Bertz

It feels like Manny is close to signing. I just hope that feeling is accurate and that Bryce isn't more than a week or so behind.

Wait, is the relegation idea sarcastically over-the-top or do you honestly think that's more realistic than the other ideas in this thread?

Pretty sure Mitch was near the top of this list around midseason. He's really come around later in the year on the accuracy front, with the obvious exception of the Rams game.

[tweet] [/tweet] [tweet] [/tweet] Am I reading this wrong or did Quinn get demoted and the HC job is open? Read it wrong. Quinn HC and DC. Wow that's soooooo dumb. Too bad we don't play them next year.

Atlanta doesn't need a HC though. And the Bears aren't letting him go be a DC somewhere else. But yeah, Atlanta is back to Superbowl contenders if they could get Fangio as DC and find a guy that can draw up some redzone plays on offense. [tweet] [/tweet] [tweet] [/tweet] Am I reading this wrong or did Quinn get demoted and the HC job is open?

[tweet] [/tweet] Obviously don't want him to go, but he would be great for Atlanta. I wouldn't want him if I were about to draft a QB though.

Roquan Smith was 10000% right to hold out

Windows shut so quick in the NFL. Vikings went from the NFC title game to missing the playoffs, looking toward an offseason where they have 7m in cap space and two key defensive starters (Sheldon Richardson and Anthony Barr) hitting FA. They're not going to be bad or anything, but it's tough to see them being too much better than they were this year unless they rock the draft.

Mack and Hicks out of the game, I think everyone else still in. I think that's the right call, maybe pull Fuller too?

That drive was awesome from Mitch considering the circumstances and how depleted the WR core currently is

I’d rather just have a better kicker and deal with the money. Well 2019 Parkey will probably be better than 2018 Parkey too. But spending much money on the K spot would be ill advised. It doesn't cost that much guaranteed to go and bring in a decent competitor for him. This. Absolutely go out and bring in some league minimum guys or use a 7th round pick or whatever to have a competition, but you can't spend real money on another kicker. The team has 25 in cap room after they cut Sims, but they need to retain or replace Amos, Callahan, and Massie as well as some of the depth guys like Lynch. Trevathan and Long are both cuttable, but either of those would be a robbing Peter to pay Paul situation IMO. Also, as bad as Parkey has been this year, the difference between his season and an average one is like 2-3 extra FGs and 1-2 extra points. Those can be important but it's not worth like $10m in effective salary salary.

He's got 5 million in dead cap next year, he'll be back barring some sort of playoff nightmare. If they cut Long they’ll get that money back. With how tight money is going to be this offseason that would be a....bold...strategy.

I think a lot of the criticisms of Cousins are overblown, bu that was baaaaaaadddddd

He's got 5 million in dead cap next year, he'll be back barring some sort of playoff nightmare.

I don't think that's a TD, but regardless it was awesome. And yeah, I think I would pull the defensive starters now and the offensive ones at the half.

The Vikings stink. Let them in because they look like the weakest team in the NFC. but they aren't. I'd much rather face Philadelphia Agreed. The Eagles have been ravaged by injuries. I don't care that they beat the Rams, they're the much weaker team right now.

He definitely is going to need surgery in the offseason. That just shouldn't happen like that. I do wonder if in the short term it's a "pop it back in and play through some pain" situation.

I think in general, simpler is better. If you have a complicated system, it will 100% favor management as compared to it's simple equivalent. Keeping that in mind, here's what I would fight for if I were the MLBPA 1. Years of control are now like minor league options. It's no longer based on days it's a binary yes/no did you appear in the majors in a given year 2. Raise the major league minimum to $1m and then set it to rise with revenue 3. Start arbitration a year earlier, so it goes Min/Min/20%/40%/60%/80% Not exactly revolutionary, but they're changes that IMO would help a lot while still being something you could see all being included in the next CBA.

I found out recently that I work in the same building as all the CSN people, so I've been seeing them around. Kaplan is extremely short and Chuck Garfein has had so much work done he looks like Lisa Rinna.

A guy who has historically been well connected with Boras to boot. My current guess is that they have lined up the salary dump(s) they need to sign Bryce, but they're painful. Could be using Happ to dump Heyward, or using top prospects to dump Chatwood, but whatever it is it's something otherwise not worth doing without Bryce. If they can reel him in, we will see 3-4 moves in a row like when Lester signed. If they whiff on Bryce, we see the more modest Plan B offseason. But if this is the case (bolded part), couldn't it also be that Boras is playing him too to create a more robust market for Harper? 100%. There's a pretty good chance that Bryce doesn't want to go to the Sox, the Phillies and Yankees are focused more on Machado, and all this recent Cubs optimism is just meant to turn the screws on the Dodgers.

A guy who has historically been well connected with Boras to boot. My current guess is that they have lined up the salary dump(s) they need to sign Bryce, but they're painful. Could be using Happ to dump Heyward, or using top prospects to dump Chatwood, but whatever it is it's something otherwise not worth doing without Bryce. If they can reel him in, we will see 3-4 moves in a row like when Lester signed. If they whiff on Bryce, we see the more modest Plan B offseason.

Got it. I agree that the luxury tax threshold is largely an artificial constraint. No reason to not blow by it if you can afford it and are in a competitive window. Looks like the $102m figure is an EBITDA figure. So in order to determine budget availability, you'd have to factor in roughly $25m in amusement taxes (roughly 12% of Forbes' gate receipts numbers), plus property taxes for Wrigley and the surrounding properties plus some additional taxes. Not sure what the interest expense is from the initial purchase plus additional interest paid in connection with the Wrigley renovations. If the Wrigley renovations were funded with equity investments, then that would slightly lower the figure. Revenue may have been lower this year due to no playoff run as well, plus the player cost was substantially higher this year compared to Forbes' $180m figure. I'm not trying to defend ownership at all costs, but I don't think it's as simple as saying "Of course they can afford Harper, the Cubs are rich." Until the new TV deal has been formalized, it seems likely that they really are at the upper bounds of what they can afford. With that said, if I were them, I'd take the one year hit and sign Harper. Yeah, I'd guess the break even point right now is somewhere around $250, but it will jump up next year with the new local tv deal plus MLB's re-ups on the national deals. Also, they had years during the rebuild (or hell, just last year when they had a payroll only in the 180s/190s) where they were pocketing cash. If the Ricketts were honest about their dollars in dollars out policy, 2019 and 2020 should have been circled years ago as the seasons where payroll would be stretched and they ought to make up the difference. Instead, my guess is during those lean years they used the profits on the renovations (even though IMO that's not a baseball ops expense), and now payroll is still being capped at a number where they project themselves to be revenue neutral-ish.

I think you play the starters. Less because of the bye and more because of the Vikings. While obviously the bye is crazy valuable, I don't think it's particularly likely the Rams lose. On the other hand, the Vikings are WAY better than the current Eagles, so if we can knock them out it's much smoother sailing during the Wild Card round.

I really wanted Graveman at this time last year. His 2018 was a disaster and then obviously the surgery but there's some real talent there. And all it costs is a 40 man spot.