2015/2016 Chicago Cubs Off-season Thread
- Thread starter DJL
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HawkeyeMike23
Banned
I've seen the same things however, apparently the Cubs are also talking about Carlos Gomez and Alex Gordon. One of those 3 could be good.
I thought maybe they could get a little more for Castro, but that trade was clearly to make room for Zobrist. Now we could use one more arm and a center fielder.
Great moves by the Cubs. Castro, a nice player, doesn't have 1 particular skill (speed/power/defense etc) that you just go "wow". Zobrist only struck out 56 times last year and has a career .355 OBP. The type of hitter we need around our power guys. Also just a great human being and person. Warren is a pretty good pitcher too from all accounts and should help us. Although Heyward would fit in our lineup nicely, I just don't think he is worth the money he is going to get and length of contract. He is a career .268 hitter and only averages 15-20 HRs a year. Amazing guys with his stats are getting this kind of coin these days. If we get him I'd be fine with it, as it'd stick it to the Cardinals too, I just don't want his gigantic contract setting us back. I'd prefer we go after a Denard Span or defensive CF of some sort to fill a year or two until hopefully Almora or a better option is ready.
I think Russell and Soler, FWIW, are both going to be much improved at the plate this year. I am predicting a big year at the plate for Soler.
I think Russell and Soler, FWIW, are both going to be much improved at the plate this year. I am predicting a big year at the plate for Soler.
So what are we going to do with Baez? Rumor has it, he is going to play CF in winter ball.
Yes, they are giving him some time in CF in winter ball. I think this is just to see what he does, but don't think they really see him there consistently, just my opinion. I think there will be a lot of at-bats available for Baez as is though. When we face lefties, Zobrist will play LF and Baez 2B most likely. If we decide to give Schwarber a start a C, then Zobrist in LF and Baez 2B. Then you add in the fact he can spell Russell at SS and Bryant at 3B for days off for them. He might not get 550 ABs, but I could see there being 350-400 ABs. Then there is always the injury factor. Zobrist/Bryant/Russell go down for a couple weeks then we have an automatic replacement. Zobrist can even spell Rizzo for an off day giving Baez a start at 2B. The roster flexibility we have, and the ability to keep guys fresh + mix and match versus pitchers is tremendous.
Plenty of ABs in other words for Baez without putting a lot of pressure on him to be "the man" at any one spot. He is still young and bring him along slowly and putting him in good position to succeed will both help him and increase his value if we do need to trade him. He is still pretty unproven. With my predicted plate improvements (hope I'm right) from Soler and Russell there would be even less pressure on Baez.
I agree that Russell and Soler will get better. Addison was on fire the second half of the year. He is going to be close to a .300 hitter soon. Soler has a TON of upside. I really don't want him traded, but he has to learn to play defense.
Soler is also signed through 2020 I believe for only like $4 million a year. So he has a ton of value in trades also. Because of this too though, the Cubs have to make sure they get a good return for him as they are not only giving up a potential 25-30 HR / 100 RBI guy but also a very very sweet controllable contract.
Heyward only if they really want to commit like 8-10 years and $180-200 million. Just not sure they want to unless they feel like they don't have any up and coming prospects ready in a year or two, in other words they feel Almora isn't going to make it. By all accounts Almora is a top tier defender, his bat is the question.
I could see Span as our best option. Gomez is intriguing, I would try it, depending on what the request back is from the Astros. They want pitching and we don't have much. We do have some nice catching prospects and it would be nice to use Vogelbach in a trade as he projects more as a DH anyways and we don't need a DH obviously. If we lost Gomez after the season to Free Agency, we would get a compensation pick in return too. Gordon...I just don't see a fit on our roster.
Gleyber Torres is our next hot prospect teams are after, Cubs seem unwilling to listen much on him so far.
I agree on Gomez. I think he would fit nicely in the lineup. After seeing what the Braves wanted for Miller I hope other teams are more reasonable. We aren't going to trade Kris Bryant for Shelby Miller. Although the Braves did pretty well in their trade with Arizona.
Braves got a load, especially considering every pitcher is one pitch away from Tommy John Surgery seems like. Easier to find guys who throw 95+ these days than it is Kris Bryant's. Soler seems to be the biggest trade chip. I'm guessing, that if we were to sign another FA...we would have to dump some more salary and he might be odd many out. I would be very open to seeing Bryant move to a corner OF spot if that happened.
Does anyone else find the Hot Stove as interesting as the season?
Lots of reports going around that we are still heavily involved in the Heyward talks. Playing hardball with the cardinals, either going to take him away or drive the price up. Either way I like the fact we are playing head games with the birds and letting em know we mean bizness!
HawkeyeMike23
Banned
Theo is good at this. The Yankees are still unraveling from some of the deals they made to keep with the Red Sox while he was there.
