He's already moved to the 5 spot in my mind .I was ranting. But neither Lester or Hamels' arm can last a full year. Well, Hamels is likely done anyway. I suppose Lester could be a 4 or 5 starter. Still,
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He's already moved to the 5 spot in my mind .I was ranting. But neither Lester or Hamels' arm can last a full year. Well, Hamels is likely done anyway. I suppose Lester could be a 4 or 5 starter. Still,
Might as well tear it all down if they go and trade KB or Rizz....Hendricks and Quintana should be more of the same. Hopefully we get a Darvish that's much more like the 2nd half Yu than the first half. After that, Mills, Chatwood, Alzolay, Rea, Graveman and others should compete. If a Rizzo, KB or Contreras are traded, I'd expect a young arm back as part of the package. If the Cubs do deal for a good, young pitcher, maybe that opens the door to trading Q after the Cubs exercise is $10.5M option.
Might as well tear it all down if they go and trade KB or Rizz....
Rizzo is set to make around 15M IIRC, KB probably less than 20M.Why? That would likely give them the space to sign Castellanos plus another player or two plus the haul they'd get back in a trade.
Rizzo is set to make around 15M IIRC, KB probably less than 20M.
I don't see how that is gonna get us Castellanos and another player worth mentioning(certainly not 2 more).
How can we trade either and expect to make the team better next year, especially considering both are underpaid.
Prospects are nice but I don't see them helping us the next 2 years. If we find the right trading partner, it's possible but probably not that likely. If we are looking for future kids and saying screw the now then sell off.....
The problem with trading Bryant is that it’s almost impossible to get equal value.
So many of Theo's deals wound up with the Cubs getting less value in return, but they were sold as getting a critical piece to be competitive and win now, or dealing from the strength of such a strong farm system. Personally I think a lot of hubris was involved. Theo just got less than the other team got in return too many times.The problem with trading Bryant is that it’s almost impossible to get equal value.
So many of Theo's deals wound up with the Cubs getting less value in return, but they were sold as getting a critical piece to be competitive and win now, or dealing from the strength of such a strong farm system. Personally I think a lot of hubris was involved. Theo just got less than the other team got in return too many times.
If Cubs fans think another team will trade for Bryant and deal a 1/2 starter for him... they're delirious. Not a chance in hell KB brings that.It would be a big surprise if Rizzo is traded. He is not
going anywhere. Bryant is another story, his offense
has gone down hill the past two years. He is probably
trade bait, that no team will bite on.
Cubs rebuild will be slow and painful, I'm afraid.
I'm talking the expectations of dealing Bryant. Bryant only. He's not going to get the return some think he should. Bryant AND Bote/Caratini might get you a #1.Do you honestly believe the Cubs have the talent level of the 2012-2013 Cubs? It certainly sounds like you do.
KB's market will be what it will be. There's no reason not to listen to offers. Other teams would like to have him as he's a very good, bordering on elite offensive player when he's healthy. What will teams be willing to give up? Who knows.
One thing is for sure - the economics of the game have changed substantially in the last 5 years. Guys who would have gotten big offers in the past haven't recently. Trades have been inconsistent. The end result is that some teams will overpay for guys and yet there will be bargains out there for the taking.
I'm talking the expectations of dealing Bryant. Bryant only. He's not going to get the return some think he should. Bryant AND Bote/Caratini might get you a #1.
This thread had grown fast. Sorry if I repeat other posts, but did not read them all.
I agree that Ross has the best chance to be the next manager. The Cubs are not looking to pay a tier one manager salary, so someone like Ross is a good financial fit. He appears to have the respect of the players, so that is a plus.
Castellanos would be a great one to keep, but not sure the Cubs will be willing to pay enough. The guy is entering his prime and looks built for Wrigley.
I assume Schwarber was playing this weekend because the Cubs want to move him this winter. Padding the stats may help.
Happ seems on the way out. Maybe Almora too, but I would like him to stay. Batting him eighth and letting him do what he does in center field seems like a good idea to me.
Hayward is probably back. Who would take his contract?
Rizzo and Baez look to be Cubs for life. Bryant, not so sure.
There are plenty of moves to be made to be a championship contending team again, but the core of a playoff team is there. This is still a team that was in first place for three months this summer. Injuries and a few holes on the roster did them in in September.
If Happ and Almora are gone, they may need to keep Schwarber just so they have enough outfielders..
Do you think they'll just non-tender these guys? They can't be FAs, so if they're not back, it's either because they're non-tendered or traded. If they're traded, I assume they'll be dealt as part of some plan.
I'd bring Almora back as a AAAA option guy before I non-tender him and non-tendering Happ would be flat ridiculous.
No, I have no idea what they will do. I was just responding to someone else's idea of letting them go or trading them.
I was just making the point that just letting them go is short sighted. They don't cost much and they're organizational depth, if nothing else.
I was just making the point that just letting them go is short sighted. They don't cost much and they're organizational depth, if nothing else.
But are the Cubs really in a rebuild mode right now? I don’t think they are. They were 2 games back of the Cardinals just a few weeks ago and then had a stretch of bad baseball combined with a half dozen 1 run loses. And this happened without Baez and a gimpy Bryant and Rizzo.If Cubs fans think another team will trade for Bryant and deal a 1/2 starter for him... they're delirious. Not a chance in hell KB brings that.It would be a big surprise if Rizzo is traded. He is not
going anywhere. Bryant is another story, his offense
has gone down hill the past two years. He is probably
trade bait, that no team will bite on.
Fans on this forum are seriously over valuing their trade bait. There's just too much risk dealing high profile players in trades. What stars have been traded recently that worked well for both sides? Just too big of a gamble.
To me... the biggest way to improve is get lucky on a smaller name FA player or simply get lucky on a lower level trade(LaMahieu/Urshela).
Gerrit Cole must be salivating right now. The bidding for him will be insane. Might even include Strasburg/MadBum. Some teams will seriously overpay because of the lack of top of the line starters.
Cubs rebuild will be slow and painful, I'm afraid.
But are the Cubs really in a rebuild mode right now? I don’t think they are. They were 2 games back of the Cardinals just a few weeks ago and then had a stretch of bad baseball combined with a half dozen 1 run loses. And this happened without Baez and a gimpy Bryant and Rizzo.
There’s no question they have to get better to win another WS with this group, but I dont see a complete rebuild. Their pitching staff couldn’t stay healthy and they really missed Zobrist. Theo said last year that their finish was unacceptable and things would be done to make sure it doesn’t happen again...then did nothing in the offseason. He has to be more active this winter and if so, the Cubs will be contenders again as the heart of this team is still young and relatively inexpensive.
And that's always what you hope your first round picks will turn into.
I don't disagree with you, but if the right deal came along I could see them being shipped off. At this point, I would think Almora would have more value than Happ though.
I'm not arguing that point at all. I still think there's hope for Happ.
I do too, I'm not nearly as optimistic on Almora though and I do think the front office has shown some bias toward their own high draft picks. If Almora had been a random guy acquired at the tail end of Hendry's tenure, I think he would have had a different route through the Cubs system.
Am I the only one who thinks hiring David Ross to manage the Cubs is a bad idea? He has zero managerial experience and his only qualifications are that he was a clubhouse favorite. I'm not sure hiring a guy because he is buddies with the players is a good strategy, in fact, it's a terrible idea.
There are a lot of good baseball guys out there that would be good candidates to be the next manager of the Cubs. Do a comprehensive search and go hire one of those guys.