Offseason thread

[CSF77]

Regardless I do not see Jed making a move like this. I still see Jed doing minimal. His two chips are not strong returns so most likely he will do nothing with the line up

I expect a replacement for a catcher and a SP. Add in a lefty in the pen.

Kikuchi and Hisagua make the most sense then go after Minter for a late inning arm.

The team should get around 85 wins but it allows Jed to off Cody, Nico and Taillon when the market is needing quick fixes for a play off push.

I do not see a quick fix this off season. Jed would have to get creative to pull it off and sell off his farm. I do not see Jed wrecking his farm that he has been banking his run off of.

 

[CSF77]

Rule 5 deadline day:

One of the under-the-radar busiest transactional days of the baseball year, this is the final day for teams to set their 40-man rosters in advance of the Rule 5 Draft (which takes place on December 11). Plenty of clubs will be facing some tricky decisions on which eligible prospects will be protected from the R5 with roster spots, and creating that roster space will result in some DFAs, releases, or perhaps trades of players already taking up room on the 40-man.

Teams have until 5pm CT today to finalize their rosters, so expect a pretty big flurry of moves to come later this afternoon. Eligible players who aren’t added to the 40-man could find themselves changing organizations on December 11, and there’s risk for teams in potentially losing an interesting prospect for virtually nothing.

 

[CSF77]

Caissie is the obvious choice here. They will need to drop one player off of the 40. A Arb case cut makes the most sense. Thompson IMO. Been there and done that. Has not taken the step that Steele did

 

[CSF77]

Cubs Expected To Designate Adbert Alzolay For Assignment

The Cubs are likely to designate former closer Adbert Alzolay for assignment, reports Jesse Rogers of ESPN (X link). That'll …

www.mlbtraderumors.com

Almost forgot about him.

 

[CSF77]

Cubs Designate Brennen Davis, Adbert Alzolay For Assignment

The Cubs made a series of roster moves ahead of today's deadline for protecting players from the Rule 5 draft. …

www.mlbtraderumors.com

 

[CSF77]

Friday is the last day to offer Arb. If I have to guess it will be Steele, Paredes, Pederson and Tauchman. Merryweather and Thompson are 50/50. Rest most likely cut.

Canario most likely will be used as a toss in in a deal as he has no options left. Kilian is in the same boat. I'm not sure if Jed will want a lock in on a unproven pen arm. There are way more to look at here as most are wasted roster spots on minor league filler.

 

[CSF77]

Guardians Trade Eli Morgan To Cubs

The Guardians are trading right-handed reliever Eli Morgan to the Cubs. Read more about the move at MLB Trade Rumors.

www.mlbtraderumors.com

Bye bye Wisdom

 

[CSF77]

Cubs Acquire Matt Thaiss
November 20th, 2024 at 2:57pm CST • By Darragh McDonald
The Angels announced that they have traded catcher Matt Thaiss to the Cubs for cash considerations. The Halos had designated him for assignment last week. The Cubs have designated right-hander Trey Wingenter for assignment to open a roster spot, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune on X.

More to come.

 

[CSF77]

This is pretty typical stuff. No significant gain or loss here.

I am expecting more of this going forward. The biggest add should be no greater than Kikuchi or of his ilk.

 

[CSF77]

 

[CSF77]

MLB Rumors: Cody Bellinger Trade Eyed by Cubs; Rivals View Possible Deal as Difficult

The Chicago Cubs are reportedly hoping to move one of their veteran sluggers this offseason, but some around MLB believe it won't be an easy task. According…

bleacherreport.com

 

[CSF77]

I see that as a bad for a bad that opens up RF for Caissie and nets a SP

Say Cody for Stro strait. No cash. Cubs drop 9M and get a SP. That opens up RF for Caissie and Alàcantara to platoon.

Regardless it will be a bad for a bad here. Cody has negative trade value going in

 

[CSF77]

 

[CSF77]

The Cubs have non-tendered infielder Nick Madrigal, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN (X link). Madrigal has hit .251/.304/.312 for a 76 wRC+ over the last three seasons with the Cubs and was projected for a $1.9MM salary next year. Chicago also announced they non-tendered outfielder Mike Tauchman, which comes as a bit of a surprise after he reached base at a .357 clip this year. Patrick Wisdom, Adbert Alzolay, Brennen Davis and Trey Wingenter — all of whom were designated for assignment earlier this week — were also dropped.

 

[CSF77]

Looks like that cut 4.6M off payroll. Tauchman I kinda expected with cheaper options available. 40 man is down to 38 and they should be below 180M now.

Let's see what happens in the winter meetings

 

[TL1961]

You posted Wednesday that you expected them to offer arbitration to Tauchman.

You posted tonight that they let go of Tauchman , and you called it “a bit of a surprise”.

You then posted a third time and said you “kind of expected” they’d let Tauchman go.

I guess that’s called covering the bases.

 

[Probie2429]

Wonder if Cubs kick the tires on Rizzo now that he’s in the twilight of his career and coming off a bad one statistically. They could use a veteran presence in the clubhouse with what is expected to be a younger team.

 

[CSF77]

You posted Wednesday that you expected them to offer arbitration to Tauchman.

You posted tonight that they let go of Tauchman , and you called it “a bit of a surprise”.

You then posted a third time and said you “kind of expected” they’d let Tauchman go.

I guess that’s called covering the bases.

He was one of the best bench OF in baseball. I expect him to be highly sought after.

My opinion changed. Mostly due to the front office coming out saying needing a top of the rotation, IE we are spending then shifting to mid tier.

Those are mixed signals but if anything it signals we are not in a good place financially and we need to cut some corners.

So ya my opinion was changing cause the front office is also

 

[CSF77]

Jed has tinkered together a pen so far. 2 slots are open ATM. All of the locked in are RH. So this might end up for the shuttle to rotate arms off of the 40. Kilian has no options so he is a pending decision.

OF Canario also has no options. So that might have factored into the Tauchman decision. They can not hide them in Iowa.

To me it makes sense to use them in add ins for trading or play them. Neither are bad players.

 

[CSF77]