Anyone listening to ESPN 1000 right now?

[FirstTimer]

There are any number of pitchers being mentioned.

Who do YOU want?

I don't care who other people have said. Who do YOU want?

The Cubs are going to be trading for more pitching..

Oh really? Who would you like to see them get?

What type of ROI?

 

[KennyH]

Can I ask a couple of dumb out of towner questions - and sorry if they're really dumb.

Would Schwarber ever go back behind the plate? He's clearly not a strong defensive outfield player and he came up as a catcher? Is Montero tradeable?

Lots of people on here talking about trading Castro, but since he moved to 2ndB he seems to have greatly improved. If he was traded who goes to 2nd, and I guess more importantly, if you have a strong 2ndB player is that of greater value than having him as a counterbalance in a trade for a better starting pitcher?

Is cap space an issue for the Cubs this year. As people all agree FA pitching is deep this year. Would there be value/opportunity to just buy in pitching rather than trading - or is trading better?

Sorry, if these are stupid, just trying to understand where the team is in terms of making moves.

 

[FirstTimer]

Would Schwarber ever go back behind the plate? He's clearly not a strong defensive outfield player and he came up as a catcher? Is Montero tradeable?

Schwarber would if he was asked to. He enjoys playing catcher. The Cubs would just prefer to not have him there because he's a liability there on defense.

Lots of people on here talking about trading Castro, but since he moved to 2ndB he seems to have greatly improved. If he was traded who goes to 2nd, and I guess more importantly, if you have a strong 2ndB player is that of greater value than having him as a counterbalance in a trade for a better starting pitcher?

If Castro was traded Baez would likely move to 2B. Rest of the IF stays the same.

1B: Rizzo
2B: Baez
SS: Russell
3B: Bryant


It really depends what the market is for Castro. You'd have to see names and do the comps there. It's possible the market is very thin and the ROI isn't there. It's also possible another team really likes Castro and might be willing to part with a #3 or high end #4 guy for him. At that point you'd have to pretty tempted to deal him.

Is cap space an issue for the Cubs this year. As people all agree FA pitching is deep this year. Would there be value/opportunity to just buy in pitching rather than trading - or is trading better?

Since MLB doesn't have a cap I will assume you mean is Rickett's going to loosen the purse strings. I would say yes. And IMO yes, the value this year would be in buying pitching with cash rather than trading valuable core pieces for it.

Pitching market is deep enough in free agency that trading any of the young core pieces seems like a move just to make a move.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Can I ask a couple of dumb out of towner questions - and sorry if they're really dumb.

Would Schwarber ever go back behind the plate? He's clearly not a strong defensive outfield player and he came up as a catcher? Is Montero tradeable?

Lots of people on here talking about trading Castro, but since he moved to 2ndB he seems to have greatly improved. If he was traded who goes to 2nd, and I guess more importantly, if you have a strong 2ndB player is that of greater value than having him as a counterbalance in a trade for a better starting pitcher?

Is cap space an issue for the Cubs this year. As people all agree FA pitching is deep this year. Would there be value/opportunity to just buy in pitching rather than trading - or is trading better?

Sorry, if these are stupid, just trying to understand where the team is in terms of making moves.

Just on the Schwarber front Theo said today he would definitely get reps at C next year and work with the coaches but he would primarily be the left fielder.

 

[czman]

Good lord, what is this untouchable? There are very few players in this league that are untouchable. Now, you can say that teams aren't going to give up what you want which makes a trade not likely but untouchable not at all.

Trout and Harper are the only two in the league that should be untouchable. There are highly unlikely to be traded because of the value the Cubs place, but no one on this team is that damn good to be untouchable.

 

[Mr. Cub]

The Soler trade talk earlier in the year didn't bother me so much, but he really came on strong late after returning. I might wait it out with him until the deadline at the very least. He is still young and has good potential to build on.

 

[czman]

The Soler trade talk earlier in the year didn't bother me so much, but he really came on strong late after returning. I might wait it out with him until the deadline at the very least. He is still young and has good potential to build on.

I think that the Cubs may not make any major trades this offseason. I think they way want to see how things shake out first.

 

[Boobaby1]

If you are going to sell, you always sell high.

Waiting to see how things "shake out" generally will get you nothing in return, because if they perform well, you generally don't want to trade them anyway.

"IF" a player like Soler is someone that you contemplate moving, you move him at his peak. His value declines substantially (see Castro) if you wait until next year and then he regresses. GM's will have his post season numbers fresh in their minds.

You deal on another teams perception of some player, and you hope that lets say, San Diego or Atlanta, would give up Tyson Ross or Julio Teheran for Jorge Soler if that were the case.

It's the chance you risk. You may win, and you may lose.

If I landed Heyward, I would trade away Soler right now (if it could be done) to get one of the aforementioned pitchers that are no less than a #3, with very good potential to be a cost controlled top of the rotation pitcher. The staff needs to get younger in areas.

Heyward would cost the same as a front line starter like Zimmermann, and basically I could get the same type of pitcher for Soler, and improve my speed and defense at the same time.

Probably no one would see it coming via "smoke and mirrors", because they would be thinking that the Cubs are targeting Heyward for CF.

Even if they decided to put Heyward in CF, they could essentially stick Bryant in RF too if they decide to go this route.

The options are endless

 

[FrankieLyrical]

What it comes down to for me is you don't trade away your core players. This team is in need of some tweaks, and with all the available starting pitching those are where the tweaks should come from. You don't go out and trade Kris Bryant or Rizzo because you lost in the NLCS, that notion is ridiculous to me. I wouldn't mind going out and trading for a starter as well, but Rizzo, Bryant, Russell, Soler, and Schwarber shouldn't be in those discussions.

My opinion.

 

[brett05]

Rizzo though could bring back a haul. a Solid #2 and a TOR one year away to be ready prospect. You then open first base up for a lot of players that the Cubs have that can hit but are a defensive liability.

 

[FirstTimer]

Rizzo though could bring back a haul. a Solid #2 and a TOR one year away to be ready prospect. You then open first base up for a lot of players that the Cubs have that can hit but are a defensive liability.

OMG Shut up. Rizzo is not getting traded, should not be traded, and it shouldn't even be discussed.

Stop.

 

[Parade_Rain]

Rizzo though could bring back a haul. a Solid #2 and a TOR one year away to be ready prospect. You then open first base up for a lot of players that the Cubs have that can hit but are a defensive liability.

I agree that he could bring back a nice return, as can a lot of the young Cubs players. Rizzo is the team leader. At his age and where this team is wanting to head, Rizzo isn't getting traded. Team Chemistry matters.

 

[Gustavus Adolphus]

Isn't Rizzo THE guy in the locker room? And he's only what - 25 or 26? Plus, he's pretty damn good. You don't part with a guy like that.

 

[TL1961]

I'd like to know what Baez has done that places him in that category for you? To me he is very tradeable.

Strong defensive middle IF with speed and lots of power.

 

[TL1961]

Some of you kill me.

Soler is "at his peak" right now, following a season where he missed significant time?

Schwarber, with no defensive position in the NL right now, is "untouchable"?

I dont want to see him traded, but unless the DH comes sooner than expected, he is a trade possibility.

 

[Parade_Rain]

Strong defensive middle IF with speed and lots of power.

The lineup already has lots of power. What they need are people who can put the bat on the ball. Defensively, his numbers have never indicated that he is essentially any better than Castro, yet you have been on record that Castro doesn't belong in the MLB.

 

[Diehardfan]

Yeah, the Cubs "situtational" hitting was bad this year. That's why they were horrible in close games....wait...they weren't.

You're cutting off your nose to spite your face with this stuff. The Cubs issue is starting pitching. The market for that in FA is deep. Why trade assets you don't need to in order to acquire it.

Too many knee jerk reactions to a playoff series loss.

The situational hitting WAS bad this year. Theo made note of it yesterday and called it a spring training priority. You are correct, they did pretty well in close games but if they were doing any kind of decent job in moving runners or getting guys home from third with less than 2 outs....a lot of those games wouldn't have been close in the first place.

 

[DanTown]

Rizzo though could bring back a haul. a Solid #2 and a TOR one year away to be ready prospect. You then open first base up for a lot of players that the Cubs have that can hit but are a defensive liability.

Who does Rizzo "block" at 1B? Schwarber? 6'0" is a terribly small target at 1B and Schwarber has no experience there. KB is too good an athlete to stick at 1B.

And the Cubs obviously do not need quantity, they need quality. Trading Rizzo won't do that. And Rizzo is so cheap/team controlled that he absolutely shouldn't be traded.

 

[ijustposthere]

:lol:

Like who?

Do you really expect the Cubs after ONE loss in the NLCS to start trading away key pieces of the core that got them there for no real reason?

I could see Baez or Castro being moved because of the logjam of middle infielders. The best way I see of keeping them is if the Cubs go Schwarber to Catcher full time. Then you can move Bryant to left and put Baez at 3rd, where I think he played better than at short anyway.

 

[ijustposthere]

Rizzo though could bring back a haul. a Solid #2 and a TOR one year away to be ready prospect. You then open first base up for a lot of players that the Cubs have that can hit but are a defensive liability.

LOL, Theo and Jed love Rizzo probably more than anyone else. They'd probably unload anyone else, outside of maybe Bryant, before getting rid of Rizzo.