SOFNR
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Everything posted by SOFNR
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Seriously. Entitled is the right word.
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Ohtani's job is to play baseball wherever he ends up signing. He doesn't owe anything to random baseball fans sitting at home refreshing twitter. Bagging on the guy for asking that his professional negotiations stay professional is wha'ts a joke.
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Exactly this.
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Nightengale has consistently proven himself to be completely full of horse feathers. No idea where the Cubs stand with Ohtani but I'd bet my house Nightengale doesn't either.
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That might be the goofiest comparison I've ever seen. Ohtani is deciding the next decade or so of his career and life. Likely the place he retires. He's not picking out a hat or sunglasses. He's making one of the biggest decisions of his life. And if he makes a decision before or during the winter meetings that is actually super early in FA, especially for a top star. It doesn't make him wishy washy or indecisive to get all the information possible before making a major decision. It makes him smart.
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Can they send Theo? I had a lot more confidence in his pitching abilities.
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Going somewhere, Soto? Yes, to the Yankees
SOFNR replied to Bobson Dugnutt's topic in Chicago Cubs Talk
Yah, I'm holding on to the hope that they won't throw another "can be above .500 with positive variance" team on the field next year no matter what. They should put out a team that's favorites to win the division. It seems like they're ready to push again. But I think an Ohtani signing definitely impacts how aggressive Jed will be. -
Going somewhere, Soto? Yes, to the Yankees
SOFNR replied to Bobson Dugnutt's topic in Chicago Cubs Talk
I guess this is my major worry right now. We may have let ourselves get a little too excited about this off-season. I think they are legit going all in for Ohtani and that's fun. But he offers a lot of unique revenue options for the Ricketts that other guys don't. And the downside of spending years not trying to play in the top FA markets is this team probably isn't as enticing as others if you value consistent winning. Ive no doubt theyd go pretty big if they landed Ohtani. But I'm pretty worried about what a non Ohtani off-season looks like. There's not a lot of exciting long term prospects in FA and I could see Jed going back to his smart spending route there. But I gotta think they've got some trade plans in mind with the farm depth and hopefully they can still piece something together to get some stars and become the favorites in this awful division. Even if those trades will likely be very painful. -
The Dodgers win 100 games and the division almost every year. The Cubs havn't show much interest in putting forward the sort of resources that make that possible. The Dodgers won 100 last year. The Cubs won 83. If winning is at the top of the list for Ohtani then the Dodgers have a pretty big advantage at the moment. You can pitch to Ohtani all day that you are building a contender right now but actions speak a lot louder then words. It's very plausible that making a couple big moves during negotiations could impact his decision in a positive way and show they are fully committed to acting like a big market team.
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I don't know about the accuracy of this guy's source but I don't think that would be shocking. It's the only reason I've been slightly optimistic on Ohtani. It's just a different situation than most FA. Opens up a lots of opportunities in a new market and he's possibly paying for himself even if the team sucks. Their #1 priority is always make the most money and this move probably fits for them. And you might as well create a good team around him for a few years and to try create new fans. I think Yamamoto has to be very intriguing too. They can always pull the rug out again in a few years and still make money off Ohtani.
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The cubs need a 1B. They clearly don't think he can play 3B well. Why not see if he can give you above average defense at 1B? I'm not sure it means much more then that. Nothings going to stop you from picking up a better 1B or trading Morel in the right deal. But they're just exploring their options.
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I don't think anyone is calling them a poverty franchise. But they've entered the season as a top 5 payroll twice since the Ricketts took over, and the last time they were really competing for a top 5 free agent was entering 2018. They didn't really even participate in FA 2019-2020 and since then they've mostly just been waiting out the market each year. Last year was definitely a step in the right direction and Swanson appears to have been the right choice. But I think the Ricketts have fully earned a "I'll believe it when i see it" attitude at this point when it comes to going after the top guys. Hopefully they're ready to outbid other teams again. It looks plausible
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I'm not really going to believe the Cubs are serious about the top of the FA market until they actually play in those waters again. But I do think Ohtani might be a different case to the Ricketts. I'm sure they'd love to expand the Cubs brand more internationally. How much money can they make off the Japanese market if they aquire Ohtani and Yamamoto? I'm sure they've done the projections here. I think Ohtani probably makes more sense to them as far as FA risks go, and they've certainly got as much money to spend as anybody else if they think it's good business.
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That's pretty exciting. He's definitely an upgrade and I hope this signifies the Ricketts would like to start winning again. I think the impact of this ultimately still depends on how they approach FA. But I'm now more optimistic about FA then I've been in a long time.
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I'd be pretty shocked. I think we'll see a pretty similar off-season to last year. But I'll be rooting for you to be right.
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What makes you think the Ricketts would even consider it? I think every sign has been maybe they'll spend on rare teams expected to be great, and even then they typically need to show it first. The Cubs have only started a season over the tax twice since the Ricketts took over. I can't really see any chance of it next year. I would agree it's going to be tough to replicate this years wins and stay under but I'm sure they'll try.
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I know we're supposed to be all excited just to be playing competitive baseball in September, but this entire month has just been excruciating to watch. I'd rather have not had the tease. Maybe eventually they'll construct a team built to win again but I expect next year to be similar, if not worse. They'll build an 80ish win team and hope for positive variance again. If the Ricketts can stay under the tax and keep the fans showing up into September they'll be ecstatic. This team would have been in the playoffs if they put any real effort into building a bullpen. Props to a lot of overachievers who really got us closer then we should have been.
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I don't think it really matters whether he'd consider the Cubs. I doubt they are anywhere near the top of his list and I doubt he'd turn them down if the money was right. But I guarantee the Cubs won't outbid everybody else for him. They'll hang out in the weeds and preach smart spending while they avoid the tax line like the plague.
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I'm definitely not betting on this team to make the playoffs. They don't look they belong there.
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Ugh. I'm done.
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Somehow they're still alive. Get a couple runs here please.
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Any optimism I had for this group is rapidly dwindling.
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This would be ideal. I wouldn't pencil in Wicks as the better option over Assad yet though. Let's see how he does as teams continue to see more of him. But i've definitely seen enough from Taillon to not want him anywhere near a playoff start.
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I'm not at all confident they get in but they are still in the drivers seat here. They really need to take care of business against Arizona. Unfortunately this stretch of bad play probably makes it very unlikely they'll get a chance to line up their rotation how they want in a Wild Card playoff. That would have been nice. With the shape of the pitching on this team I'm not going to be very optimistic about even making the divisional round. Hopefully the offense starts heating up again soon.
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Whew. Good recovery from Fulmer. It's a dub. By the skin of their teeth.
