Chicago Cubs Thread - The Ricketts are too poor to pay players

[malak1]

On 10/9/2018 at 12:49 PM, hrubes20 said:

Meatball is still a good player, but he clearly is a minor disappointment offensively.  I think everyone was expecting 140 wRC+ seasons out of him with 40 bombs.  

I don’t know the exact numbers, and I don’t know if they blow up or buttress my opinion, but I feel like he has a really good eye. It seems like he’s always working the count full, even when he’s in the hole. With that said, it surprises me that he strikes out so much. This is all just eyeball test testimony, so I could be totally wrong. 

[pwny]

So Chili Davis officially got the axe yesterday. And it’s hard to feel bad about it when the offense sputtered out like it did down the stretch, and there were certain things that absolutely needed to be hung on his shoulders.

But also Heyward kinda became decent with the bat again. And somehow Javy went from being downright awful at hitting curves to being the best curveball hitter in all of baseball according to Fangraphs charting. I just hope those guys can build on those things as we get in a new hitting coach that hopefully fixes the rest of the issues.

[Lions017]

It'll be interesting to see what the Cubs do at shortstop. I assume that Russell is gone, and Baez is clearly a better defender at second. Even if they stick with Baez at short, they probably need to bring in a veteran to back him up, as you don't want Bote there for more than emergency purposes. Do they bring in a defensive specialist like Jordy Mercer or Jose Iglesias, and move Baez over to second late in games? I'm not sure if any of Zobrist/Bote/Happ are even average at second base defensively. 

[hrubes20]

On 10/10/2018 at 2:46 PM, malak1 said:

I don’t know the exact numbers, and I don’t know if they blow up or buttress my opinion, but I feel like he has a really good eye. It seems like he’s always working the count full, even when he’s in the hole. With that said, it surprises me that he strikes out so much. This is all just eyeball test testimony, so I could be totally wrong. 

He does have a really good eye.  He also, for whatever reason, gets more borderline strike calls on him than most hitters.  When that happens he completely loses his feel for the strike zone and expands terribly.  He also needs to work with Rizz this offseason on a 2 strike approach.  Bombs are awesome but a single is good every now and then.  

I honestly think the shift is the reason why Meatball has such a terrible BA.  He scalds the ball to the right side, but finds the extra defender over there quite routinely.

1 hour ago, pwny said:

So Chili Davis officially got the axe yesterday. And it’s hard to feel bad about it when the offense sputtered out like it did down the stretch, and there were certain things that absolutely needed to be hung on his shoulders.

But also Heyward kinda became decent with the bat again. And somehow Javy went from being downright awful at hitting curves to being the best curveball hitter in all of baseball according to Fangraphs charting. I just hope those guys can build on those things as we get in a new hitting coach that hopefully fixes the rest of the issues.

I certainly won't lose any sleep about Chili being gone.  A lot of it was out of his hands, especially the shoulder injury to KB, but I can't really see his fingerprint on anything that I loved.  I didn't read anything anywhere that could give credit to Chili for Javy's blow up.  

[hrubes20]

7 minutes ago, Lions017 said:

It'll be interesting to see what the Cubs do at shortstop. I assume that Russell is gone, and Baez is clearly a better defender at second. Even if they stick with Baez at short, they probably need to bring in a veteran to back him up, as you don't want Bote there for more than emergency purposes. Do they bring in a defensive specialist like Jordy Mercer or Jose Iglesias, and move Baez over to second late in games? I'm not sure if any of Zobrist/Bote/Happ are even average at second base defensively. 

The defensive metrics actually really liked Zobrist at 2B the past 2 years.  The eye test doesn't necessarily back that up, however.  Conversely, Bote is a solid defensive 2B but the SSS defensive metrics hated him this past year.  But you are 100% correct in that at bare minimum this team needs to acquire someone capable of backing up SS in more than an emergency.

[Lions017]

This might just be what sticks out, but I feel like Schwarber knows that he has a really good eye and it actually hurts him sometimes. He seems to watch a lot of pitches go by for strike three without swinging the bat. It's almost like he's trying too hard to be patient and only swing at pitches perfectly in the zone, if that makes any sense at all. 

Edited October 12, 2018 by Lions017

[Blazer026]

I don't want to see Zobrist starting more games at 2B than he did this year. 

I'm ok with him starting 40-60 games there, but not much more. 

Wonder if we can get anything for Russell?

[hrubes20]

On 10/12/2018 at 11:16 PM, Blazer026 said:

I don't want to see Zobrist starting more games at 2B than he did this year. 

I'm ok with him starting 40-60 games there, but not much more. 

Wonder if we can get anything for Russell?

If we are assuming a Harper acquisition, and unless Meatball is dealt, Zobrist is gonna get 100+ starts at 2B if healthy.  If Meatball is dealt, that would open up LF and could provide something like a 65 game/65 game split for Zobrist between LF and 2B.  But who knows how he will be valued this offseason.  And that obviously all goes out the window if Harper or another OFer isn't acquired.

Russell certainly will bring something back, but it won't be what 3 years of a 25 year old 3+ Win SS would normally bring.  Robert Osuna had 3.5 years of control when the Astros acquired him for Ken Giles (very good big league RP), David Paulino (#5 starter type prospect coming off a PED suspension), and Hector Perez (a prospect with really good stuff, but command probably makes him a reliever, albeit potentially a late-inning one).  Tough to gauge how Russell would compare to Osuna, as Russell has been hurt and hasn't performed as recently as Osuna.  I could see a similar-but-clearly-less package coming back.  The Padres seem like a team that may be interested, so I could see a Matt Strahm (big league reliever)/Anderson Espinoza (SP prospect that has missed 2 years with injury but was highly regarded beforehand)/Andres Munoz (minor league reliever with killer stuff but poor control; essentially their version of Dillon Maples) type deal.  Not great, but that's what happens when Russell turns out to be a terrible human being.

 

[pwny]

Oh the plus side, if we get Machado, he’ll never be booed in Miller Park again. 

[hrubes20]

On 10/21/2018 at 1:01 AM, pwny said:

Oh the plus side, if we get Machado, he’ll never be booed in Miller Park again. 

It's kind of a shame that he's so clearly going to the Yankees.  Machado in the villian role on the Cubs would be fun for the next several years.  We don't have that guy that other teams loathe like a Ryan Braun, Yadier Molina, etc.  I suppose Javy could be a hated guy to some meathead fans of other teams, but even some of my Cardinal fan friends grudgingly admit that he's fun to watch.  In the words of one of them "I really want to hate Javy, but I just can't.  He makes the games so much more enjoyable."  

[DoleINGout]

I'm not sure this is realistic but if things went sour with Bryant do you think this is would be a reasonable trade scenario?

 

Red Sox: Kris Bryant

Cubs: Rafael Devers, Eduardo Rodriguez, Jackie Bradley Jr.

 

If this is the meat of the deal, then would anything need to be added to make it more realistic?

 

Completely different scenario: What do Cubs fans think of a swap of Betts and Bryant?

[pwny]

1 hour ago, DoleINGout said:

Completely different scenario: What do Cubs fans think of a swap of Betts and Bryant?

Bryant was the league MVP on the team that won our first World Series in 108 years. There’s no make believe deal you could make that would go over with the fan base. 

[hrubes20]

13 hours ago, DoleINGout said:

I'm not sure this is realistic but if things went sour with Bryant do you think this is would be a reasonable trade scenario?

 

Red Sox: Kris Bryant

Cubs: Rafael Devers, Eduardo Rodriguez, Jackie Bradley Jr.

 

If this is the meat of the deal, then would anything need to be added to make it more realistic?

 

Completely different scenario: What do Cubs fans think of a swap of Betts and Bryant?

Definitely not the first one.  I really like Devers going forward, but the Cubs' window is right now.  The other two are complimentary pieces.

The 2nd one is definitely intriguing.  Betts is the better player, but only has 2 more years of team control, whereas KB has 3.  But then again Betts is coming off a ridiculous season and KB is coming off an injury-plagued one.  If Theo and Co. felt that Betts would be more amenable to a pre-FA extension, I'd do it.  KB has already made it clear that he is going to listen to Boras and go year to year.  

11 hours ago, pwny said:

Bryant was the league MVP on the team that won our first World Series in 108 years. There’s no make believe deal you could make that would go over with the fan base. 

If KB didn't just have an injury plagued year that wasn't up to his previous standards, I would have agreed with this.  But I don't think a KB deal would be viewed as horrifically as it would have been last year assuming a superstar is coming back to the Cubs.

[DoleINGout]

12 hours ago, pwny said:

Bryant was the league MVP on the team that won our first World Series in 108 years. There’s no make believe deal you could make that would go over with the fan base. 

Per ESPN 1000 radio host David Kaplan,

“I was told by somebody I trust that Kris Bryant may have turned down a big, big extension within the last several months and that they’ve now tabled discussions…with his agent being Scott Boras who is known for taking most of his clients to free agency, if you can’t sign this guy long term…do you consider moving him? The guy I asked said ‘Absolutely.'”

https://dawindycity.com/2018/10/10/chicago-cubs-rumors-trading-bryant/

23 minutes ago, hrubes20 said:

If KB didn't just have an injury plagued year that wasn't up to his previous standards, I would have agreed with this.  But I don't think a KB deal would be viewed as horrifically as it would have been last year assuming a superstar is coming back to the Cubs.

Agreed. Plus Betts was drafted by Ben Cherington who was working closely with Theo Epstein and Jed in Boston prior to their departures. Same for JBJ, Devers and Rodriguez. 

[hrubes20]

6 minutes ago, DoleINGout said:

Per ESPN 1000 radio host David Kaplan,

“I was told by somebody I trust that Kris Bryant may have turned down a big, big extension within the last several months and that they’ve now tabled discussions…with his agent being Scott Boras who is known for taking most of his clients to free agency, if you can’t sign this guy long term…do you consider moving him? The guy I asked said ‘Absolutely.'”

https://dawindycity.com/2018/10/10/chicago-cubs-rumors-trading-bryant/

Agreed. Plus Betts was drafted by Ben Cherington who was working closely with Theo Epstein and Jed in Boston prior to their departures. Same for JBJ, Devers and Rodriguez. 

This is the 3rd time somebody has gotten this wrong today.  Betts and JBJ were Theo draftees.