2019-2020 offseason news thread: fire up the hotstove!

hermes · Post #1 » by **hermes** » Sat Oct 5, 2019 2:16 pm

i really like this blog and i get a lot of my cubs coverage from there, here are one man's season grades:

Anthony Rizzo: A
Javier Baez: B+
Kris Bryant: B+
Willson Contreras: B
Kyle Schwarber: B
Jason Heyward: C+
Nicholas Castellanos: A+
Addison Russell: D-
Albert Almora Jr.: D-
David Bote: C
Victor Caratini: A-
Ben Zobrist: C+
Ian Happ: C+
Daniel Descalso: F
Tony Kemp: D+
Taylor Davis: C-
Nico Hoerner: B
Robel Garcia: D+
Jonathan Lucroy: D
Kyle Hendricks: B+
Yu Darvish: B
Jose Quintana: D+
Cole Hamels: C
Jon Lester: D+
Craig Kimbrel: D-
Pedro Strop: C-
Kyle Ryan: B
Brandon Kintzler: B+
Steve Cishek: C+
Tyler Chatwood: B-
Rowan Wick: B+
Brad Wieck: B+
Alec Mills: B+
David Phelps: B-
Derek Holland: D-
Dillon Maples: D+
Duane Underwood Jr.: C+
James Norwood: C
Danny Hultzen: B
Adbert Alzolay: C-
Brandon Morrow: Incomplete

he also had a brief write-up for everyone as well

hermes · Post #2 » by **hermes** » Sat Oct 5, 2019 2:19 pm

and here is the contract status for the entire roster:

Pitchers

Spoiler:

Catchers

Spoiler:

Infielders

Spoiler:

Outfielders

Spoiler:

hermes · Post #3 » by **hermes** » Sat Oct 5, 2019 2:21 pm

so with all that out of the way, what does our roster look like next year?
who do you want to see back? who should go? anyone the cubs should look to trade?
what do we need for 2020?

Kizz Fastfists wrote:.

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hermes · Post #4 » by **hermes** » Sat Oct 5, 2019 2:39 pm

starting pitching:

love hendricks, hopefully he can get his road numbers figured out
and hopefully we can get a full year of second half darvish
here's hoping lester can turn it around (and get healthy) after a bad year
and i don't know what to do with quintana and hamels

bullpen:

who knows, this seems like a mess every year (and always our biggest weakness). seems like they've tried a lot of guys but can't seem to get anyone to stick long-term

(major) position players:

keep: rizzo, bryant (we'll come back to the trade rumors), baez, contreas, heyward, castellanos, caratini, happ (i've always liked him but he could also be trade bait)

ready to move on: russell, zobrist

don't know/could go either way: schwarber, almora, bote

do they keep nico hoerner in the majors? he had a great start, but maybe they feel he needs some more seasoning (he did skip right from double a to the majors)

hermes · Post #5 » by **hermes** » Sat Oct 5, 2019 2:53 pm

so what is all this noise about a kris bryant trade? because it seems like he wants to test free agency and he'll get a huge offer and the cubs won't match?

kris is one of our best players, and i really like him and i just don't feel good about trading him. we're still in a world series window i'd say, and i don't see how we get better (or even keep the window open in the short-term) by trading bryant

bearadonisdna · Post #6 » by **bearadonisdna** » Sat Oct 5, 2019 6:15 pm

Nice work buddy.

hermes · Post #7 » by **hermes** » Sat Nov 9, 2019 1:47 pm

cubs picked up the options for rizzo and quintana. they declined the options on holland, phelps, and morrow

darvish and heyward both exercised their options to stay with the cubs

no surprises i don't think. glad rizzo is staying. hope we can keep 2nd half darvish going and heyward has been on the upward trend ever since he came here (took a while to get from bad to good but we made it)

karch34 · Post #8 » by **karch34** » Sat Nov 16, 2019 7:29 pm

It's going to be interesting to see what deals happen. I see a lot of rumors around almost every player, but hard to see Cubs trade likes of Rizzo, Bryant, Contreras, and Baez who have been mentioned as possibilities more than I would like. Rizzo is heart of the team, Baez best player, Bryant former MVP, and Contreras had makings of MVP season a couple years ago before he got hurt. I do think this is the most likely year Schwarber would get traded along with guys like Russell and Alomora.

ChettheJet · Post #9 » by **ChettheJet** » Mon Nov 18, 2019 12:29 am

They should have plenty of starting pitching

Hendricks
Darvish with it figured out
Quintana
Lester
Mills
maybe Chatwood has steadied his ship

What I think they need most of all is a leadoff hitter, ideally that would be a centerfielder or second baseman
I just don't want to make that many trades, for the sake of making deals
I'm for keeping Schwarber as the everyday left fielder and third catcher

The guy I'd work hard to trade is Heyward, great defense but not enough power and a lousy average to produce runs
don't see a spot for Happ, or Caratini
Castellanos would probably cost a lot but that's why they need to move Heyward to have that money
I would like to keep Zobrist as a utility player, RF, LF, 2B, maybe a backup at 1B
If Hoerner plays well in spring training he makes the roster either starting at 2B or SS with Baez moving to second
Garcia is the guy that needs more time in the minors
If they could find an everyday 2B leadoff hitter then Baez could spend some time in centerfield
keep Conteras and Lucroy
Bote is signed, Almora really needs to get on base more to stay

much of that would depend on how Ross wants to play guys off the bench

It's not like they have a lousy roster, they need some things to fit here and there and Ross needs to find ways to get things going when the whole team goes into a slump for 6 or 8 games and then goes on a scoring spree for the next 6 or 8.

hermes · Post #10 » by **hermes** » Tue Nov 19, 2019 12:11 am

can hoerner hit leadoff?

he'd probably be good but would you really want baez in the outfield?

karch34 · Post #11 » by **karch34** » Sat Nov 23, 2019 3:57 pm

hermes wrote:can hoerner hit leadoff?

he'd probably be good but would you really want baez in the outfield?

He could and I'd think we'd be ok. Baez is our SS and Hoerner our 2B most of the time in my mind though.

hermes · Post #12 » by **hermes** » Sat Nov 23, 2019 4:50 pm

will hoerner start in the big leagues next year? or does he need a little more seasoning in the minors? didn't he skip straight from double a last year?

hermes · Post #13 » by **hermes** » Tue Dec 3, 2019 11:56 pm

so addison russell is out, it was time i'd say

they tendered everyone else that needed tendering

Post #14 » by **Michael Jackson** » Sun Dec 29, 2019 2:56 pm

hermes wrote:so what is all this noise about a kris bryant trade? because it seems like he wants to test free agency and he'll get a huge offer and the cubs won't match?

kris is one of our best players, and i really like him and i just don't feel good about trading him. we're still in a world series window i'd say, and i don't see how we get better (or even keep the window open in the short-term) by trading bryant

If he is walking you have to get value back. The fact that we didn’t have enough assets because we emptied the stable already put some handcuffs on. A Bryant trade can help replenish the cupboards.

hermes · Post #15 » by **hermes** » Sat Jan 11, 2020 12:25 am

stove is pretty cold for us

but we did avoid arbitration with a whole bunch of people so that's good

karch34 · Post #16 » by **karch34** » Wed Jan 15, 2020 3:48 pm

Been very cold. I still expect that we are trading someone. I think Quintana, Schwarber, and Contreras are most likely.

hermes · Post #17 » by **hermes** » Mon Feb 24, 2020 11:21 pm

spring training already?

was it just me or did the cubs go another off-season with pretty much no moves. they need to do something right? rolling back again with this same roster doesn't seem like its going to get us anywhere

Kizz Fastfists · Post #18 » by **Kizz Fastfists** » Tue Feb 25, 2020 4:53 am

No real moves outside of a huge coaching change. Ross has already said he'll be batting Bryant in the lead-off spot. I like the gamble on Kipnis. I'm surprised they didn't bring Zobrist back. I'm still surprised Addy is gone, but not being signed by another team makes me think he might have some serious issues coming up. I think the bullpen is VERY weak, but we'll see how that goes.

I still think Schwarber should be traded. Make Bryant the everyday LF and Bote the starting 3B. I guess Nico Hoerner is supposed to be the starting 2B or at least battle for the job with Kipnis/Bote. I'm not sure how to feel about the OF. I guess it will be a lot of platooning. The rotation should be solid. I expect Lester to bounce back some.

Outside of the bullpen I think the roster is fine. They might have some arms they like in the minors to throw at the bullpen. I think if they are on their way to the playoffs they will have to trade for a bullpen arm or two. They still have a top 5 payroll so I'm not going to say they are cheap, but I would have liked for them to have gotten a sure thing for the bullpen. It is possible that Kimbrel and Morrow both magically return to form and Jeffress pitches like he did a few years ago and the bullpen is great, but I'm just not confident in all three returning to old form.

hermes · Post #19 » by **hermes** » Thu Feb 27, 2020 12:25 am

i'm bummed they didn't bring back castellanos - i really liked him

edcortez · Post #20 » by **edcortez** » Thu May 21, 2020 4:07 am

I still think Schwarber should be traded.