Absolutely. Even if you got locked out of Williams and Maye, you'd be able to snag MHJ and Fashanu. You'd have a near elite Oline, elite WR core and you could fill that in with a franchise QB later.
so 50/60 honestly isn't a ton given what they lost in Stroman/Bellinger/Candelario. They'd have to spend 60 just to get those 3 back. If they mean 50/60 in excess of what was spent last year, that is significantly different.
If they give Matt Chapman the 100+M he's projected at, I will straight up vomit. The guy posted a 110 wRC+ on the season, but if you look at his numbers from May 1st until the end of the season(467 PAs) he posted a .205/.298/.361 line good for an 84 wRC+. I'm not even sure I'd offer him 2/40 at this point.
With the way Brewfan was melting down yesterday, and knowing sports radio is about 10x more reactionary, I'm sure it's a complete and total horsefeathers show in Wisconsin right now.
I think the pitching FAs are fine, but yeah the bats suck or come with huge question marks. Ohtani is a stud, Bellinger had a big year but coming off 2 awful ones and statcast is calling for regression. Matt Chapman was absolutely awful the last 2/3s of 2023. Then after that you fall into the midtier guys or guys who are looking for one last 1 or 2 year deal before retirement.
Can you imagine the surge in viewership overseas and new sponsorships for the team if they had Ohtani, Yamamoto and Seiya all on this team? Those increases would help to pay a significant amount of the contracts off.
I have a hard time believing Counsell would turn down the Mets offer of 7M a year, knowing that they have near endless resources, just for another million a year if he didn't have assurances from the Cubs that they were going to spend.
I just had a thought. If the Texans don't blow the #1 pick by getting that last second win, they likely take Bryce Young at #1. That leaves the Bears at #2 and wonder if the Bears would have even traded #2 or if they'd just have taken CJ Stroud.
It's kind of funny that all those outfield assist Happ got paid off for him even though they were mostly caused by him playing a ball badly in the first place.
MHJ is gone by 4 and almost guaranteed so are Williams and Drake. There's a significant chance Fashanu is gone as well if the Bears don't pick until 5. That would be the absolute worst case scenario. At that point I'm taking 2 of Bowers/Alt/Laiatu because this team needs stars not to trade back for more depth. Then maybe if someone like Nix slides to the 2nd, you trade up for them.
Based on the Soto thread, I think some people are going to be disappointed in the return he brings back. If they're set on dealing him, Seattle is the perfect spot. They need bats and have pitching and Woo/Miller are likely available.
Unfortunately I think this is what we're looking at, with both picks in the 4-7 range where the QBs are definitely out of play without giving up a ransom to trade up. In this scenario, I'm sorry to say, but Fields is probably your QB next year too.