Bertz
-
Posts
12,369 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
29
Content Type
Profiles
Joomla Posts 1
Chicago Cubs Videos
Chicago Cubs Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits
2026 Chicago Cubs Top Prospects Ranking
News
2023 Chicago Cubs Draft Picks
Guides & Resources
2024 Chicago Cubs Draft Picks
The Chicago Cubs Players Project
2025 Chicago Cubs Draft Pick Tracker
Blogs
Events
Forums
Store
Gallery
Everything posted by Bertz
-
Sharma/Mooney with an article on the Athletic this morning. Not a ton of info, mostly just reprinting quotes from Theo and Jed (the Mooney special), but a few things stood out: - Sounds like the chances of a Schwarber deal are higher than we think - Contreras is probably starting the season on the team, but could very well be moved at the deadline if the team disappoints; the FO really likes Caratini - 2B is the area the team is most explicitly listed as needing an upgrade. They sound cautiously optimistic about Ian Happ as the opening day CF
-
So in the event of a Willy trade that leaves Russell Martin as the only remotely decent FA catcher left? Or am I forgetting someone? Yup. It's Martin, and then a very large gap, and then Matt Wieters. And then from what I can see not a single other option that projects to even a .300+ OBP. Brutal. I'm guessing the Willy ship has sailed.
-
-
Yeah I think given the past few CBAs the players will do something that superficially sounds good but ultimately makes things worse. My guess is that they bump up the number quite a bit, but the penalties, even for first time offenders, become far more severe and it function like a hard cap.
-
Passan bringing up the Bryant/Arenado switcheroo https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28430628/mlb-superstar-trades-sign-stealing-punishment-more-passan-answers-20-questions-2020 So I read that as essentially KB for Prospects, and then Willson and Heyward for Arenado. Sounds unlikely obviously, but if Passan is saying it then it's not completely out of nowhere.
-
I'd guess half the league is doing some variation of what Ken describes the Red Sox doing. The Sox will get hammered for being repeat offenders though.
-
In a sane world, this us simply a guy to push on Kemp and Descalso, with the idea being that there is one bench spot available that the three of them are competing for (maybe two while Nico opens the year in the minors?). But who horsefeathering knows at this point.
-
-
I wouldn’t be shocked if Kaplan’s “anonymous executive/former GM” “source” is just Kaplan making horsefeathers up but putting an “anonymous” source on it to sound more authoritative. The lines and quotes from his “source” are similar to his takes on KB being overrated and what not that he always has, also randomly has a Gleyber comment and some White Sox ball washing which are things he brings up a lot and knows ruffles feathers/drives debate. Every time Kaplan writes an article citing a “former GM/executive”, there’s a 99% chance it’s Jim Hendry. Yup, and the other 1% is split between Steve Phillips and Jim Bowden
-
-
-
Sounds like Donaldson is getting closer to signing and IMO it looks like it'll be the Braves.
-
Yeah, Castro and Cabrera splitting 2B and providing coverage depth for a Kieboom-Turner left side of the infield makes total sense, so I don't think these moves say much either way about their KB intentions. I do imagine this implies they're out on Donaldson though. If they were signing JD I'd imagine they would have only brought in Cabrera (with Kieboom the starter at 2B), not both.
-
Signing Starlin Castro is the type of move a team about to trade Carter Kieboom would do. But it's also a move a team whose top reserve infielder is Wilmer Difo would do, so I don't know that there are actually any Cubs implications we can correctly parse.
-
International Free Agency, 2019-2020
Bertz replied to CaliforniaRaisin's topic in Cubs Minor League Talk
-
Since the Cubs won't spend any money, what the hell is their bullpen going to look like? Kimbrel, Wick, Wieck, Ryan, Maples, Norwood, Winkler??? Should be a fun year... Tepera, Megill, and Morrow(if healthy) are likely to be ahead of Maples and Norwood on the pecking order, but that's likely the base group. Of all the things to be upset about, the bullpen looks pretty fine given the nature of bullpens. Yeah, I wish there was one more established guy, but I like the idea of having ~15 guys with minor league options and/or making the league minimum competing for 6 spots. I expect good things out of the pen this year, even if it might be a little dicey in April.
-
Weirdly Jason Castro is still out there. Back before we found out the team was crying poor I thought he was a great option to be Willson's backfill. That's still possible, and I also wouldn't hate Russell Martin. But those are the last two names available that don't make me want to hurl. But there hasn't been a peep about Willson being traded since the winter meetings. I wonder if it's been back burnered until KB gets dealt, or if they've decided to hold onto him. The team brought in that highly regarded catching coach so maybe they've convinced themselves that they can fix his framing? Who are even teams that need a catcher yet that would be in on Willy or grab Castro/Martin? Angels, Padres, Twins and Rays? Can’t really think of others. I’m sure a bad team like the Mariners or Tigers or something may be in on one of the FA guys too just to have a vet and maybe flip them or something. Sounds like the Twins are really happy with Garver, so yeah I think the Angels, Rockies, Rangers, Rays, and a few rebuilding teams. The Padres sound like they want to flip Hedges for another need, so to your point they should be included in the discussion even if they don't technically need one at the moment.
-
Weirdly Jason Castro is still out there. Back before we found out the team was crying poor I thought he was a great option to be Willson's backfill. That's still possible, and I also wouldn't hate Russell Martin. But those are the last two names available that don't make me want to hurl. But there hasn't been a peep about Willson being traded since the winter meetings. I wonder if it's been back burnered until KB gets dealt, or if they've decided to hold onto him. The team brought in that highly regarded catching coach so maybe they've convinced themselves that they can fix his framing?
-
FWIW Jim Bowden predicted that a Bryant to the Nats deal would look like Carter Kieboom, Jackson Ruttledge (2019 First Round Pick), and Tim Cate (2018 2nd Round Pick). Now Bowden is very much a clown (he thinks the trade will happen in March?!?), but he can be good at correctly gauging what things actually cost. Like his FA predictions are usually the best in terms of dollars. But again, he's a moron, so grain of salt and all that.
-
It sounds like the plan for Asuaje would be more as the Iowa 2B, via Sharma: That being said I'm still not exactly expecting a world-beater at the major league level. Probably a Joe Panik?
-
Sharma has a good article in the Athletic this morning about his predictions for 2020. A lot of good stuff but these two things stood out:
-
There was an Eno Sarris article earlier this winter about things the public doesn't know about working in a FO, and one of them was that it's extremely hard to dump salary. FO's basically fetishize "flexibility" and so it's not as simple as attaching $10M worth of prospects to a guy with a contract that is $10M underwater. It's frustrating, but if the market is going to act irrationally in this way I don't expect a Chatwood move.
-
Yeah he likely isn’t gonna be a star but fit a hole here. It really seems like the plan right now is either run it back with the exact same roster except #5 starter and some bullpen moves or wait on KB decision then trade him to get under the LT and I guess see what’s out there left in FA. Which is a stupid horsefeathering plan. Because if they wanted to get under the LT and just do some of these small adds Q and/or Chatwood (use Roederer or Strumpf or some 7-15 org guy) could’ve or should’ve been moved by now to accomplish that. Yeah they're clearly waiting on KB for EVERYTHING. They don't want to deal Q because they're not sure if they'll have those additional arms yet. They don't want to sign anybody because they don't know how much money they have available. I'm not sure why Willson has been affected....I'm starting to wonder if they've changed their mind on moving him?
-
The median outcome for Shogo is probably something like Jon Jay, and so I get bowing out rather than going to three years on a 32 year old Jon Jay clone. But man, given that depth is already the team's biggest problem, letting all these guys go by while waiting on a Bryant decision is gonna hurt.
-
I think ultimately we see both KB and Q dealt, which would put the team ~$27M under the tax. That's enough room to extend Javy (adds $8-9M), add 2-3 bench bats ($3-5M each), and leave a small reserve (~$5) for the trade deadline. But with so many moving parts, they don't want to close off any possibilities early. And if extending Javy really is part of Plan A, that may be why they don't even want to do something modest like a Shogo signing before they know they've got a preferred KB deal done.