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SOFNR

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Everything posted by SOFNR

  1. SOFNR
    Trading for one of the Padres pitchers, and grabbing Robertson is still my favorite option. Followed by adding Bregman, and trading Nico for a good pitcher (feels unrealistic at this point). Followed by adding Bregman, keeping Nico, and exploring pitcher trades at the deadline. If none of those are on the table then Turner and Robertson is honestly a fine ending to the offseason. I've been starting to get uncomfortable they are going to miss out on all these options and go into the season with a bunch of money leftover, but hopefully the Bregman saga is getting close to it's end and we'll still have good pivot opportunities.
  2. SOFNR
    The Cubs have atleast 30 million to spend. There's no reason to not improve the team for the first 4 months of the season so they can try to squeeze in 30 mil worth of salary into the last 2 months. It's not even very realistic to think they would have opportunities to.
  3. SOFNR
    Couple things here. Bregman wants the best deal period. I dont think he ends up here, but if he does it will because the Cubs are offering more money in the short term and a chance to opt out. I believe Micheal Kings AAV will count for 7.75 this year. Not 4. The Padres want to shed salary. That's the main reason they'd be moving King. That trade would do the opposite.
  4. SOFNR
    I tend to agree it shouldn't matter and the Cubs should be flexing their financial muscle on a regular basis. But it is a bit of a weird spot this year. Going barely over last year was pretty dumb. They're very likely go over in 2026, maybe by a decent amount. Resetting this year is probably a smart move. Ultimately they shouldn't be near as scared as they are of that first line, but that seems to be the reality. For where we are in the offseason, I'm pretty ok with staying under, as there isn't a ton left they can really do. But if they get Bregman, and have to trade Nico for salary I'll be pretty pissed. Or if they get Bregman, and then refuse to go out and improve a good team at the deadline because of money. The tax should definitely never stop them from going all in when they've got a legit chance to win it all.
  5. SOFNR
    I mean this can be taken in several different ways and I'm not sure it's adding anything new. The 4 year deal the Cubs have reportedly offered isn't really a "short-term contract". It seems like he's always wanted a 6-7 year deal and he also has an AAV he'd like to hit. He's probably not going to get everything he wants. The benefit of the structure of the Cubs deal is he'd get more money up front and have the chance to opt out, probably every year, while still having some protection if he gets hurt or struggles. If some team is willing to pay him 30+ million over 6 or 7 years obviously he's going to take it, but nobody seems to be jumping at that chance.
  6. SOFNR
    It's clearly been a priority to add pitching depth this entire offseason. I feel pretty confident any upcoming changes to the starting rotation will involve adding a pitcher, not trading away one of the 3 guys you feel confident will give you over 100 innings.
  7. SOFNR
    It would also just be terrible mismanagement to trade your two best 3B prospects, plus a good 3B with 3 years of control, to sign a guy who can opt out a year from now.
  8. SOFNR
    The Bregman stuff is still super weird to me. He's supposedly got a couple 6 year offers on the table. There were reports the Astros offered 6/156 and it wasnt good enough. Maybe 3/90 with opt outs each year is tempting because he thinks he'll get better offers next year if he has a great year? But Wrigley is a harder park to hit in and I'm not sure how much better then 6/156 he should expect at age 31 even if he does have a great year. Can the Cubs even fit 30 mil in the budget? Trading Hoerner to cut salary only makes sense if they can grab a good pitcher who makes less then him and those options seem slim now. If they can grab Bregman and keep Hoerner I'm fine with that. But it leaves Shaw in a weird spot. You're not gonna trade Shaw when Bregman could opt out in a year. Will be interesting to see how this plays out but it's still hard for me to see.
  9. SOFNR
    The Astros clearly think they can fit Paredes and Bregman into the same infield or they wouldn't still be targeting Bregman. Rumors are Paredes would move to first, which I'm sure he could handle well. Paredes projects to mash in that stadium. They've got no interest in moving him. The Cubs were clearly interested in moving an infielder to open up a opportunity for Shaw all offseason. They aren't going to change course and trade a top 100 prospect to bring back the guy they already traded away.
  10. SOFNR
    I'm curious what Hoyers plan is if Preller holds firm on wanting Shaw for Cease/King and Robertson comes off the table. I dont believe the Bregman stuff at all. There's really not much roster room for middling relievers. Weve already got a bunch of those. You can see another bench bat but those options are running thin and wouldn't be expensive. We've seen enough smoke that it seems that Hoyer is willing to spend another 25 mil, but beyond the guys mentioned above I'm not sure where it would go. I guess if Flaherty really comes down to something like 2/40 that becomes an option too.
  11. SOFNR
    If the Cubs got Cease/Suarez they'd maybe have the money for Canha. Certainly not the other two.
  12. SOFNR
    Yah, Bergman over Nico is definitely no guarantee to add wins. He does improve the offense. But we've also reached a point in the offseason where Nico for improved starting pitching is a little more difficult to figure out. Just give me King and Robertson.
  13. SOFNR
    If the reliever market is moving fast I'd really like to see them pull the trigger on a Robertson. Hes a great fit and should come at a price that probably doesn't influence grabbing one of the San Diego pitchers.
  14. SOFNR
    Ha. They sure don't help themselves with ridiculous comments like this.
  15. SOFNR
    Yah, Montgomery has always been pretty low on my list. If we are grabbing a pitcher in the 23-25 mil range I'd much rather go for Flaherty, Castillo, Lopez. I'd probably even prefer going with Wicks or Assad over giving that sort of money to Montgomery given their payroll limitations. Now after the Rea/Thielbar signings it's looking pretty difficult to pay 20+ for a SP while still adding to the back end of the bullpen and the bench. If Montgomery was only going to cost you 13-15 maybe it's worth exploring. Although I'm also not willing to give up anything of much significance to take a shot at him bouncing back.
  16. SOFNR
    Ugh. It's nice to have official word the Cubs are out. It sucks the Padres won't have a resolution for a while.
  17. SOFNR
    .
  18. SOFNR
    Well there you go. Hopefully he goes to the Padres and the Cubs can grab an arm or two from them.
  19. SOFNR
    I think its unlikely he's coming to Chicago. But yah, that doesn't seem to be a very reliable account. Could easily just be trying to gain some fame, because saying the Cubs are out is a fairly safe bet.
  20. SOFNR
    Same. As tight lipped as the FO is we may not even hear about an elimination.
  21. SOFNR
    First time since the Tucker trade that I'm actually a little scared about their offseason plan. Sure hope it's #1.
  22. SOFNR
    There's definitely no way to take this as a good thing. I don't think it means disaster for an extension but it's a pretty weird way to start a relationship with a player you want to keep around a long time.
  23. SOFNR
    While these bullpen additions have obviously been super underwhelming I'm still not really concerned yet. Festa was solid against righties last year. He's probably going to cost under a million. They probably think they can tinker with him. Sure he's out of options but he still shouldn't really impact anything else they do this offseason.
  24. SOFNR
    He was trying to quote another poster, but he doesn't know how to use the quote function.
  25. SOFNR
    Well the Cubs have pretty obviously not been in the market for everybody. They have been obviously in the market for another starting pitcher that fits into their budget. Cheaper with high upside guys like Bohm or Luzardo was probably their preference. Now it looks like guys in the $20 mil range may be the only ticket. It's worth checking in with Flaherty because if he's coming in closer to 3/75 then 5/120 Jed may decide to go that way rather then give up prospects for similarly priced pitchers like Castillo or Lopez. Or maybe they give up on upside arms and go for Scherzer, who isn't likely to be much of an upgrade but does offer short term depth. There are still reasonable options on the table. As much as I often give Jed flack I'm sure as hell happy he's not panicking on Jan 4th and offering Jack Flaherty a blank check.
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