Offseason discussion/rumors

[CSF77]

Right but they could spend that money on Otani or Darvish or whomever.

Exactly my point

 

[Omeletpants]

Quotes and references or I am going to start deleting your post.

How do I quote MLB scouts that were interviewed on the radio?

 

[SilenceS]

How do I quote MLB scouts that were interviewed on the radio?

So, you have only heard it on the radio and never read it anywhere? You dont even name the scouts. So, yea, provide sources or stop with your bullshit rhetoric.

 

[Omeletpants]

So, you have only heard it on the radio and never read it anywhere? You dont even name the scouts. So, yea, provide sources or stop with your bullshit rhetoric.

In the summer, when the scout was interviewed I reported his comments on the forum. Blame the scout, he said it.

 

[BaBaBlacksheep]

In the summer, when the scout was interviewed I reported his comments on the forum. Blame the scout, he said it.

So now it's one scout?

Admit it.... It was Taco.

 

[DanTown]

In the summer, when the scout was interviewed I reported his comments on the forum. Blame the scout, he said it.

You do realize that Theo, Jed, and McCleod are the same guys who "scouted" the other Cubs on this team and have been fairly good at identifying talent so it seems incredibly strange to me that they would all of the sudden give an eight year deal to some guy who just sucks now and is beyond repair.

Again, I'm not saying "Heyward hits .300 next year, book it", I'm saying "I'lll take the enormous track record that says Heyward isn't one of the worse hitters in baseball". Also, you can find one scout who will say almost anything about any guy, especially a guy that scouts have questioned like they have Heyward. He's been a guy that "scouts" haven't liked since day 1.

 

[fatbeard]

In the summer, when the scout was interviewed I reported his comments on the forum. Blame the scout, he said it.

It never happened. Organizations do not authorize their scouts to give interviews about rival players on the radio. You heard a second-hand report from someone who was relaying what one scout supposedly told them off the record. In other words, it was at best a second-hand report from an unidentified sub-source of unknown credentials and reliability, which is to say it's worth about as much as a warm bucket of spit.

Idiot.

 

[DanTown]

Would have loved to sign Matt Joyce seeing as he went for just 2/11 to Oakland.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-as-just-added-a-cheap-breakout-slugger/

 

[CSF77]

I predict .263/.350/.435 for Heyward. They figure out his flaw and he starts to drive the ball more.

 

[Omeletpants]

It never happened. Organizations do not authorize their scouts to give interviews about rival players on the radio. You heard a second-hand report from someone who was relaying what one scout supposedly told them off the record. In other words, it was at best a second-hand report from an unidentified sub-source of unknown credentials and reliability, which is to say it's worth about as much as a warm bucket of spit.

Idiot.

Nope, it was a direct interview. I sat in a parking lot and listened to it even though I was late for something.

Just noticed that you were thank banged by DanTown which proves that you are wrong

 

[DanTown]

Jeff Locke just cut DFA by the Pirates and is an intriguing lefty for the Cubs potentially as a swing guy in the bullpen. Might gain a little in effectiveness both being out of the bullpen and becoming a heavy breaking-ball guy (curve+changeup) instead of having to throw so many fastballs as a starter.

I mean I wouldn't give him any sort of real money but he might have something if the Cubs are willing to tinker a little.

 

[CSF77]

Jeff Locke just cut DFA by the Pirates and is an intriguing lefty for the Cubs potentially as a swing guy in the bullpen. Might gain a little in effectiveness both being out of the bullpen and becoming a heavy breaking-ball guy (curve+changeup) instead of having to throw so many fastballs as a starter.

I mean I wouldn't give him any sort of real money but he might have something if the Cubs are willing to tinker a little.

Locke, 29, was expected to be non-tendered before Friday’s deadline, as he was in line to make $4.2 million in arbitration next season, according to MLBTradeRumors.com. That’s not too much to pay a No. 5 starter, but perhaps too much to pay one whose ERA as a starter in 2016 was 5.98.

Plagued by inconsistency, Locke went 35-38 with a 4.41 ERA over six seasons with the Pirates.

“Ultimately it’s just about where he is and where we are on the development curve, the arbitration curve and the resource-allocation curve,” general manager Neal Huntington said. “We certainly appreciate all the good games Jeff did throw with us and for us. There’s no question he certainly did some really good things, and he probably doesn’t get nearly enough credit for the good things he did.

“But as we start to move into the point in time where the arbitration curve is taking him to real and significant dollars … we had the very difficult decision that — despite looking for starting pitching — it was probably time to shift our focus and give others the opportunity.”

Bonilla will make $575,000 next season, according to an industry source. He pitched five games for the Texas Rangers in 2014, allowing seven runs in 20⅔ innings, but missed the 2015 season because of Tommy John surgery. The Pirates had their eye on Bonilla before he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers last winter, and their scouts saw him a couple times during the minor league season.

Huntington classified Bonilla as a “prospect pitcher” who could be in the rotation or the bullpen down the road. The Pirates intend for Bonilla to be stretched out during spring training and compete for a spot on the active roster. He has minor league options remaining.

Bonilla’s fastball rides in the mid-90s (mph). He averaged 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings over 201 appearances in the minors.

“We like the pitch arsenal,” Huntington said. “We like the quality of pitches. We like the fact he gets ground balls, and he’s gotten some strikeouts and throws strikes. It’s a prospect arm we felt was worth a roster spot to add another quality arm to the system.”

Locke, the Atlanta Braves’ second-round draft pick in 2006, was traded to Pittsburgh June 3, 2009, with outfielder Gorkys Hernandez and right-hander Charlie Morton for outfielder Nate McLouth.

After an All-Star season in 2013 — a year in which Locke won 10 games and secured the back end of the rotation for a team that cracked the franchise’s streak of 20 consecutive losing seasons — his numbers trended poorly. He reworked his mechanics last spring, ditching a deceptive delivery for a cleaner one to improve command, but the plan did not pan out.

In early August this year, the Pirates dropped Locke from a starting rotation that had scuffled all summer in favor of veteran right-hander soreness Vogelsong and rookie starters. Locke, who held little trade value, had some success in the bullpen before shoulder discomfort sidelined him in September. He ended the season with a 5.44 ERA in 127⅓ innings, the most on the pitching staff in 2016.

 

[CSF77]

He really feels last place team innings soak to me vs on a contending team. Paying him anything near what he was owed and shelved in Lieu of Williams or other options is a waste of resourse. Rather have them have Johnson and Williams developing into a emergency back up vs dumping 2-5 mil on a 26th man.

 

[chibears55]

AGREEMENT

Baseball continues for another 5 years

Let the off-season officially begin

Sent from my LG-V495 using Tapatalk

 

[CSF77]

There will certainly be many details to parse out as the results of the negotiation are revealed. In one notable area, though, there will be no changes. The sides decided against modifying the active roster rules, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports on Twitter. Rosters will remain at 25 players, rather than moving to 26, and September roster expansion will not be curtailed.

Meanwhile, in one of the key areas of talks, the luxury tax threshold will rise from $189MM to around $195MM in the 2017 season, Sherman further reports (links to Twitter). It’s then expected to reach $210MM over the five-year span. Additionally, the CBA will impose a sixty to seventy percent penalty for teams that spend well above the luxury tax line — i.e., payrolls north of $250MM.

The qualifying offer system has been another area of some uncertainty, and it seems there are some final details to work through there. A source tells Rosenthal (via Twitter) that the sides are “trying to shuffle around [the] loss of [a] first[-round] pick with [a] player getting [a] deal of $50MM or more.” While it’s a bit difficult to know just what that means, it sounds as if draft compensation could be tied to the ultimate price the market puts on a player. Meanwhile, Jon Morosi of MLB Network tweets that first-rounders won’t be sacrificed in signings of QO-declining players, which would seem to suggest a somewhat different approach.

 

[CSF77]

8:20pm: Only teams that are over the luxury tax threshold will be required to give up a pick to sign a qualified free agent, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets. That would represent a rather monumental change to the qualifying offer system, as only a few organizations in any given year would be at risk of sacrificing a pick. It would also come with some interesting practical impacts, as teams might conceivably seek to drop under the luxury tax line to avoid the necessity of draft compensation, though of course that won’t be of nearly as much importance if first-round picks are in fact taken off the table.

Kinda like this. This will put the teams that over spend in the penalty.

It is kinda like saying: If you want to build via F/A that is fine. That leaves more talent for teams that can not spend near the limit or over.

I think teams will now try to keep under that years tax threshold. Mostly the Cubs as they are trying to keep the system generating talent.

2017 $195 mil--> 2021 $210 mil 2018 it should be near 200 mil. 2019 most likely over.

Seeing next year's commitments around 156 mil.
2018guys on Arb 1. Russell, Bryant, Hendricks. It would be smart to lock up their service time and curtail their pending arb cases soon. I would aim for a deal around Rizzo's for them. 13:$0.75M, 14:$1.25M, 15:$5M, 16:$5M, 17:$7M, 18:$7M, 19:$11M, 20:$14.5M club option (or $2M buyout due 1/15/20), 21:$14.5M club option (or $2M buyout due 1/15/21)

 

[BaBaBlacksheep]

Assuming Dexter is gone will they get a pick from the old CBA rules? Or will the new rules be in effect now?

 

[SilenceS]

Assuming Dexter is gone will they get a pick from the old CBA rules? Or will the new rules be in effect now?

Old

 

[SilenceS]

Seems the Blue Jays are digging Fowler. Would be nice because we would get back the 24th pick for him.

 

[DanTown]

Seems the Blue Jays are digging Fowler. Would be nice because we would get back the 24th pick for him.

You don't get their pick, their pick ceases to exist and the Cubs get a comp pick (depending on the guys who get QO, it's the last pick of the comp pick round aka pick 35 or so). Don't know why we have to have to discuss this every off-season.