FREE AGENT Signings

[CSF77]

I think it comes down to how much they want to add in payroll next year.

Right now they have 34 mil spent. 17 mil approx for Arb cases. Not including Ruggiano and Wood here. I doubt they retain them.

So that puts payroll roughly at 51 mil.

You add Lester it bumps it up to 76 mil
Shields I would expect in the 18 mil range.

So Shields on the team payroll at 69 mil Lester 76 mil.

If they decide to sign Martin to catch...he is a D upgrade and holds a better career OBA I'm guessing he gets a solid payday as he is the only Catcher on the market. Say 12 mil starting point.

LF best option is Cabrera and he would cost around 14 mil per.

They have some options going on but I would be surprised if they go over 110 mil budget.

 

[CSF77]

If they don't want to pursue a back-up like A.J., then I would kick the tires on dealing out Wood and a minor league pitcher for Montero if the D-Backs would be interesed. Then the Cubs could go for an option with a Bret Anderson or Jason Hammel.

A TOR, Anderson/Hammel, a bat, and a trade for a catcher or A.J. would be a good start.

You could have a rotation of at least:

Lester/Shields
Arrieta
Hendricks
Anderson/Hammel/Wood
Wada

Eat a good chunk of E-Jax's salary and see if they can get something in return like they did for Soriano. Maybe a little better spec depending.

2015 is still going to be a major evaluation with the youth. No reason to completely dive in head first until they see exactly what they have or don't have moving forward.

Not sure on Hammel. I'm thinking they will give Turner the #5 spot due to his age. He goes into arb1 next year so it makes sense to see what they have with him over the year. Hammel would be a waste of $$$ IMO.

If they were going to upgrade at catcher then spend on Martin. His D is top end and Castillo was lacking at framing pitches.

LF I would be fine with Coghlan but with Theo saying he is in the plans it leads me to believe they will look at a power bat there next year.

 

[Papa Wheelie]

The thought of signing a 31-year old catcher coming off a career year to a long contract makes me rather uncomfortable...

I get your point. It will come down to the length of the contract imo. Cubs will pay him money for a shorter contract. Martin improving the entire staff is better than signing two TOR's imo. Cubs will sign someone like Masterson (ground ball P in Wrigley) before they spend too much on starting pitching imo.

It seems like the Cubs agree with me ....

Cubs, already a big free-agent player, are targeting Russell Martin
November 4, 2014 3:45 pm ET

 

[TL1961]

I get your point. It will come down to the length of the contract imo. Cubs will pay him money for a shorter contract. Martin improving the entire staff is better than signing two TOR's imo. Cubs will sign someone like Masterson (ground ball P in Wrigley) before they spend too much on starting pitching imo.

It seems like the Cubs agree with me ....

Cubs, already a big free-agent player, are targeting Russell Martin
November 4, 2014 3:45 pm ET

I don't think Martin makes Masterson better than average.

3 years would be OK. 4 is the minimum it will take and won't be terrible. 5 is out of the question.

But they may look at it like other teams did as they come into bog TV money. Pay for 3 years production over the course of a 5 year contract because that's what it takes, and years 4 and 5 you will be able to eat teh $.

With the Cubs, the TV $ may be coming then, but so will prospects' paydays. Will be interesting to see how they structure things. I trust Theo can handle it.

 

[CSF77]

http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-prepared-sign-free-agent-tagged-qualifying-offer

 

[brett05]

Panda wants at least six years. At what will amount to $90+ million. No thanks.

 

[Parade_Rain]

I would not give a 3B with weight issues a six year contract.

 

[brett05]

I would not give a 3B with weight issues a six year contract.

My list of guys that I would give a six year contract to on offense is very small. I'm only counting guys that are asking for the "big" dollars. Trout, McCutchen, Rizzo, Donaldson, and that might be it. I have Stanton and Cano just missing it. Same with Miggy.

 

[DewsSox79]

I would not give a 3B with weight issues a six year contract.

on the cubs or an NL team no. on the sox or an AL team i would. he can dh


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[Parade_Rain]

on the cubs or an NL team no. on the sox or an AL team i would. he can dh


Sent from My 1998 Palm Pilot Using Tapatalk

Yep. AL makes a lot of sense in that regard.

 

[brett05]

on the cubs or an NL team no. on the sox or an AL team i would. he can dh


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$16-20 mil.per for six years??? Not a snowballs chance uke:

 

[JZsportsfan]

Martin is asking for $75-$80 M for a 5 year deal. No thanks

That being said I don't think anybody gives him that. Catchers are valuable but they also deteriorate and the Cubs can't stick him somewhere like 1B or DH if that happens during the course of the contract (Which at 5 years it would). If he goes higher than 4/$60 I'd probably pass and that extra year could hurt.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Free agency has started with the Mets signing Michael Cuddyer.

 

[JZsportsfan]

Free agency has started with the Mets signing Michael Cuddyer.

Makes little sense to me. I guess it isn't much of a risk at $21 million but given his injury history, I thought for sure he'd be the one guy to accept the qualifying offer. Weird the Rockies would give him $15.5 million next year, but wouldn't add $6M more to keep him. Then again it is very probably they knew he would reject the offer and land themselves a pick in the process.

Interesting given the Mets youth that they have invested in Cuddyer and Granderson the past couple of years. Good bats, but weird fits IMO

 

[SilenceS]

Makes little sense to me. I guess it isn't much of a risk at $21 million but given his injury history, I thought for sure he'd be the one guy to accept the qualifying offer. Weird the Rockies would give him $15.5 million next year, but wouldn't add $6M more to keep him. Then again it is very probably they knew he would reject the offer and land themselves a pick in the process.

Interesting given the Mets youth that they have invested in Cuddyer and Granderson the past couple of years. Good bats, but weird fits IMO

Gave up the 15th pick in the draft for him as well. They have to be going hard in FA or this makes no sense.

 

[chibears55]

Gave up the 15th pick in the draft for him as well. They have to be going hard in FA or this makes no sense.

Heard they were in talks for tulo

 

[JZsportsfan]

Now that I read speculation about the Cubs going after a relief pitcher, I really want to go out and get Andrew Miller. Our pen is heavy on the righties and adding Miller would have to give the Cubs one of the best pens in the league

Rondon (R), Ramirez (R), Strop(R), Grimm(R), Wright (L), Miller(L) (Schlitter,Jokisch,Vizcaino)? Not a bullpen expert but there can't be many teams that have a better pen than that.

 

[brett05]

Now that I read speculation about the Cubs going after a relief pitcher, I really want to go out and get Andrew Miller. Our pen is heavy on the righties and adding Miller would have to give the Cubs one of the best pens in the league

Rondon (R), Ramirez (R), Strop(R), Grimm(R), Wright (L), Miller(L) (Schlitter,Jokisch,Vizcaino)? Not a bullpen expert but there can't be many teams that have a better pen than that.

Really????

 

[chibears55]

@mlbtraderumors: Mutual Interest Between Royals, Ervin*Santana mlbtraderumors.com/?p=43420

 

[JosMin]

Interested to see who this year's reclamation project is going to be for the rotation. I agree that the Cubs will certainly look to land at least one elite arm, with Lester or Shields making the most sense. Depending on what Masterson's demands are, I think he'd be a nice flip piece for the deadline or even a guy to plug in as a fringe #5/swing starter/long relief guy. He's got ties to Theo (drafted in '06 by Theo). Depending on what they plan on doing with Travis Wood, he could make sense. I'm just not seeing the Cubs non-tendering him, even after his poor season. He still has salary control and is young enough to fetch something in return. A team like Tampa, Kansas City or Atlanta could be looking to add cheap, controllable pitching.

In terms of improving on offense, I'd like to see an upgrade in left field versus trying to upgrade Castillo. Elite offensive catchers are slim to none and I feel like those premium dollars could be better served to sure up the rotation. I'd be a fan of Melky (his defensive shortcomings notwithstanding) if we could limit his money to somewhere in the 3 years/$45 million neighborhood. With Almora and McKinney both being at least 18 months away, it's a glaring need. I'm just not sure if we can expect a repeat performance from Chris Coghlan for 162 games. A more power-oriented guy like Nelson Cruz or Mike Morse could be interesting, but both are even bigger defensive liabilities than Cabrera.

All I know is this -- the Cubs are going to make at least one more splash outside of Maddon. And I can't fucking wait.