Spring Training

[JP Hochbaum]

well, what happened to innocent until proven guilty in this country??

He is not on trial to go to jail, this is a strawman. At this point he is guilty until proven innocent to be on a baseball team, too much smoke there is always fire.

 

[RuszBron1]

Cody Bellinger agree to 3-year, $80 million deal.​

Reasonable deal for both sides. GO CUBBIES !!!!!!!!

Report: Cubs, Cody Bellinger agree to 3-year, $80 million deal

The Chicago Cubs have made their long-awaited splash in the wee hours of the morning, signing their best hitter in 2023 in Cody Bellinger to a multi-year contract, according to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

www.nbcsportschicago.com

 

[CSF77]

Cubs To Re-Sign Cody Bellinger​

By Nick Deeds | February 25, 2024 at 7:14am CDT

One of free agency’s top hitters reached an agreement overnight, as center fielder Cody Bellinger is in agreement with the Cubs on a three-year, $80MM deal per Jeff Passan of ESPN. Per Passan, the deal includes opt-outs following the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Passan adds that the deal is slightly frontloaded, with Bellinger making $30MM in 2024 and 2025 with a $20MM salary in 2026.
Bellinger returns to the Cubs after signing a one-year deal with the club last winter and delivering an excellent platform campaign. In 556 trips to the plate, the 28-year-old slashed .307/.356/.525 with 26 home runs and 20 stolen bases while splitting time between center field and first base for Chicago. That performance earned Bellinger a Silver Slugger award and a top-10 finish in NL MVP voting and seemingly left him poised to cash in this winter with a major contract. MLBTR ranked Bellinger as the #2 free agent in this year’s class behind only two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, predicting a 12-year, $264MM deal for the outfielder in our annual Top 50 MLB free agents list.
That prediction proved to land well over where Bellinger wound up signing. While Bellinger entered the winter with plenty of big market clubs seemingly in the running for his services including the Giants, Yankees, and Blue Jays, each pivoted in other directions throughout the month of December: San Francisco landed KBO star Jung Hoo Lee to patrol center, Juan Soto was shipped to the Bronx to fill the left-handed void in their outfield mix, and the Blue Jays changed course after missing out on Shohei Ohtani to instead focus on smaller deals for players such as Kevin Kiermaier and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. That left Bellinger with few clear suitors outside of the incumbent Cubs, though his free agency continued into Spring Training as his camp held out for a long term deal while the Cubs and president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer remained steadfast in their patience. Ultimately, Chicago was rewarded for its patience, as the club will retain Bellinger’s services for at least the 2024 campaign on a relatively low-cost deal similar to the three-year, $105MM deal fellow Boras Corporation client Carlos Correa signed with the Twins two offseasons ago.

 

[CSF77]

well that move put the Cubs as the team to beat in the NLC. It should be interesting to see how this plays out. The easy answer is to have the OF rotate with the DH and start PCA in CF.

Hoerner
Happ
Suzuki
Bellinger
Swanson
Busch
Gomes
PCA
Morel

Bench of Madigral, Mastraboni, Amaya, Tauchman and Wisdom.

Steele
Taillon
Imanaga
Hendricks
Wicks

Pen Alzolay, Neris, Merryweather, Leiter, Smyly, Assad

1 spot open. Early look Wesneski has looked dominate and could be a dark horse for the closer role. His stuff is at that level.


This pushes most to AAA for full time playing. Injuries happen or they become trade chips.

 

[CSF77]

oooo

 

[CSF77]

Mmm. Assad might end up in Iowa at this pace. Thompson 2.0

 

[CSF77]

If it opens up I'm rooting for Killian. Has hit 99 and his hammer has buckled knees this spring.

 

[CSF77]

Yesterday Assad moved behind Steele. Today Wesneski behind Imanaga. Tomorrow should be Hendricks then Wicks. But they could slot Taillon in and push the other 2 back a day.

So Smyly got a extra start and decided to work on pitches and got smashed for it in a competition.... Solid game plan.

 

[bamainatlanta]

Dude no, Trevor Bauer black balled himself. Bad person. He wasn't cleared of anything,, they resolved litigation. This doesn't mean guilty or not guilty.

There have been 4 woman who have accused him and cases are still ongoing:

Trevor Bauer Accused of Sexual Assault by 4th Woman; Pitcher Denies Allegations

Warning: The following article contains graphic allegations of domestic violence and sexual assault. Former MLB pitcher Trevor Bauer has been accused of…

bleacherreport.com

There are no cases ongoing at the moment. Dude is a basket case though

 

[CSF77]

There are no cases ongoing at the moment. Dude is a basket case though

I don't deny that. But he knows how to pitch and gets into pitch shape etc. He knows his shit for sure.

 

[CSF77]

With Happ out with a Hammy makes you think that Caissie playing in LF could be a thing. He is forcing choices right now.

 

[CSF77]

Taillon will be looking for a bounceback season, as his first campaign with the Cubs wasn’t strong, finishing with a 4.84 ERA. That potential bounceback season is off to a bumpy start, however, as Lee reports that Taillon is dealing with some soreness in both of his calves. That issue doesn’t seem debilitating and he still appears to be on track for Opening Day if he doesn’t experience any setbacks, but it’s a situation worth monitoring over the weeks to come since a return to form for Taillon will be important for the Cubs this year.


So this was the report. Kilian was pulled early yesterday and I didn't see a follow up.

We might see opportunity popping up you got Happ having hamstring issues also. So we might actually see some guys that normally would be down in AAA getting starting roles.

 

[CSF77]

March 8: OF prospects Pete Crow-Armstrong, Owen Caissie and Kevin Alcantara among Cubs' roster reductions
Chicago trimmed its big league camp roster by 12 players, leaving 50 players on the MLB side for the Cubs with roughly three weeks remaining. Here is a breakdown of the moves:

• Optioned to Triple-A Iowa: RHP Ben Brown (No. 11 on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 list for the Cubs), INF Luis Vazquez (No. 20), OF Crow-Armstrong (No. 1) and OF Brennen Davis.
• Optioned to Double-A Tennessee: RHP Michael Arias (No. 14), RHP Porter Hodge (No. 29) and OF Alcántara (No. 6).
• Reassigned to Minor League camp: RHP Ethan Roberts, RHP Riley Thompson, C Pablo Aliendo (No. 23), INF Matt Shaw (No. 5) and OF Caissie (No. 3).

March 7: RHP Caleb Kilian sidelined with right shoulder strain
An MRI exam on Kilian's throwing shoulder revealed a strain of the teres major, Cubs manager Craig Counsell announced on Thursday. Counsell said the early timetable for recovery and rehab points to Kilian returning to game action around the All-Star break in July.

 

[TL1961]

Well, that’s strange and so unexpected.

Why it was just a couple of days ago I was called a windsock for not thinking Taillon was going to be our staff ace.

I was told how great he was in 2023, and now 2024 is being described as a “bounce back season”.

Huh.

 

[CSF77]

Well, that’s strange and so unexpected.

Why it was just a couple of days ago I was called a windsock for not thinking Taillon was going to be our staff ace.

I was told how great he was in 2023, and now 2024 is being described as a “bounce back season”.

Huh.

Wow. Staff ace. That is pretty high for a imaginary bar that you have pushed off on me.

Injuries happen. Shit happens. Your posts happen. I deal with all of them with a smile.

 

[CSF77]

Should be interesting how this plays out. Smyly might have put himself into the rotation after his last start. The new splitter was pretty nice to see in action.

So I see it as Assad in the pen. Smyly and Wicks in the rotation. Hayden in Iowa for emergency duty keeping stretched out.

 

[TL1961]

I will put it here because I don't want it to have its own thread - Brewers closer expected to miss three months.


Sources: Brewers' Williams out with back fractures

 

[beckdawg]

Shota casually with 19 k's in 9.2 IP this spring. I also had another apropos thought... Japan continues to pump out a lot of high quality talent year after year and Cubs investing in it likely helps them down the road. Like if you're some random 20 year old from japan Chicago isn't likely a city you know much about but if former NPB stars are there it gives some a reason to pay more attention prior to when they would sign. West coast teams are always going to have some advantage and NY being NY will as well but if you can put your name a bit more in the mix it's gotta be a positive.

 

[knoxville7]

Shota casually with 19 k's in 9.2 IP this spring. I also had another apropos thought... Japan continues to pump out a lot of high quality talent year after year and Cubs investing in it likely helps them down the road. Like if you're some random 20 year old from japan Chicago isn't likely a city you know much about but if former NPB stars are there it gives some a reason to pay more attention prior to when they would sign. West coast teams are always going to have some advantage and NY being NY will as well but if you can put your name a bit more in the mix it's gotta be a positive.

he looks like a solid signing so far for sure.

that said, 20 somethings in japan do tend to know about chicago already. we arent talking des moines, iowa here