Stratos
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Everything posted by Stratos
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Cubs trading for Michael Busch & Yency Almonte (for Ferris & Hope)
Stratos replied to gocubs218's topic in Chicago Cubs Talk
I don't see why they wouldn't try to give Mervis more playing time this season. They aren't going to write him off based on 100 PA'.s He's got the hitting tools and hit very well AAA again, But now they have options and don't need to rely on him. They need lefty bats as well. Busch is pretty similar to Mervis but more highly regarded it seems. MLB.com just slotted Busch in as our #3 prospect under Horton. He was the Dodgers' #2 prospect on MLB.com. A bit surprised based on the lack of glove/position but I guess the bat is good. -
Cubs trading for Michael Busch & Yency Almonte (for Ferris & Hope)
Stratos replied to gocubs218's topic in Chicago Cubs Talk
Ferris has good stuff but the control is very questionable, his delivery is pretty messy and long when watching him on video. That's not just a minor tweak to fix Still a good prospect but so is Busch and Busch helps us now instead of 3-4 years from now. About time we traded low minor prospects for closer talent to speed up this rebuilt. -
Cubs trading for Michael Busch & Yency Almonte (for Ferris & Hope)
Stratos replied to gocubs218's topic in Chicago Cubs Talk
This likely takes Hoskins and guys like Belt etc off the table. We get a LHB which was needed. I think they're intent on keeping payroll under the cap. After Imanaga the projected payroll is at about 198m. That leaves about 35m max. Bellinger and pen arms would eat all of that up and leave no room for Hoskins. Can obviously DH, an option at 1B in case Mervis doesn't hit. Could see a few starts at 3B when they really want to go left handed. Might sit for Canario/Morel/Wisdom etc at DH vs tough LHP Maybe another trade to come to ease the 40-man -
Seems like everyone tends to overvalue what most of these Japanese players end up signing for. Senga's contract last year was also lower than expected. Seiya was somewhat cheap too. I guess teams are a bit conservative given the unknowns with the players.
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If he takes the full 5 years at 80m he's making 16m AAV. If he's pitching well they'd be very tempted to keep him another 2-3 years.
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But here's the thing, if he's good or great they can still decline the 5th year and he almost certainly becomes a FA. It's possible with this FO if they don't like the age profile for an extra 2-3 years.
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Central location?
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The 5th year option adds 27m. If he pitches well he basically either gets a 5th year with a high AAV to make up for the initial low AAV or he can opt-out if the Cubs decline. If he sucks he still gets 53m minimum. This is a pretty good deal for him, he'll earn what he's worth. Cubs are very likely only going to pay him 5/53 if he isn't very good and can't earn more than 13m AAV in FA by opting out.
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del
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Agreed. If they wanted to stay under the CBT they probably thought they needed to stay cheap in the pen, which is an argument I get, but they still needed to do better at the deadline. Both last year and arguably this year this team lacks the surplus to be as good as they need to be and still stay under the CBT. Hopefully we're a better roster when most of the best prospects are on this team in the next couple of years.
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Which would be a dumb move. If I were a team i'd rather have a surplus of pen arms to trade at the deadline because I signed too many than to have to trade quality prospects for one. They don't necessarily need Hader, but it would be nice if they had another quality guy capable of closing to backup Adbert's ducktaped arm. I said they needed another late-innings arm late last offseason and most fans told me they'd be ok and be able to find their closer. Well it took them 2 months to figure out who could close and it cost them the playoffs.
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He just has to show up on a stage, wave, talk Japanese into a mic, and have the interpreter repeat it. If someone just gave me 30 million dollars i'd do the Macarena on stage if they wanted me to LOL.
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Would be very surprised if they signed another significant SP FA
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What about Madrigal (or Wisdom) plus prospect for Brandon Drury? Drury can play 3B, 1B, and 2B. Would play 1B and is insurance for Morel at 3B and Mervis. Essentially replaces Candelario. Hoskins has better bat potential but not the defensive ability or versatility. DH would be covered by Morel, Drury, Mervis, Canario, Wisdom (vs LHP if stays) and a potential other bat like Belt. Can also use DH to give other regulars the odd day off from the field.
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Montgomery too? Interesting. Edit: could be Boras noise.
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Naylor is a nice player but I think they need more HR power in the lineup and especially out of 1b/dh
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I like it too. Not to be a buzz kill but the price on him may be a signal that the Cubs are trying to stay under the tax line again, which would be disappointing, but more of an ownership problem. If they signed Bellinger and Snell plus pen arms they're already over the CBT,.
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They've done a bad job going from the print era to online era. Nobody visits the site and anything good is behind a paywall.
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Well our pitching was just MLB average last year and probably isn't much better than that as it stands right now. But real possibility that Taillon has a better year, Imanaga does better than Stroman, and whoever is our #5 does better than Smyly did. The pen should hopefully improve too.
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If there's escalators and multiple opt-outs that sounds like protection for both parties. I have no problem with this. Sounds like 2/30 minimum, more years if he's healthy (probably IP escalators at minimum), and can opt-out if he does well and wants a better deal. If he's better than expected we get a good pitcher for 2 years and he might even make more than the 15m AAV via escalators if he does pitch quite well.
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My prediction for PCA is a guy who hits .250 AVG, .320 OBP, 15-20 HR, 30+ SB. Glove and speed gets him to 4 WAR. Caissie: .230 AVG, .320 OBP, 30+ HR, below avg defense, 2.5 WAR.
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He sat 93-94mph. But was also on a short leash. Only pitched 2 innings.
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Can watch Imanaga start the WBC final vs team USA:
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If they stay under the CBT line they have about 35m left to spend. They were at 185m before this signing. But could be your number if they go over.
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If you want to build a pitcher in a lab it comes out as Mark Prior.
