Don't they have to blow it up?

[CSF77]

The Cubs don't have to be bad with this rebuild.

Right now the trade market is quite slim, so what Hoyer can do, is what he did in the Darvish trade. Instead of getting top 100 prospects he got guys that were too young to be ranked that high, but could develop into top 100's. WE can continue to load up on those guys and give us that wave of talent in 5 years from now.

So say we trade guys that can bring a return: Bryant, Baez, Rizzo, Kimbrel

That still leaves us with a division contender if we fill their departures with some midlevel contact hitting free agents next year. I don't see them spending big but getting guys on 1-2 year deals as placeholders for the farm


1b - Wisdom
2b - Hoerner
SS - Semian, Simmons
3b - Bote
OF - Heyward, Happ, Peterson, MArisnick, FA's
C - COntreras

Obviously this lineup above won't scare anyone, but the idea isn't to win a WS in the next year or two, but to stay close to the top of the division, so that when we can compete again we can spend big in 1-2 years and still have a decent team to watch. And in 1-2 years those guys that we picked up in trades can be off loaded for other holes to fill.

I was thinking.

1B Wisdom
2B Hoerner
SS Baez (Q offer taken)
3B Duffy (give him a deal)
LF Pederson
CF Happ
RF Heyward
C Contreras (extend)

Rotation
Hendricks
Alzolay
Mills
Steel
Thompson

Closer
Committee

Trade everything else or DFA if need be.

AAA they would have Davis, Amaya and Marquez.

Hernandez I'm not sure if he shoots up the system. I wouldn't rule it out at this point if his tools are A-Rod level. That makes change happen.

So I could see 2022 just a transition to get some kids MLB ready then 2023 get back in it with a fresh take.

 

[JP Hochbaum]

I was thinking.

1B Wisdom
2B Hoerner
SS Baez (Q offer taken)
3B Duffy (give him a deal)
LF Pederson
CF Happ
RF Heyward
C Contreras (extend)

Rotation
Hendricks
Alzolay
Mills
Steel
Thompson

Closer
Committee

Trade everything else or DFA if need be.

AAA they would have Davis, Amaya and Marquez.

Hernandez I'm not sure if he shoots up the system. I wouldn't rule it out at this point if his tools are A-Rod level. That makes change happen.

So I could see 2022 just a transition to get some kids MLB ready then 2023 get back in it with a fresh take.

Yeah Baez would be the easiest to sign. But not sure he will realize how low his value should be.

 

[JP Hochbaum]

If you can, you can compare our situation now to that of the White Sox several years ago. When we had our rebuild, we had very little to trade away to obtain assets. Most of our development came from drafting, and our only trades for youth being for Rizzo and Russell, if my memory serves me right.

Where as the White Sox almost traded for their entire roster, so they were able to trade for known commodities, with some draft picks sprinkled in (Rodon, Anderson). Their process took about 2 years to see it come around.

 

[CSF77]

Yeah Baez would be the easiest to sign. But not sure he will realize how low his value should be.

For sure. My secondary is Hoerner at SS and Bote at 2B. Keep Alcantra around as a UI.

 

[CSF77]

If you can, you can compare our situation now to that of the White Sox several years ago. When we had our rebuild, we had very little to trade away to obtain assets. Most of our development came from drafting, and our only trades for youth being for Rizzo and Russell, if my memory serves me right.

Where as the White Sox almost traded for their entire roster, so they were able to trade for known commodities, with some draft picks sprinkled in (Rodon, Anderson). Their process took about 2 years to see it come around.

The Cubs already have 4 in the top 100. So they are in a decent place right now. If they do more trades it should be for more system depth.

They really don't need a blue chip. And to be honest that has not been the trend going right now. Teams are not selling 55+ grade prospects anymore.

 

[JP Hochbaum]

The Cubs already have 4 in the top 100. So they are in a decent place right now. If they do more trades it should be for more system depth.

They really don't need a blue chip. And to be honest that has not been the trend going right now. Teams are not selling 55+ grade prospects anymore.

Yeah that is why I think their trades will look more like the return we got for Darvish, young guys who are too young to be top 100. But we can collect a lot of them because their value is so low. Instead of getting 4 of them in return we get 2 because we aren't trading Darvish but guys that are less valuable.

 

[CSF77]

I would rather them to start stocking up on plus arms vs bats.

 

[bamainatlanta]

Sell them all and see if another team is desperate enough to take on Heyward along with Kimbrel/KB etc., (pipe dream).
But seriously, this stretch is the final nail in the coffin.