Offseason Thread

Posey H8er · Post #1 » by **Posey H8er** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 3:16 am

Cause this year blew.

-Will Sveum be gone?
-What kind of moves will Theo/Jed make?
-How far off are some of our top prospects? Baez has a small chance to make the Opening Day roster but will likely start in Iowa with hopefully a midseason call-up. And the Cubs seem to be taking Almora's progress slower than Kris Bryant's. Bryant was promoted from low A to high A in 3 minutes, and dominated both in just a handful of games. Soler saw the injury bug so I'm not sure where he'll start.
-Can Rizzo improve his contact? (he was 6th in the NL in walks)
-Is Castro regressing?

hermes · Post #2 » by **hermes** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 3:56 am

sveum is meeting with theo tomorrow about his future - is he the guy to lead the team going forward or just someone to man the ship during the rough patches? depending on what happens with the yankees i guess giradi might be interesting in coming back here

and where are we at in our development plan? step up to somewhere between where we are now and playoff contention? are we in line to compete for a playoff spot next year? another year of this?

Posey H8er · Post #3 » by **Posey H8er** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 4:13 pm

Sveum out
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi- ... 5349.story

hermes · Post #4 » by **hermes** » Tue Oct 1, 2013 2:26 am

so with sveum gone, who do you think they're looking at for manager?

who would you like?

Post #5 » by **GYBE** » Tue Oct 1, 2013 3:18 pm

Posey H8er wrote: And the Cubs seem to be taking Almora's progress slower than Kris Bryant's. Bryant was promoted from low A to high A in 3 minutes, and dominated both in just a handful of games.

Well they're completely different as prospects. Almora was 18 when he was drafted, Bryant was 21. Bryant's supposed to fly through the system as the top college bat. Plus Almora's had a few nagging injuries that have slowed his development. Still really excited for him though.

I don't think Baez will make opening day. I think he'll be a mid-May/June callup like most top prospects when teams want to delay their service clock.

I believe the top priority for this offseason will be trying to sign Tanaka, the next big Japanese pitcher. He's no Darvish, but he's still probably the best available in the market.

Ellsbury might also be a possibility, remember this front office drafted him.

Air Poohdini · Post #6 » by **Air Poohdini** » Sat Oct 5, 2013 10:20 pm

A few names coming from the media about a new manager are Joe Girardi and Mike Maddux.

ptpablo · Post #7 » by **ptpablo** » Tue Oct 8, 2013 3:43 pm

I like Elsbury. How high do you go to get him though? If BJ got 5/75, i would go 6/100

Get a couple pitcher that you can flip again. Get one that will be a building block.

Do you trade Castro? His value is low. I wait him out and see what he does next year.

Maddux is the guy I go hard after to manage.

C Castillo / Navarro
1b Rizzo
2b Barney
3b Olt? / Baez in June
ss last chance for Castro
lf Lake???
cf Elsbury
rf Schierholz and righty platoon

Shark
Wood
Tanaka
Jackson
Price would be sweet also, Do you give up Baez??? I dont

Maddux's will help tremenedously with pitching

Not a division winner, but headed in that direction

Posey H8er · Post #8 » by **Posey H8er** » Tue Oct 8, 2013 6:51 pm

I don't know if this is limited more to Cubs fans, but we seem to have a tendency to like the feel-good narrative when it comes to potential managers. I'm referring to the interest in Girardi and Sandberg. I'm not a great evaluator at managerial strategy, smarts, clubhouse respect, motivating players, etc., however it seems a large portion of this fanbase feels the best direction is to hire the local guy or the guy who had great years as a player. Heck with Sandberg he only had a month of MLB managerial experience. Does he really have the magic to turn around a last place team?

The Blackhawks had the smarts to kick out Savard even though he was a fan favorite. Just because you were a great player doesn't necessarily translate well to coaching. That should be obvious. I'll admit I haven't followed Girardi's career in NY much but seeing the majority of fans fawning over him right away is something I have a minor irk with. I trust this front office to wait it out and analyze who has the best skills to move this ballclub forward with terrific young talent coming through in the next 1-2 years.

Posey H8er · Post #9 » by **Posey H8er** » Wed Oct 9, 2013 5:02 pm

Ryan Sweeney re-signed, 2 years/$3.5 million

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/po ... api_public

ChronicKerr · Post #10 » by **ChronicKerr** » Wed Oct 9, 2013 7:23 pm

Girardi signs 4 year extension w/ the yanks

Post #11 » by **GYBE** » Fri Oct 11, 2013 5:23 pm

ptpablo wrote:C Castillo / Navarro
1b Rizzo
2b Barney
3b Olt? / Baez in June
ss last chance for Castro
lf Lake???
cf Elsbury
rf Schierholz and righty platoon

Shark
Wood
Tanaka
Jackson
Price would be sweet also, Do you give up Baez??? I dont

I hope Barney isn't the starter next year. He simply can't hit. I would move Valbuena to 2nd and start with him. Once Baez is called up, I would seriously consider moving Castro to 2nd. I'd rather Baez get to stay at his natural position while he adjusts to the majors. Or, Alcantara might be ready at that point and could take over at 2nd.

If all goes well, it's even possible Soler and Bryant make September callups. The starting lineup in a year could look real exciting.

As for Price, I'm a little wary. His peripheral numbers are trending in the wrong direction, he'd cost prospects AND we'd have to give him a long-term deal. There's no way I'd think about moving Baez. Prospects like him don't get traded unless they're with the Royals, apparently. Something like Soler, Alcantara and a lesser piece or Almora, Vogelbach and a lower pitching prospect are more realistic packages. And even with those, I'd be hesitant.

karch34 · Post #12 » by **karch34** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 3:35 pm

Posey H8er wrote:I don't know if this is limited more to Cubs fans, but we seem to have a tendency to like the feel-good narrative when it comes to potential managers. I'm referring to the interest in Girardi and Sandberg. I'm not a great evaluator at managerial strategy, smarts, clubhouse respect, motivating players, etc., however it seems a large portion of this fanbase feels the best direction is to hire the local guy or the guy who had great years as a player. Heck with Sandberg he only had a month of MLB managerial experience. Does he really have the magic to turn around a last place team?

The Blackhawks had the smarts to kick out Savard even though he was a fan favorite. Just because you were a great player doesn't necessarily translate well to coaching. That should be obvious. I'll admit I haven't followed Girardi's career in NY much but seeing the majority of fans fawning over him right away is something I have a minor irk with. I trust this front office to wait it out and analyze who has the best skills to move this ballclub forward with terrific young talent coming through in the next 1-2 years.

Good point. I think any fan base romanticizes a well liked player for a manager. I know a lot of Bears fans wanted Singletary as HC at one point. I know a lot of Timberwolves fans liked the idea of Sam Mitchell. I think when you look outside of guys with long proven track records there's really no way to know what they'll do and you would prefer the familiar face. That said we don't even know if Girardi would've been good with a team that needs to develop as his situation with the Yankees is completely different from ours. I like him. I think he's smart. But not sure who is best qualified for our needs.

Post #13 » by **GYBE** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 4:41 pm

Lot of talk about the Tigers possibly dealing Scherzer this offseason. I think I'd prefer him over Price, plus he would probably cost less in terms of prospects since we wouldn't be dealing with the Rays.

BTW, sort of off-topic, but did you guys see how good Josh Donaldson was this year? Remember we gave him up in the Harden trade.

Air Poohdini · Post #14 » by **Air Poohdini** » Sun Oct 27, 2013 4:14 pm

I wonder how much longer it takes until the Cubs pick a new manager.

Posey H8er · Post #15 » by **Posey H8er** » Wed Nov 6, 2013 9:55 pm

Keith Moreland out of the WGN radio booth- http://muskat.mlblogs.com/2013/11/06/11 ... wgn-radio/

And Rick Renteria likely to be the Cubs new manager- http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/ric ... y=news_mlb

hermes · Post #16 » by **hermes** » Thu Nov 7, 2013 2:48 am

looks like its official

what's the word on rick, any good?

Post #17 » by **GYBE** » Thu Nov 7, 2013 3:15 am

I really wanted Tony Lovullo, but Boston refused to let us interview him. As part of the Theo compensation, they could refuse any attempted poaching of their staff for three years.

karch34 · Post #18 » by **karch34** » Thu Nov 7, 2013 5:48 pm

Doesn't seem like there's much either way to support or go against the hiring. Kind of expected that when we were looking at the candidates. I'm more in the camp of happy it's done, let's move on than anything else.

Reading smardzja to Diamondbacks is still being discussed.

Post #19 » by **GYBE** » Wed Nov 27, 2013 3:33 am

Cubs got George Kottaras from the Royals for cash.

I absolutely LOVE this signing. Kottaras is crazy good at drawing walks. Does it more than Joey Votto even. Good power too, he just can't make contact. Makes a good platoon partner for Castillo.

Also, he's from the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), just like myself.

ChronicKerr · Post #20 » by **ChronicKerr** » Wed Nov 27, 2013 7:01 pm

Kottaras stands for "the cursed one" in Greek so it seems fitting he's brought in.