Cubswin11
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"Time makes fools of us all" - The Kyle Schwarber Thread
Cubswin11 replied to Sammy Sofa's topic in Chicago Cubs Talk
He's gonna show up with a body looking like Georgie's -
Didn't we just hire this guy during the season? Well, bye.gif [tweet] [/tweet]
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I hope we end up with one of Chapman or Jansen. But my preference is Chapman. I like that he's left handed and has an overall better repertoire that he could be able to tap into if/when needed down the road. Plus we keep a draft pick. I'd be more than happy if it's Jansen over him but prefer Chapman.
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Same way we got Warren for Castro. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Superfluous asset (v-bach is a fatter Schwarber, Castro an uglier Baez) for pitching potential. In his dreams ----- No way in heck the Cubs walk into the season with that bullpen and Edwards as closer. I <3 Edwards and just no way - maaaaaybe just before his FA season. They're almost definitely not going to pass on this crop of high end relief FAs just to pay for one at the deadline again. To add a bit to this... Maybe their sentiment will change, but they have said and shown the tendency to not go with Edwards back to back days, 3 or 4 games in 5 or 6 days, etc. So as a "traditional" closer on a team that's going to win 90+ games next year they'd have to be comfortable going to someone else as a "closer" along with him/use multiple guys if they stuck with those rules. Unless it's another RD/screw the closer year I guess. He's best used as a fire-man/high leverage relief pitcher and not strict closer, imo
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On top of him still likely being really good if he loses 1-3 MPH on his FB his slider/cutter (whatever you want to call his breaking pitch) has shown flashes of being pretty damn good. Once he starts losing velo I'd imagine he'd incorporate and work on that pitch a little more. Don't forget the changeup: http://m.mlb.com/news/article/76660438/chapmans-excellent-changeup-becoming-weapon/ http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/jabo-aroldis-chapman-changeup-watch/ http://cdn.riveraveblues.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Aroldis-Chapman-changeup-slowmo.gif?ccc875 That's filthy. I can't say I recall him throwing that pitch at all in his time here. But yeah it's pretty clear he has more than just a really fast, fastball in his repertoire to be a successful pitcher once the velo starts dropping.
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Yeah that just doesn't make any sense. Up until last offseason it was pretty well reported there were payroll constraints, whether or not you want to believe that or not as PR spin from the team/FO that's up to you but I mostly believed it. I could get the argument he was given an unlimited budget to overhaul the FO/inner workings of the team but it was somewhat at the expense of the major league team and I truly believe Lester was the exception to the rule and they only spent on him because it was him. They weren't just going to "buy" an ace that offseason, it had to be the right one.
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Daniel Hudson is another relief pitcher option that intrigues me quite a bit. I wouldn't mind a perceived overpay for him. He fits the bill of a somewhat former top starting pitching prospect, who just recently made the switch to relief pitching. His velo made a major uptick moving to relief, averaged 95 on his FB this year and topped out at nearly 98.
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The best point I've seen made is that Jansen didn't start pitching until like 22 years old. At 17 Chapman was pitching in major Cuban tournaments. Lot more wear on the arm of Chapman, who absolutely has to have that 100+ MPH heater to be an elite reliever. The thing about Chapman's velocity is that it's so ridiculous that he can lose a tick and still be really good. Chapman led pitchers in fastball velocity by 2.4 mph, that's the same as the gap between 2nd and 29th. I know some people will think of Game 7 and get apprehensive, but I don't think that's a fair representation of Chapman because he was missing command as much as velocity. He also has only thrown 840 innings as a pro since he was 17 in Cuba, so while his arm isn't Jansen fresh(500 IP!), I don't think there's much risk of past workload weighing him down. On top of him still likely being really good if he loses 1-3 MPH on his FB his slider/cutter (whatever you want to call his breaking pitch) has shown flashes of being pretty damn good. Once he starts losing velo I'd imagine he'd incorporate and work on that pitch a little more.
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Very slick under the radar move. It will ease the blow a bit when Gleyber becomes a star. Well that and winning the World Series in part because of the Gleyber trade. I hope they at least send Torres and Vogelbach participation ribbons for their efforts on the teams success
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I wouldn't mind seeing us get in the middle of a 3-way deal like the Dodgers did with the Reds/White Sox last year to acquire young pitching. Help facilitate a larger/known MLB player trade in exchange for young pitching. Who or what that is I have no clue.
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Figured time to start a thread about various rumors and minor transactions [tweet] [/tweet]
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My thinking is that if he's going to be in the starting lineup in the playoffs against RHP then he needs all the ABs he can get, and that includes against the good ones. If the Cubs are scrapping tooth and nail for the division maybe that changes things, but I'd think if they've got a solid lead Schwarber should get a lot of PAs against lefties, Baez against righties. Is that slash line against righties that terrible considering his elite D and baserunning? I feel like even if he doesnt improve against RHPs he still deserves a spot in that lineup and my guess is hes going to improve a bit. That slash line with the K/BB rates is horsefeathering terrible regardless of defense and base running. He also did it with a .336 BABIP. Which with his speed isn't crazy but if he has a little worse luck that's a downright frightening slash line.
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More likely an integral piece in a trade for Trout. But yeah I'd think he'd make sense to DFA. Where does the 40-man stand today with FA/retirements? And how many guys do we need to add to protect from the Rule V, if any?
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why do you hope this? or are you just saying he'll get 200 walks? Because the guy is going to get 600+ PA if healthy. Yeah, wtf. I get it's probably wise not to push it with Zobrist if they have the luxury. But no more than 450 abs!?! That's like 110-120 games. He should be playing 135-140 games as his floor. That's still plenty of rest.
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While this makes a lot of sense from an offensive perspective, the Def would be average at best correct? Obviously late inning replacements with def subs would be used a lot but in bigger parks that OF worries me a little bit. (but we could base enough to offset it, I guess) Well what are your choices? They're gonna play Schwarber. And while Baez may not play every single day at 2B, you've gotta think he'll be there most of the time. RF is really the only other spot for Zobrist at that poiny. I really hope Baez playing every day next year isn't plan A for us. He still needs to be very much protected vs RHP. I know health/others performance don't always allow it but he should really only be getting about ~400 PAs and 120 starts next year.
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I know this may be a different market/times, but Andrew Miller got 4/36 when he was a FA 2 years ago. He didn't quite have the reputation then that he does now but he was already an established relief ace. I'd be shocked if Jansen got more than 4/70-5/85. Hell, I know it's not a perfect measurement, but he accepted "only" $10.6mm in arbitration this past year. A number him/his agent/Dodgers feels reflects the elite relief pitching market. I know all it takes is one team but I don't see him passing $15-17mm AAV on his next contract.
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Well looks like they will offer the QO, but the perception last year was that hurt his offers. Either he improved his standing enough that the QO will be meaningless to his suitors, or there is some interest in bringing him back. Last year's OF market was way better too: Heyward, Upton, Cespedes, Gordon, even Span to go along with Fowler. This year it's Cespedes, Fowler, Desmond, and I guess Reddick. Speaking of, depending on price, I wouldn't mind Reddick as Fowler's replacement (Heyward moves to CF along with Almora). Schwarber/Zobrist/Bryant in LF/Heyward and Almora in CF/Soler, Reddick and Heyward in RF would be pretty productive playing match ups. You wouldn't lost much on super defense either, especially late in games, going Reddick/Almora/Heyward left to right.
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[tweet] [/tweet]
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I know he doesn't help the long-term picture, but neither did Hammel, I wonder if Rich Hill would be a target on a 1 or 2 year deal with using some of Hammel's savings on him?
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If the above is true, and Hammel is bent on testing FA, why wouldn't we slap a QO on him? If they wanted him that badly they just would've exercised the option and said horsefeathers your wanting FA. They clearly didn't overly care to have him back or not and let him decide.
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From Rogers article..... Sounds like they let Hammel have an option on the option. "A source familiar with the situation, told ESPN.com that the team gave Hammel the option to decide if he wanted to return in 2017 or test the free agency next winter, in a very attractive market for starting pitchers."
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After his postseason now is a great time to see if the market is overvaluing him to possibly sell high on. He still has his warts, imo. I obviously would rather see him stay but there may be offers to good to refuse.
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Not sure if this is what you mean, but in the last 3 years the only innings Montgomery has in relief are in 2016(78 of them). Also, he threw 14 innings in the postseason so his total this year is ~115. Yeah I edited my post. Meant this past season were mostly relief
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Even if they like Montgomery that much, his innings the last 3 years are ~120, ~150 and 100 in this past year and almost all in 2016 were in relief. He probably can't handle a full season of starting, or at least they wouldn't want him jumping to 170-190 innings I'd imagine. Weird move.
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This makes no sense to me unless there's an injury they know about
