Bull
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Everything posted by Bull
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You have to realize that he is just entering his age 26 season. He has a proven track record and his best days are ahead of him. Arismendy Alcantara only played through his age 25 season and posted a -.5 CAREER fWAR, a number Almora is well past even given his disastrous 2019. Pitching phenom Adbert Alzolay is just entering his age 25 season, but with a -.2 fWAR last year, he'd have to meet his steamer projections this year just to own a career 0 fWAR. Cubs legend Antonio Alfonseca had played only one season through age 25 and posted a whopping 0 fWAR. Almora has a career fWAR of 2.1 (2.4 bWAR) even after a down 2019. He projects to bounce back this year. Time will only tell if his career will endure as long as Alfonseca's 11 years of dominance (a career 2.2 fWAR through age 35 vs Albert's 2.1 through age 25) in this age of "next up" obsession with cost-controlled youngsters, but at this stage, he's clearly the better player. I know this is a small sample size, but its a scientific one. I think we can all agree that the data shows that Almora will be at least an above-average player, and possibly 75th percentile or above. I, for one, look forward to giving him the chance to turn it around.
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And, if I remember correctly it will be their second year in a row. Red Sox on pace to go over three years in a row. These are the only two teams to exceed it more than one year running. Have the Dodgers or Giants gone over back to back or three times in recent history? Someone else will know better than me I'm sure, but I didn't think so.
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Yeah that's the part I'm mad about to. But this whole league wide collusion thing...I assume the team that would trade for him is planning on paying him, right? League-wide collusion except for the Yankees, who are some $50MM over the threshold. But then the Yankees have been a useful bogeyman for the small-market teams for nearly 30 years. And, if I remember correctly it will be their second year in a row. Red Sox on pace to go over three years in a row. These are the only two teams to exceed it more than one year running.
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Trading him now so that they don't have to look cheap for not paying him in 2 years. Also some nonsense about how they tried really hard to get him to sign an extension but they couldn't so they had to try to make the team better by trading their best player. Yeah that's the part I'm mad about to. But this whole league wide collusion thing...I assume the team that would trade for him is planning on paying him, right? Provided it doesn't cause them to go over the luxury tax more than two years in a row.
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I agree with you, but not the post you quoted. Teams have decided to treat the luxury tax as a salary cap. I think Ricketts is doing what he’s told. By....who? Who do you think is in charge here? The owners, in collusion. But I don’t think Ricketts has a lot of pull among them as fairly recent member of the club.
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Yes....Ricketts wants the Cubs underneath the lux tax. That's what is driving this. Very frustrating. I agree with you, but not the post you quoted. Teams have decided to treat the luxury tax as a salary cap. I think Ricketts is doing what he’s told.
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It’s pretty clear nothing about you wants to be positive. That said, you’re in a pretty good place. Your negativity is a perfect fit for this cubs offseason. I may even join you!
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I know everyone wants to get paid, but I could see this as Rizzo reaching out to take a longer, lower contract to “help” the Cubs keep Bryant. I think Rizzo is as nostalgic as we are and then some, Bobby Bonilla him. Pay him 3 million a year forever. Pay his great-grandkids 3 million a year until they die.
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idk...the heyman tweet makes it seem like the door might at least be somewhat open (he mentioned him for a reason) if the nationals don't get donaldson. it also is almost literally saying nothing, like most of his tweets, so whatever. i wouldn't call it a giant hole, tho. bryant makes them better the next two years. then they're stuck with worse-hitter-than-Albert-Almora in CF barring other major moves Throw Almora in. Problem solved. /s
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That's funny, right there. All this talk of contending teams trying to free up payroll in a "sport with no salary cap" is silly, though. The luxury tax is effectively a salary cap, and its obvious that teams are treating it as one over the past few years. Why do we so easliy accept a salary cap in other sports, but in baseball the mention of it is unforgivable?
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OTOH trading Contreras to sign Chirinos is pretty pointless. Chirinos probably isn't a worthwhile upgrade on defense and his 2020 salary will probably be higher than Contreras' I mean, if you ignore what you would be receiving in return for Contreras, sure. Regardless of that, I'm still betting on Contreras vs a combination along those lines. Neither of those two really strike me as a dynamic starter, and I'm not aware of some big platoon splits that would lead into getting the best out of both of them. What you could get for contreras minus what you could get for caratini.
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ahh, the Tommy LaStella era. Greatest time in the history of Cubs baseball.
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NL Central: Reds, Pirates and others
Bull replied to Hairyducked Idiot's topic in General Baseball Talk
Have you ever considered officially changing your name to “Devils Advocate” Sofa's representation is in pro per. -
I’m sure they can punish them now, but it’s too hard to do anything about the results of the 2017 season (if that’s what you are asking). For example, what if the Dodgers were doing something too? They sure aren’t going to admit it. That’s too speculative. But more to your point of the results of the 2017 season, if you’re giving reasons why not to hand the championship to the dodgers, the main reason is that there’s every chance the Yankees would have beaten the dodgers, or the other team the astros cheated, the Red Sox. Or did they cheat their way into the playoffs. How far do you go back? Did their mamas cheat on their daddies? We just don’t know.
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"Time makes fools of us all" - The Kyle Schwarber Thread
Bull replied to Sammy Sofa's topic in Chicago Cubs Talk
Stop arguing about stupid stuff and tell me why my post above about called strikes is wrong and dumb. Thanks. -
"Time makes fools of us all" - The Kyle Schwarber Thread
Bull replied to Sammy Sofa's topic in Chicago Cubs Talk
Kyle struck out a lot less in the second half, and I think that accounts for the change. How do you account for the fewer K's? I think reputation. Early in the year, Kyle got rung up on a lot of balls out of the zone. As umpires got feedback on their varied degrees of awfulness, I think they learned that Kyle is always right. He now has the reputation that "if Kyle Schwarber didn't swing at it, it wasn't a strike." I think this changes everything forever for Kyle. I'd like to see some stats on called strikes and called strikes out of the zone in the first vs. second half if anyone knows where I can find those. -
I won't say that I'm not disappointed in how the last two seasons played out, but I do want to take a step back (I know we've done that many times) and appreciate. I just took this sporcle quiz. It's out of date, but if you update it through this season, Among Cubs All-Time HR leaders, Jason Heyward and Ian Happ are just off the leaderboard and could jump on next year. Addison Russell is 47th with 60 Contreras is 41st with 67 Baez and Schwarber both have 110, good for a tie for 18th Bryant is tied for 16th with 138 (and poised to pass Mark Grace, and potentially Andre Dawson, and Derrick Lee next year) Rizzo is 8th with 217 and should pass Gabby Hartnett and Aramis Ramirez next year. This has been (and continues to be) the greatest Cubs team in history.
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I love that photo. It's really cool. considering all of his wizardly slides, its not the best one out there. god I hope we never trade him Does the game have a “swim move?” Or a “stop time” cheat code?”
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Mookie Betts and David Price Traded to the Dodgers
Bull replied to Cubswin11's topic in Chicago Cubs Talk
How close would he be to a straight up trade for KB? -
Why is Mills starting again? In place of whom?
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Juggernaut
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Maples calf hunting.
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Nicooooooooo
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Counting on young pitchers to not have their arms fall off is not a recipe for long term success. Cubs fans who remember the dusty baker days may be a little too sensitive to this, but it’s still true. Meh. Hudson doesn't overpower and Flaherty has nothing in his delivery or injury history that says he will drop off the map. He's only getting better. Hicks is getting his Tommy John out of the way now so he will be good. Reyes already got his out of the way, so anything from him is a bonus. Perfect mechanics, you say?
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Counting on young pitchers to not have their arms fall off is not a recipe for long term success. Cubs fans who remember the dusty baker days may be a little too sensitive to this, but it’s still true.