*****Official Cubs 2021 thread*****
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OMG.
It looks like the virus is back as all 3 Cubs struck out in the first.
Wear a MASK!
The Cubs picked him up from the A's about 2 weeks ago after he was DFA'd.
He was tearing it up in Las Vegas.
Cubs should have called up Brennen Davis for this series.
Just sayin'.
Just sayin'.
He was only here early in the season before realizing yanks suck top and lately. Classic Yankee douchebag
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It’s getting to a point I’m starting all starting pitchers against the Cubs in fantasy baseball
Having to watch Heyward's worthless ass for the rest of this season and next 2 possiblg is just an extra kick in the balls. He even sucks at fielding now. Garbage
The Cubs are going to wind up eating a lot of money on that contract. Either by cutting him, or by trading his contract for another bad one.
Nope. I think he gets moved to Des Moines by the end of this season. But, they will zealously guard his service time.
Yankees were in exactly the same position as the Cubs for much of the season. Only difference is one of the mgmt teams actually tries to win... while the other tossed in the towel to save a few bucks.
There is absolutely no reason on earth for the Cubs to not be competitive and in the playoffs every season.
None.
Don't get me wrong, the NYY are a flawed team and likely lose in the second round of the playoffs. But if the NYY ever gave up like Hoyer has, I'd find a new team to cheer for.
Disagree. Different situations such as the NYY had help coming in the form of players returning from IL.
I was looking at the Cubs roster obligations next year
- Heyward, Kendricks, and Bote are the only three locked in for a total of $38M.
- Arrieta has a $10M option that likely won’t get picked up. Buyout appears to be $2M.
- Happ and Contreras are probably locked for Arbitration figures not yet determined.
- Other than that it’s a bunch of Pre-Arb players led by (in no particular order): Hoerner, Mills, Heuer, Madrigal, Wisdom, and Alzolay.
- By my rough math that will be about $40M obligated + say $25M in Arbitration (up from ~$13M for those same players this year) + $20M (probably closer to $10M) for a slew of pre-Arb players. That comes to about $85M IF they don’t do anything in FA.
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It may not be about smart. Nobody is going to trade for Heyward thinking you’re getting the 2015 version - it would be a swap of bad contracts. There are a couple of these deals every offseason.
I’ll be very curious what happens with the next CBA. I expect this to be a major point of contention.
Independent of that, there’s a solid argument that the Cubs have rushed some guys to their detriment. If there’s any real thought that he’s not ready, let him continue to work in AAA and see what happens in spring training.
Heyward has a no trade clause so he’s have to waive that and I doubt it happens.
It all depends on the situation. I’m not saying it’s likely, but it’s not impossible.
I grew up going to games at Sec Taylor and Wrigley so there is no finding a new team.... woulda happened looooong ago if possible. The reason is what it's been the near 4 decades I've been rooting for them..... the owners rarely go all out to win. I just don't get coming to other fans' thread and rubbing their faces in it when it's obvious cub nation couldn't be much more down. It felt like a funeral reception at Coors tonight, .
But I get it.... You're a yankee fan. If it makes you feel better about your team's underachievement the last decade go for it. I'm not happy but it could work out well in 2-3 yrs. They will have plenty to spend if they want. I do worry players won't want to play for the Ricketts. We shall see
Teams and ownership groups can get a reputation, however, negatives for the Cubs would seem to be pointed much more at young and home-grown players. The Cubs have made significant offers to FAs prior to last year’s effort to drop under the luxury tax threshold and this year’s obvious cost-cutting.
That’s a concern to a point. I’d love for the Cubs to just be a place where everyone wants to play. To some extent, they are — there’s only one Wrigley Field and Cub fans have a huge reputation for loving their stars and treating them well. There are also only 30 MLB teams. That means 30 starting 1B jobs, 30 starting SS jobs, 150 starting rotation positions, etc. Additionally, a good 10-15 teams are not spending anywhere near where the top teams are, so if you’re a top free agent looking for big money, there’s an inherent limitation.
So, this point has merit, but it’s limited. It’s not like the Cubs are going to be in a position where they simply can’t field a team because nobody wants to play there. The one concern would be whether the Cubs can compete for the top free agents. Those decisions are most frequently, but not always, tied to money. If the Ricketts are spending $200M (or ballpark whatever the luxury tax threshold is), guys will sign on for the money.
I can't believe Tapia dropped that. We were sitting about 10 rows up from there on the 3rd base line. Crazy play.
Sportswriters in Chicago and Tom Ricketts disagree
on the future of the Cubs. Ricketts boasts that the
retooling of the team will soon bring another World
Series Champ. Sportswriters say there are not any
guarantees in the the rebuilding of the Cubs.
Retooling means you are just fine tuning a good team.
Rebuilding means you are almost starting from
nothing. Retooling or Rebuilding...you decide?
on the future of the Cubs. Ricketts boasts that the
retooling of the team will soon bring another World
Series Champ. Sportswriters say there are not any
guarantees in the the rebuilding of the Cubs.
Retooling means you are just fine tuning a good team.
Rebuilding means you are almost starting from
nothing. Retooling or Rebuilding...you decide?
So the only two sources of truth are Tom Ricketts and sportswriters in Chicago?
I’m not going to defend Tom Ricketts because he’s not worth defending, but the timeline for this rebuild/retool/restock/refresh/re-whatever will be dictated by the strategy taken, the money spent and how successfully they execute their strategy and how effectively they spend their money.
Right now, I think the retool vs. rebuild difference worth noting is the anticipated timeline. Regardless of the strategy taken, the next Cub roster that competes for a title will look vastly different than it looks today (though some of today’s parts may still be there).
When Theo came in, he set out on a strategy to rebuild and restock the organization from top to bottom. That was not a fast process and it took a solid 4 years to compete and then won big in year 5. The starting point for that rebuild was a mostly barren farm system and an aging, bad ML roster. I can’t remember the financial flexibility at the time, there may have been a couple hold-over bad contracts, but nothing overly restrictive. Theo and the org did a fantastic job of creating a couple waves of talent, but their complete inability to develop pitching meant that they traded away the 2nd wave of talent (Torres, Jiminez, Cease, Candelario, etc) to bolster the pitching staff. Not all of those deals were bad choices, but the sum total meant that there isn’t new wave of players coming in with less expensive contracts to potentially replace more expensive guys hitting FA.
The point where Ricketts and others diverge right now is really over the question of what approach they’ll take this time. Regardless of whether anyone likes the trades made this year, Jed has significantly upgraded the farm system. Some services now have the Cubs as a top 10 system and they have more balance up and down the system than they had a year ago. Additionally, the Cubs could have $170M+ to spend this off-season, depending on CBA terms.
If the Cubs are going to spend at/near whatever kind of tax threshold or cap is in place, I don’t really see any reason why the Cubs can’t be competitive, especially in this division, by 2023 and maybe even in 2022. If they’re improved next year and competing for a division title in 2023, is that a rebuild or a retool? Do the semantics matter? In the past, Tom Ricketts has said the Cubs won’t go through another 5 year rebuild. Given all his development around Wrigley, he stands to make significantly more money if he’s putting out a quality product on the field with some marketable stars. Fans may or may not keep going to Wrigley, but that’s finite gate and concessions on 81 home dates. Wrigleyville, with hotels, bars, restaurants, a pending sports book is all year. Spending like the Pirates isn’t going to help him support all the debt that’s been thrown out there in the last 10 years.
It depends what the Cubs do in the off-season. I see four main scenario's playing out:
- Stay pat or just dabble in third tier guys to finish off roster = they aren't trying and it's a complete rebuild for 3+ years down the road
- Go out and sign Rizzo and Bryant/Baez and not much else = they are still rebuilding, but trying to appease Cubs fans to get butts in seats
- Go out and sign a top FA or two and maybe some Tier-Two FA's to finish off roster = refreshing roster to compete, but more so for 2023
- Go out and sign meaningful, win-now FA's (Kershaw, Freeman, Arenado (if he opts out), Seager, Correa, Syndergaard, etc) = 2021 was to rebuild Farm, but want to win 2022.
I would expect that they’re going to pursue #3 or #4…..or aim for #4 and potentially fall back on #3. It’s going to be a very interesting FA class this off-season. Some really big stars and some really deep positions.
SS is the deepest (Correa, Story, Seager, Baez), but I don't think the Cubs are going that route with Hoerner and Madrigal now in the mix for 2nd and SS.
I could see them in play for Bryant or Arenado (if he opts out) at third.
The OF will be interesting as there aren't many OFer's of note coming up on FA and it appears to be an older lot. I am guessing they sign at least one who was respectable, but to a short term, think Blackmon, Bradley Jr., Marte, or Pham
I could see them moving to sign a top end pitcher a la Lester a few years ago.
I mostly think they will roll with some of their younger guys in key positions that are getting chances now barring some catastrophic performances.
