Chicago Cubs 2014 Season Thread (super-official)
- Thread starter bws258
- Start date
Vote - who would you rather have in the rotation... Baker or Jackson?
Jackson, he'll get us a better draft position
.thejumper5
Well-Known Member
I have to give a big time WOW! to the A's for their pitching trades. They are going ALL IN. First they give up their top two prospects for two Cubs, and now they've given up Yoenis Cespedes for Jon Lester.
JG10Hawk
Well-Known Member
Smart move by the A's imo. Yoenis has power and a cannon of an arm but won't be worth the money he is going to want after the 2015 season. One has to think Hammel's poor start with the A's is a big reason for this move. Lester will be a Cub next year or one can hope. Smaller market teams have to take advantage when their window of opportunity are open and they are definitely doing everything they can to make a World Series push.
I was shocked to see this trade. They now have a ton of pitching depth. They are clearly tired of getting to the playoffs and losing.
Pitching wins in the playoffs usually for sure. Bold move by A's, I honestly don't think they'll miss Cespedes a ton. As for Lester, I too think the Cubs make a play for him. However, he is 30 years old, I thought he was in the 27-28 range. Just not sure a long expensive contract for a 30 year old is smart.
I'd rather have Shields if we're making a play for a big time starter
JG10Hawk
Well-Known Member
I'm usually on edge about signing pitchers to big long contacts but with Lester you have a guy who has pitched in 30+ games for the last 6 going on 7 years. So his durability seems to be pretty good. Throw in only having 1 year in that stretch with an ERA over 4 and you have one of the league's best proven pitchers. He'll be worth 17.5-20 Mil a year. Looking at Edwin Jackson making 13 Mil a year, I think I would roll the dice on paying a little more for a guy that can just about split his ERA in half. That's only a little bit more than the 5 year 17 Mil per deal the Cubs offered Samardzija and he's only a year younger than Lester. It should be an interesting offseason.
Yeah, I like him but he is 32 and has thrown 200+ innings 7 straight years. You have to wonder how many bullets he has left. Not saying I wouldn't take him, but anything more than say 3 years would be nuts IMO.
GoHawks24
Well-Known Member
The Cubbies have to be planning on cutting Edwin Jackson after this season, right?? Assuming they plan on signing a big-time pitcher this off-season. I really hope so. He's complete garbage. At this point, they're just using his arm to burn up innings. Pitch counts be damned, you'll stay out there until we tell you to come out, Edwin.
Lots of buzz around him but I don't see anything yet. Wonder if any of the bullpen gets traded. They've really done nothing to drum up interest lately, so we could be stuck with those guys the rest of the year.
thejumper5
Well-Known Member
Sounds like Russell has been traded. He just left the Cubs bullpen and headed for the dugout between innings. According to reports, he gave hugs all around before leaving the pen and was giving high fives to fans along the way.
thejumper5
Well-Known Member
Looks like Bonifacio is a part of the deal as well.
[tweet]494941696522584065[/tweet]
[tweet]494941696522584065[/tweet]
thejumper5
Well-Known Member
Russell+Bonifacio to the Braves for 20-year old Class-A catcher Victor Caratini. Caratini was a 2013 2nd round pick who was recently rated the #7 prospect in the Braves organization by Baseball America.
http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/stor...ect?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/stor...ect?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
thejumper5
Well-Known Member
If the Red Sox can turn things around quickly, the haul of Cespedes, Kelly, and Craig is very strong. The Cubs' haul has a higher ceiling than the Red Sox haul, the Red Sox haul is more of a sure thing.
