Cubs offseason rumors/transactions

[beckdawg]

Possible they could look to spend low money on a couple of borderline relievers in order to spend little more on closer etc..

Hearing Rondon and Grimm may not return to save on what theyd earn in ARB..

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I think he's just LH depth at the moment. He could go down to AAA. But there's some interesting aspects of him. At 11.44/4.13 k/9 and bb/9 over 48.0 innings in the majors he's well above league average in terms of k rate(8.97/3.55) and only a tad below in his walk rate. Given he's still fairly young(28) and his minor league numbers are basically similar but with a better walk rate(11.1/3.7 over 404.1 innings) I think you can hope for him to be closer to league average in terms of walks.

This is the type of move I like to see because he's far from perfect but there's upside there and you're really only gambling league min on him. Last year there were only 27 relievers who threw 40 or more innings with a k rate over 11 and a walk rate under 4.5 per nine. He wasn't one of them as his stuff clearly was out of wack last year but you get him back to that and the fact he's a lefty makes him interesting. Davis last year was at 12.12/4.30. So that gives you some idea of what that sort of k rate/bb rate looks like as a reliever.

 

[CSF77]

It is a decent gamble with the 40 man. They are lacking a true Loogy. Wilson’s numbers were reversed

 

[beckdawg]

Carasetti is going to Japan. Kind of a shame. He was fairly interesting.

 

[chibears55]

Carasetti is going to Japan. Kind of a shame. He was fairly interesting.

Maybe that was an inside deal for Ohtani..?

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[CSF77]

Looks like that was a major league deal on Dario Alverez

 

[CSF77]

On Casaratti; I think they are going to gamble on Maples and now Dario Alverez. Theo said he needs talent and honestly these 2 can be scary good. I don’t see too much more gambling in the pen going on. If anything they need stabilization with the other 6

 

[chibears55]

Hector Rondon is gone

He wasnt tendered

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[beckdawg]

Cubs non-tendered Rondon as assumed. I haven't seen anything on grimm but I presume he will also be non-tendered.

 

[beckdawg]

Chris Cotillo
✔
@ChrisCotillo
Cubs will tender Justin Grimm a contract, per source.

Not sure I get this one.

 

[chibears55]

Chris Cotillo
[emoji818]
@ChrisCotillo
Cubs will tender Justin Grimm a contract, per source.

Not sure I get this one.

Heard they might earlier...

Thinking was it could be a just in case they dont get what they want via trade, signings they have him ..
They can always release him before season starts

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[beckdawg]

Heard they might earlier...

Thinking was it could be a just in case they dont get what they want via trade, signings they have him ..
They can always release him before season starts

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I mean I get the idea but he's not been particularly useful the past 2 years.

 

[chibears55]

I mean I get the idea but he's not been particularly useful the past 2 years.

Nope...

Guessing he wont cost much, maybe because he been bad they can agree to a low 1 yr deal and keep him for depth purposes if not just release at some point

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[CSF77]

He should cost 2 mil. I see it as they use him as a back up if Maples looks to need games in Iowa first.

Rondon was no brainer. He should pick up elsewhere for less coin.

Closer: needed
Set up: Edwards and Wilson
7th inning: Strop
MR: Grimm

Pretty much it right now. Maples and Alverez should be in the mix. When they sign a starter you add Montgomery. Honestly just add a closer and that might end up the pen. 8 guys.

 

[anotheridiot]

Grimm will be different situation if he can no longer be optioned to Iowa.

Tendered Grimm, Bryant, Hendricks, LaStella, Russell and Willson.

 

[chibears55]

Heard cubs were talking to former Rays relier LH Jake Mcgee
He was with Rockies last 2 yrs

Doesnt surprise me that they look at some current/former Rays pitchers with connection to Hickey and Maddon

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[beckdawg]

I was looking through some of the less talked about pitchers and came across Seth Lugo who the cubs were linked to around the deadline. The mets were 70-92 and let's be frank they don't have a lot going for them right now. As has been the case for awhile now, their fairly well positioned in terms of starters. You have Syndergaard and de Grom at the top. Zack Wheeler and Steven Matz when healthy are pretty good 3/4 starters. And between Harvey, Robert Gsellman, and Rafael Montero they could cobble together a #5 starter and still have significant depth.

On Lugo, I'm gonna be real here, he's not exciting. On his best days he's maybe a middle of the rotation starter. However, in the minors he had a 3.20 k/bb rate(8.7 k/9 and 2.7 bb/9). In the majors last year he was at 3.40 k/bb ratio(7.55 k/9 2.22 bb/). Simply put the guy throws strikes. His ERA wasn't very sexy at 4.71 but that k/bb ratio gave him a 3.95 FIP. So, if we're talking purely about filling the #5 starter I think he might be a reasonable guy to look to acquire in a trade. He'll only be 28 next year and you'll have control over him for awhile.

In terms of cost, I imagine he might be similarly priced to Mills last year. Dewees wasn't a big time prospect for the cubs. Think he was outside their top 15 at the time. Think Lugo may be a name we hear if other aspects of the offseason don't pan out. Obviously ideally you'd get Ohtani and maybe Arrieta/Darvish but if neither of those two happen the pickings are going to thin up. In my eyes, Lugo is just as interesting as Cobb would be though admittedly I'm far from a fan of Cobb. And frankly there's a fair amount of buzz on Cobb so they may not even offer enough to get him. After that you're looking at like Lynn and Garcia which are kinda meh. And obviously even if you get one of that group above you need a secondary guy.

 

[CSF77]

I was looking through some of the less talked about pitchers and came across Seth Lugo who the cubs were linked to around the deadline. The mets were 70-92 and let's be frank they don't have a lot going for them right now. As has been the case for awhile now, their fairly well positioned in terms of starters. You have Syndergaard and de Grom at the top. Zack Wheeler and Steven Matz when healthy are pretty good 3/4 starters. And between Harvey, Robert Gsellman, and Rafael Montero they could cobble together a #5 starter and still have significant depth.

On Lugo, I'm gonna be real here, he's not exciting. On his best days he's maybe a middle of the rotation starter. However, in the minors he had a 3.20 k/bb rate(8.7 k/9 and 2.7 bb/9). In the majors last year he was at 3.40 k/bb ratio(7.55 k/9 2.22 bb/). Simply put the guy throws strikes. His ERA wasn't very sexy at 4.71 but that k/bb ratio gave him a 3.95 FIP. So, if we're talking purely about filling the #5 starter I think he might be a reasonable guy to look to acquire in a trade. He'll only be 28 next year and you'll have control over him for awhile.

In terms of cost, I imagine he might be similarly priced to Mills last year. Dewees wasn't a big time prospect for the cubs. Think he was outside their top 15 at the time. Think Lugo may be a name we hear if other aspects of the offseason don't pan out. Obviously ideally you'd get Ohtani and maybe Arrieta/Darvish but if neither of those two happen the pickings are going to thin up. In my eyes, Lugo is just as interesting as Cobb would be though admittedly I'm far from a fan of Cobb. And frankly there's a fair amount of buzz on Cobb so they may not even offer enough to get him. After that you're looking at like Lynn and Garcia which are kinda meh. And obviously even if you get one of that group above you need a secondary guy.

I’m not sure if Lugo is better than Butler. I’m pretty down with adding 1 guy this offseason and piggybacking Butler/Montgomery a game. Looking at a 8 man pen 7 would be used over the 4 game span in between the piggyback game. That gives the pen a set day off. That way you have a fresh pen on the ace’s start.

I would much rather then toss their chips in 1 SP and a closer. Not a #5. That guy doesn’t factor in a series.

 

[beckdawg]

I’m not sure if Lugo is better than Butler. I’m pretty down with adding 1 guy this offseason and piggybacking Butler/Montgomery a game. Looking at a 8 man pen 7 would be used over the 4 game span in between the piggyback game. That gives the pen a set day off. That way you have a fresh pen on the ace’s start.

I would much rather then toss their chips in 1 SP and a closer. Not a #5. That guy doesn’t factor in a series.

Pretty sure he's better than Butler. Think you could make the argument for Tseng vs him if you wanted to. The problem with Butler is at least last year and the few years prior his control was all over the place and and he wasn't really striking guys out. If you can fix those isue I think he's interesting but there's obviously a reason the cubs got him so cheap.

 

[CSF77]

Pretty sure he's better than Butler. Think you could make the argument for Tseng vs him if you wanted to. The problem with Butler is at least last year and the few years prior his control was all over the place and and he wasn't really striking guys out. If you can fix those isue I think he's interesting but there's obviously a reason the cubs got him so cheap.

They did pick up Pit’s pitching fixer. I believe all he needs is raw talent to mold. Tseng IMO is already ML ready and really doesnt need to be in AAA. His problem is his talent cap. It is not as high. Butler is interesting in that aspect. I see him as a underperforming player that has not figured it out. Last year he kinda got to a place where he was able to win some games and get some experience at the major league level. Which is something to build off of.

At worst case he is a bridge to a more reliable starter in Tseng. But I wouldn’t lock the door on the 5 honestly by signing a guy for it. You have Tseng at AAA and Alzolay at AA. De La Rosa at A+ with Lange and Little at A+ and Albertos at A. There is a progression of talent upwelling where you want a #5 to be a proving ground. Which is the reason Hendricks is a ML starter.

 

[CSF77]

That said: If Montgomery ends up having another level that he can grow into and they decide to move that direction it is fine also.

End of the day it come down to raw talent and getting a pitcher to fine tune it. You really can’t get Hendricks to throw 95 but you can get Butler’s 90 MPH fastball to locate. After that it comes down to league experience.