Bryants Disco Ball

This.........is an excellent observation.

Could the Nats, or any team for that matter - include their 2020 1st round pick? Is trading future drafts even possible? No.

I still think I'd rather go cheap for three years and see what I have, but the rewards certainly can be worth the risk.

What are you saying? In this case that the media didn't make up a narrative so much as ran with the most click-baity one available and the Cubs both entertained and discussed trading Kris Bryant with other teams OK, fair. I do disagree with this though: What I'm saying is that the willingness to mention the Cubs as a suitor for Arenado is the media's way of saying Bryant isn't being traded without having to let go of the storyline during the offseason. There is no reason to "let go" of that storyline. Whether it happens or not will depend on several factors, but there is no reason to think he still can't be traded.

Neither one of those What are you saying?

No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’d still lean we are trading Bryant in the next 45-60 days. I think trading KB and then trading for Arenado seems rather far fetched/a lot of moving parts and things lining up for that to happen. I see that being very unlikely. What I'm saying is that the willingness to mention the Cubs as a suitor for Arenado is the media's way of saying Bryant isn't being traded without having to let go of the storyline during the offseason I still like the Rays for Contreras...Love me some Josh Lowe now, feel like he'd be a target, and am totally willing to take on Zunino with some hopes the Hitting Lab can unlock his bat (along with improved health and a bench role)...Would expect more beyond those two obvy Are you saying you don't think the Cubs have entertained trading KB and/or haven't had any discussions with other teams and it's just been a made up narrative by the media?

They've spent maaaaaaybe $6-7 million give or take on like a dozen players and most of that is non-guaranteed. It's not wasted in a few ways: so much $/WAR potential, more MiL options, and all that non-guaranteed money helps build towards a more NFL-like future for players. Theo attacking on all fronts for the bosses! He's not quite Andrew Friedman, not sure anyone even has a shot to be, but Theo might be finding his footing as a broke young GMident just trying to make it under the bright lights of the big city Please do not take this as some sort of attack, but a legit question: How do you have fewer than 8,000 posts in five years?

If it's true that the money now "exceeds" $20 million, he did a lot better for himself than the 2 years and $10 million that was projected.

Question. Does a Javy extension for sure impact this year's tax? Couldn't they just start it next season, with his figure this season being whatever it was going to be through arbitration and the big(ger) money starting in 2021?

This is a difficult question because nobody really knows what the exact profit is that a team like the Cubs make after all the expenses, but what is a good guess as to what the payroll should be and one that would get people to go, 'OK, they spend enough.' $300 million? $400 million?

Not to mention wasting Quintana and Lester's last year, and one of few remaining years for Rizzo, Schwarber, maybe Contreras. Darvish and Kimbrel will be worse in 2021 than 2020 too. Wondering, should Lester be part of this? I don't think we are wasting anything with him at this point.

Is that the guy who hit two grand slams in like a week this season, or was that some other horsefeathering Brewers scrub who played hero?

Of course, to be fair, the team with KB/Baez/Hendricks (Rizzo/Contreras/Yu) was largely mediocre last season and couldn't even sneak into the playoffs. So, I suppose it's not that difficult to imagine looking at the same roster and thinking that.

Not sure Duke would be able to last. When the going got rough and he ended up being wrong, he sort of flamed out. That's not why he left... I spoke to him privately and Aaron is a good dude and very smart. I seriously doubt he cared about being wrong or cared enough to quit the board altogether. He was really disgusted with ownership and the Cubs bringing Addison Russell back. Just the general conduct of the team and management, and I totally get it. If the Ricketts ever sold the Cubs I could see Aaron coming back and posting again. That's awesome of him, and I respect that. But he couldn't work in pro sports then.

That sucks and they are a huge part of the problem, but also this is too weak. I don't want excuses. They have to do better.

I'm assuming that you aren't comparing someone's ability to pull off a modest direct to consumer side hustle to someone casually able to run an MLB front office. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that absolutely no one who posts on NSBB could run the Cubs, let alone better than the current FO. If anyone reading this has the chops, for the love of God, log off and get into baseball. No, not run the Cubs. I will say Duke Silver was pretty smart and I wonder how good he could be as an analyst inside baseball Ops for an MLB team... No, I wasn't trying to make a comparison between running the Cubs and creating a small business selling custom made candles; just trying to point out how a fan can turn a passion into a profession in time with enough dedication and hard work. It's obviously so much harder and entails so much more running a team or any large corporation for that matter. I wasn't trying to make any suggestion that making candles and running the Cubs is the same in any possible way. Not sure Duke would be able to last. When the going got rough and he ended up being wrong, he sort of flamed out.

This post is only being written for myself so I have somewhere to look back and see how wrong I was. Just pretend I'm talking to myself here. I'd trade Bryant to the Braves for a package that includes Max Fried. I like his ability and pedigree and having him locked up for the next five seasons. A Q type trade in which you have a cost controlled guy at a position that is both expensive and dangerous in the free agent market. I also think KB's body is going continue to break down so I'm not as excited about him moving forward. I'd like them to then use the $17 million to sign some players to short-term contracts.

Having a young center fielder who legit plays great defense and who easily can beat out slow grounders in the infield would be amazing. I just don't think they will be willing to deal him, though.

KB won't be traded in January. He will be traded by next week.

I know you all love Margot, but that + part coming along with him for Willy better be horsefeathering good.

Has Charles the Cat given any info about Bryant?

As I have previously wrote, we better be in the top-5 in payroll moving forward every year. The market and the popularity of this team is a huge advantage and must be utilized. Right now, I am more disappointed that what I consider a top front office has not utilized that advantage very well at all. The $210 million or whatever being spent is just not showing up that well on the field. Hell, I'd rather Theo do most of his work through trades and smaller signings, where he seems to excel better. (Talking out of my butt there, too lazy to see if that opinion is validated through facts). So, anyway, I think the payroll should be even HIGHER, but I can't use the money we are spending presently as an excuse for not being as good as we should be.

Any team with the starpower of Bryant, Baez, Hendricks, and to a lesser extent Rizzo has the foundation needed to win the world series. The supporting cast is a lot easier to fix/replace/have better luck, so you shouldn’t be writing off 2020 at all. Eh, I am. But I respect your knowledge so I will hold out hope.

I'm cool with trading KB, provided it's for a package considered really good and not the one proposed the other day in which we trade Willy and KB. We have had the nucleus of the 2016 World Series team the last three seasons and even added some impact pieces around it, and we have gone from winning the division, to winning the Wild Card to not making the playoffs. I don't believe we are winning the World Series in 2020 and I don't really want to have them sign a 30-year-old KB long-term after 2021 any way. So if there is way to get a nice trade for KB, which hurts the chances of winning a World Series in 2020 that I don't think we are winning any way, I'd be intrigued. With the new talent and some extra financial flexibility next offseason, I wouldn't be shocked to see them being in a better position to win the 2021 World Series. Granted, that's as long as our owners don't drop us out of top-5 payroll territory and my guy Theo actually doesn't piss the money away on crappy free agents.

Pham is a weird one for me, he has a career .844 ops but gets tossed around like a middle reliever, from one club to the next. Why Margot? defense? is he projected to have a good MLB bat? I realize hes young, but the numbers dont inspire me I had asked this about Margot a few weeks ago, as I saw a guy who doesn't hit for average or power or get on base. This is a response from TT........ The sales pitch for Margot: - He's entering his prime at 25, and his plate discipline(walk rate and O-Swing) took a step forward last year - He has pedigree, entering 2017 he was a consensus Top 25 overall prospect and had made it through AAA - Theo's red sox signed him out of the DR (I suspect this is mostly trivia, but it doesn't hurt) - He's a strong defender, career +6 UZR and +9 DRS - He's very capable against LHP, .331 wOBA career and .383 last year - As a Padre, you can dream that on a different team where he's not playing 100 games in Petco + ATT + Dodger Stadium, he'll be in a greater position to succeed - He did well enough last year that you can at least see the good version of Almora as a likely floor, but not so well that he's likely to command a ransom in trade - He makes above average contact, which balances the roster slightly There's probably some other nuanced points to make(like he's strangely not great on fastballs, which could be construed as an inability to make the leap or an easier mechanical/approach fix than picking up sliders), but that's the long and short of it.