The Cubs Hot Stove Action Thread

[waldo7239117]

I liked Waldo better when his grammar was atrocious.

Lol, what do you mean and why's that?

 

[CSF77]

If they replace Barney at 2B with the 3B split from last year, get halfway decent production out of presumably Olt at 3B and Castro returns to 2012 levels the offense has a shot to be halfway decent. Castro and Barney really killed them last year.

I'm afraid that they wont. I'm not saying that the Olt idea is all that grand either. I would just want to use Apr-July as an opportunity to get some trade value going for Olt.

What I hope happens by Aug:

Castro SS
Alacantara 2B
Baez 3B
Bryant RF
Rizzo 1B
Lake LF
Sweeney CF
Castillo C

Olt, Schierholtz, Barney all traded out.

Now a ballzy move would to trade for a top of the rotation.

Now looking at the teams out there who this makes sense by the dead line:

1: Phi. Ya they are getting old and they have Cole Hammels. This is a team that could use a SS, young 1B a few years away. Think Castro to replace Jimmy, Vogelbach to replace a aging Howard. They would want a quality arm. Cubs have 2 in Edwards and Johnson. I would even go as far as Soler here or flipping Shark in the deal and give less on the prospect side.

2: Price. Said they want 3 quality players in return for 2 years of control. Vogelbach would be 1. Could add in 1 of Edwards/Johnson an the 3rd piece would be either Almora or Soler. That would get it done.

I haven't looked too deep into other teams' situations but those 2 stood out as need a infusion of youth. (Yank's maybe with their shitty farm)

 

[CSF77]

Cole Hamels lhp
6 years/$144M (2013-18), plus 2019 option

6 years/$144M (2013-18), plus 2019 club option
signed extension with Philadelphia 7/25/12
$6M signing bonus
13:$19.5M, 14:$22.5M, 15:$22.5M, 16:$22.5M, 17:$22.5M, 18:$22.5M, 19:$20M club option ($6M buyout)
2019 option guaranteed at $24M if Hamels 1) has 400 IP in 2017-18, including 200 IP in 2018, and 2) is not on the disabled list with a shoulder or elbow injury at the end of the 2018 season
limited no-trade protection
at signing, the second-largest contract ever for a pitcher

Ryan Howard 1b
5 years/$125M (2012-16), plus 2017 option

5 years/$125M (2012-16), plus 2017 option
signed extension with Philadelphia 4/26/10
12:$20M, 13:$20M, 14:$25M, 15:$25M, 16:$25M, 17:$23M club option ($10M buyout)
award bonuses: $25,000 for All Star. $0.1M for MVP ($75,000 for second in vote, $50,000 for third)
perks: right to purchase 8 season tickets for Philadelphia home games
most favored nation no-trade protection (excluding contracts later acquired through trade or assignment) (may block deals to 21 clubs each season, matching no-trade protection extended to Cliff Lee)

Chase Utley 2b
2 years/$27M (2014-15), plus 2016-18 options

2 years/$27M (2014-15), plus 2016-18 options
signed extension with Philadelphia 8/8/13
14:$15M, 15:$10M, 16-18:$15M vesting options ($2M buyout for 2016)
2015 salary increases by $5M to $15M with 15 days or less on disabled list with knee injury in 2014
options guaranteed with 500 plate appearance in previous season
if option does not vest, it becomes a club option valued between $5M and $11M, based on days spent on the disabled list in previous season
full no-trade clause

Jimmy Rollins ss
3 years/$33M (2012-14), plus 2015 option

3 years/$33M (2012-14), plus 2015 vesting option
re-signed by Philadelphia as a free agent 12/17
12:$11M, 13:$11M, 14:$11M, 15: option
2015 option guaranteed at $11M with 1) 600 plate appearances in 2014 or 2) 1,100 PAs in 2013-14 and Rollins is not on disabled list at end of 2014 season (or if he is on the DL, a mutually agreed upon doctor deems him available for 2015 Opening Day roster)
if option does not vest, Phillies hold $8M club option for 2015 and Rollins holds $5M player option
salary increases $1M with MVP in preceding season
award bonuses: $1M for MVP ($0.5M for second or third, $0.25M for fourth or fifth). $0.1M for WS MVP. $50,000 each for LCS MVP, All-Star, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger



3B they have Cody Asche. (He kinda sucks)

So say the Cubs pull this off. They would be on the hook for 22.5 mil per year through 2018. (limited no trade puts a hook into it)

Jimmy hits F/A in 2014. Castro could move over to 2B while Utley moves to 3B until the end of the year. Utley is has vesting options through 2018.

Howard is signed at 25 mil per 2014-2016 with a club option in 2017. Vogelbach projects in the bigs in 2016. This might work if they milk it or they could trade his last year to save a buck.

Ya know this might actually work for the Phills.

 

[beckdawg]

I'm afraid that they wont. I'm not saying that the Olt idea is all that grand either. I would just want to use Apr-July as an opportunity to get some trade value going for Olt.

Olt wouldn't even have to be good. Just being not terrible would be a huge improvement. Barney had a .266 OBP last year.... .300 OBP is bad. He was around 40 points worse than that. If you use the streamer projection for Olt you're looking at 600 PAs 67 runs 24 HRs 77 RBIs 2 SB .218 avg .305 OBP. That's really not stellar outside the HRs but when you compare that to the 555 PAs 49 runs 7 HRs 41 RBIs 4 SB .208 avg .266 OBP you can see how much Barney crushed them last year. Barney neither drove in runs nor was on base to be driven in. Barney may be one of the better defensive players in the league and it only bumped his WAR up to 0.4 last year. As a comparison, Yunel Escobar was slightly worse in UZR/150(12.2 vs 15.5) and was an average hitter which made him a 3.9 WAR player. So you can roughly say he was 2.5-3 wins worse than a replacement level player(eg a 4A player) as a hitter.

Between Olt, Roberts, Murphy, and Valbuena I think they have enough options that are better than Barney to at least force him to win a job in ST especially when you consider one of the two positions is likely just a place holder until the midseason call up of Baez.

 

[CSF77]

Olt wouldn't even have to be good. Just being not terrible would be a huge improvement. Barney had a .266 OBP last year.... .300 OBP is bad. He was around 40 points worse than that. If you use the streamer projection for Olt you're looking at 600 PAs 67 runs 24 HRs 77 RBIs 2 SB .218 avg .305 OBP. That's really not stellar outside the HRs but when you compare that to the 555 PAs 49 runs 7 HRs 41 RBIs 4 SB .208 avg .266 OBP you can see how much Barney crushed them last year. Barney neither drove in runs nor was on base to be driven in. Barney may be one of the better defensive players in the league and it only bumped his WAR up to 0.4 last year. As a comparison, Yunel Escobar was slightly worse in UZR/150(12.2 vs 15.5) and was an average hitter which made him a 3.9 WAR player. So you can roughly say he was 2.5-3 wins worse than a replacement level player(eg a 4A player).

Between Olt, Roberts, Murphy, and Valbuena I think they have enough options that are better than Barney to at least force him to win a job in ST especially when you consider one of the two positions is likely just a place holder until the midseason call up of Baez.

I agree.

In a perfect world they would over load and then use that excess depth to trade for an ace. (even if by some miracle they nab Tanaka he is still considered a 2)

By Aug potential depth chart:

3B Mike Olt, Christian Villanueva (AAA), Kris Bryant All on the top 20 all could be ready by this point.

SS: Starlin Castro, Javier Baez both are All star quality.

2B Barney, Arismendy Alcantara huge upgrade.


The mix and matches they have potentially is pretty enviable.

Bryant RF, Olt 3B, Baez SS Alcantara 2B Frees' up Castro for a trade. Barney cast off.

Bryant 3B, Baez SS, Alcantara 2B Castro and Olt freed up for trades.

Bryant RF, Baez 3B, Castro SS Alcantara 2B Olt and Barney traded out.

Bryant 3B, Baez SS, Castro 2B, Alcantara busts out or they move him to CF.


Things will work themselves out but they are in a situation that a trade for a top of the rotation will be in order.

 

[beckdawg]

Padres DFA'd Adys Portillo. He's only 21 and has a connection to the cubs regime(Hoyer). He's a name to keep an eye on.

 

[brett05]

Padres DFA'd Adys Portillo. He's only 21 and has a connection to the cubs regime(Hoyer). He's a name to keep an eye on.

Id be shocked if he wasn't a Cub by the end of the year. Its the Cubs MO

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[HurricaneDij39]

Id be shocked if he wasn't a Cub by the end of the year. Its the Cubs MO

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Stick to your own team, hashtag.

 

[HurricaneDij39]

Many experts were surprised when the Mets non-tendered Justin Turner. He slugged .385 playing his home games at a pitcher's park last year. The Cubs should think about taking a flier on him and DFA Barney.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/turneju01.shtml

For all we know he could suck for us, but we already know Barney sucks so we got nothing to lose in the matter. Last year at this time we drew attention when we DFA'd Campana. There's no reason we can't do the same for a one-time Gold Glover in Barney.

 

[HurricaneDij39]

If we don't get Tanaka, there's a steep drop in terms of a backup plan for stability in our starting rotation. Jimenez and Santana don't make a whole lot of sense for us because of the draft picks attached to them. Garza and Maholm have done their time in Chicago and see no reason to bring either back for a second go-around.

We could always bring back Bard and Baker on minor league deals, but we might be better off learning our lesson from Ian Stewart and not try and revive this nightmare.

I like Jason Hammel. I think he'd do well in this division especially with Choo and Beltran switching leagues.

 

[brett05]

Stick to your own team, hashtag.

Why? I have knowledge about more than just my team

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[HurricaneDij39]

Why? I have knowledge about more than just my team

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Well, considering your lack of knowledge on the Cubs, I have a hard time believing your baseball knowledge outside of the Sox is all that keen.

 

[brett05]

Well, considering your lack of knowledge on the Cubs, I have a hard time believing your baseball knowledge outside of the Sox is all that keen.

My lack of knowledge on the Cubs? Care to elaborate or leave it as vague as possible?

 

[HurricaneDij39]

You have a WWE logo as your #1 favorite team in your profile. I think that says enough about your knowledge of real sports.

 

[brett05]

You have a WWE logo as your #1 favorite team in your profile. I think that says enough about your knowledge of real sports.

Thats your evidence? A logo? No wonder no one on this site thinks you have a clue

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[HurricaneDij39]

Yes, it is. I have no problem with people that watch WWE. I used to watch it a lot back in the day with my college roommate. But, anyone that tires to sell it as an actual sport probably isn't too knowledgeable of the sports industry in general.

 

[JosMin]

Yes, it is. I have no problem with people that watch WWE. I used to watch it a lot back in the day with my college roommate. But, anyone that tires to sell it as an actual sport probably isn't too knowledgeable of the sports industry in general.

 

[daddies3angels]

So question for you guys:

Would you rather have Tanaka at 7 yrs 160 mil OR Garza AND Ubaldo or Ervin Santana for around the 160 mil?

 

[brett05]

So question for you guys:

Would you rather have Tanaka at 7 yrs 160 mil OR Garza AND Ubaldo or Ervin Santana for around the 160 mil?

Gotta be the second choice. Problem is would any of the three take a 5/80 from the Cubs

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[HurricaneDij39]

Tanaka.