Chicago Cubs 2023-24 OFFSEASON thread

[Diehardfan]

Biff part 2?

 

[CSF77]

I think Morel is gonna be slated for third. If Belly is signed (I'd say 95% chance of it) this allows Belly to play CF/1b again and allows the Cubs to float the DH around to whoever is not in the field.

Not going to happen. His 3B D has been graded as poor

 

[CSF77]

Blockbuster Trade Proposal Brings MLB Saves Leader to Cubs

The Chicago Cubs send slugger Christopher Morel to get shutdown closer Emmanuel Clase from the Cleveland Guardians in a trade hypothetical.

heavy.com

Interesting article. It goes into the trade Morel and sign JD Martinez. The return makes the Cubs 7-9 inning outstanding

100% down with this

 

[CSF77]

Here's everything to know about Spring Breakout

One of the great joys of the annual All-Star Futures Game is the chance to put some of the game’s top prospects on one field in the middle of the summer and let them show off the tools that make them the future of baseball. But what if instead of

www.mlb.com

new format. Spring breakout that show cases teams prospects. Will be on MLB TV. I normally buy the streaming for the season to catch games.

 

[JP Hochbaum]

Not going to happen. His 3B D has been graded as poor

Well the new coach seems to think he is good enough as he literally said he wants to use him at 3b all year.

 

[CSF77]

Well the new coach seems to think he is good enough as he literally said he wants to use him at 3b all year.

I hope for the best but I am ready for the worst.

He also said the Wisdom will be in a full platoon at 1B with Busch. So we hope that we can get league avg D. But going in at 3B Morel holds a .911 FP. IE 911... and Busch has not played 1B sense college.

It is a ballsey call for sure.

 

[Diehardfan]

You can get by with it at third.....the guy at first handles the ball more than any other infielder playing behind the pitcher. A questionable defender there is just begging for trouble.

 

[CSF77]

Cubs Chairman On Cody Bellinger: Some Discussions But Not A Negotiation​

By Darragh McDonald | February 19, 2024 at 3:07pm CDT

Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts spoke to members of the media today, including Jesse Rogers of ESPN, and addressed the topic of free agent Cody Bellinger. “There has been some discussions but it hasn’t become a negotiation yet,” he said.
“We’re just waiting,” Ricketts said. “Waiting for whenever he and his agent are going to engage. It could be any time now or it could be a few weeks. We’ll see where it goes.” Ricketts continued: “Until they are ready to negotiate, there’s not much we can do. We just have to wait for when it gets serious before talking about what the end money amounts are.”
When asked if he had spoken with Bellinger’s agent, Scott Boras, Ricketts said: “I don’t talk to Scott. One of his signature moves is to go talk to the owner. When you do that, you undermine the credibility of your GM. Inserting yourself into that negotiation, I don’t think that helps. I don’t talk to him.”
Boras disagreed with this framing of the relationship, saying that the Cubs called him about Bellinger last winter. “Free agency is about recruiting players,” Boras said. “It’s the normal owner’s signature move to be involved in the efforts of recruiting players and reaching out to me so I can convey to the player the ownership of the team covets them. That is the essence of free agency and it is a custom and practice for ownership to express commitment and involvement. When Cody was a free agent last year the Cubs engaged and were very aggressive in their pursuit. And their process is no different this year. So I am not clear as to what Tom is suggesting.”
Bellinger, 28, came into the offseason as one of the most exciting players available. He suffered through some rough injury-marred seasons in 2021 and 2022, ending up non-tendered by the Dodgers, but bounced back with the Cubs on a one-year deal. He hit 26 home runs last year and slashed .307/.356/.525 for a wRC+ of 134. He also stole 20 bases and provided solid defense in center field and at first base. Given his youth and previous MVP upside, he seemed like a strong candidate for a huge deal, with him and Boras reportedly looking for $200MM or more.
But there have also been factors working against that. One is the lack of belief in his bounceback campaign, with detractors pointing to his tepid Statcast data. His hard hit rate was only in the 10th percentile of qualified league hitters, with his average exit velocity 22nd and his barrel rate 27th. It’s possible that Bellinger chose to prioritize contact over power, as his 15.6% strikeout rate last year was a career low, but the lack of impact may be a concern regardless.
There’s also the prior two seasons to consider, as Bellinger hit a dismal .193/.256/.355 in that time. He required shoulder surgery after 2020 and it’s been suggested by some, including his agent, that he was never fully healthy in that time. Perhaps that’s true but it also could be playing a factor in the fact that he’s lingering on the market in the middle of February.
There are also external factors at play. Not all clubs in the league can plausibly be expected to give out the kind of deal Bellinger and Boras are looking for. Of the possible fits, some of those clubs are working with diminished spending capacity in relation to the ongoing saga surrounding Diamond Sports Group and the general loss of TV revenue from cord cutting. That’s also had domino effects, as the Padres were one of the clubs that had to cut costs, which led to them flipping Juan Soto and Trent Grisham to the Yankees. The Yanks were seen as one of the best landing spots for Bellinger coming into the winter but they were able to address their outfield via trade instead.
Other clubs that once seemed like viable landing spots have also become less likely. The Giants were alongside the Yankees as a strong fit back in the fall, but they signed Jung Hoo Lee to be their everyday center fielder. The Blue Jays re-signed Kevin Kiermaier. The Angels are apparently cutting payroll and also added Aaron Hicks to their outfield mix. The Mariners acquired Luke Raley and Mitch Haniger while Atlanta got Jarred Kelenic.
That’s led to speculation that Bellinger may need to pivot to a short-term deal with an eye on returning to the open market when the conditions have changed. Ideally, he will have had another strong seasons and silenced some of the doubters. MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently explored that possibility and took a look at where Bellinger might find such a deal.
A return to the Cubs has arguably remained his best landing spot. The club addressed first base by acquiring Michael Busch but center field could still be open between Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki as the corner guys. Pete Crow-Armstrong is perhaps the club’s center fielder of the future but his first taste of the majors was a struggle and he also struck out in 29.7% of his Triple-A plate appearances last year. He’s considered a superlative defender and a threat on the bases, so he doesn’t need to hit a ton to be a viable regular, but there’s an argument to bringing back Bellinger and letting PCA earn his way into playing time. The club also doesn’t have a strict designated hitter so it’s theoretically possible for each of Bellinger, Happ, Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong to get regular playing time in the same lineup.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the Cubs will actually pull the trigger on a deal, but they should have the money to do it. “We’re right there at CBT (Competitive Balance Tax) levels,” Ricketts said today. “It’s kind of our natural place for us. That should be enough to win our division and be consistent every year.”
Roster Resource pegs the club’s CBT number at $208MM, almost $30MM below this year’s base threshold of $237MM. Based on the tenor of the comments from Ricketts, it seems they prefer to stay under that line. That still gives them the ability to make a notable deal, such as one for Bellinger, but the seeming low level of communication between the two sides suggests there hasn’t been too much urgency towards going down that path. It would also likely mean committing to a long-term deal, as any short-term discussions would surely lead to a higher AAV that would push them over the tax line, something Ricketts seemingly prefers not to do. Whether that’s brinkmanship or a genuine reflection of the club’s position remains to be seen, with Opening Day now just over a month away.

 

[CSF77]

This might make the smoke clear a bit.

After watching Canario and Davis taking outfield practice today I would rather they stay inhouse and rotate the DH via those two. But if they did decide to go after Cody and make a 4 man OF rotation via the DH it makes sense.

I feel that they will spend because big market and fan expectations. At that point they should think on trading out players vs losing them.

 

[Bust]

POWER MOVE BY RICKETTS (#1 ownership in Chicago boyz)

"I don't talk to Scott," Ricketts said. "One of his signature moves is to go talk to the owner . . ,. I don't talk to him."

Cubs 'waiting' on FA Bellinger for contract talks

The Chicago Cubs say they're waiting for free agent Cody Bellinger and his agent to engage in full-blown contract talks, with Cubs owner Tom Ricketts saying there have been discussions but no negotiations yet.

www.espn.com

 

[JP Hochbaum]

You can get by with it at third.....the guy at first handles the ball more than any other infielder playing behind the pitcher. A questionable defender there is just begging for trouble.

For first base, 95% of the ball handling is a throw right at them. It is only the 5% we need to worry about. IMO, not a horrible things to worry about.

 

[knoxville7]

For first base, 95% of the ball handling is a throw right at them. It is only the 5% we need to worry about. IMO, not a horrible things to worry about.

you say that now....just wait till Morel is sailing throws all around the first baseman this year lol

 

[Diehardfan]

you say that now....just wait till Morel is sailing throws all around the first baseman this year lol

A mediocre glove at 1B makes everyone in the infield a little bit worse.....if they don't sign Belly or if they do and he falls back into the player he was a couple of years ago, they will not be scoring runs like they did last year. Plus now your infield D just took a hit....that's a lot of pressure on a pitching staff that I'd hardily call elite.

 

[TL1961]

I aware the NL has a DH. I pointed it out when I said his team doesn't let him play the field unless they have to play him in the field. You can't score a point using information I gave you.

Since Schwarber is getting about 20M, me saying Wisdom should then get 15M, using yours and Philly's basis, means I'm saying he's 75% the player Schwarber is. Math must not have been a good subject for you. I never said they are equal. Thanks for playing and proving how dumb you are.

Silver Slugger, AS games, and MVP are arbitrary awards from outside sources. Runs and RBI are products of team success as much as individual player success. And I already proved that if they had the same PAs his HR total would be around what Schwarber did, about 25 fewer, not great, but not bad. Not to scare you too bad, but Wisdom was actually better last year in the PA/HR ratio than Schwarber in 2024. Wisdom hit a HR once every 13.13 PA while TOP 20 MVP VOTE GETTER KYLE SCHWARBER hit a HR every 15.32 PA.

Your words were about Mervis having the success of Schwarber post Cubs. If you truly mean that, you must hate Mervis because you want to reduce him to a footnote with a nice highlight reel. That's who he has been since leaving the Cubs. He's a great bat. He's a liability in every other capacity, so much to the point that until the NL adopted the DH, half the teams in baseball had next to no use for him. He had so little value no one was calling up the Cubs to even offer a bag of balls for him just to keep another team from snatching him up first. And that WAR that you love so much went down about 75% despite Schwarber scoring more runs, hitting more HR, driving in more runs, and having a better OBP. Can you explain that?

Stop digging.

Your posts are so inane I sincerely thought they were satire.

 

[TL1961]

Someone is madddddd

First off,I did refute what you said regarding him barely being playable by pointing out the massive number of at bats he’s had the last two years. Which makes him extremely playable

You’re just too stupid to realize it apparently.

I never jerked it to anything. All I said was if Mervis becomes half the player Schwarber is, he will make a decent career for himself.

You’re the one losing your damn mind over it. Seriously, take a break from CCS before you snap(more than you already have)

You might as well try to change the mind of a flat earther.

 

[TL1961]

For first base, 95% of the ball handling is a throw right at them. It is only the 5% we need to worry about. IMO, not a horrible things to worry about.

No. Just no.

 

[CSF77]

 

[clenbuterol_clint]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1761650923070271625