Stratos
-
Posts
3,777 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
1
Content Type
Profiles
Joomla Posts 1
Chicago Cubs Videos
Chicago Cubs Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits
2026 Chicago Cubs Top Prospects Ranking
News
2023 Chicago Cubs Draft Picks
Guides & Resources
2024 Chicago Cubs Draft Picks
The Chicago Cubs Players Project
2025 Chicago Cubs Draft Pick Tracker
Blogs
Events
Forums
Store
Gallery
Everything posted by Stratos
-
Cubs sign Hector Neris to 1yr /$9m with options
Stratos replied to Jason Ross's topic in Chicago Cubs Talk
I said earlier in the offseason that this team has failed if Rucker ends up on the 26 man at any point this season. So we're going in the right direction lol -
And then there's Bryant and Baez playing on bad teams for the money. How much you pay to be on a winning team? Would you give up millions of dollars for it?
-
I dunno, Cameron seemed to be stronger and bigger physically. PCA isn't a big dude, but he does have the swing lift. That comp would definitely be on the high end in upside for PCA for me. I could see fewer HR but potential for more SB than Cameron. I'm thinking Jackie Bradley Jr with more SB on the low end and Cameron on the high end with probably not as much SLG or BB%. So most likely somewhere between those 2 guys. PCA has a lot of Corey Patterson in him. A bit raw in terms of baseball skills, but very athletic dudes. I'm thinking PCA isn't as bad as Patterson with the BB% but he's a very aggressive player.
-
PCA's K% jumped pretty high to almost 30% in AAA and in his very short MLB stint. AAA was a bit of a small sample so we'll see, hopefully that comes down, He's still quite young for that league. i'd like to see him spend almost a full season in Iowa this year. I think he might be MLB average in the AVG and power department, and that's where the tool graders show him. Hitters in the minors are notorious for having inflated BABIP and looks like PCA is no different. I'd be satisfied if he can put up a 100 wRC+ annually, and hopefully a bit more, with his speed/SB and glove he can still be a good player, even a 4 WAR player. I don't think he's a .500 SLG guy unless in an outlier year, more like .430-.450 with .255 AVG and hopefully lots of SB.
-
How about prospect + Almonte for Nardi?
-
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=80_39eAx3z8&pp=ygUgVGhlcmUncyBzb21ldGhpbmcgaGFwcGVuaW5nIGhlcmU%3D
-
And that's not even close to a full season of work. He was on a gold glove caliber pace. Maybe he doesn't do that again, but it still looks like a very good glove there.
-
I think it's a pretty safe bet the Cubs are done with the rotation this offseason, unless someone comes on a 1-year or Montgomery or Snell fall into their lap at a good price. But I doubt they're actively looking for a key SP piece.
-
Can't ever count them out. But again, they also just received 2 MLB-ready players and might have a very good pen again, and added Hoskins + just saved 15m to use in FA. Not sure the status of their finances at the moment, but maybe they could turn around and sign Chapman or Montgomery, who knows, especially if they decide to trade Adames.
-
Ortiz and Hall are MLB ready players. They didn't get Hoskins to start losing, and Chourio is pretty much ready. Brewers looking for a quick turnaround. Wish Jed was able to secure some prospects closer to the MLB when Cubs sold off in 2021
-
We only got some lottery tickets for 3 years of control of Yu Darvish, who wasn't quite Burnes but still. At the time of both deals I'd much prefer the package the Brewers got.
-
Unless Bellinger hasn't lived in Chicago long enough to know traffic patterns. They'd just be looking anyways, it's just a follow. Bellinger and his wife would by now have an idea of who the top suitors are for a longterm deal. If it's down to a few teams the wife might be starting to look for a house in these cities in prep when a deal happens. It's not like she needs a real job to fill her day haha.
-
Yeah. We don't really have any ideal 3B on the roster. We got 2.7 WAR out of 3B last season, and the MLB median for teams was 2.3. We were ranked 11th out of 30 teams at 3B, so we did pretty well. Madrigal hit 95 wRC+ (which is what he's projected to hit in 2024 by ZiPS), with elite defense while playing 3B. He had 1.3 WAR in 67 games at 3B. At a 134 game pace that's 2.6 WAR, which is above average for the position. He may not be healthy enough to play 130 games, but i'll take his projected 95 wRC+ if he continues to play excellent defense. We know from his hitting that he has elite hand speed, so that seems to be a big asset for him at 3B where reaction time & good hands are probably the most important things, not arm strength. It would be even better if Morel can play an average defense there and put up more good offensive numbers. Busch is also an outside candidate to play there, though probably as a 3rd option at best, but he played there for the Dodgers last year.
-
Cubs sign Hector Neris to 1yr /$9m with options
Stratos replied to Jason Ross's topic in Chicago Cubs Talk
Sounds like they just don't want to bring back a pitcher if they're injured. I don't think it means anything. He could have a great year and blow out his arm in the last few weeks and still gets the option without that caveat. -
I'd wager the Cubs don't care if it's a run added with the bat or a run saved with the glove. If Madrigal can even manage a 100 wRC+ he'll probably be in the lineup this year.
-
Cubs did finish 3rd in NL in runs scored last year, albiet the gap between the Cubs and those 2 teams was huge, over 100 runs each. Pitching and inconsistency was the issue. Cubs have a chance to top their runs scored from last year if they sign Bellinger, with better output from 1B and DH, and Amaya probably hits better than Barnhart, though Amaya hit really bad in the latter part of the year. Braves have good players at almost every position and elite players at at least 4 positions, and have a big advantage at catcher than us, which is now probably going to be our weakest position this year.
-
For some reason all the projection outlets have Seiya at around -9 defensive run value next season, down from the -3.6 he put up last year and -3.0 in 2022. I wonder if they project him to DH a bunch especially if Bellinger is signed and PCA comes back up at some point during the season? ZiPS offensive projections for him match what he did last year: 124 wRC+. They also project him to play only 136 games, which is reasonable. I don't think they should dock him so much on the glove like they did, he's still probably 3 WAR player.
-
Well I assume he'd be at least better at 1B because the throws seem to be his issue, and likely better than Busch/Morel because of the range and athleticism and lack of throws. Good point re: Bellinger. But we don't know yet if Morel can handle 3B well enough to play there or not, or 1B for that matter. Interesting to note that ZiPS has Madrigal at 1.9 WAR next year over only 371 PA's and 86 games based on a very good defense and a 94 wRC+, which I think he's capable of because with only a .280 AVG, which shouldn't be too hard for him with his contact %. That's a 3 WAR pace over a full season. Morel could probably reach about 2.5 WAR if he's not a DH assuming below average defense like 2022 if he hits like last year.
-
Question: let's say Morel has a poor year defensively at 3B. What should they do with him then? The options are trade him, put him at 1B or DH, try him at 2B and Nico at 3B (unlikely), or just live with the bad glove at some position like 3B until another prospect is ready (e.g. Shaw). If he can't make the throws from 3B then he's a 2B, 1B, or corner OF. The throws from SS aren't much different most of the time and are longer from deep in the hole. I'd say 1B might be the best bet, or a trade. I imagine he'd be better defensively at 1B than Busch or Mervis/McGeary, those guys can DH. His offense will always have a certain ceiling (albeit still above average) with that K% and thus continue to have a mediocre AVG/OBP unless he makes a significant adjustment to his approach.
-
The only 2 ways this team can get better is by increasing spending efficiency (increasing surplus) or increasing total spending (payroll). The latter probably isn't going to happen, they've never spent significantly over the LT.
-
The projections try to determine the most likely outcome. Like if you ran the season 100 times the average outcomes would probably resemble their projections. And yes there's some variables the projections might miss. There's always going to be variability like good luck and bad luck, injuries, unexpected breakout seasons and long hot or cold streaks etc. A GM can't predict these things, they can only base their decisions on what's most likely to occur then let the chips fall where they may
-
For fWAR, a below average defensive 3B is worth about -5 runs per season compared to an average 3b. A bad 3b would be about -10 runs compared to average.
-
They project 0.1 defensive runs for him. Not sure how that happens if he plays 1B and maybe some DH, it will very likely be in the negative even if he plays it fairly well so more like 2.0 WAR, but even that is high for a rookie 1B. The other projection outlets say around -6 defensive runs and 1.0 WAR Let's hope he has a good year. Mervis is a decent backup option. Better than Hosmer was haha.
-
420?
-
Great news for the Cubs
