*******Official Cubs 2025 Thread*******
- Thread starter hawkifann
- Start date
Sorry, yes starting lineup. And yes, he has a lot of work to do to help Counsell with the bench.
Yes, but only if you extend Vlad. Not paying all that for 1 year of Vladito.
Gotta tear it down to rebuild. The tear down is done. Glad to see the old favorites gone. I’d have been fine keeping Tauchman, but I like the possibilities here.
You should start checking out the stats of Nathan Eovaldi.
Spotrac estimates I. Paredes' 2025 salary to be $6.3M! Holy sh*t! That's a heck of a lot of payroll for a .232 career hitter who strikes out twice as much as he walks, and when he DOES hit the ball, defenses only need to worry about covering about 1/10 of the field. But at least he's the worst defensive 3B in the Majors....
He made $3.4M last season. Cubs haven't gone to arbitration with anyone for a while, but I wonder if they'd win if they tried to low ball him to something like $4.5M or even less, considering how much his production dropped compared to '23?
Edit - At least I can be relieved that the Cubs don't have one of the top hitting prospects in baseball who is Major League ready and the organization has made sure he's played a majority of his minor league career at 3B....
He made $3.4M last season. Cubs haven't gone to arbitration with anyone for a while, but I wonder if they'd win if they tried to low ball him to something like $4.5M or even less, considering how much his production dropped compared to '23?
Edit - At least I can be relieved that the Cubs don't have one of the top hitting prospects in baseball who is Major League ready and the organization has made sure he's played a majority of his minor league career at 3B....
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Yep. If he starts the season at 3B I'm resigned to that, but he should be the fallback in my mind. Worst case on a 1 year deal you might be able to unload him on someone during the season if Shaw, or someone else, pushes into the picture.
Starting to hear this name, Tomoyuki Sugano, who has been dominant in Japan, scuffled for a few years, then had a resurgence in 2024. He would not command a huge, multi year deal. He'd cost, just not for 3-4 years guaranteed. And, there is no posting fee or IFA money involved in signing him due to his age and years of service.
This has more of the hallmarks of a Jed Hoyer signing.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024...ted-to-sign-with-mlb-team-this-offseason.html
This has more of the hallmarks of a Jed Hoyer signing.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024...ted-to-sign-with-mlb-team-this-offseason.html
I would like to think one possibility is to bring the kids up from AA/AAA and let them have at it.
If that is the end result, it's gotta be a bummer for Cub fans.
I just can't imagine given their history outside of a few exceptions, that many FAs have Wrigley circled as a desired destination.
Most FAs want to play for playoff contenders. Hoyer certainly hasn't gotten to that level.
Cubs just have to hope the "stars are aligned" and several guys have career years.
I don't disagree but I was talking more "bench pieces". Bring up Shaw and let him play 2nd and 3rd. Bring up Caissie as a 5th outfielder. That type of thing. Conventional wisdom says leave them in the minors and have them play everyday, but there is nothing "conventional' about the way the Cubs do their thing.
Then I misinterpreted your post.
You responded to a post about "the teardown is complete", so I thought you were addressing the primary contributors.
Apologies.
I'd be fine with Shaw being on the MLB roster from the start of the season in 2025. Cassie needs to develop more, and he needs consistent time. Remember, his actual baseball exposure was limited growing up, and he's still young. 21-22? He's grown from being a guy with no position to a guy who could be a competent outfielder given his arm strength. Ideally he gets 400 ABs at Iowa this season, and maybe a cup of coffee in the majors.
No worries. I think we all are in agreement that the "lackadaisical" approach being taken by the FO is perplexing.
Caissie not getting a lot of time in the Majors in '25 means 1) Happ and Belli have been healthy all year as regular LF/RF; OR 2) Canario has stepped up as a solid 4th OF; OR 3) Cubs signed another OF who is having a quality season. All of those things are good.
FYI...I'm a die hard Yankee fan that just lurks around.
But since my SIL and his boys are Cub fans, I do keep track.
I've said this numerous times, I just don't understand why Cub mgmt doesn’t spend more $$$ than they do.
It just seems like they shop at Dollar General.
I wouldn’t do that with the whole bench, but I would have Shaw and either Alcantara or Caissie up (assuming they have ok springs). Start getting bench players more regular time and you can justify Shaw and one of the OFs up if they’re playing 3x per week. I’d look for a vet power bat who would be available for 1-2 years (like JD Martinez was last year, and I think is again this year).
He was quoting me and I was specifically referencing the Cubs’ complete tear-down of last year’s bench, in reference to talking about rebuilding the bench and the depth on the MLB team.
Worth noting with Shaw that he’s likely to force his way up this season anyway, so if they can find a way to get him 3 games a week to start the season, having him on the MLB roster from Day 1 would net the Cubs a bonus draft pick if he were to win ROY (and I don’t think ROY would be out of the question for him based on what he’s done as a pro).
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