Clem Fandango

I've said it elsewhere, but I wanted to say that this is the most excited I've been about a trade since Nomar.

I thought McKinney was their 1st rounder in 2013. She probably wrote "and" instead of "an" and fucked the whole sentence up

TIL he is a legit good defensive SS. for some reason I thought his profile was similar to Baez. Same here. Makes the notion of shopping Castro seem more legitimate.

If that's how it plays out, I'd assume Baez at 2B and Russell at 3B... but after reading some reports you may be right on that. Sounds like Russel is a quality defensive SS. And Baez's arm should play well at 3B

Suck it, Pittsburgh and Minnesota

You should be thrilled. Russell is one of the best prospects in baseball. BP has him at #6 I believe in the midseason Top 50. Gives the Cubs an incredible advantage for their future and allows them to use their assets for MLB ready pieces if they wanted (remains to be seen if thats the case, but that's my speculation). Even if they keep Russell, he's a beast, and he'd probably slide over to 3B and move Bryant to the OF in that scenario. Basically, the Cubs are in an excellent position.

I got about $55m if they fill out the roster with minimum guys. And that's with an entire infield, probably some outfielders, starting catcher, three pitchers (four if you like Hendricks or Straily) and the entire bullpen already in place. They can afford anything they want this offseason. whether they *will* or not is a different question. Agreed on it for this season, but if they are not going to be willing to spend big on payroll until a new TV deal in 2020, it's the 2017 season that starts to get tricky. Edit to add: Although we would have a lot of cheap guys that could fill out our lineup. So, maybe I'm wrong. I don't think they'll reach $150 million or anything, but they could be at $90-$100 million easy and still have a potentially elite team. They wouldn't NEED to have a $150+ million payroll It might be tough. Let's say that we have Stanton at $25 and two really top of the rotation guys at $18 per (which is probably too cheap) our payroll in 2017 is already at about 80 million with those three players, Rizzo and Castro. Which, I guess with guys like Bryant could make us really good with a $100 million payroll. But it would be tight. It would definitely be tight, but I think just adding one top tier FA pitcher would be plenty. Someone like Scherzer is going to cost between $20-$23 million though I'd guess. But there's still a great crop of FA pitchers to choose from. Honestly though if they got one of the premiere pitchers and then used one of Wada, Hendricks, etc. or converted Ramirez to a starter, I think they'd be fine with the rotation. They could also get another Hammel like reclamation. there's lots of those on the market this offseason. And that makes me giddy. Don't think two pitchers is on the table though. One TOR arm and a reclamation? Seems possible. But I think the Cubs make a run for at least one of the better arms out there this offseason.

Got ahead of myself, meant to say what Tim corrected.

I got about $55m if they fill out the roster with minimum guys. And that's with an entire infield, probably some outfielders, starting catcher, three pitchers (four if you like Hendricks or Straily) and the entire bullpen already in place. They can afford anything they want this offseason. whether they *will* or not is a different question. Agreed on it for this season, but if they are not going to be willing to spend big on payroll until a new TV deal in 2020, it's the 2017 season that starts to get tricky. Edit to add: Although we would have a lot of cheap guys that could fill out our lineup. So, maybe I'm wrong. I don't think they'll reach $150 million or anything, but they could be at $90-$100 million easy and still have a potentially elite team. They wouldn't NEED to have a $150+ million payroll

I got about $55m if they fill out the roster with minimum guys. And that's with an entire infield, probably some outfielders, starting catcher, three pitchers (four if you like Hendricks or Straily) and the entire bullpen already in place. They can afford anything they want this offseason. whether they *will* or not is a different question. Considering Hoyer said they'd spend on pitching this offseason, I think they will. Seriously this trade is like the best [expletive] thing that could've ever happened for the immediate future of this team.

Is this a trick question? If the Cubs can miraculously get Stanton while only losing Russell from that first lineup how do you possibly not do it? Everyone keeps talking about having all our guys in the lineup, but I think they use Russell as bait for a blockbuster. Russell, Soler, Almora (+ one of Johnson, Edwards, Tseng if it's required after that much). They can make that deal, and it would be fair value for Stanton, and it wouldn't even remotely cripple the Cubs at all. Having Russel in the system, to me, means the Cubs can make a deal like that and not even sweat it. i proposed baez, alcantara, p. johnson, almora, beeler for stanton and andrew heaney on the last page. just go for a mega-deal and grab a top pitching prospect as well as a beast in right field. I included Soler because I automatically assume they'd want a RF replacement whose near MLB ready and also for the superficial reason that he's Cuban and they can market him to their fanbase. But I like your idea, too. Getting Heaney in a mega deal would be silly

Is this a trick question? If the Cubs can miraculously get Stanton while only losing Russell and Soler from that first lineup how do you possibly not do it? Well, and Soler. But, yeah. I take the first lineup only because I really like that one too and we can then use the $25 per on Stanton for pitching. when the Cubs start selling out again money shouldn't be as much of a barrier. They could extend Stanton AND sign a Scherzer or a Lester if they really wanted to. Everyone else is basically lockedu p already, affordable arbitration, or league minimum I'm not ready to believe that they are going to be spending big money again until around 2020, but if what you say is true, for sure I'd be down with all of that. I think davell did the math and showed that the Cubs were gonna be sitting at like a ~$50-$60 million payroll at the start of 2015. They can do it immediately.

Is this a trick question? If the Cubs can miraculously get Stanton while only losing Russell and Soler from that first lineup how do you possibly not do it? Well, and Soler. But, yeah. I take the first lineup only because I really like that one too and we can then use the $25 per on Stanton for pitching. when the Cubs start selling out again money shouldn't be as much of a barrier. They could extend Stanton AND sign a Scherzer or a Lester if they really wanted to. Everyone else is basically lockedu p already, affordable arbitration, or league minimum

Is this a trick question? If the Cubs can miraculously get Stanton while only losing Russell from that first lineup how do you possibly not do it? Everyone keeps talking about having all our guys in the lineup, but I think they use Russell as bait for a blockbuster. Russell, Soler, Almora (+ one of Johnson, Edwards, Tseng if it's required after that much). They can make that deal, and it would be fair value for Stanton, and it wouldn't even remotely cripple the Cubs at all. Having Russel in the system, to me, means the Cubs can make a deal like that and not even sweat it.

I don't have the research to prove it, but I'm going to go ahead and guess there's been no other farm system that sniffs this collection of top tier talent

Which lineup would you rather have: C Castillo 1B Rizzo 2B Baez SS Castro 3B Russell LF Bryant CF Alcantara RF Soler or C Castillo 1B Rizzo 2B Baez SS Castro 3B Valbuena/Villanueva LF Bryant CF Alcantara RF Stanton

So you think they'll move Starlin so they can keep Russell and Baez?

I'd rather them put Straily in there and let him start getting coaching from Bosio.

I still think this is a precursor to an offseason blockbuster and we will go into 2015 without one of Russell or Baez

Here's an expose on him from MLB last year: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/oak/bernie-pleskoffs-first-look-as-2013-draft-pick-billy-mckinney?ymd=20130918&content_id=60971068&vkey=news_oak

That was the first thing I thought of when I saw Russel's name mentioned. I would move Russel in a [expletive] heartbeat in a deal for Stanton. They can take Soler and Almora, too, if they need them.

From the middle of June:

What about an IFA signing?

Jake Arrieta had a FIP near 5 last season. I believe in Chris Bosio.

Still young, has a ton of K potential, could probably do well with Bosio's tutelage. I don't mind the acquisition.