OT: Baseball offseason and free agents 2019-2020 edition
- Thread starter Alvious
- Start date
When you're worried about illicit use of sophisticated technology in the dugout, going with the septuagenerian seems like a good call.
Dusty Baker is a good manager, well respected in the game, and is a fine choice. They had to go with someone external here. Baseball's better with Mr. Toothpick in it.
Dusty Baker is a good manager, well respected in the game, and is a fine choice. They had to go with someone external here. Baseball's better with Mr. Toothpick in it.
It's definitely a change in culture. Most certainly not as focused on analytics. The team still has loads of talent, so we'll see how the season plays out. Maybe they'll win another championship and prove they can do it "clean".
“Are you a borger?” deserves a place next to “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” in the pantheon of American letters.
I don't see how the Cubs afford that without moving some payroll, or getting the Rocks to eat quite a bit.
Cots has the Cubs at $185 M right now for the 26-man, and $210 M for the 40-man. This is before deals for Cartini and Happ are included (not sure why Cots is missing some payroll numbers):
Arenado will make $26 M in 2020, and $35 M in 2021. Bryant just got $18.6 M for 2020.
They couldn't. Arenado definitely would waive his NTC for the Cubs but the Cubs would have to get Heyward off the books first and maybe more since they have Schwarber, Baez and Castillo deals on the horizon too.
If Ricketts isn't nutting up for Castellanos, there's no way he's nutting up for $225MM or whatever is left on Arenado's deal unless major money is moved
If/when he is traded, what are you gonna say?
-400 you mention Cubs 2016 World Series
-500 you mention White Sox/Cubs comparative attendances
+1,000,000 you nut up, admit defeat and say "I was wrong"
Reminds me a bit of Walt Jocketty and the Cards back in the early Aughts. He was a master at buying/trading for distressed assets and seeing them resurrect themselves into good players after a thorough application of Cardinal Pixie Dust (TM):
Mark MacGwire
Larry Walker
Kent Bottenfield - signed as a cheap FA, won 18 games, then got packaged with Adam Kennedy (good player) for Jim Edmonds
Jim Edmonds - acquired after injury shortened season, went on to post 42 fWAR as a Cardinal
David Freese - acquired for the old and bad Jim Edmonds; see 2011 post season
Scott Rolen - acquired after he forced the Phillies hand
Ryan Ludwick - pulled from MiLB FA scrap heap; 10 fWAR in 3 seasons (he was later traded by the Padres for Corey Kluber)
Jeff Suppan
Woody Williams - acquired for an aging Ray Lankford
Chris Carpenter - signed as a busted FA pitcher. Turned out he was a cyborg
Plenty of moves that didn't work: Kip Wells, Brett Tomko, Tino Martinez, traded Dan Haren for Mark Mulder, Bobby Bonilla, Esteban Yan, etc. But in all, Jocketty's bottom-feeding paid huge dividends.
Yes that is a Boras plan if I ever heard one.
HJ, you didn’t just compare Jeffress and Souza to this Cardinal bunch did you? You morphing into Willy.
Yup. Jim Edmonds and Chris Carpenter.
Still think they have other guys I would deal for prospects before KB. If they move him, they are conceding that they can’t sign him.
They probably cannot sign him, Baez, Contreras and Rizzo, especially with the farm system ranked near the bottom of MLB.
Wow. The Reds are all in.
Actually, a VERY good time to go all in in the weakening NL Central.
I read somewhere the Cubs were going after Scooter. That would be a great signing, IMO. If he's healthy, he will rake.
In my Hungry Jack Paper Rankings (TM), I might put the Reds atop the NL Central. Their Pythagorean record in 2019 had them a .500 team and they have shored up some pretty big holes. Suarez needs to be healthy, Bauer needs to be Bauer, and some guys need to have good season.
The Cubs may be second. It is easy to forget how injuries to Baez and the craptastic bullpen torpedoed their season. But the roster still boasts Baez, Bryant, Rizzo, Contreras, Swobber, Hendricks, Q, Lester, Darvish, etc. There is enough there, but they need to be healthy and scrape together some arms to fix the bullpen (bullpens are the easiest thing to fix, especially if you have a good farm system, which the Cubs don't).
That leaves my Cardinals third. They rightly let Bear Ozuna walk (and got the pick) but it will cost them in the near term.
The Beers might have the best player in the NL but they lost Grandal and Moose. Yelich will be alone, and he cannot carry that team.
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He would be the one I would keep. Willy can be traded for Prospects. Cubs have a C in the system.
Not discussed - the Pirates. Probably rightly so.
By the way, I wish I had your optimism for the Reds. I think they will be better, but that is a big jump to make. And the Cardinals still have that deal with the devil!
Willy’s head will explode if this happens.
https://www.nj.com/yankees/2020/02/...s-in-out-of-nowhere-trade.html?outputType=amp
https://www.nj.com/yankees/2020/02/...s-in-out-of-nowhere-trade.html?outputType=amp
Doesn't matter, the Reds only averaged 22,000 or so in attendance/game last year
It’ll make Kershaw’s third-inning exit in game one that much more frustrating (or enjoyable).
Must be fun to be a dodgers fan.
Obituary for a 95-year-old Quad-Cities woman.
Read to the last paragraph (or skip to it). Poor, poor Ricketts family.
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/qctimes/obituary.aspx?n=joanne-devrieze&pid=195109344&fhid=24724
Read to the last paragraph (or skip to it). Poor, poor Ricketts family.
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/qctimes/obituary.aspx?n=joanne-devrieze&pid=195109344&fhid=24724
You worry about the White Sox more than I do, and it's my job to worry about the White Sox
Probably based on where they are in the rebuild. Still a team trending up instead of one that has seen its window close.
That's like predicting the Dodgers will win the NL West.
69 Pythagorean wins to 83 projected is a huge jump. PECOTA employs the same algorithm. It’s a bullish call, to say the least.
