JD94

Yeah I’m still in the camp of “I’ll believe it when I see it.” It’s just weird Bruce doubled down that Ricketts would absolutely sign off on that type of deal. It sounds like that information is straight from the horses mouth. It could just be wishful thinking though on my part.

Bruce Levine thinks they absolutely will and ownership won’t back down from his record setting asking price. Interesting. I’m sure we’ve all assumed the Cubs would not fish in those waters.

What? He will go to the highest bidder almost guaranteed. Doesn’t matter if it’s the Cubs, Yankees, or the Kansas City Royals. No way anybody can speak in absolutes either way.

I was blacked out tonight. Had to go with streameast. My ears were bleeding listening to Chip Caray. He’s so bad.

That DP by Nico and Dansby was just sick

What a catch Tauchman. Wow!! Also pretty sure I saw Madrigal in the handshake line? I’m guessing he will be activated tomorrow?

Never. Freaking. Bunt.

This is so dumb…

I guess it just depends on which position he’d rather play and who the 2 teams are (also assuming the money is equal). Getting paid as an elite CF and moving to 1B sounds pretty sweet to me lol. A lot easier position to play.

I just see zero scenario where the Cubs get Soto and don’t have to send PCA back. To your point about wanting ready / near ready players back, PCA will in all likelihood make his MLB debut next year, potentially early next year.

100% agree. Although we should target players like Juan Soto whether we technically buy or sell. The Cubs won’t do it though.

I agree 3B is a problem. I also know the underlying numbers and baseball savant page suggests Suarez should be better, but he’s still been meh. I’m not sure he ages well, so him being 32 is more of a concern to me than others players. I’m also not big on Chapman. IIRC he was white hot for a month and if you take that out, he’s been awful with the bat. That’s just my opinion though. I feel like we should shoot hire than Suarez to upgrade 3B. I don’t have the who or the how, but it’s a problem that needs to be fixed.

What’s the fascination with him? He’s 32 and has a 104 wRC+. He’s pretty meh and doesn’t really move the needle.

I mean you would be looking at Ohtani, Steele, Taillon, Smyly, Wesneski if you don’t go get another starter. I’d prefer Yamamoto or Nola in this hypothetical rotation personally.

Would definitely make a ton of sense if he was willing to do that. I’ll keep dreaming though because the Cubs will never act like a major market team that’s bleeding money anyways.

As silly as it sounds, it’s absolutely what the Cubs should do. Quick rough estimate with Soto, Ohtani, another SP, Arb raises, etc would put our payroll in the ballpark of $260-270M next year. That would be 3rd in baseball this year… which is where we should be. Im sorry… I’m a little kid in the candy store just thinking about this. I have see this lineup in writing: 1B - Happ LF - Soto DH - Ohtani CF - Bellinger SS - Swanson RF - Suzuki 3B - Morel C - Amaya 2B - Hoerner Now that is a competitive lineup that can matchup with the Braves and Dodgers. I had to stick Happ at 1B to make it work. It was that or CF and move Bellinger to 1B, but Bellinger is more valuable in CF than 1B. Maybe Soto moving to 1B would be a option in this extreme hypothetical. He’s not the best defender in LF anyways.

Yeah that’s the tricky part. I have no idea if Jed / Ricketts would even sign off on a deal like that. Maybe they would for the exact right fit, and I’m not sure there’s a better one than a 24 year old superstar. I would even go 12/420 bringing the AAV to $35M per if that’s what it took. I find it hard to believe Soto would turn that down. That would take him until his age 37 season.

You’re right. I misread it.

He’s on pace for around a 5 fWAR season with currently a 152 wRC+. The craziest part is he’s still only 24. He’s under control for 2 more years. You could eventually extend him for 10/350 or whatever. Resign Bellinger since PCA would be gone. Soto is the kind of impact star this team needs. I know it’s a pipe dream, but they are listening. I see no reason to not “blow them away” like the Padres said would have to happen to trade him.

What would you give up for Soto? I would have no problem giving PCA and Horton for him personally.

Apparently the Dodgers and Cardinals are discussing Arenado and that’s the only team he’d waive his NTC for.

Thanks for this thread. It’s hard to keep up with rumors and what not because they get posted in multiple different threads, so I never know where to look. It’s hard to scour Twitter all day at work and keep up, so I look here most of the time.

Totally agree with all of this. I know most Cubs fans want to stand pat or buy at some capacity just because they want to watch a team that’s actually trying to win down the stretch here. And I totally get it after 3 straight years of selling at the deadline. To me though, as much as I’d like to watch a mediocre Cubs team try and back door into the playoffs, I think the future is more important. I trust Jed and those guys to get a solid return back for our assets. They’ve done it with everybody to this point. There’s no reason to think they can’t also do it with Stroman and Bellinger plus Gomes and the rest of the lower tier guys. I mean Jed got Ben Brown for David Robertson. We should probably trust him and Dan when it comes to trades. If you want Bellinger back, just give him the most money. That’s all it comes down to… if that’s what Jed wants to do. I think selling is the way to go here. Again, I would love to watch them try to sneak in the playoffs, but this is a very mediocre team. They are beating up on teams as bad or worse than them right now. I just would hate to risk losing Belli and Stro for nothing but a comp pick and we still miss the playoffs all for nothing. Which I think is a more likely outcome than sneaking into the playoffs anyways even if we kept everybody. Im sure my opinion is not popular. I’m not looking to debate everybody on if standing pat is mortgaging the future or not. I just believe we are better in the long run selling off one last time. Get near ready guys to add to our own near ready prospects and spend like crazy in FA. Trade from prospect depth in the offseason to acquire a good young MLB player.

I like the catcher the WS got back in the Giolito trade. Not having a great year this year as a 20 year old in AA but he was pretty dang good last year. He’s a 50 FV prospect. Walks as much as he strikes out and has a little pop. Still a work in progress, but not bad for Giolito and Lopez.

You can absolutely sell with an eye on next year. Trade from prospect depth to also help next years team. I don’t see Jed selling to get a 19 year old in A ball. I’m not sure he has enough job security for that anyways. He needs to put a legit winner on the field like next year. Theo had a 97 win team in his 4th year after a full tear down. Next year is year 4 for Jed.