Named After Maddux

A walk rate like that would make Dillon Maples seem like Bob Tewksbury! Per 9 IP... Ha! Meant BB/9, but there’s games where it felt like Maples did that.

Remind me. He's the older OK State guy, who had surgery? Kind of a college Maples, with a strong/fast arm and a lot of K's, but kind of a walk-an-inning guy? I'm sure I'm oversimplifying, but in my head I'm recalling him kind of as a 2K/1BB-per-inning type of wildman profile, right? Kind of an interesting wildcard, I'd think. As a relief guy who was a freshman, then coming back as a rehab guy, and then Covid-shortened, he'll turn 24 early summer, but only pitched 72 college innings combined. So probably with so little actual game pitching, and much of that in kind of rehab post-op mode, it's not entirely clear that what he's been past represents what he might be future. I'm fired up about the pitch-lab stuff and the optimism that they can develop pitch shape etc. But I admit I'm really curious and a little less confident about how much pitch-lab development will be able to help the wildman. Adjusting grips and delivery for better velocity and better pitch shape, that make sense. But does the pitch-lab have capacity to help wildman gain control? If so, how would that work? Heh heh, in chemistry research, we do proof-of-principle experiments, and if a new procedure works well for a case-study, scope-and-limitation studies follow. I'm kinda thinking that *if* there is proof-of-principle that pitch-lab-can help command, a guy like Leeper might be on the extreme-challenge end of the scope-and-limitation continuum for control-repair. You're totally right on the backstory. He's had an extensive history of wildness. It's improved a bit in relief, but he's still about 1 BB/inning. If you wanted a "proof of concept" to developing a pitcher with a wildness problem, maybe Riley Thompson? He sported a 6.8 BB/inning in his last season in college. Since with the Cubs, he's halved that. Not exactly a 1 to 1 situation, but perhaps there's a minor grip change, mental cue, or biokinetic fix for Leeper. Any of those could have happened in instructs. Will be interesting to dive into more.

That’s a great breakdown. People seem to really like Ben Leeper. I’ll be curious if the optimism is more about the relative value of getting a reliever who could make the majors out of an UDFA signing or if it’s about true late-inning reliever level talent. I’m guessing, like all of this, we find out a lot by June. Luke Little is an interesting dude too. I was a bit pessimistic about the pick early on, but there was definitely a team about to select him before the Cubs did. They had him in for a workout and kinetically they were impressed. I remember thinking he was very stiff in his predraft. It’ll be curious to see if they run him out as a starter early since he’ll need so much development. I imagine he’ll at least piggyback early like a lot of guys this year.

The problem is that PTR's definition of "a mid level FA" means somebody willing to sign a 1 year contract under $2 million. The dreaded 3/$15M is unimaginable I can’t imagine the Cubs would dare shell out “Marlon Byrd money” in this economy.

I'm sure vlad and Bichette wouldn't be on the table and probably not Pearson, but I certainly would love to get something starting with Austin Martin and Simeon Woods-Richardson, grab a third like Manoah and that would be a haul. I’ve had a KB and Hendricks for Woods-Richardson, Groshans, Grichuk, and Stripling deal in my mind. Not that it would actually make me excited but I could squint and see how it fits into a 2022 timeline. Another guy in TOR’s system that makes sense is Gabriel Moreno, who could slide in and be a C a year behind Amaya in the system. Still I go back to the premise that if you trade Hendricks, you need to seriously consider moving all Non-Happ players on the major league roster.

If the Cubs move Kyle Hendricks, it’s time to burn the whole thing to the ground. Edit: Wrong tweet

Guessing based on their recent podcast that BA has Amaya just outside the Top 100.

Willson loves to stoke the fires. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him moved though. Those Jason Castro rumors probably were legitimate. At this point I think Jed is cashing in the chips he wanted to in previous seasons. The Blue Jays, Angels, Marlins, and Mets are all somewhat interesting trade partners.

Interesting That would put Jensen at a 5 pitch mix: two seam and four seam both with elite velocity, slider, changeup, and curveball....Same as Alzolay but throws harder, better two seamer, probably better overall secondaries...I thought his changeup was underrated or had potential out of the draft too Gooooooood stuff, and set up for maybe 90 innings in 2021 maybe 100, just seems like a nice sleeper in the org Thanks for posting Tom. I do think Jensen is a bit underrated in the system. He did have a viable changeup coming out of Fresno St, but if he’s still experimenting with grips it may be a bit of a work in progress. He’s an interesting guy to watch this summer. I agree with you, if he can throw a solid 90-100 innings, that sets him up for 2022.

That’s a very intriguing profile. A slider followed by a splitter was the two pitch sequence with the highest SwSt% (swinging strike %) in baseball last year. https://twitter.com/choice_fielder/status/1344077942897307650?s=21

I like this much better, small but big impact. There was some twitter speculation Woods-Richardson might have made his ML debut in 2020 IIRC. Overall agreed that the Blue Jays are the cleanest fit if trading both Contreras and Caratini. It would be nice if the traded could be expanded to include Gurriel Jr. Other take is I'd rather trade Mills than Davies in a Contreras deal. Davies can carry his own trade the way many are going to be scrambling for pitching if the season is scheduled for more than 60 games That’s a good point on Mills, Tom. I’d prefer trading him over Davies despite the additional control.

I still like my Contreras to Toronto for Simeon Woods Richardson, Danny Jansen, and CJ Van Eyk deal. If you expanded it to include Davies, maybe Stripling comes back. He had a rough 2020, but if you believe you can get him back to form then his team control is helpful.

I’m glad to see Thatcher Hurd start to make his way up boards. I’ve got him in the 30s in my internal list. Big spin rate guy and an athletic delivery. He’s new to full time pitching so there’s less mileage on the arm. I think some model-friendly team is going to take him relatively early.

Agree, I really like him. Also, if true, the NL Central should have fecal league stats next year instead of regular stats. Just imagine if they do expanded playoffs again and take two teams from the NL Central.

Yeah, we're at the point where the only way to get anything of note for Bryant or moving Kimbrel at all would require eating some money and with Ricketts crying poor, neither is likely to happen. I might be overly optimistic, but I'd be a bit surprised if they can't eat any of, say, Bryant's contract for a better prospect. I highly doubt they can absorb all or even half of Bryant's $18-20mil, but if a team like the Braves needs the Cubs to cover $5 mil to get his contract down to $15 mil, then I think (hope) the Cubs would take the better deal for $5 mil. Obviously all conjecture, but moving 75% of these bigger contracts is still significant savings for a team and should be palatable even to Ricketts.

A deal with Pittsburgh built around David Bote for Joe Musgrove is my current favorite route. Considering Adam Frazier is a possible NT, Bote would be a good fit as a 2B who can back up 3B for Ke'Bryan Hayes. It'd require more on the Cubs's side. Also, old friend Aaron Brooks is an intriguing target [tweet] [/tweet]

PTR is just gonna promote the leftovers up a spot so he only has to hire a low level scout. The best outcome would be for Jason McLeod to find his long foretold GM position. The Cubs would surely allow him out of his contract, which would actually free up money for the front office. I still have hopes that Theo is waiting to step aside if the Cubs can land a GM like Jared Porter this offseason.

starlin surely you mean Russell Well he did say MLB player

I think having Caratini allows you to take a chance on Sanchez. I could definitely see it as a stop gap for Amaya for a year. He still excels with barrel% and hard hit%, but he rocked a 36% K rate. I’d still look into seeing if you could get Kevin Plawecki from the Red Sox first. With Yu’s no-trade clause through 2021, I’d be pretty shocked to see him traded unless it’s to TEX or maybe LA and that’s only if the Cubs tell him they plan to fully rebuild (granted that’s implied if you’re trading Darvish or Hendricks right now). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My current premise on the offseason would be to sign Rizzo to an extension, trade Willson, and tender the following: Bryant, Baez, Happ, Caratini, Tepera, and Rea. There would be a couple contact-oriented bats, and lots of cheap relievers (the market should be flooded) to see if they can pick up next year's version of a knuckle curve or cutter. 1. Rizzo extension - save $2.5 mil for 2021 2. Trading Willson - save ~$8 mil for 2021 3. Tendering Bryant and Baez - cost neutral 4. Moving on from Schwarber - save ~$10 mil from 2021 projections/decreased if involved in trade 5. The other tender lot: most are obvious (Happ, Caratini). Tepera I'm split on and I think Rea is a cheap option as a reliever only. Almora is an obvious 'no'. Save ~$3 mil 6. The contact bats - Brantley (unlikely), Benintendi, Grossman, and/or La Stella. 7. Find a SP with velocity If you're subtracting $2.5 mil from Rizzo's option, trading WC, moving Schwarber, and bringing in Benintendi and Gausman you've subtracted about $3 mil from the projected $160 mil or so that Brett posted. They'll need it to fill out the roster and hopefully the budget isn't as razor thin as that. If you want to really unload payroll, I'd move Kimbrel. Edit: nontender not contender

Looks like it’s Hendricks getting the start. Go get’em Kyle.

What do you think Restore is paying Happ for? He probably even forgoes a finder fee.

I figured this would be the case, but Brennen Davis mentioned he would be participating in Fall instructs. He did note he’d be starting a couple weeks late. I’m presuming that’s to just give him a break.

A very important game, especially for the Twins (like you said) and Josh Donaldson got tossed after hitting a home run. He had been frustrated with the ump after calling a 2-0 pitch that should have been a ball a strike. I'm all about giving it back to umps at times, but what a doofus.

On an extremely cheap 1 year deal, maybe. But there’s a lot of other FA SPs who won’t cost much I’d prefer over him. Hell I’d have more interest in bringing Q and/or Chatwood (depending on the severity of his injury/if he needs surgery) back on 1 year deals over him. I’m actually pretty interested in Q for 1 year next year for a semi reliable/inning eating rotation spot. I’m not particularly in favor of bringing in Arrieta. Barring something unforeseen, I could see a Drew Pomeranz’s 2018 deal ($1.5 mil guaranteed with a chance to be up to $5 mil in salary based on incentives) for Jake. Maybe a team like the Rangers takes a chance or there’s interest in him as a reliever. Overall I agree that there’s other pitchers I’d rather take a chance on.