w84it
Well-known member
Yeah, no
Chicago Cubs Thread - Playoff Push Pending
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Yeah, no
DaDeacs
Dickie Hemric
There was some scuttlebutt that he might opt out if his season continued on like the first half.... then he lead off and his season tanked.
At 4/$86 he is crazy over paid, but the Cubs could get out of it if they want to eat like half of it, they might even get piece back that is slightly better than a bag of balls. Or do a trade of overpriced players (ie Cueto).
DaDeacs
Dickie Hemric
Hamels -$20
Zobs - $12.5
Morrow - $9
Cishek - $6.5
Strop - $6.24
Kintzler - $5
Duensing - $3.5
These are the main ones - Lester's contract drops by $5 mil. But, Rizzo goes up by $3 mil and Bryant, Baez, Schwarbs and Contreras all need pay raises and Kimbrel goes up by $6 mil. That was where my guess of $30 million or so comes from.
BlackjackMc
Gil McGregor
Let them all walk.
Zobrist might be the exception. He was placed on the restricted list on May 8. The Cubs improved to 25-14 on May 14, eleven games over .500. The offense was clicking because they weren't swinging at pitches out of the strike zone, they were hitting to all fields and they were taking a situational approach at the plate. That disappeared without Zobrist's consistent example. Knowing what works and doing what works are two different things, as evidenced by the Cubs offense. His leadership and example were missed. It took 3+ months for the team to get 12 games over .500, but old habits invariably returned. Maddon compounded the problem by using 2B as a position to rotate players. "Strength up the middle" is a saying and a formula for winning as old as the game of baseball for a reason.
The counterpoint with Zobrist is he left the team. I understand his reasoning and his priorities, but his absence did hurt the team. This is a fact that the front office may not be able to overlook. Accepting a situation doesn't mean you agree with it.
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ResilientDeac
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Keep Zobrist. Overhaul all of our pitching. The offense we have can get it done with good pitching.
wsc8521s
Rusty Larue
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Agreed. Can't really see any of our old man pitchers getting better. Hendo is the goods but the rest are so blah.
Hopefully Yu has as good a season productivity and health wise next year, but not holding my breath on that
Hopefully Yu has as good a season productivity and health wise next year, but not holding my breath on that
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DeacWatcher
Ricky Peral
Love it that Kimbrel is getting a 6 mil raise. Nice work Theo
Buttermaker
Well-known member
Why would he opt out? Surely he doesn't think someone else would pay him more even if he continued to hit like he did in the first half?
BlackjackMc
Gil McGregor
Heyward's numbers are decent if you subtract the totals accrued batting first in the order. AB-384, R-61, H-110, 2B-16, 3B-2, HR-17, RBI-56, BB-53, K-96, BA .285, OBA .370, SLG .471, OPS .841. If he hits like that playing RF next year I'd be happy. He took it on the chin batting first.
DeacMan
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They have a lot of choices to make to get this team retooled before free agency takes some of the core away from them. Agree they should pick up that Quintana option as it will be affordable and therefore valuable to them or another team missing a piece. I would strongly consider trading Bryant as I think the odds they can sign him to a logical extension are really low. Seems you have to also consider trading any number of other guys pending what the market will bear - Russell, Schwarber, Hoerner, Almora, Happ, Contreras, Victor and even Baez. Obviously you aren't trading more than 2-3 of these guys, but moves should be made. Rizzo I think has a pretty team favorable deal. So I'd likely keep him off the block. The farm system is not totally devoid of talent right now, but it lacks significant depth. They signed three really high end international prospects this year, but two are catchers. And they have to like what they see long term with some of the pitchers in the system now - Marquez, Alzolay, Miller, etc. Seems to me with a good trade or two the team could be retooled to remain competitive and better positioned vis a vis the number of free agent walk aways that could otherwise be coming in a year or two.
As for a manager how about Francona or Girardi
I agree on Bryant and I suspect the highest value other trade piece is Schwarber. I’d be excited to cycle 2 of the 5 starters and we pretty much know 1 is already gone with Hamels. If they want to be hyper aggressive they could fine someone willing to pay 50% of Heywards contract and move him as well.
This is Epstein’s last chance to get it right else it will be complete tear down and rebuild mode again.
This is Epstein’s last chance to get it right else it will be complete tear down and rebuild mode again.
BlackjackMc
Gil McGregor
With Maddon gone, I expect the front office to select a manager prior to making changes. Expired contracts make some decisions immediately. Hendricks, Darvish, Lester, Quintana, Chatwood, and Mills are starters under contract or control. Kimbrel, Phelps, Ryan, Wick and Wieck are a stating point for a bullpen. Hultzen, Norwood, Maples and Underwood have had their moments in relief. Rizzo, Bryant, Baez, Contreras, Caratini, Happ, Bote, Heyward, Schwarber, Russell, Almora, Hoerner and Descalso are position players under contract or control. I expect a legit lead off hitter (or two) is acquired. A centerfielder would be wise. I expect trades to expedite change. Management opened the wallet during the season in effort to get to the post season. It failed.
DeacWatcher
Ricky Peral
If the Cubs were to explore moving Bryant, there are really only a few teams that could afford him and would be willing to work with Boras. The Dodgers will need a 3B soon as Turner just can't stay healthy and at 35 will be in the last year of at 4 year deal. However LA has proven lately that they won't overspend nor give up prospects so even though he is from nearby Vegas, they will probably take a pass. Then you have the Angels, Mets, Yanks, and other big markets. To me I would try to sign him but for a short term deal. I can't see any team doing a Harper like deal ever again with the way that one has started out.
DaDeacs
Dickie Hemric
Bryant would be an upgrade for basically every team and hes under contract for two more years. There will be a massive market for him if/when he is made available and should get back a huge return. Schwarber is the only other option I see being moved, and likely only if the resign (or plan to resign) Nick.
Hoping Russell gets non-renewed, Almora has no real value, Caratini I guess could have some value, Happ had a strong end to the year but is probably undervalued because of his AAA stint, like Schwarbs last year 'm- think they hang on to him.
They definitely need to make some moves, and as someone said earlier, we have enough mlb talent to do that to not have to dip into the extremely top heavy system. Would like to see what Marquez, Brennan Davis, Miller and Amaya look like for the Cubs instead of other teams.
Hoping Russell gets non-renewed, Almora has no real value, Caratini I guess could have some value, Happ had a strong end to the year but is probably undervalued because of his AAA stint, like Schwarbs last year 'm- think they hang on to him.
They definitely need to make some moves, and as someone said earlier, we have enough mlb talent to do that to not have to dip into the extremely top heavy system. Would like to see what Marquez, Brennan Davis, Miller and Amaya look like for the Cubs instead of other teams.
TheReff
Rod Griffin
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Sorry, can't F up the Cards at all. Cubbettes rolled over & died for Maddon's last game and now the Cards move on to play the Bravos in NLDS. Should be interesting.