Hunter

This was the moment I knew we were going to the World Series. Bonus points for crushing Kershaw's hopes.

I think it makes sense for Harpers camp to leak that there is strong mutual interest coming out of their meeting It also makes sense for the Giants to leak to try to gain some leverage on rumored OF trades.

Poor Rizzo.

If Ricketts, shows his face at the convention, everyone needs to yell "HARPER" at him.

Cubs Fans "are far away the most obnoxious fans of any team in baseball" Thom is my favorite announcer to listen to when the Reds are losing and in the basement. His misery is just so delightful to hear.

Youtube video of Ruth and Gherig taking batting practice with slow motion included. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXftJC8FOfo&feature=youtu.be&t=238

Maybe their social media person is one of us!

Please Cubs, sign Bryce Harper, before we kill each other.

I believe it is in the best interest of the Cubs for the Phillies to get Machado. If the Phillies don't get Machado, I don't see the Cubs being able to offer Harper nearly as much as they could offer him.

[tweet] [/tweet] Arcia in 40 games with the Angels last year: .204/.226/.427 I don't know how he grades defensively, but I hope he isn't our planned backup catcher.

Considering the Phillies would prefer Machado. Nightengale is the worst.

Have we fallen so far that not only look to twitter for trade rumors, but now we are looking to twitter for players to sign? :lol:

Brewers picked up Spangenberg. Pretty solid 1 year deal. [tweet] [/tweet]

Huh? Any team he signed with only pays the league minimum for him. Using Tulo and dumping Russell would have saved us $3.5 million too.

[tweet] [/tweet] I would rather give up Almora, but if true, do this yesterday.

Well for $3 I guess we could take a chance in 2020.

How do the Dodgers keep finding ways to dump bad contracts and payroll? We can't seem to do it.

No, really, you don't. You cut your losses and move on. I'm not even comfortable with the idea of trading to try to recoup some value. I get that it's the right business move, but some things should be bigger than business. I don't want to gain anything from his horsefeathers existence. I want the team to drop him like the flaming bag of horsefeathers that he is. If I were more vindictive, maybe I'd want him sent off to the minor leagues to sit on a bench and burn a number of his most valuable years. But I don't know that that accomplishes anything, and I'm pretty sure that would result in a viable grievance claim. I am not saying what I would do but trying to reason what the organization is doing. It isn't worth any justification to keep him.

This is how I feel as well. So glad I bought Baez WS jersey beginning of 2017 season so it won't bother me about buying another Cub related merch for a long time. Now to the bold part. Is there any blowback to the Cubs from Boras in this situation? Like if Cubs just outright release him and lets say Russell can't find a team to sign him all offseason, would Boras throw up his arms and start talking to MLBPA about filing a grievance or whatever? Boras could be like, "There's no video proof, convicted/arrest, etc and all we're relying on are the words of a couple womens and that the Cubs should still be paying him this season." It's a horsefeathers look for Boras, but I can see him sticking up to his client in that way. Surely Theo/Cubs aren't worried that this could happen right? I'm just trying to think of another option on why Cubs have kept Russell so far that haven't been talked about. I don't think this has been brought up in this thread yet. For the Boras angle, I more see it a possibility of him having an impact on signing Harper or extending/resigning Bryant. It might not be that big of an impact, but you don't want to piss him off either. In the end, the most money usually wins, but you want to keep a good relationship with the guy who holds strong influence of people you want to sign or extend. I've been of the belief that the Cubs tendered Russell to pay him $3-$4 million he will get and then trade him when it becomes doable. You keep Boras happy because you didn't completely kick Russell to the curb where he ends up getting nothing better than a minor league contract offered to him by another team.

I generally like to let facts come out before I am willing to condemn someone. I also believe everyone deserves second chances and giving people the opportunity to apologize and move forward. I have been willing to give Russell such an opportunity and thought maybe the Cubs are doing the same. I can respect the Cubs if they honestly intended to do so. However, the more that is coming out the more I too want Russell gone. The stories are troubling because they speak to an overall lack of character more so than Russell making stupid mistakes. His production hasn't been great, and his salary can't be an issue. The only thing I can fathom is the Cubs are either desperately trying to recover some value out of this situation, or this is all to stay in Boras' good graces. Neither reason is worth it, and he needs to go.

I don't remember seeing this before, but it lines up with the timing of the Reddit post. It was well known that the Dodgers are trying to shop Puig, but the bit about him wanting to be in LA?

The cat weighs in: [tweet] [/tweet]

Yeah, I don’t get this. i think it probably has to do with their presumably having more tradeable money than we do. Like we would have to work pretty hard to move enough money (heyward, chatwood etc) while they can surely find a taker for Puig without much trouble. They are also currently 9 million under cap and we are over by 14 million.

I've always wondered how the winter meetings work. I've always imagined it is like a speed dating experience. Each GM sits down with another GMs for 5 minutes. "I'm looking for a left handed middle reliever." "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm more of an outfielder kind of team."

I don't think it is breaking news that Harper would want to play for the Cubs. I think just about everyone has always figured it is more up to the Cubs than him. I don't think it will require the Cubs handing out the most money/years, but if they can get close enough, he will choose the Cubs. With the reporting of the Cubs' money situation, it isn't much of leap to think they would try to clear $20 million in payroll to make room for Harper and still be able to shop for other needs. If Harper is willing to wait, then the Cubs are going to be smart and act poor. We have other needs to fill and moving people before a big signing is easier than after. I also don't think it is a great stretch that we will see a signing almost immediately after a big payroll clearing trade. Especially if it is Heyward or Chatwood. If the Cubs can't dump $20 million in payroll, they will have to get really creative. I should start a Cubs Captain Obvious twitter with this great insight!