Dexter Fowler is BACK

[TL1961]

This headline made me literally LOL

http://nypost.com/2016/02/25/dexter-fowler-screws-orioles-for-22-million-cubs-discount/

Dexter Fowler screws Orioles for $22 million Cubs discount

That is funny. Here in St. Louis, they always think that players will take far less to play for the Cards. But in Chicago, it is reality, not theory. Heyward took less, and Fowler took way less. Love it.

 

[beckdawg]

I am baffled by people wanting Austin Jackson. For what, exactly?

After this signing for nothing. Prior to this signing he fulfilled the same reasoning the cubs re-signed Fowler. They wanted someone else who could play CF. I don't want to insult anyone but I never understood when I bought it up why that idea was so controversial. Heyward had played a few games and in theory should be fine in CF but it's not like he was a long term CF. Baez had played 4 games in a winter league in CF prior to the signing. Szczur has yet to show he can hit major league pitching. Almora may not be ready for the majors in time.

Given the choice I'm happy the cubs got Fowler as opposed to Jackson. However, prior to today it didn't seem very realistic as there was almost no real connection to the cubs other than "that would be nice but wont happen." Plus as we saw today, they had to trade cogs to make it happen.

 

[TL1961]

You would have to think Heyward gives superior D to Fowler in CF.

Ideal situation would be Schwarber taking over catching and Montero traded but I doubt he is at that point right now.

It is a toss up right now. I can't see putting 13 mil on the bench for late innings but you never know with this team

No.
No.
No.
No.
No.

There is nothing ideal about Schwarber playing catcher. He is awful. Actually, he would have to improve significantly to be awful.

He should never get behind the plate.

But I know the Cubs are going to force this issue. Their one mistake. But it would be a big one.

When you have a ton of offensive options, you can go for the best D at the key positions.

 

[Bear Pride]

Assumption: The Cubs are either planning on two things

1. Immediately trading Jorge Soler
or
2. Kyle Schwarber is their mostly full-time C

I cannot imagine Dexter Fowler came to Chicago to be a fourth OF.

First off, WOW! What an off season for the Cubs!

I'm looking at it as kind of a 3 man platoon with Kyle, Soler, and Miggy. It protect the Cubs in many ways, and I don't see any problem with having depth for the Cubs. We can give a starter a day off just about any position and fill in with a stud.

Heyward takes a day off and Soler goes to right. Fowler's off, and Heyward goes to center. Miggy's off, and Kyle catches. Let's not forget Zobrist can fill in the OF at the end of games for defense as well. That's a ton of flexibility we now have in the OF.

We have the same depth in the IF as well. Baez might start on any other team and will be an ultra IF, and can start at 3B, SS, and 2B. WOW! The only weakness I see right now is a good backup at 1B if Rizzo goes down for any amount of time. And having 3 decent C's as well. WOW!

And the Cubs now have an abundance of P's too. WOW! The kicker is we have the perfect crazy mad scientist at the helm to interchange all these parts. WOW!

Let's play Ball!!!

 

[Boobaby1]

For those who care, both Soler and LaStella have noticeably trimmed down.

And to answer a question from earlier, La Stella has 3 minor league options left according to CCO.

 

[Bear Pride]

Lets not get it twisted. They are also trying to cover themselves in case the rookies regress. I think that is a major factor into how deep they are getting.

I agree with you. The best way to fight any sophomore slump stuff is to field a deep team. Joe's gonna have the luxary of going with the hot player at just about any position.

Also, Im putting the lineup as

Fowler
Heyward
Rizzo
Bryant
Schwarber
Soler
Russell
P
Zobrist

While we could post approx 100 different lineups with this roster, I don't think Joe will bat Zobrist that far down in the order, myself. He's our best veteran OB hitter and imo, needs as many at bats as possible. I think if you're looking to have a switch hitter at that 9th spot, it would be Fowler, imo.

I also think that Joe will be enamored with having two switch hitters at 1 and 2. We might see Fowler at 1 and Zobrist at 2 cuz of this, imo. Joe might keep Russell at the 9 spot just to keep him comfy in his 2nd year as well.

Oh the possibilities with this lineup. We should have a thread for all the different lineups Joe uses later on...

 

[Bear Pride]

If there isn't another deal forthcoming you're going to see a lot of OF looks. Heyward is is going to play the bulk of his time in RF which leaves some interesting situations. Does Soler maybe play 1 or 2 games a week in RF and 2 if LF with Schwarber catching a little bit more that we had thought? It's fascinating. The one thing that doesn't make sense to me is why Fowler would come here on essentially a pillow contract if he's not going to play everyday and if he is how are you maximizing what Soler and Schwarber bring to the club. That's the part I can't figure out.

I can think of one .......

He basically is giving up $3 mil this year with an out next year for a chance to win a WS and potentially raise his value. The Cubs locker room atmosphere probably had a lot to do with it too.

 

[Bear Pride]

I'm among the obsessed but even I don't think you do that right now. This team is deep everywhere. If there is an early injury they can withstand that. The pitching should be good enough to win some games, hell it's probably at least good enough to win in the playoffs so what do I know? I'm just a pessimist and covet the Mets rotation. I don't make a trade for Teheran now under any circumstances if it costs Soler or Baez. At the deadline it may be a different story but who knows? I know a lot of people are picking the Rays to win the AL East but I'm not among them, they'll have pitchers to deal. Ditto the Marlins and Fernandez and long rumored A's and Sonny Gray. There are probably others. I'm also not buying the Indians as the best team in the AL as some are either so there's another possibility. Now it's time to get ready for the season. This team is loaded.

Agreed, and I do think the trade deadline could be different. When the MLB sees the Cubs embarrassing wealth of talent, they might be more inclined to approach the Cubs at the deadline with a lot more value. The best thing for the Cubs will be if all these players play well. The phones will be ringing if teams see the Cubs are struggling to get all these guys playing time, imo.

 

[PickSix]

For those who care, both Soler and LaStella have noticeably trimmed down.

And to answer a question from earlier, La Stella has 3 minor league options left according to CCO.

That is interesting. Have we heard the logic behind Soler trimming down? I loved how he bulked up last year. Dude was intimidating standing at the plate.

 

[PickSix]

No.
No.
No.
No.
No.

There is nothing ideal about Schwarber playing catcher. He is awful. Actually, he would have to improve significantly to be awful.

He should never get behind the plate.

But I know the Cubs are going to force this issue. Their one mistake. But it would be a big one.

When you have a ton of offensive options, you can go for the best D at the key positions.

Agree that Schwarber isn't the answer as far as taking over at catcher. But the more days off that you give Montero the better. Montero hit a wall at the end of last year and was MIA in the playoffs. Gotta find a way to change that.

 

[brett05]

http://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/967637

Again, hats off to Fowler on this move.

 

[DrGonzo]

Outfield solidified, more depth and even more flexibility for Maddon. Trading Castro was correct, Baez is the new super-sub. Depth means if they are contemplating a trade for more pitching they can hold out for value. The team is stronger but not without weaknesses, and unlike most of the sports media I am not ready to crown their ass. But it's going to be a really fun year.:cubs:

 

[DanTown]

After this signing for nothing. Prior to this signing he fulfilled the same reasoning the cubs re-signed Fowler. They wanted someone else who could play CF. I don't want to insult anyone but I never understood when I bought it up why that idea was so controversial. Heyward had played a few games and in theory should be fine in CF but it's not like he was a long term CF. Baez had played 4 games in a winter league in CF prior to the signing. Szczur has yet to show he can hit major league pitching. Almora may not be ready for the majors in time.

Given the choice I'm happy the cubs got Fowler as opposed to Jackson. However, prior to today it didn't seem very realistic as there was almost no real connection to the cubs other than "that would be nice but wont happen." Plus as we saw today, they had to trade cogs to make it happen.

Austin Jackson turned down at least 5 million for one year from the Angels. Maybe because it was a platoon or maybe because it was LF but the Cubs weren't going to give him a bigger role than that.

 

[DJMoore_is_fat]

Who knows if we're win the WS but man, we're going to tough as nails to beat. Offensively we're a juggernaut -- at this point we just have to hope our SP's perform well. I do like our long relief depth though, as we have a multiple guys who could stretch out. Plus we're well positioned to land a TOR at the dead line, if we need it.

Theo is looking to have his face alongside Ditka, Jordan and #34 Sweetness on the short, short list in Chicago history. Theo will live on forever in Chicago if he can pull this off. Truth be told, he might be the only person in the universe who could get to slay the dragon.

Wow....he just might do it.

 

[Bears4life]

The way it was staged, priceless! It is really going to be fun to watch Joe push the buttons. He has so many options for almost every situation right now. And backup in case there is any injuries. Well except if there is an injury to a starting pitcher. In that case, he has pieces to trade to get one if that happens. If they start off hot, the TV ratings could hit an all time high!

 

[DJMoore_is_fat]

Tomorrow Theo will be walking onto the field with Bryce Harper behind him.

 

[DJMoore_is_fat]

The way it was staged, priceless! It is really going to be fun to watch Joe push the buttons. He has so many options for almost every situation right now. And backup in case there is any injuries. Well except if there is an injury to a starting pitcher. In that case, he has pieces to trade to get one if that happens. If they start off hot, the TV ratings could hit an all time high!

This year will be the most anticipated year in Cubs history. More than 1985. More than 2004. More than 2008. With social media, an explosion of media coverage, and how the world has changed -- this will be an historical year in terms of Cubs interest.

This will be a summer to remember. Plus my son is being born in two months -- it's just gonna be insane. Attendance, TV ratings, etc. Cubs Nation is taking control of Chicago.

.....after the Hawks championship parade, of course.

 

[beckdawg]

Austin Jackson turned down at least 5 million for one year from the Angels. Maybe because it was a platoon or maybe because it was LF but the Cubs weren't going to give him a bigger role than that.

Not sure I agree. It's plausible to suggest that had Fowler gone to the O's they might have done a similar deal with Jackson. Either way, as I've said multiple times I feel like people were far to focused on me mentioning Jackson. Maybe some of that is on me for not being clearer. The point I was trying to get across was the cubs were weak in CF. This was something the team essentially confirmed by bringing Fowler back. And for what it's worth, the $3-4 mil price range I put as the cubs shopping budget was essentially the difference between Fowler($8 mil) and Brooks($500k i think) vs Coghlan($4.8 mil). Jackson just happened to be the player who seemed like the best fit given that amount of money. I did read that report you mention but it came a week or so after we were discussing Jackson.

At this point it's all fairly moot because they signed Fowler who I'd rather have even if Jackson was $3-4 mil. But I maintain the logic behind what I was suggesting was sound.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Not sure I agree. It's plausible to suggest that had Fowler gone to the O's they might have done a similar deal with Jackson. Either way, as I've said multiple times I feel like people were far to focused on me mentioning Jackson. Maybe some of that is on me for not being clearer. The point I was trying to get across was the cubs were weak in CF. This was something the team essentially confirmed by bringing Fowler back. And for what it's worth, the $3-4 mil price range I put as the cubs shopping budget was essentially the difference between Fowler($8 mil) and Brooks($500k i think) vs Coghlan($4.8 mil). Jackson just happened to be the player who seemed like the best fit given that amount of money. I did read that report you mention but it came a week or so after we were discussing Jackson.

At this point it's all fairly moot because they signed Fowler who I'd rather have even if Jackson was $3-4 mil. But I maintain the logic behind what I was suggesting was sound.

Agreed. Prior to the Fowler signing CF depth was a guy who had never played there before in Baez playing behind a guy playing out of position in Heyward. Despite that there was every indication that II would work anyway but to say it wasn't a weakness is incorrect. On top f that you had a guy in Coghlan who wasn't an ideal fit anymore. Fowler was a better choice than Jackson but as you say the logic is the same.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

This year will be the most anticipated year in Cubs history. More than 1985. More than 2004. More than 2008. With social media, an explosion of media coverage, and how the world has changed -- this will be an historical year in terms of Cubs interest.

This will be a summer to remember. Plus my son is being born in two months -- it's just gonna be insane. Attendance, TV ratings, etc. Cubs Nation is taking control of Chicago.

.....after the Hawks championship parade, of course.

Congrats on the boy. I'd suggest not having the game on in the hospital though...