Bertz
-
Posts
12,362 -
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
-
-
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.
-
I do find it interesting how much smoke there has been around a Javy extension even though everything else has been about how poor the Cubs are. I wonder if that's why they're refusing to do even tiny moves until KB is traded. They can probably get a Javy extension done while staying under the tax by trading Quintana and not KB, but that leaves essentially zero room for anything else. So they need to keep that lane open in case they don't ultimately like the offers for Kris.
-
Highly recommend this from Sharma
-
I still don't think Schwarber is likely to be dealt but the fact that a Corey Dickerson is getting 2/17 probably implies that his trade value is significantly higher than I've been thinking.
-
Yeah I think Kieboom and stuff is probably the best realistic option. That's the one where you are taking the least severe step back the next two years (hell, there's probably a ~30% chance Kieboom + $18M is better THIS year), and in this kind of deal you're generally better off taking one A+ piece than 3 B+ ones. I'd feel a lot better about the Braves if Pache was part of that menu. The bat has questions (though given his age none particularly concerning), but it sounds like he's a legit +15 defender in CF. He offers a comfortable floor that none of the Braves other options do, even if I like them all individually.
-
Swing and miss can ironically be a good thing for BABIP actually. You want someone who either swings and misses or hits the ball on a line. Like Javy basically. That being said the ceiling for true talent BABIP probably isn't much higher than .340 or .350, so Anderson's gonna have to improve in other ways (to your point by cleaning up his defense probably) to be more than an average regular.
-
Seems like the Nats are the team to root for if you want a great piece (Kieboom) with some filler, while the Braves are likely to offer 3 good pieces but no slam dunk guy.
-
This is where this whole deal with waiting for a KB trade before doing anything else is really going to hurt. At 2B there are so many guys at roughly the same level of quality that the team can wait until February to strike. But at CF? You've got Shogo, Pillar, and Maybin as the only even adequate options. Maybe they've got a trade conditionally worked out that nets a CF? Otherwise waiting is a dangerous game IMO.