Rcal10

I don’t think they can sign Bichette and have enough money to make any moves necessary at the TDL without maybe trading Rea now. They also have Wicks, Brown and Assad as depth so they might be able to do that. However, going over by $6M or so, if they do need to add at the TDL shouldn’t be a big deal. They can get back under the following year pretty easily. Bichette would be my first choice as well.

I’ve read 2nd or 3rd.

Why not trade Tailon, add Gallen and Bichette and be $10M over the LT? They can also trade Rea if they need to save more money.

This. No need to trade Nico. Play Bichette at 3rd this year. Figure out 2nd and 3rd in ‘27 when the time comes.

He did. But in a park made for him. I like Bellinger and he would be a fine signing. But he isn’t Tucker. Not really close.

Power right handed bat🤷 Aside from Seiya and Swanson (a little), Cubs don’t have much right handed power. I think the only way Suarez ends up here is if he is the last man standing and accepts a short term contract. Maybe 2 years. Bichette really checks all the boxes for the Cubs to finally five out a large deal in years and salary. He is the perfect option.

What is wrong with you? This is a great trade.

If Bellinger is signed Mo stays in AAA and catches. Austin is going to be a reason not to add Bellinger. Bellinger plays RF, DH and fills in for PCA in center and plays first some. He fits fine. However, I do agree Bichette might fit better. He is my first choice. If they get Bichette, Mo probably stays in the majors and the bench/DH is back up catcher, Mo, Shaw, Austin and probably Alcantara. With Bellinger they probably have to add a utility player, and Mo would be sent down.

I would be fine with that.

Exactly.

Right. If they have $29M to spend before the LT line, maybe trade Rea and sign either Bregman, Bichette or Bellinger for $27M to $29M a year. Gives them $6M for deadline moves. And if they had to add at the deadline, if they happen to have Steele back they would have 6 starters. If they added someone of higher end salary at the deadline, they can trade Tailon to get back under. Or they can just act bigger market and be a little over the LT. Who cares???? Just go under the following year, which shouldn’t be a problem. Cabrera was a great start. Now they need the final move…..

I don’t want to deplete the farm any more. Sign a bat. There are 4 great options.

I would rank then Bichette, Tucker, Bregman, Bellinger ……….Suarez far behind. But tbh, I would be very happy with any of the top 4. If they added Bellinger, who I rank 4th on my list, I would be happy. Then Mo can catch all year in AAA. They should also be able to go over the LT to make any move, but if not trade Rea to get any other money they might need. They will still have work to do on the bench. It would be Alcantara, back up catcher and Austin. Need a utility guy. Maybe that is who comes for Rea?

Nice. Love it.

It is stops at Hernandez this is a good move. I like this. Now get a bat and let’s go….. Cabrera was my preferred choice of a pitcher in the off season so they can add a bat as a FA.

What am I missing? Boyd gets $13M and Rea $6M a year. How is that $26M. My numbers might not be exact, but they are much closer to $19M than they are $26M.

No please!

I’m not arguing with you. I agree who would be the better player. However, is Rea and Boyd comparable in salary to Fried? I don’t think that is true. Anyway, that isn’t the point of my response. I am just trying to make sense as to why Jed wouldn’t do a max year, max salary contract, even if Tom would be ok with it. Other large market teams work behind a bad contract. Cubs won’t.

To your post, yes the best player available is the best option. But people who suggest Jed will never get the superstar and will always only settle for good players are right. But is it Jed who is risk adverse or Tom? Will Tim just not do it because he knows on the back end the deal suck? We don’t know. But let’s say it is Jed. So he doesn’t want to giving a 10 year deal to a superstar. For this season, let’s use Tucker. Let’s make it simple, 10/$370. Assuming Tom is not ever going to play over the LT on a regular basis, what happens if Tucker ends up with injuries most years that makes his contract an albatross. Not even Kris Bryant bad, but bad. The Cubs ownership won’t go over the LT to bring in other good players, they will just allow the team to try being competing with a waste of $37M a year on the roster. At least with good players and less years they aren’t wasting as many years or money if that player end up with problems staying healthy or maybe just not being very good. Look at the Phillies. They carried Castellanos and still added. They had Realmuto for a high salary, Nola too. But they signed Schwarber again. Hell, the Dodgers were paying guys not in the playoff roster more than some teams payroll. They have carried bad contracts for years. Even before this unprecedented spending of money. Padres, who are said to be broke. Spent money even with a bad Bogaerts contract. There are more. But the point is, I don’t see Tim allowing that. Cubs would just have to ride it out and suck. A major market team should be able to compete, even with a bad contract or two. And until Rom gives the green light that he will go over the LT on a semi regular basis, I don’t really blame Jed for being risk adverse. One wrong mega contract could set the team into sucking for a decade.

I don’t agree with this. Why can’t value signing continue to provide value? The FO isn’t “hoping” a guy they sign underpriced plays to a higher value. They are predicting he will. Why are they less likely to provide excess value than a star signing provides? Swanson has provided excess value well over Bogaerts and Correa. Would they have been better off signing the star, Correa? Honestly I am having a hard time understanding a point to your comments. Does signing a star player guarantee that star will outperform his contract. Cubs traded for Tucker last year. He is a star player. He even performed to his contract cost. And where did it get the Cubs?

Right. It is BS. Even if they put a hard cap in, how does it affect the Cubs with all the FA they have next year? And it will surely be bigger then this year anyway.

The cubs using uncertainty in the new CBA to not spend money is complete BS. No outcome of the next CBA will hurt them moving forward. It is just an excuse not to spend.

How does Jed go about getting “star” players? By signing mega deals? Does ownership and the FO strike you as being willing to do that. I don’t agree you have to have superstars to win the WS. Teams win a WS. Not individuals. But if the Cubs really need to sign a superstar to win a WS, they will never win. That isn’t how they do things. Jed has put together a group of good players and built a good team. Sure, I wish they would go further. I wish they flexed their financial muscle, but ownership isn’t going to do that, therefore they aren’t getting the star player.

👍 yep, Jed is such an idiot!

It is also not a hot take to suggest the team with a top 5 revenue in the sport should also be a top 5 spender every year and frequently go over the LT line. It should use its financial muscle. But that doesn’t happen either.