2019-20 MLB Hot Stove thread

[CSF77]

There has been some talk on Bryant leading off also. He did that in college and he is also a solid base runner. It is a option.

 

[Castor76]

I dont know. You put Javy in the mindset to get on base and create havoc, he will do it. You know, like the international competitions he plays in for Puerto Rico. You put him in the mindset of I have to drive in runs, that is what he goes for.
People say Rizzo is best for leadoff, but do not complain when he tries to leadoff with a home run and not do the job of creating offense for the players behind him. Bat Javy 4th or 5th and he knows there is nobody behind him to drive anything in.
Its a simple game. The great ones make it simple. The ones squeezing sawdust from their bat handles are floating in numbers. Its a simple eye test with Javy. With everyone else, you gotta go dissect numbers to prove they are doing it right.

I'd say it's a bad idea because for the last 3 seasons, when he's at bat with no one on base, his OBP is just over .300. When leading off an inning, the epitome of setting up offense, his OBP is .286. But cling to those two games.

 

[beckdawg]

Cubs dealt kemp for a 1b prospect from the A's. I doubt it's anything anyone will care about but I found it interesting for two reasons. One, their new scouting director came from the a's. So, he likely has a pretty good idea on the guy. And two, the cubs really didn't have 1B prospects. Best in their system is probably Tyler Durna but he's more your Mark Grace type than what you would typically view as a modern 1B. The new guy(Alfonso Rivas) is kind of more of the same but he's further along and other than his lack of power he's a pretty good hitter.

 

[TL1961]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1216092393914675200

Well that is quite the rumor

Especially with the Cards offer on the table - Liberatore, Martinez, O'Neill and one more.

 

[Discus fish salesman]

Especially with the Cards offer on the table - Liberatore, Martinez, O'Neill and one more.

I don’t think the cubs have the pieces to make a deal for Arenado. Also cardinals fans have been saying they hope they don’t make that trade...they are much better with Arenado. Although I still think the lineup would be mediocre outside of Arenado and goldschmidt. Their pitching is very good though

 

[TL1961]

I don’t think the cubs have the pieces to make a deal for Arenado. Also cardinals fans have been saying they hope they don’t make that trade...they are much better with Arenado. Although I still think the lineup would be mediocre outside of Arenado and goldschmidt. Their pitching is very good though

Cards were greatly improved defensively last year,which had ahuge impact. Adding Arenado improves the D even more. It would leave the OF with very little depth, and Ozuna is still unsigned. Don't know how they could afford him if they get Arenado. That may be why they're leaving him hanging for now. They traded two OFs and have O'Neill (reportedly) in this trade. None were great, but they'd have Bader (worthless) and Fowler (elderly), and TBD in LF. But IF would be great.

 

[beckdawg]

I don’t think the cubs have the pieces to make a deal for Arenado.

Cubs easily have the pieces. That's not the issue. The issue is the contract he has. I mean look at what the yankees gave up in a similar trade for Stanton. You're talking Jose Devers, Jorge Guzman and Starlin Castro. Guzman is a 40+ grade prospect according to fangraphs. Devers is a 45. And Castro was mostly a money sink holding no real value. To put that into perspective, that's like Zack Short and one of Cole Roederer or Justin Steele in terms of value.

If you want to argue Arenado is worth more than Stanton fine. I don't want to nitpick with exact pieces. My point is a larger one that players on huge contracts don't have much surplus value. This isn't a case where they are going to raid the entire farm system of the cubs to get him. They would get 1 or 2 semi-interesting pieces but no one in their right mind would trade franchise changing prospects for him.

 

[Discus fish salesman]

Cubs easily have the pieces. That's not the issue. The issue is the contract he has. I mean look at what the yankees gave up in a similar trade for Stanton. You're talking Jose Devers, Jorge Guzman and Starlin Castro. Guzman is a 40+ grade prospect according to fangraphs. Devers is a 45. And Castro was mostly a money sink holding no real value. To put that into perspective, that's like Zack Short and one of Cole Roederer or Justin Steele in terms of value.

If you want to argue Arenado is worth more than Stanton fine. I don't want to nitpick with exact pieces. My point is a larger one that players on huge contracts don't have much surplus value. This isn't a case where they are going to raid the entire farm system of the cubs to get him. They would get 1 or 2 semi-interesting pieces but no one in their right mind would trade franchise changing prospects for him.

Yeah I guess I worded that wrong. I wouldn’t trade Marquez or Davis in almost any trade and without them I don’t really see us having what they are looking for or matching the cardinals offer.

 

[anotheridiot]

I am just glad some mistakes are being corrected, like jettisoning Tony Kemp off to oakland and getting out of that contract. Descalso needs to be next

 

[CubsFaninMN]

Cubs dealt kemp for a 1b prospect from the A's. I doubt it's anything anyone will care about but I found it interesting for two reasons. One, their new scouting director came from the a's. So, he likely has a pretty good idea on the guy. And two, the cubs really didn't have 1B prospects. Best in their system is probably Tyler Durna but he's more your Mark Grace type than what you would typically view as a modern 1B. The new guy(Alfonso Rivas) is kind of more of the same but he's further along and other than his lack of power he's a pretty good hitter.

Also, didn't the Cubs get Kemp from the Astros? Maybe the front office decided they didn't want *anyone* on the roster who played for the Astros in the past few years, to avoid any possible taint by association.

-Doug

 

[Discus fish salesman]

I am just glad some mistakes are being corrected, like jettisoning Tony Kemp off to oakland and getting out of that contract. Descalso needs to be next

Yeah, Tony Kemp’s contract was a huge burden

 

[anotheridiot]

Yeah, Tony Kemp’s contract was a huge burden

He should have never been here, the mr redundant player on the team, did nothing that Bote, Happ, Russell, decrapso was on the roster doing.
But you are the guy who just wants to ***** about the kids not making it with sporatic playing time, then bringing in someone else to take that little time away from them and have them even colder when they get a shot.

You can argue with an idiot, but you cant fix stupid.

 

[knoxville7]

Cubs dealt kemp for a 1b prospect from the A's. I doubt it's anything anyone will care about but I found it interesting for two reasons. One, their new scouting director came from the a's. So, he likely has a pretty good idea on the guy. And two, the cubs really didn't have 1B prospects. Best in their system is probably Tyler Durna but he's more your Mark Grace type than what you would typically view as a modern 1B. The new guy(Alfonso Rivas) is kind of more of the same but he's further along and other than his lack of power he's a pretty good hitter.

I thought the same thing when I looked into the guy. Seems like he will always lack power for the position, but seems like a guy that could translate to a high OBP guy...which is something the cubs could use more of. Seems like he can play some corner OF as well. The question is does he play good enough defense to be just a high OBP guy with little power

 

[beckdawg]

Twins get Donaldson.... leaves a really interesting and robust trade market for Bryant.

 

[CubsFaninMN]

Twins get Donaldson.... leaves a really interesting and robust trade market for Bryant.

As a Cubs fan living in Minneapolis, I may actually have some really, really decent baseball to go look at this summer.

-Doug

 

[Castor76]

Theo should be calling up the Nationals and after saying hello just say ".361/.473/.771." When asked what that means, remind the GM of the Nats that it's Bryant's slash line at Nationals' Stadium the past 3 seasons. And since the Nats have had good pitching all that time, so it can't be said he just feasted on the back end of the rotation. Then he can make the exact same call to the Braves GM.

Then they can talk turkey.

Edit: Just did his numbers for all 5 NL East parks the last 3 seasons and his combined slash is .322/.423/.561.

 

[knoxville7]

Theo should be calling up the Nationals and after saying hello just say ".361/.473/.771." When asked what that means, remind the GM of the Nats that it's Bryant's slash line at Nationals' Stadium the past 3 seasons. And since the Nats have had good pitching all that time, so it can't be said he just feasted on the back end of the rotation. Then he can make the exact same call to the Braves GM.

Then they can talk turkey.

Edit: Just did his numbers for all 5 NL East parks the last 3 seasons and his combined slash is .322/.423/.561.

I think that’s the best hope...get two division rivals that are built to win now in a bidding war against themselves for KB

 

[kerrywoodwins20]

How about we just keep Kris Bryant a Cub and the billionaires pay the luxury tax or hire a GM that can spend efficiently so they don't have to ship off home grown talent?

 

[Castor76]

How about we just keep Kris Bryant a Cub and the billionaires pay the luxury tax or hire a GM that can spend efficiently so they don't have to ship off home grown talent?

Billionaires become billionaires, and stay billionaires, by making smart business decisions. I'm not opposed to going over the tax, but it has to be smart. It is always bad business to use the profits of one business to support the losses of another business. Just look how the Tribune company treated the Cubs for so long. Trading Bryant is probably the best thing for the team.

 

[kerrywoodwins20]

Billionaires become billionaires, and stay billionaires, by making smart business decisions. I'm not opposed to going over the tax, but it has to be smart. It is always bad business to use the profits of one business to support the losses of another business. Just look how the Tribune company treated the Cubs for so long. Trading Bryant is probably the best thing for the team.

Can we go back in time and ditch Theo after 2016? That seems like the sexiest option at this point. He's killed this team's window.