It can easily be argued that they are setting up a big move with those depth moves. FWIW Mikolas could be helpful in helping him make the transition as well, no?
/Devils Advocate
I may have over-compensated to avoid the "keep dreaming" type of comments but I also think there's a good shot that Bichette bounces back to the 5 war player he was the previous 2 seasons.
Yes, that'll give us the 1 and 3. The Panthers aren't winning horsefeathers. The Patriots probably get the 2. I love the idea of adding MHJ and Fashanu around Fields.
I wanted to lose and shut down Monty. But as long as we keep the #1 pick I guess I should just be happy with good Fields play and the defense showing out. Check and check.
I understand that Hoskins on a Bellinger-like pillow contract is attractive and I won't complain much if that's the route they decide to take, but it feels like JD and Turner would be slightly cheaper because of age and I would love to add either of them. I hope we court all 3.
The Rodriguez dude is really intriguing. I could see a team like the Rays or Astros grabbing him and starting him out in the rotation, just hoping for 4-5 solid innings.
Sox just traded Bummer, coming off of a horrible season, to the Braves, for Soroka, Shuster, Nicky Lopez, Shewmake, and Riley Gowens. That feels like a big win for the Sox even if Bummer bounces back. That's a pretty good package.
Not to mention you replace those guys with Horton, Shaw, etc.
The Cubs are going whale fishing in FA over the next couple of years. They should mostly avoid patching their holes with mid-tier FA and let the kids play!
Definitely knock him hard for inability to stay healthy, but here's the list of LHH that have been better than Belt since 2020 at the plate.
Yordan
Soto
Freeman
Harper
Shohei
Seager
He edges out Olson and JRam
You can get him for like 10m. Hell, get JD for another 10M and you have a significant improvement to your lineup with major flyball hitters who do serious damage.
Stay out of the FA SP market unless you land Yamamoto, which appears unlikely in my eyes. Trade Morel for the SP, sweeten the pot to bring back a RP.
Blow your load on Ohtani.
If he "balls out" then you draft MHJ and Fashanu and run roughshod on the league next year. If he's merely 80 rating, 200 ypg, then you probably get a 3rd, maybe conditional 2nd IMO. This was literally discussed the page before I believe.
Speaking of C defense, it sure would be great if they squeezed more juice out of Gomes, or Amaya, who mirrored him in a lot of ways - average pop, average or below framing, below average arm - I think that would be a boon to the run prevention. Hoping Amaya has a little more in the tank another year removed from TJS. Probably wishful thinking. But I feel like his reputation was stronger than what he demonstrated, at least.
i love Mo's swing. It's pretty easy to see why he makes such exceptional contact.
I like using Morel for a pre-arb or arb-1 SP and trading a prospect for Polanco (2 cheap club options, but hasn't played a ton of 3B, so Hoyer might not even kick the tires) while adding Belt. Then you can absolutely add one of the 2 whales and some pen help.
Personally I don't really care how old a player is on a 1-year contract. If you get only 400 PA out of a 140 bat, it's still a nice signing. Sign Hoskins for DH, Belt for 1B, and when Belt inevitably goes on IL, Hoskins can take 1B. They can use Morel to land a good controlled SP. They can even save the 20m for Hoskins and go balls-out for Ohtani. and Soto. It feels inevitable they will sin Hoskins, but why not look at a cheaper alternative who can actually play defense. Hoskins was never a good defensive 1B and now he has a surgically repaired leg to contend with. It's fair to question if it's the most prudent move to make IMO, even if you're confident he will be a 120 bat like he regularly has been.
You hope they do better than a guy who's posted a 171, 159, 98, 138 in the last 4 years? That works out to a 140 over a 4 year span in the twilight of his career. And he will come on a cheap 1-year deal. With Caissie and others coming up in the next couple years, they should think short-term. Belt is actually an ideal alternative to trading for Alonso to me. He's been quite good defensively, even at an old-ass 35 y/o last year.
Cubs prospect arm surgeries have increased ten-fold since they actually started drafting and signing live arms and since the pitch lab began cranking up the spin and velo. For almost a decade they took nothing but crap pitchability/low-risk guys. I think a pitcher's arm will either hold up or it won't. Baby it all you want - all it takes is one pitch. Strasburg is a good example. Recently Andrew Painter is another, and there are tons more.