***Official 2023 Chicago Cubs Thread***
- Thread starter BigJCy
- Start date
I really hope if Belli is signed it's not for 7 years unless there is some kind of team or mutual option(s) in it somewhere. After the Heyward deal I'm still snakebit on giving a player like that a big long term deal after 1 good year that was preceded by 3 down years where his WAR was 1.4 -1.5 and 1.2. Just can't ignore those years even if some of it was due to injury possibly because they still happened. If he gets a fully guaranteed 7 year deal I hope it's not with the Cubs, 5 is about a long out as I'm comfortable with him and my preference is even shorter than that to be honest. Not rooting against him but the slow market on him says a lot I think.
And then you'll be griping about why Jeb didn't sign anyone of consequence.
Screw Bleacher Nation, they bend over backwards to suggest "Cub rumors" just for clicks. They don't know ****, just lookin' for attention their way.
What are you talking about? They are one of the better sites to follow for Cubs info. Any fan run site is going to go a bit wild on the speculation, but it’s basicallu always based on some actual info/report. In the Clase case, specifically Bruce Levine saying the Cubs are interested.
I don't know what you are talking about. Brett does a great job. My only complaint is I think sometimes he's maybe a little too optimistic and takes it easy on the FO and players, but his content is great.
Yeah the content is decent but I usually take it with a grain of salt especially if its from Brett as he can get way too micro with hypotheticals sometimes. Any name of significance at the trade deadline or offseason seems like there is something about the Cubs might be in on them and usually turns out to be nothing in the end. Until there is real smoke to a rumor I usually just take it for what it is which usually is a long shot possibility. Perfect example this offseason is Counsell, Shota, and Busch moves practically came out of nowhere. Shota there was always a slight chance but the rumors around him never were anything that lead you to believe they were the front runners and the other 2 there was no smoke at all until the news broke.
1 yr. 10.5 could of been a nice 2nd closer for us.
www.bleachernation.com
Aroldis Chapman Signing a One-Year Deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates get a touch more competitive with Aroldis Chapman.
www.bleachernation.com
12 days since Hoyer said we’re still in the 4th or 5th inning of the offseason
16 days since Nightengale said we’d be the most agggressive team to end the offseason.
I have zero issue with not getting Hoskins, I didn’t love the idea. But this team is objectively worse than 2023, and we’re 20 days from pitchers and catchers reporting.
16 days since Nightengale said we’d be the most agggressive team to end the offseason.
I have zero issue with not getting Hoskins, I didn’t love the idea. But this team is objectively worse than 2023, and we’re 20 days from pitchers and catchers reporting.
I'm surprised there hasn't been at least 1 bullpen signing by now and some of the better arms left out there are starting to come off the board so that's a little concerning. I don't get into Cubs Con that much but read something how they admitted they needed to address the bullpen because that was a big part of the downfall down the stretch. Well do something about it then!
This offseason the only moves made so far was swapping out Stroman with Shota and trading for Busch to play either 1B or 3B. I guess you can say they added an arm to the bullpen with Almonte coming with Busch but he wasn't very good last season have a -0.5 WAR. He's been pretty inconsistent over his career but I guess if you look at his trends he pitches well in even numbered years and bad on odd number years so I guess it's a good thing its an even numbered year.
If they Cubs don't sign Bellinger I hope they don't react by giving Chapman a big deal to play 3B. The closer we get to spring training the less years we should be able to get remaining free agents for as it should be more of a buyer's market at this point. At this point I would rather just focus on rounding out the pitching staff with another starter and bullpen arms and then dipping into our prospect pool to fill out remaining needs in the lineup. Eventually Boras will have to cave and I'd rather sign some of these guys for an expensive 1 year or short deal with some incentives or options than to make the mistake of caving to his demands and regretting making a 5-7 year deal with some of them. Keep the flexibility of not blocking your prospects while improving the roster in the short term with deals that won't strap you in free agency next offseason. That may come with some growing pains but if you aren't going to trade some of these guys to fill a need then you may as well start giving some of them a chance to see what they can do. Kind of reminds me of the period leading up to the 2016 season where you have several talented position prospects on the verge of contributing and just need to add the supporting pieces while treading water to try and compete while you wait on them to arrive.
Looking over the remaining free agents out there if you want to patch some depth on a 1 year deal they may not be sexy names left but some decent veterans that could fill a need until its time to bring up a prospect.
I do love the idea of them just stringing everyone along until Spring Training and then being like "hey look awesome baseball's back how fun!" and hoping you forget they signed one guy.
Sadly the Cubs are a large market team with one of the largest fan bases, yet often spend like they are in the tier below.
I have no problem with them wanting to be smart, but you are right in saying (as of this typing) they are objectively worse than last year on paper. I was really wanting to see them try to leverage Morel's value and trade him for something useful while it is high. He wreaks of Javy Baez, someone with all the tools in the world to succeed but with the stubbornness and ego that drives a desire to go for the fences on every swing. Sans Vlad Guerrero, almost every toolsy player with that mentality flames out sooner rather than later and never reaches their full potential.
We need an outfielder, at least 1 starter and bullpen arms. It's disappointing to be this far into the offseason and have little to show for it. When the admin says one thing yet the results say another it makes it look like they don't have a plan or are being outmaneuvered. It's hard to spin anything that's transpired as positive.
The past few years, it seemed like a lot of free agents didn't sign until closer to spring training. I think both sides are hoping the other gets desperate and use it as leverage.
Also, this free agent class isn't a very strong class to begin with. I don't want the Cubs to reach/overpay on a Free Agent just to "sign someone". I hope they re-sign Bellinger but I'm also very cautious because he seems like he is good every other year, which means a down year upcoming.
Also, this free agent class isn't a very strong class to begin with. I don't want the Cubs to reach/overpay on a Free Agent just to "sign someone". I hope they re-sign Bellinger but I'm also very cautious because he seems like he is good every other year, which means a down year upcoming.
Yeah Busch along with Mervis and PCA you can't take a small sample size in the majors and say that's who they are. All you have to do is look at Rizzo as an example of that. Hoping with Counsell we see better management and usage of our prospects when they get their shot again in Chicago. After seeing how Mervis, PCA, and Canario were used last season they should have just kept them in Iowa. Morel at least got regular playing time but he already had a run the prior season too and even then as a AA callup got more runway that than anyone else has been given recently.