Offseason rumors/discussion thread

[CSF77]

Considering you were talking about
Backup Catcher and Martin Maldonado is one of the best defensive FA catcher available now..

He a veteran and wouldn't cost much

Fair enough.

 

[CSF77]

Well at least it is better than the Schwarber yearns to be a catcher nonsense and he holds his Teddy every night hoping that he can get again squat behind the holy plate of epicness.

 

[beckdawg]

So just reading the situation it doesn't appear the cubs are all that interested in adding a back up catcher. Theo seemed more keen on going with potentially another reliever. And while I do think the cubs should add a catcher, I'm wondering if this might not be a better use of resources. The reason I say that is I think it will be a lot cheaper to find a catcher at the deadline than it will be to find a reliever of note. Plus, i want to see the cubs get out to a fast start so maybe it's better if contreras plays a bit heavier in the first half of the year and then in july perhaps they scale back his workload some.

 

[beckdawg]

Something to consider... if I'm the cubs i'm going to the young arb guys and seeing what it takes to lock them up. I feel like if you are sitting here seeing Machado and Harper struggle to find a deal in Feb that if the cubs were to approach a reasonable extension you have to consider it.

 

[Castor76]

Something to consider... if I'm the cubs i'm going to the young arb guys and seeing what it takes to lock them up. I feel like if you are sitting here seeing Machado and Harper struggle to find a deal in Feb that if the cubs were to approach a reasonable extension you have to consider it.

Truly, if you've got a guy you plan on keeping, having the conversation won't hurt. Say Baez sustains 2018. Would you balk at a deal that paid him 10/15/20/20/25/25/25, which would be an AAV of 20M? That would take him through his age 33 season. Maybe even try a 7yr at 130M which could go 10/14/18/19/21/23/25.

 

[beckdawg]

Truly, if you've got a guy you plan on keeping, having the conversation won't hurt. Say Baez sustains 2018. Would you balk at a deal that paid him 10/15/20/20/25/25/25, which would be an AAV of 20M? That would take him through his age 33 season. Maybe even try a 7yr at 130M which could go 10/14/18/19/21/23/25.

For me personally, i'd kinda wanna wait til say the all-star break on baez to make sure 2018 was real. I'm kinda sitting here looking at Hendricks. Unlike many of the other cubs he wasn't a 1st round pick. He was taken in the 10th round IIRC and signed for like 100k again IIRC. Minor league players make next to nothing. So, thus far he's looking at the roughly $6 mil he has made thus far in his career plus the roughly $7.5 mil he'll make in 2019 plus let's say $10-15 mil in 2020 before becoming a FA. That's what like some where around $30 mil? You compare that to Bryant who got $6.7 mil in signing bonus from the draft and who makes nearly $13 mil this year and he's basically already matched what Hendricks will do in his entire pre-FA contract with just a signing bonus and 1 year of arb. Plus, if I'm Hendricks and I'm sitting here looking at Keuchel who I've heard basically nothing about in terms of rumors you gotta wonder is there really much market for Hendricks who isn't throwing mid 90s.

But regardless, I think if i'm the cubs front office that is more my intentions rather than spending money on Harper right now. The main reason is let's say you lock up most of if not all the core guys on reasonable deals.... in 2 years Betts and Trout are going to be FAs. So, while it sort of sucks they don't have the flexibility right now to just throw tons of money into FA, I still feel like you can use this offseason to your advantage.

It will also be interesting to see what happens with Darvish. For example, let's say Darvish comes out and pitches like he was expect to in 2018. He can opt out after 2019. But given how this FA market and how the last one played out are you going to gamble on getting a better deal than the 4/$81 mil he has left where he will be 33 headed into 2020? If that happens and he doesn't opt out that 4/$81 is pretty appealing. If he does opt out then the cubs suddenly have a lot of money.

 

[chibears55]

Something to consider... if I'm the cubs i'm going to the young arb guys and seeing what it takes to lock them up. I feel like if you are sitting here seeing Machado and Harper struggle to find a deal in Feb that if the cubs were to approach a reasonable extension you have to consider it.

Thing is, players might want to wait til after new CBA starts to be locked in long term.

So, they may only get them signed thru 2022

 

[anotheridiot]

You really out did your self this time. I think you need your meds refilled.

and keep avoiding the retorts when you are wrong, or mistyped, must have been spellcheck.

 

[CSF77]

and keep avoiding the retorts when you are wrong, or mistyped, must have been spellcheck.

For your info. When he gave up on catcher last off season when he lost the weight to focusc100% on left field. It was widely covered in many news sources. But you keep being you and keep hoping that he can take a squat behind the dish.

 

[CSF77]

Thing is, players might want to wait til after new CBA starts to be locked in long term.

So, they may only get them signed thru 2022

Harper shot down the short term deal. So I really believe it is more about the longest term deal.

Next CBA holds little weight until that year.

 

[chibears55]

Harper shot down the short term deal. So I really believe it is more about the longest term deal.

Next CBA holds little weight until that year.

Talking more of guys like Baez Contreras Schwarber etc

 

[Castor76]

For me personally, i'd kinda wanna wait til say the all-star break on baez to make sure 2018 was real. I'm kinda sitting here looking at Hendricks. Unlike many of the other cubs he wasn't a 1st round pick. He was taken in the 10th round IIRC and signed for like 100k again IIRC. Minor league players make next to nothing. So, thus far he's looking at the roughly $6 mil he has made thus far in his career plus the roughly $7.5 mil he'll make in 2019 plus let's say $10-15 mil in 2020 before becoming a FA. That's what like some where around $30 mil? You compare that to Bryant who got $6.7 mil in signing bonus from the draft and who makes nearly $13 mil this year and he's basically already matched what Hendricks will do in his entire pre-FA contract with just a signing bonus and 1 year of arb. Plus, if I'm Hendricks and I'm sitting here looking at Keuchel who I've heard basically nothing about in terms of rumors you gotta wonder is there really much market for Hendricks who isn't throwing mid 90s.

But regardless, I think if i'm the cubs front office that is more my intentions rather than spending money on Harper right now. The main reason is let's say you lock up most of if not all the core guys on reasonable deals.... in 2 years Betts and Trout are going to be FAs. So, while it sort of sucks they don't have the flexibility right now to just throw tons of money into FA, I still feel like you can use this offseason to your advantage.

It will also be interesting to see what happens with Darvish. For example, let's say Darvish comes out and pitches like he was expect to in 2018. He can opt out after 2019. But given how this FA market and how the last one played out are you going to gamble on getting a better deal than the 4/$81 mil he has left where he will be 33 headed into 2020? If that happens and he doesn't opt out that 4/$81 is pretty appealing. If he does opt out then the cubs suddenly have a lot of money.

I did say he sustains 2018, so I would think post ASB myself.

 

[CSF77]

Talking more of guys like Baez Contreras Schwarber etc

Honestly I believe that they might extend with the way F/A is playing out right now. When you see 2 mega players being snubbed it really makes you rethink the open market.

 

[SilenceS]

Honestly I believe that they might extend with the way F/A is playing out right now. When you see 2 mega players being snubbed it really makes you rethink the open market.

I would assume next negotiations is going into strike mode


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[CSF77]

I would assume next negotiations is going into strike mode


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There is time between now and then but if you look at the trends it is looking that way.

Now something did need to change post PED'S. Back then these players were Supermen playing at peak until 40. Now 36 you are starting to see guys retire due to inadequate performance levels.

So to be honest a 10/300 is fair for either. You are catching their prime years before they fall. The players are trying to get paid through the fall.

I just see it as a player shouldn't be signed on a long term past 36. At that point it the player ages well then team opts or let them go on 1 year deals to pad their hall cases.

 

[DanTown]

There is time between now and then but if you look at the trends it is looking that way.

Now something did need to change post PED'S. Back then these players were Supermen playing at peak until 40. Now 36 you are starting to see guys retire due to inadequate performance levels.

So to be honest a 10/300 is fair for either. You are catching their prime years before they fall. The players are trying to get paid through the fall.

I just see it as a player shouldn't be signed on a long term past 36. At that point it the player ages well then team opts or let them go on 1 year deals to pad their hall cases.

The fact service time does not account for the minors is stupid.

The easy fix to this is make it you get nine years of control (counting minors) for HS drafted players, seven years college juniors, six college seniors. You don't have to pay them MLB money until their on rosters but the new rules should be

Pre Arb
Pre Arb
Arb 1
Arb 2
Arb 3 (until FA)
One QO the player must accept (has to be the average of the five highest salaries at his position or 400% average salary, whichever is greater) for one year
UFA after

Then I'd make another rule that allows teams to amnesty any one contract they signed (must be signed, cannot trade for one) similar to basketball where the team pays the player's salary (with offsets) yet it doesn't count to the cap. If you amnesty a contract, you cannot amnesty another one until the first deal reaches it's original conclusion (i.e if the cubs wanted to amnesty Heyward, they could not amnesty a player until after 2023)

All teams must spend at least 10X the average salary on non-rookie controlled players (so right now that would be slightly above 40M).

Players lose their no-trade clause in the final year of their deal (there is no reason teams should be punished from acquiring a rental because said player doesn't want to move for three - four months)

 

[beckdawg]

Patrick Mooney
✔
@PJ_Mooney
The Cubs opened camp hoping to add another reliever who would fit within their budget and landed Xavier Cedeño with a $900,000 non-guaranteed deal.

He's a mildly interesting lefty option

 

[chibears55]

Patrick Mooney
[emoji818]
@PJ_Mooney
The Cubs opened camp hoping to add another reliever who would fit within their budget and landed Xavier Cedeño with a $900,000 non-guaranteed deal.

He's a mildly interesting lefty option

Cubs piling up all these cheap relievers to fit under their budget, they better hope they pan out

Their hoping for alot of stuff to go right this season with players that were either hurt and or struggled last year to have a playoff caliber team again...

 

[beckdawg]

Cubs piling up all these cheap relievers to fit under their budget, they better hope they pan out

Their hoping for alot of stuff to go right this season with players that were either hurt and or struggled last year to have a playoff caliber team again...

I see this entirely differently than you do tbqh. I think the cubs top 5 guys(cishek, edwards, monty, strop, brach) are extremely solid and they will have 6 when Morrow returns. I suppose there's an argument to be made out there that Edwards can be in consistent but let's not forget he finished 2018 with a 2.60 ERA. So, while I'll concede the point that he's had times where he's inconsistent, that just means when he's pitching well he's near unhittable.

What i see this massive group of depth doing is giving the cubs multiple chances to find the right guy cheaply rather than pay for "sure thing" which are never "sure things" when it comes to relievers. I'll say it right now I think the cubs bullpen is going to be highly effective this year albeit not spectacular from a dominance stand point. That is to say i think they will look a lot like 2018 where by they threw for the 2nd best ERA as a team bullpen but they didn't have eye popping k stats.

 

[chibears55]

I see this entirely differently than you do tbqh. I think the cubs top 5 guys(cishek, edwards, monty, strop, brach) are extremely solid and they will have 6 when Morrow returns. I suppose there's an argument to be made out there that Edwards can be in consistent but let's not forget he finished 2018 with a 2.60 ERA. So, while I'll concede the point that he's had times where he's inconsistent, that just means when he's pitching well he's near unhittable.

What i see this massive group of depth doing is giving the cubs multiple chances to find the right guy cheaply rather than pay for "sure thing" which are never "sure things" when it comes to relievers. I'll say it right now I think the cubs bullpen is going to be highly effective this year albeit not spectacular from a dominance stand point. That is to say i think they will look a lot like 2018 where by they threw for the 2nd best ERA as a team bullpen but they didn't have eye popping k stats.

Problem going to be is those guys you mentioned are going to need to maintain it all year and not get injured, worn out or just lose it like they did last year in the 2nd half..

I'm not downing adding all the depth they have, just saying they better hope a couple of those guys come through so their not constantly relying on the main core game after game like pretty much what happened last year..