Cubs Sign Ben Zobrist

[Parade_Rain]

Every single indication is that TV deal will be signed sometime in 2017 at which point long term budgeting will become clear. If Zobrist is a very expensive utility player beyond 2017 it could very well be OK. I think this was to set up the first competition window of the run for 2016-2017. I think the team will look very different after that. As far as right now goes Zobrist checked a lot of boxes. I firmly believe this is a better team right now than 2 weeks ago.

They are a better team than 2 weeks ago. I like the Lackey signing. I like the Zobrist signing. Lackey holds things together while the young MiLB pitching gets sorted out. Zobrist can play all over and provides more leadership in a dugout that will expect to compete for a championship. Let's see if they get Heyward. While he is a RF, he played well in CF and then his lack of power numbers don't matter anyway. In a perfect world, I would have liked to have kept Castro, but this is a business. The pitcher coming back will contribute significantly, imho, and the other guy? Not so much. The Zobrist signing was a bit under the radar, as was the Castro trade. Let's see what moves they make yet that people may not have thought about.

 

[chibears55]

Every single indication is that TV deal will be signed sometime in 2017 at which point long term budgeting will become clear. If Zobrist is a very expensive utility player beyond 2017 it could very well be OK. I think this was to set up the first competition window of the run for 2016-2017. I think the team will look very different after that. As far as right now goes Zobrist checked a lot of boxes. I firmly believe this is a better team right now than 2 weeks ago.

Also with Zobrist contract is the no trade is just for 3 yrs andbthe 4th yr of deal he owed 12 mil

So, they will have an option to trade him and maybe eat a bit of that salary
Or
Hold onto him and at worse he a 12 mil utility player, which the 12 mil then probably will be Avg.


But, i think their plan is ..
They got Zobrist now for this year and next to better the lineup and add another vet leadership who has won to the mix

They still have Baez and even more so they have Happs who might be the guy to step in at 2B

 

[TC in Mississippi]

They are a better team than 2 weeks ago. I like the Lackey signing. I like the Zobrist signing. Lackey holds things together while the young MiLB pitching gets sorted out. Zobrist can play all over and provides more leadership in a dugout that will expect to compete for a championship. Let's see if they get Heyward. While he is a RF, he played well in CF and then his lack of power numbers don't matter anyway. In a perfect world, I would have liked to have kept Castro, but this is a business. The pitcher coming back will contribute significantly, imho, and the other guy? Not so much. The Zobrist signing was a bit under the radar, as was the Castro trade. Let's see what moves they make yet that people may not have thought about.

Completely agree. There are a lot of people out there that love Adam Warren. We have to keep an open mind on him. Heyward would put a cherry on top of a nice offseason. He so perfectly fits with what's needed on the team that to not want him would be silly so of course the FO does. Whether they can land him is a different question. If they do, even with no other moves, they look like the best team in the NL on paper. Ultimately all that would mean is that the greatest opportunities could be theirs.

 

[NCChiFan]

Folks with a lot more baseball knowledge seem to like the Castro trade. I was never a big fan of his, hopefully this trade works out for both teams.


Why the banging on the FO? They seem to know what they're doing. They took our Cubs farther than any FO in my decades of watching this team. They have earned, at the least, a wait and see from me.

 

[brett05]

Folks with a lot more baseball knowledge seem to like the Castro trade. I was never a big fan of his, hopefully this trade works out for both teams.


Why the banging on the FO? They seem to know what they're doing. They took our Cubs farther than any FO in my decades of watching this team. They have earned, at the least, a wait and see from me.

They have not surpassed the Hendry regime yet, but I can see that happening shortly.

 

[Shawon0Meter]

Why the banging on the FO? They seem to know what they're doing. They took our Cubs farther than any FO in my decades of watching this team. They have earned, at the least, a wait and see from me.

That's where I'm at.

I don't like the trade but I'm putting some trust in the front office that;s made way more good decisions than bad

 

[DJMoore_is_fat]

Theo knows what he's doing. He won two championships and his fingerprints were all over a third. Our franchise was a complete mess before he took over and now we have one of the healthiest organizations (top to bottom) in all of baseball.

Our farm system is loaded and we have multiple waves of guys yet to come.

We're primed for a 10 year run. When the TV deal kicks in we can add a marquee FA virtually every season. I truly believe we're going to break through one of these years.

 

[JZsportsfan]

They have not surpassed the Hendry regime yet, but I can see that happening shortly.

This regime rebuilt the mess Hendry made at the end. I'm not a Hendry hater as some are, but he left the organization in disarray and Theo/Co have now won as many playoff series as Jim Hendry did at the helm.

Theo has shown to be significantly superior to Hendry in terms of drafting and identifying prospects/young talent. I would also give Theo the advantage in trades, although much of that is still to be determined. FA is too hard to say. The circumstances for each FO staff are so different I think it's almost impossible to compare them from that standpoint

 

[DanTown]

They have not surpassed the Hendry regime yet, but I can see that happening shortly.

This isn't even a question; Theo and his group are miles ahead of what Hendry did as a GM, wins in the NLCS be damned.

 

[knoxville7]

the adam warren guy can pitch. posted a 2.7 war last year in the AL east. coming to the NL and bosio getting his hands on him and we could really have a gem

 

[JimJohnson]

the adam warren guy can pitch. posted a 2.7 war last year in the AL east. coming to the NL and bosio getting his hands on him and we could really have a gem

I would hope so. We gave up Castro to get him.

 

[brett05]

This regime rebuilt the mess Hendry made at the end. I'm not a Hendry hater as some are, but he left the organization in disarray and Theo/Co have now won as many playoff series as Jim Hendry did at the helm.

Theo has shown to be significantly superior to Hendry in terms of drafting and identifying prospects/young talent. I would also give Theo the advantage in trades, although much of that is still to be determined. FA is too hard to say. The circumstances for each FO staff are so different I think it's almost impossible to compare them from that standpoint

This isn't even a question; Theo and his group are miles ahead of what Hendry did as a GM, wins in the NLCS be damned.

You all forget what Hendry was ordered to do. He is still the best Gm the Cubs have ever had. He had a #1 Farm System himself. Jim provided key pieces to the Cubs in guys like Castro and Baez for last year's team. Like I said, Theo is gaining, but you give Jim the same restraints that Theo has which isn't much comparatively and It would be quite some time for Theo to catch. Hendry was terrific in trades and FA. Just take another look at things with the proper ownership perspective.

 

[Shawon0Meter]

James T. Gallagher got the Cubs to a world series so he's the best

 

[DanTown]

You all forget what Hendry was ordered to do. He is still the best Gm the Cubs have ever had. He had a #1 Farm System himself. Jim provided key pieces to the Cubs in guys like Castro and Baez for last year's team. Like I said, Theo is gaining, but you give Jim the same restraints that Theo has which isn't much comparatively and It would be quite some time for Theo to catch. Hendry was terrific in trades and FA. Just take another look at things with the proper ownership perspective.

Hendry's success came at a cost of future teams where as Theo's success is sustainable. At no point was the organization as deep and set up for future success like it is right now. There's a reason that two years after being in the NLCS the team won 79 games and two years after making the playoffs and not winning a game, the team was a 75 win team with no pieces.

And Hendry had some absolute terrible picks and never consistently developed home grown talent. He of course had some good moves as any GM with a 10 year tenure will do but not enough to consider it good.

 

[Boobaby1]

You all forget what Hendry was ordered to do. He is still the best Gm the Cubs have ever had. He had a #1 Farm System himself. Jim provided key pieces to the Cubs in guys like Castro and Baez for last year's team. Like I said, Theo is gaining, but you give Jim the same restraints that Theo has which isn't much comparatively and It would be quite some time for Theo to catch. Hendry was terrific in trades and FA. Just take another look at things with the proper ownership perspective.

Not sure about being terrific in free agency as I would have to dig deep. The trades, I will give him in that it resulted in D-Lee, A-Ram, Karros/Grudz, and Lofton. Not that any GM wins all trades, but I would say that Garza and Pierre kinda lessened some of that terrific trading to a degree.

As far as the farm? You have to go way back, and it was pitching dominated. In the nine and a half years that he was GM, I find it amazing that you would be hard pressed to name a position player, that was of really good quality to play for the Cubs.

And no! DJ LeMahieu and Tyler Colvin are not it.

 

[DanTown]

Not sure about being terrific in free agency as I would have to dig deep. The trades, I will give him in that it resulted in D-Lee, A-Ram, Karros/Grudz, and Lofton. Not that any GM wins all trades, but I would say that Garza and Pierre kinda lessened some of that terrific trading to a degree.

As far as the farm? You have to go way back, and it was pitching dominated. In the nine and a half years that he was GM, I find it amazing that you would be hard pressed to name a position player, that was of really good quality to play for the Cubs.

And no! DJ LeMahieu and Tyler Colvin are not it.

The Garza trade was meh and bad because of how good Archer became but the Pierre trade was and always will be indefensible. The Cubs gave up three MLB quality arms for ONE year of control on a leadoff hitter who was a poor defender to come play on a team that would win 66 games. Obviously Lee getting hurt wasn't ideal but the idea that the Cubs were a Juan Pierre away was always incredibly stupid.

 

[CSF77]

Hendry was lucky to get Prior. They after the Trib opened up payroll that led to 2008. He couldn't sustain it because it was set up to sell not to sustain.

Hendry was not that good and did what his bosses wanted. By no means would he have ever been able to pull this off.

 

[brett05]

I love the attitude on here by you all...priceless.

 

[DanTown]

I love the attitude on here by you all...priceless.

You mean when you say something like "Jim Hendry is a better GM than Theo has been" with zero evidence or reasons why? No logical person would say Jim Hendry was elite because he sold tomorrow to win today. A lot of GM's can do that.

 

[Boobaby1]

I love the attitude on here by you all...priceless.

I am just not a proponent of the things he did. I called out his strengths and weaknesses.

To say that the organization was in shambles when he left is an understatement. There could have been competitive teams immediately had there been anything to fall back on that was coming up through the ranks, but there wasn't.

The highest ranking positional prospects in that regime were Patterson, Pie, Vitters, and B-Jax. Good Lord! I wanna puke thinking about it.

The best chance at a long run of success was the 2003 team and beyond that was decimated by pitching injuries. The 07' and 08' teams were built for a sprint, and it didn't work, and the results showed as they drastically declined every year after.