I agree - I think they are some where around $5-$10m under the tax; which I think they want to stay under, so any chance of Montgomery or Snell are gone.
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I just really have an issue with Madrigal getting 1/3 of the reps or more at 3B. He just isn’t a good fit on the team at this time.
I don’t think they want either of them, period. They have depth in the rotation and at Iowa. They have enough space to add payroll during the season. And, the luxury tax isn’t a no go zone for Tom Ricketts, he just wants it to be measured and used for a postseason run, and not used so you incur the penalties.
Don’t disagree on the rotation but wouldn’t be mad if they added one of them. I thought I read an article where they said they weren’t going into the tax; although could have just been the preseason. Or it certainly could have just been a reporter saying it. If they are in contention during the season, have to imagine they won’t worry about it
I’ve been saying this for a long time. He stopped making sense for this roster when Nico moved back to 2B.
They’re not going to stay under this year. Jed will always make moves at the deadline, but what I’m sure they’re watching now is the $20-25M they have available before the 2nd tier. The best estimates I’ve seen have the Cubs $3-4M under, but the number will be more knowable when they make the last roster decisions.
Besides cost, adding either Snell or Montgomery would need to happen with a few days, or they miss the start of the season. That might seem like a small consideration, but those guys are not anywhere ready to pitch. Sign them now and you need a 7-10 days before they pitch, then time to ramp up and stretch out. All the while hoping that they don’t strain something because they push themselves to hard in order to justify the contract.
Comeback to what?Bote to become 2024 NL Comeback Player of the Year!
You heard it here first.
He’s being put on display for an inevitable trade. When you’re looking to trade a guy and get as much value out of him as possible, you don’t sit him at the end of the bench during spring training. Mervis should be out there as much as possible for the same reasons.
1. Madrigal left today’s game after one AB, and I haven’t seen a report on an injury. He didn’t “travel”, to the Padres facility just for one AB.
2. God bless Scott Boras. He is hitting the airwaves to proclaim that four teams have just entered the picture on Snell and Montgomery. Four new teams eager to add a dynamic starter! Sure. You outbid the market, Scott.
2. God bless Scott Boras. He is hitting the airwaves to proclaim that four teams have just entered the picture on Snell and Montgomery. Four new teams eager to add a dynamic starter! Sure. You outbid the market, Scott.
To #1, I read that it was cramping and not believed to be serious, but I have very little faith in his legs at this point, so we’ll see if this is a warning sign or a one-off.
To the 2nd part, they can both pitch, so of course demand was going to kick up in a big way when the price came down far enough.
I was hoping they could trade madrigal before his legs broke again.
After reading some stuff on Snell and Montgomery, I'm beginning to think the Cubs should pass on both those guys unless they can get one of them at a discounted rate/favorable contract.
3 FA pitching signings. Lower ranking guys for sure, but, you never know with the late signing IFAs.
https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs/2024/03/05/chicago-cubs-sign-three-new-pitching-prospects/
https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs/2024/03/05/chicago-cubs-sign-three-new-pitching-prospects/
Welp, looks like Kaleb Kilian is done. Won't be pitching again until July, which I think basically means his MLB career is toast. Too bad. That hype train 2 years ago after he had a dominant few months at AAA was off the charts. Dude just fell off a cliff from there. Now we gotta hope Canario pans out, or else we gave up KB for free.
Bad deal for him, but, injuries happen. They traded KB for opportunities. And, this is a musculature issue, not a torn/ruptured labrum or ligament. I still thought Killian was trending towards being a useful bullpen arm. I'll be watching hoops tonight, but I'll try and catch Wesneski to see how he's doing. My guess is he goes to Iowa, but the point of all of those trades was to add potential.
And, to derail things, has anyone else noticed that KB has tanked in Colorado, and doesn't seem to care too much about baseball given his recent interviews? I'll always have fond memories of 2016, but he seems very happy to be on a dogs**t team with no expectations on him or the team.
Moral is my favorite player and I think he’ll have a monster power year but right now he’s not good enough at 3b. Wish we could jettison Madrigal but he’s insurance right now.
They have a month to make him passable, and Counsel made it clear yesterday that there will be bumps in the road.
I'm more worried at this point about Happ's hamstring. He seems to have as many issues with his legs as Madrigal. Happ won't be available until the end of March. And, that's the best case scenario.
I watched the bulk of the game tonight, and it was a pretty decent showing from the 3rd string. Not too much offense beyond the opposite field homer by Busch, but the pitching looked good. It was nice that Busch hit that homer off of a MLB pitcher. My one minor quibble is why do I keep seeing Des Moines bound depth like Alfaro over Aliendo or Ballesteros on the travel squad?
I think the first cut day is coming soon. I have to think that’s a big part of it. Get as much look at guys as possible
Interesting to see that the Giants put JD Davis on waivers, even with a few competent hitters on the FA market. I doubt he’d last on the waiver wire to the Cubs, but they could trade for him.
My guess, however, is they want to go in house with Smith or Cooper for now as infield/dh depth even though neither could play 3B, which Davis can.
My guess, however, is they want to go in house with Smith or Cooper for now as infield/dh depth even though neither could play 3B, which Davis can.
Well, at least the Cubs won't have to choose between Assad and Wicks for the starting rotation to start the season, because they'll need both.
Top 100 players
Swanson, Cody, Steele, Hoerner
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Swanson, Cody, Steele, Hoerner
MLB Rank 2024: Ranking baseball's top 100 players
From top sluggers like Ronald Acuna Jr. and Aaron Judge to Walker Buehler, we rank -- and make predictions for -- the best 100 players in the sport for the upcoming 2024 season.
Justin Steele struck out 9 Brewers in 4 innings tonight. He seems about ready to go.
Assuming Kilian goes on the 60-day IL, signing a FA or bringing up a NRI just got a lot easier.
I think they’re going to want to take as many as 3-4 NRIs, so we’ll see. I think Escobar, Edwards, Cooper and Peralta are all really interesting. They certainly may not take all 4, but it will be very interesting to see what happens to the 40-man from here.
Wow! That would be some kind of record, I think. Sounds like Jed needs to get on the horn and get some trades done (Madrigal, Mervis, Davis, Wisdom) or start flushing some dirt (K. Thompson).
Boy, do I wish he had pawned off Kilian or Madrigal on some poor suckers prior to their injuries....
Madrigal, yes, but Kilian actually looked really good this spring and looked like he’d compete for at least a bullpen role. Keegan has also looked good this year and I’m not ready to pull the plug on him.
It never really made sense to trade Brennan Davis. As he showed before getting hit in the head, the underlying talent is still there. You’ll get nothing of value for him in trade right now until he shows he can be healthy, so he’s worth more to the Cubs to find out for themselves. He’s still young.
I’ve beat the drum for a long time that having both Wisdom and Madrigal makes no sense. Now with Garret Cooper playing well, he could displace Wisdom and/or Dom Smith could do the same with Madrigal. I’m also not 100% sure Mark Leiter Jr makes the opening day roster. I think Edwards will make the OD roster and I think Escobar could.
I think they like him more than I do (as a player). As a person, by all accounts he’s a great human and I’m sure he’s a great guy to have around. The big problem is the 40. The Cubs aren’t in a position to just DFA anyone unless Leiter’s split isn’t splitting. Everyone on the 40 is either too young & promising or too good to just cut.
There will be one spot when Kilian goes on the 60-day IL, maybe Edwards plugs in there….but if you want Dom or Cooper or David Peralta or Escobar, others have to go. I still think trades could be coming.
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