster and all of them have the potential to be top notch players. My point is that Russell's name should be among the others as a tradeable asset.
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"Time makes fools of us all" - The Kyle Schwarber Thread
Backtobanks replied to Sammy Sofa's topic in Chicago Cubs Talk
That's a big "IF". Of course "if he's hitting like he can", he would look good in the middle of the lineup too. -
I posted a while ago that I thought Russell should be the 2nd name on the list of tradeable assets (behind Schwarber) simply because we have in-house replacements for both of them without missing a beat. Schwarber obviously belongs in the A.L., while Russell would certainly be a centerpiece in a major deal. Baez played flawlessly while sliding back to SS when Russell was out for an extended period and the Cubs went on a roll. Also the Cubs won 103 games during the season while Scwarber was injured. I'm not saying they aren't valuable or have a high potential, it's just that they can be easily replaced while bringing back a TOR starter.
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No thank you Not sure that he's available and what the price might be, but being 24 with a phenominal track record and under control for until 2023 looks pretty desirable to me.
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A lot of rumors about teams checking in on Fullmer. He certainly would look nice in our rotation. All of our rumors center around Schwarber, Happ, Baez, Caratini, etc. I would imagine a package centered around 1-2 of those and a few more prospects should whet their appetite.
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If you're going to dream, dream big. =D>
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Let's hope so. Chatwood is a decent #5. I wish there was a recent example of us getting a pitcher who was reputed to have awesome stuff that he just hadn't harnessed yet. Maybe someone that was really good at generating soft contact. Hmm... Arrieta (2013): 7.17 k/9 4.90 bb/9 4.78 era 4.84 fip 4.61 xfip Chatwood (2017): 7.31 k/9 4.69 bb/9 4.69 era 4.94 fip 4.27 xfip Not saying it's a guarantee by any means. But I wouldn't be too quick to jump to saying Chatwood can't be anything more than a fifth starter. I never said that "Chatwood can't be anything more than a fifth starter", but I would think that the FO isn't going into the season without planning on a starter with a better/more consistent track record on a team trying to get to the WS.