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Thusly Boned

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Everything posted by Thusly Boned

  1. Thusly Boned
    All are still in our system, I believe, but breathing is about all they're doing.
  2. Thusly Boned
    Apparently the Giants were shown the exact same terms the Dodgers got, and they were amenable to it, but he chose the Dodgers anyway. It was only going to be the Dodgers, the rest was barely more than a charade. And there is a ton of circumstantial evidence/reporting out there that Ohtani simply wasn't going to play in NYC, almost regardless of anything else. I mean he probably wasn't ever leaving SoCal, but he was never going to the East Coast. I think I read that the Mets didn't even get a cursory phone call from Ohtani's agent. We never really heard any serious linkage between Ohtani and the NYC teams, and it's because he just wasn't at all interested in dealing with that scene.
  3. Thusly Boned
    I think most people want the Cubs to be aggressive on players with relatively low risk, and not so much on a player who feels like he is as likely to turn back into a pumpkin as not. Bellinger feels iffy enough that he's definitely not who you'd want to have as the centerpiece of your offseason. At least to me. Plus signs seem to point to a late signing for Bellinger, and if we're adding him mid-January, that likely means a lot of stuff has gone wrong, and we're overpaying him more out of desperation than calculated risk. And yeah, all the people aren't going to be pleased regardless, but that's nothing new.
  4. Thusly Boned
    Rey played for the Cubs the first 6 years of his career, I'm pretty sure, 1996 was probably his best year with the team. Advanced defense metrics weren't what they are now, but I think he did his best defensive work after moving to he AL. But yeah, statistically a great defensive SS.
  5. Thusly Boned
    That much is patently obvious now, particularly since it has been reported the deferrals were his idea. He wants to win, and really only wanted LA. Does it make him a heel? I don't know, but it sure it irritating that the whole thing was a dog and pony show. But it also was what a most people were assuming (that he really only wanted to stay in LA).
  6. Thusly Boned
    It works for everyone
  7. Thusly Boned
    The O'Reilly thing is definitely what I got right away, fwiw
  8. Thusly Boned
    It seems to me that the only thing that is clear here is that very few people (if any, outside of the FO) has any idea what is going on here. Even the most connected people seem to be fumbling around in the dark on most fronts. Thing might turn out very badly, but I am reserving all judgement until things actually start happening, and we're a good bit further down the road. "Reading the offseason" seems laughably futile at the moment.
  9. Thusly Boned
    I fully expect any contract Ohtani signs to have opt outs. With the uncertainty around his pitching after a second elbow surgery, it'd be shocking if he didn't angle for at least one, honestly.
  10. Thusly Boned
    Yeah, if Hoskins is the biggest addition of the offseason, that's not gonna be good. But there are lots of potential trades out there, and outside of Ohtani/Yamamoto, there aren't a lot of other names out there substantially better than Hoskins. And I think some people are really sleeping on Hoskins; he's not Trey Mancini. If people have gotten themselves into a "if we don't get Ohtani or Yamamoto this offseason is a failure" mindset, that's a them problem. There is simply too much competition from the other major market teams to bank on those two. It'll be disappointing, but those were always gonna be fights the Cubs had no guarantee of winning even if they make the best offers (in terms of money). I'm also guessing we see one or two significant moves no one is even talking about right now. There are multiple avenues to substantially improving the team this offseason, and I'll wait until the shelves start looking bare before I start calling for people's jobs. Or if we find out that there wasn't really an effort made on some of these fronts.
  11. Thusly Boned
    A lot of less than thrilling conjecture out there, but I think I'm gonna wait until a few of our potential targets come off the board before I come down with a case of the vapors.
  12. Thusly Boned
    Yeah, I loved what Cody brought last year, but I'd have to see another season as good or better before I'd feel comfortable giving him a $200M+ contract, after a couple godawful seasons followed by one very good one. I've heard He/Boras are seeking $300M, which is just insanity. I don't think he'll get either of those numbers from anyone, though. We'll see.
  13. Thusly Boned
    I really wanted Turner, and was scared to death of Correa, and considered it a dodged bullet. Time has made the Swanson signing look pretty good. That said, I might still rather have Turner. Bellinger was a home run, but was an easy risk to take. Mancini was a bad move, Hosmer was a no risk flyer. Smyly was a mostly bad mixed bag. Barnhart was exactly what they expected, I think, and they did the right thing by cutting him loose when Amaya established himself (somewhat). Fulmer was okay, but the injury wasn't entirely unpredictable. It turned out bad, but it's hard to fault them for Boxberger. I think the jury is still very much out on Taillon. He could be bad, or he could be the pitcher he was in the second half and that contract will look pretty good. Or in between and it'd be a wash. I think one of the latter two is more likely than him being awful for the next few years. I don't have a ton of complaints, really. I'll be really disappointed, but even if the Cubs don't get Ohtani or Yamamoto, there are a few offseason paths to being the clear favorite in the NLC next year.
  14. Thusly Boned
    Yeah, the media is definitely not thrilled about this; they wanted a three ring circus, are getting essentially nothing, and are trying their best to manifest one.
  15. Thusly Boned
    One of the only things I'm reasonably confident about is that the near absolute dearth of anything of actual substance to report re: Ohtani is probably driving reporters/writers who make their living on being "in the know" crazy to the point where they're all throwing horsefeathers at the walls. It'd be more amusing to me if having nothing with any veracity to read weren't driving me crazy as well.
  16. Thusly Boned
    I'm almost certain it would be a one year deal with options. But like you, I think it would be a good fit, as I think he can still hit. His defense sucks out loud, though.
  17. Thusly Boned
    Well yeah, it's all speculation (some more substantiated than the rest), like I said. But he and his agent have to do their due diligence to the process, at the very least just to maximize the deal he gets. There's a game to be played. When looking at what is likely going to be the biggest contract in American sports history, you don't just take the quick out. Even if he had no intention whatsoever of leaving LA, he wasn't going to sign immediately.
  18. Thusly Boned
    No one knows for sure, but one thing that seems pretty clear is that he has an aversion to media scrutiny, and would likely prefer a "low key" home city. It's been speculated and rumored that he flat out would not play in NYC, and I have to imagine that's a big part of why. Chicago isn't NYC, but it's not LA or Toronto, either. Additionally, it's been said that Shohei is a creature of habit, and probably was never really looking to make any radical changes from the life he's led stateside since he first arrived. And then there's the weather, but who knows hoe much he cares about that. It's all speculative, but it seems a given pretty much all the major players here were prepared to give him $500-600M, and at that point, it really comes down to the other stuff, and I've felt the whole time like Jed & Co. were sailing into the wind here even if they were willing to pay. EDIT: All that said, I am still clinging to hope here, because I really feel like the pursuit has been sincere. I'll let it go when it is reported he's signed somewhere else.
  19. Thusly Boned
    Yeah, as the process has gone along, I've increasingly felt like the Cubs weren't really going to be outbid here, or "out-efforted", but that they are working against factors they can't control (geography, demographics, media intensity/scrutiny, etc.). I may be proven totally wrong, but I would not be the least bit surprised if the winner doesn't turn out to have offered the most.
  20. Thusly Boned
    I just want to know what a Yamatomato is, and if I can eat it But seriously, I think it was a given Yamamoto wasn't going to get done during the winter meetings, since he as only just posted and started meeting with teams. I'd guess we're a couple weeks off on that front. But the Ohtani thing is excruciating, especially since it is mucking up the whole market.
  21. Thusly Boned
    We don't know exactly what Shohei's sensibilities are, but Toronto is a great, cosmopolitan city, the media is likely to be a lot less intense/demanding. And the Jays are competitive. That said, if he really prioritizes winning, making it of that division is gonna be a taller task year in and year out than the NLC. But we don't really know just how much of a priority that is. If he wants a place where he can avoid being under constant media scrutiny, Toronto may have something over both LA and Chicago. All that said, I don't think anyone really knows what is going on here.
  22. Thusly Boned
    As if it isn't obvious to everyone, but the most hilarious aspect of this dumpster fire is that in a lost season, where the only thing of real value to accomplish is development/assessment, they simply refuse to do even that. Fields may not be the guy (probably isn't), but the staff seems hell bent on making that determination as murky as possible by confining him in a cage of inane offensive playcalling. If he is to fail, let him do it spectacularly. Or maybe he actually succeeds. But my guess is we won't be allowed to find out, and everyone will be left forever second guessing whatever decision is made after the season. The whole thing is just a master class in incompetence, and if I hadn't emotionally distanced myself from the Bears long ago, it'd probably be making me insane.
  23. Thusly Boned
    Well, there's enough time left for one final indignity, I suppose.
  24. Thusly Boned
    Well, there's no way you could have known what you were suggesting based on what we saw. You *were* just feeding your own narrative based on an assumption. I don't have a real horse in the race, I barely care either way, but as an observer of these threads it's pretty clear you have a strong bias, and your input is as predictable as anything. But hey, you do you, I guess.
  25. Thusly Boned
    Acting as if he knows things he doesn't (or otherwise feigning expertise) is Kyle's entire schtick. Or he's just trying to get people's goats, but it's pretty tedious either way. Not sure why you all even humor him.
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