offseason news thread

[Kizz Fastfists]

Hammel is another back end arm to add to the list. EJax, Wood, Doubront, Straily, Hendricks, Wada, etc. The price is fine, but I don't see the need for Hammel. They need top of the rotation arms. Arrieta should be the #3 and they had plenty of #4/5 types.

[karch34]

Agreed we need a 1 and 2 ideally. I don't think that happens this year, but likely we get a 1, slot Arieta as 2, and Hendricks as 3/4. I think Hammel has enough upside to be a solid 3 at worst. Not sure if EJax even fits as a back end guy anymore except for his contract.

We do need top of the rotation arms, but I think it's just unlikely we get 2 this year.

[GYBE]

Seems like we're really close to acquiring Miguel Montero. Don't know which prospects would be sent for him, but it shouldn''t be anyone valuable given we're presumably picking up his entire contract.

Montero was one of the best pitch-framers last year, so I really like the move.

[Kizz Fastfists]

Jeferson Meija and Zack Godley for Miguel Montero!

Mejia is a 20 year old pitching prospect that hasn't thrown in A ball yet. He has upside, but he's basically a lottery ticket at this point. Godley is 24 and had a mediocre time in high A ball last year as a reliever, so basically worthless. A significant upgrade for the Cubs. Now sign Lester and David Ross and send Welly off to a team that is stuck in the 1980s.

[karch34]

Like the deal. What's Wellington's contract? I'm sure we'll look to move him, but not the worst back up option depending on $ and assuming Schwabby needs some more time in the minors.

[GYBE]

If we sign Lester, I think we probably sign David Ross, his preferred catcher. If that's the case, we'll definitely look to move Castillo.

[hermes]

yeah there seem to be rumors that castillo is being shopped

so what is the story on montero? besides that he's leaps and bounds better at framing than castillo

[Kizz Fastfists]

Montero is basically Russell Martin on a shorter, cheaper contract. Welly is in his first year of arbitration which estimates to be around $2.5M. Theo has said they aren't shopping Welly, but they have a meeting with David Ross' agent scheduled for this evening so I'm going to say Theo is just trying to run up the value of Welly.

Montero is a career .264/.342/.421 hitter. He has some injuries in 2013, but did a good job returning to form last year. He is much better against RHP than LHP so expect him to get most of his days off against LHP. Both Welly and Ross hit LHP well and struggle against RHP. Montero was the best pitch framer in baseball last year. http://www.statcorner.com/CatcherReport.php Yes, that reads 48 runs better than Welly from pitch framing.

[Kizz Fastfists]

Cubs get Lester!!! Big day for the Cubs. Now we get to see what else Theo has in his bag of tricks for this off-season.

[HBK9]

Beat me to it. haha

So
1. Lester
2. Arrieta
3. Hammel
4. Hendricks
5. Wood

Although I'd personally put Hendricks ahead of Hammels.

Big contracts like this, in my short memory, don't seem to work out the way you want them to but you got to do what you got to do.

[GYBE]

We might win the division this year.

This is incredible. I'm so happy.

[Kizz Fastfists]

Wood should be in the bullpen. He can't get RHH out. Wada should be the 5th starter at this point. There has been some speculation that if the Cubs landed Lester they would flip the switch and go hard for Shields and add a significant bat. There are a lot of options out there another starter with Latos, Cueto, Zimmermann, Hamels potentially on the move. It's just nice to see the Cubs finally land a guy they were after in FA after the recent near misses.

Now we get another month of speculation on Shields and/or Scherzer along with trade options, etc. I'm sure they have a few more moves in them we're just going to have to see what they are. David Ross will probably get signed tomorrow and then they will start working on moving Welly. Perhaps they will use Welly as part of a package for another #2/3 type starter.

[SportsWorld]

[hermes]

got lester nice, hopefully he works out great for us

i've read that a lot of the talk about adding another big bat was just talk to get lester to come here and probably won't come to fruition but we'll see - what big bats are even out there? and where would we put them? are lineup is getting pretty full

[karch34]

I'm so happy! Rotation is better and I think he'll be a great mentor for the young guys. His work and preparation was something Dempster went out of his way to mention.

[Posey H8er]

Beat me to it. haha

So
1. Lester
2. Arrieta
3. Hammel
4. Hendricks
5. Wood

Although I'd personally put Hendricks ahead of Hammels.

Big contracts like this, in my short memory, don't seem to work out the way you want them to but you got to do what you got to do.

That rotation looks eons better, because of obvious reasons now. This Cubs team already looks much improved compared to last season. Keep it going Theo.

[ptpablo]

Wood should be in the bullpen. He can't get RHH out. Wada should be the 5th starter at this point. There has been some speculation that if the Cubs landed Lester they would flip the switch and go hard for Shields and add a significant bat. There are a lot of options out there another starter with Latos, Cueto, Zimmermann, Hamels potentially on the move. It's just nice to see the Cubs finally land a guy they were after in FA after the recent near misses.

Now we get another month of speculation on Shields and/or Scherzer along with trade options, etc. I'm sure they have a few more moves in them we're just going to have to see what they are. David Ross will probably get signed tomorrow and then they will start working on moving Welly. Perhaps they will use Welly as part of a package for another #2/3 type starter.

Plan A is about to be executed according to Maddon so they may go nuts. Shields and a left outfield bat would be awesome. Lester's deal is for age 31-36 seasons so we are not going to deep into the 30's which is amazing considering the competition for him. Does anyone know if they frontloaded the contract? I would do 30M for first 3 and 20M for last three.

[HBK9]

Wood should be in the bullpen. He can't get RHH out. Wada should be the 5th starter at this point. There has been some speculation that if the Cubs landed Lester they would flip the switch and go hard for Shields and add a significant bat. There are a lot of options out there another starter with Latos, Cueto, Zimmermann, Hamels potentially on the move. It's just nice to see the Cubs finally land a guy they were after in FA after the recent near misses.

Now we get another month of speculation on Shields and/or Scherzer along with trade options, etc. I'm sure they have a few more moves in them we're just going to have to see what they are. David Ross will probably get signed tomorrow and then they will start working on moving Welly. Perhaps they will use Welly as part of a package for another #2/3 type starter.

I didn't say that was MY rotation. haha I would trade Wood and Jackson to the Flyers...wait they are the Boomers now...for some extra batting practice balls. Wada looked very good and I have no problem with him in the rotation.

This would be mine, with what we have.
1. Lester
2. Arrieta
3. Hendricks
4. Wada
5. Hammel

I don't think having lefites go back to back is ideal unless it is Lester and Kershaw then whoo hoo. I am sure they'd flip Hendricks and Hammel but with early off days, injuries etc. everything gets moved around anyways.

[NW7]

what big bats are even out there? and where would we put them? are lineup is getting pretty full

Most speculation seems to be the bat would be for the outfield. Considering I don't see the Cubs overpaying someone like Melky Cabrera that leaves just trade options. Perhaps a dream list of something like Justin Upton, Cargo or perhaps Kemp or Crawford?

C - Montero
1B - Rizzo
2B - Baez
SS - Castro
3B - Bryant
LF - Cargo/Upton/Kemp/Crawford
CF - Alcantara
RF - Soler

+ A still very stacked farm system even after landing one of those bats. Fun times ahead.

[Kizz Fastfists]

got lester nice, hopefully he works out great for us

i've read that a lot of the talk about adding another big bat was just talk to get lester to come here and probably won't come to fruition but we'll see - what big bats are even out there? and where would we put them? are lineup is getting pretty full

Justin Upton would seem to make the most sense of the rumored bats out there. The issue is price. Atlanta is more looking to retool than rebuild so I'm not sure what they would want. If Pierce Johnson and McKinney would get it done then that would be solid. I just don't think it would get done without someone we wouldn't want to give up.

A really outside the box option would be Ian Kinsler. The Tigers are rumored to be looking at moving him and they need a catcher. Welly, La Stella and Vogelbach for Kinsler would be interesting. Kinsler's contract is reasonable, $51M over the next four years and front loaded. It would be his age 33-36 seasons so you'd expect some decline, but he should still outperform his contract. He could be moved to LF or Kinsler could stay at 2B and Baez (or Castro) be traded for pitching, i.e. Hamels.