Cubs Interested in Shin-Soo Choo

chibears55 · Aug 25, 2013

TL1961 said:
Ellsbury can't hit or field. No thanks!

lmao.. you were joking right ?

jacoby ellsbury career .296 AVG .350 OBP .437 SLG .787 OPS career .995 fldpct 8 errors in 1692 chances

:facepalm:

CSF77 · Aug 26, 2013

dabynsky said:
Fair but I think Baez can stay in the infield no problem here (honestly would love to see him moved to second). Choo offers the exact skillset we lack and has been a very good offensive player for a long time. I personally see the bidding getting crazy for him, but maybe the draft pick compensation keeps it reasonable. If everyone develops there are ways to shuffle the roster around, with Choo on a three or four year deal.

Baez isn't leaving the infield. Bryant? In an ideal world where Olt is 3B then maybe. The bigger question is if Schierholtz is a long term plan or not. If he's just a guy for next year it is easy. You play Choo in LF Lake in CF and Schierholtz in RF. Then the following year you move Choo to RF and probably Bryant in LF with Lake in CF.

However right now there's a ton of uncertainty. We very well could end up seeing something like Bryant at 3B, Baez at SS, and Castro at 2B. That's the point I'm making here. You have no real idea what 2 years from now will hold. And this blocking prospect idea is silly. If it comes to that point where he is you just trade away someone. Clearly they were able to deal Soriano and Dejesus so why wouldn't they be able to deal Choo?

If we went with natural progression:

This year:

LF Open, CF: Open, RF open.
3B: Open, SS: Castro, 2B: Have to believe it is open. 1B: Rizzo

AAA: OF nothing of substance. 3B: Olt SS: Nothing 2B: Nothing 1B: nothing
AA: OF: Szczur fringe at best. 3B: Villanueva. Not exciting, SS: Baez 2B: Alcantra 1B: nothing
A+: RF: Soler 3B: Baez, 1B: Vogelbach
A: CF: Almora

so out of S/T I'm expecting:

MLB: Rizzo, Castro, Olt, Lake
AAA: Baez, Alcantra, Szczur, Villanueva
AA: Bryant, Soler
A+: Vogelbach, Almora

So going with progression:

We have the outfield up for debate with Soler around a year out. Lake can fill a spot. They have control of Schierholtz in 14.
IF:
They could run out 3B: Olt, SS: Castro, 2B: Barney and 1B: Rizzo easily.

Looking at 2015:

Say Olt finds his game again. Not a reach with his vision issues and him moving past it.

3B: Olt
SS: Castro
2B:
1B: Rizzo

2B becomes a battle between Baez and Alcantra

LF: Bryant's future home.
CF: Almora's future home.
RF: Soler's future home

That is if everything works out.

Say Olt bottoms out:

Baez goes to 2B

Bryant gets 3B
Soler gets LF
Almora gets CF

That does open up LF for Choo but closes 2B for Alcantra.

IDK it makes more sense to let the talent upwell and back fill the fails with proven vets vs block natural progression.

Exception is trading out a few for an Ace then signing Choo. This to me sounds unlikely with the trends to this ownership.

CubbyBear2290 · Aug 26, 2013

I would honestly love Choo to sign with the Cubs, he's not really that good at hitting lefties, but he's still a pretty good player. Honestly, one of the MLB's hidden "stars" that not a whole lot of people talk about. I could see him getting 4 years 52 million or so from the Cubs, and then because the Cubs have a lack of power and I also believe the Theoyer know (they have to) that not all of these Prospects are going to pan out and the Cubs do need another power bat in the lineup with with Soriano gone especially. Mainly because Rizz and Schierholtz are really the only everyday power.

I also see the Cubs signing the Grandy man for some odd reason to a 2 year contract to play LF (After reading this I don't really know how so many fans see these prospects as being ready so soon. That along with the fact I'm thinking some trades could be coming which involve some bigger prospects getting moved because Theo wants to win and the Cubs have a # of young bats that could be moved) The Cubs lineup in my estimation could look something like this next year;

C: Castillo/Saltalmacchia (Sp?) (Theo traded for him 1x and he could like him but it's just my idea)
1B: Rizzo
2B/SS: Baez (I think he'll end up with the team next year, just not sure if its going to be right after ST breaks)
SS/2B: Castro
3B: Olt (I'm one of the few who still really like him and really want him to pan out and still think he can.)
LF: Granderson
CF: Lake
RF: Choo

Or something along those lines is what I could see happening only because Grandy isn't going to command big money anymore and his only real assest left is his pop and Choo is such a Theo player and would be the big money guy the Cubs could sign to keep Cubs fan interested and think they are ready to compete soon.

I'm probably wrong, but this is just my perspective and probably not completely out of the realm of possibility.

CSF77 · Aug 26, 2013

CubbyBear2290 said:
I would honestly love Choo to sign with the Cubs, he's not really that good at hitting lefties, but he's still a pretty good player. Honestly, one of the MLB's hidden "stars" that not a whole lot of people talk about. I could see him getting 4 years 52 million or so from the Cubs, and then because the Cubs have a lack of power and I also believe the Theoyer know (they have to) that not all of these Prospects are going to pan out and the Cubs do need another power bat in the lineup with with Soriano gone especially. Mainly because Rizz and Schierholtz are really the only everyday power.

I also see the Cubs signing the Grandy man for some odd reason to a 2 year contract to play LF (After reading this I don't really know how so many fans see these prospects as being ready so soon. That along with the fact I'm thinking some trades could be coming which involve some bigger prospects getting moved because Theo wants to win and the Cubs have a # of young bats that could be moved) The Cubs lineup in my estimation could look something like this next year;

C: Castillo/Saltalmacchia (Sp?) (Theo traded for him 1x and he could like him but it's just my idea)
1B: Rizzo
2B/SS: Baez (I think he'll end up with the team next year, just not sure if its going to be right after ST breaks)
SS/2B: Castro
3B: Olt (I'm one of the few who still really like him and really want him to pan out and still think he can.)
LF: Granderson
CF: Lake
RF: Choo

Or something along those lines is what I could see happening only because Grandy isn't going to command big money anymore and his only real assest left is his pop and Choo is such a Theo player and would be the big money guy the Cubs could sign to keep Cubs fan interested and think they are ready to compete soon.

I'm probably wrong, but this is just my perspective and probably not completely out of the realm of possibility.

think that is outside of their price range.

CSF77 · Aug 26, 2013

After reading this I don't really know how so many fans see these prospects as being ready so soon.

Maturity and talent. Mostly on Bryant's part. He came into the draft as a complete hitter. Strong BB ratios and strike zone discipline. They are not going to be able to teach him much. His time in has more to do with conditioning his body for playing 162 vs a learning curve.

Soler again is a polished hitter from Cuba. This year was supposed to be a shaking off the rust year as he was out of the game for a year in Mexico after deporting from Cuba. Him losing the year hurt because he was showing signs of a well rounded approach at the plate.

I can see both on the team sooner then later.

Baez took a huge step this year but it has more to do with him not making all of those movements before the pitch. Now he is able to recognize the slide off the plate. His BB% went up and his SO% went down from earlier this year. Those are signs of maturity as a hitter and mastering the strike zone and pitch recognition.

He is always going to have power. This has more to do with what he does in between smashing mistakes over the plate.

That along with the fact I'm thinking some trades could be coming which involve some bigger prospects getting moved because Theo wants to win and the Cubs have a # of young bats that could be moved

Is that something he has said or is that more of your insight? If that is the case it would constitute talking out of both sides of his mouth. All I have heard is the process and the rewarding journey mantra. Hoyer has said they need to do both. But I take "Both" as sign a arm last year then sign a bat this year vs sign 3 bats.

Again they have control over Schierholtz in 14 and he has hit 19 HR's in a part time role. He is an asset right now and the Phil's are kicking them selves ATM for cutting him.