Latest Trade Rumors

[anotheridiot]

cubs offered 20 million per year, shields took 18 million per year and residence where he wanted in southern california. No way he stays there for the 4 years. They will be rebuilding again.

Hammel had a good first half on a non contending team in a contract year. He went to oakland and was not good. Non contending good, contending bad, not the guy I want at the top of the rotation.

Hendricks just keeps getting people out, he has Maddux mentality where he does not try to throw the ball thru bats. He misses bats. He needs to make the all star game, maybe cy young to even get any love from fans. All we want is building thru youngsters thru trades and draft, and when the chips are on the table, we find reasons they should not be a starter in the major league and chase betterans.

Nobody expected contending until Bryant was established here, 2016, to me that still means this year is still seeing if Arrieta and Hendricks are the real deal, not a reason to find out if they can stick as 4 or 5's.

Wood had trouble with righties for some reason last year. Now we have montero stealing pitches it might make the hitters swing at some of the junk that Wood was not getting credit for being good pitches. I dont likeDoubront at all, if Wada,Turner and CJ Edwards are in the rotation in AAA we will be fine. Keeping Doubront and Jackson as long relievers is a waste of a depth spot for a one inning guy. That is something we need with a new to the NL manager.

 

[Johnny Sleeper]

Hammel had a rough start in Oakland, but he finished very well. A 2.86 ERA in 4 starts August and 2.20 ERA in 5 starts in September. If he struggles like that while the Cubs are chasing a playoff spot I'll be just fine with it.

What Hendricks needs to do is prove that last year wasn't a fluke. His stuff is no where near as good as Maddux's and neither is his control. Hendricks had a 3.92 xFIP last year. A lot of young pitchers have looked good their first time through the league then gotten caught up to. If Hendricks can managed a 3.50 ERA over a full season THEN he can be considered something other than a back of the rotation arm. Hendricks had a 3.59 ERA in AAA last year so I'm not in any hurry to compare him to Maddux or any other great pitcher. The best comparison based on his stuff and control, of a high quality pitcher, would be James Shields and it took him a few years to put together a sub 3.50 ERA season.

Wood has always had trouble with RHH. That wasn't something new last season. His effectiveness against them in 2013 is now clearly the BABIP fluke it appeared to be at the time. Montero and Ross as catchers will help, but it won't make him more than a fringe starter who would be best as a lefty in the bullpen. I don't expect Doubront to make the roster unless he wins the 5th starter job, which is highly unlikely. If Edwin Jackson doesn't win the 5th starter job I could see him being DFA'd and sent to AAA after no one claims him.

I still think there is a trade or two coming before the season. Welly still needs to get moved and I could see them moving one of Wood, EJax or Wada to a team looking for a starter. I expect Wada to win the 5th starter job and if EJax looks decent in Spring and someone offers a lottery ticket for him they'll take it.

 

[anotheridiot]

My only point with Hendricks is to let him have the chance to prove he was not a fluke. As soon as Lester was signed people wanted Hamel, Shields, Harvey instead of allowing Hendricks to have a shot to prove he can pitch. Thats all. They should sniff the playoffs this year, so its a good year to let Hendricks show he can do it.

 

[stammer78]

Hendricks would look real good sitting at #5 in the rotation with Lester, Hammel, Arieta, Wood. Jackson can rot in the bullpen or the cubs can eat his contract after being DFA'd. With the recent addition of Phil Coke that should make the bullpen situation interesting if Coke can make the roster.

 

[anotheridiot]

the pickins are pretty slim for the LOOGY. Dont think Doubrount gets warm fast enough to take that role, Russells gone, seems its between Wada, Britton, Rosscup and Jokish. Think they are counting on Phil Coke a little more than just a minor league contract invitee.

Hoping some team asks for Jackson and Castillo I guess. Might get a lefty pen arm back from that deal.

 

[Johnny Sleeper]

Wood should be the lefty in the pen. He has been significantly better vs LHH his whole career. Wada was a great starter in Japan then blew out his elbow in his first MLB spring training. Now that he's recovered he looks like the pitcher he was expected to be when he came over, which is similar to Iwakuma. I'd rather go with him and have Wood in the bullpen then when an injury comes along you can pull Wood out of the bullpen. Coke has regressed to much and no longer dominates LHH and RHH kill him.

I don't think anyone has said anywhere, at least nowhere I troll, that Hendricks shouldn't start the season as the 5th starter to prove rather he can or can't outperform his stuff over a full MLB season. It was Wood and EJax that most people want out of the rotation as they have shown they shouldn't be there. Wood has struggled against RHH his whole career outside of a fluke 2013. EJax doesn't get on top of the ball any more and his arm slot has removed the vertical movement his pitches used to have. They are now flat which allows for much better contact. Everyone I know who wanted another starter added wanted the rotation to be Lester, Arrieta, Shields/Hamels/etc, Hammel, Hendricks. That would have put both Wood and Wada in the bullpen and allowed one of them to be the first starter in the rotation in case of an injury. Instead you have Wood and Wada as your 5th and 6th starter. Turner looks to be headed to the DL and EJax is all but officially done and Doubront hasn't shown he can be rotational depth.

MLB teams use 8 starters over the course of a season on average so the lack of depth is a legitimate concern for the Cubs rotation. Hammel and Arrieta have combined for a total of two full seasons as a starter. Betting on them both staying healthy for a full season is a huge risk that having a more proven workhorse in the rotation would have help to mitigate. That could have been done without it effecting Hendricks' spot in the rotation. Although, it could have given him a shorter leash if he has a 5.00 ERA in the middle of May.

 

[anotheridiot]

I definitely expect Hendricks in the rotation because its the only way to prove last year was not a fluke. Its why I didnt want another starter after Lester was signed to push him out of the rotation. Give him a chance to prove it was not all luck. Remember the last 35 games last season were against teams in or fighting to get in the playoffs and he just misses bats. I dont like the fact he hasnt even gotten a start yet in spring, but I understand they need to build up ejax to be able to deal him. I just hope they are not penciling Hendricks in as the AAA rotation guy.

Doubront was a head scratcher when they got him from Boston. There are plenty of head scratchers that theo gets a pass on.

 

[Johnny Sleeper]

Doubront didn't cost anything. I don't care how many guys they go through that don't cost anything. When you strike gold with that one buy low guy like David Ortiz it's worth the 500 misses it took you to hit that one lottery ticket when they all cost you nothing. Similar to Josh Hamilton for the Rangers when the Reds gave up on him and let him go in the Rule 5 draft.

There is no way Hendricks isn't in the rotation. It doesn't matter who gets starts at this point. He is getting in his work. Right now it's just about throwing some pitches and starting to get stretched out. He'll get in two starts late in spring training to make sure he is ready for the start of the season.

 

[RamCub]

There shouldn't be any debate about Hendricks since Maddon declared him his #4 starter in the rotation about 10 days ago.

Wada keeps getting hurt and Turner is going to be on the DL to start the season. Jackson and Wood are battling for rotation spot #5. One of these two guys will be traded probably to the Rangers.

 

[anotheridiot]

I think EJax and Castillo will be dealt together. Should be happy just to get rid of him. Interesting Yoohoo article about Bryant and what if his missing the first three weeks costs the cubs the two games they end up missing the playoffs by just to save that team control.

I say show good faith by letting him start with the ML club. Dicking him around for three weeks will just have Boras smelling blood in the water whenever the cubs try to get his contract redone.

 

[Johnny Sleeper]

Yes, they should ignore what is best for the organization and do what is best for Boras. That would be great! Bryant doesn't deserve any special treatment. Longoria, Bruan and Mike Trout all go delayed the same way. It is the way the CBA is designed. Unless the union wants to make one full season only count as one year of service time instead a full first year counting as two nothing will change. It's like saying the Cubs should just give Lester an extra year's worth of AAV because the baseball seasons has more days in it then the union considers a year of service time.

 

[anotheridiot]

Yes, they should ignore what is best for the organization and do what is best for Boras. That would be great! Bryant doesn't deserve any special treatment. Longoria, Bruan and Mike Trout all go delayed the same way. It is the way the CBA is designed. Unless the union wants to make one full season only count as one year of service time instead a full first year counting as two nothing will change. It's like saying the Cubs should just give Lester an extra year's worth of AAV because the baseball seasons has more days in it then the union considers a year of service time.

There is no doubt the cubs are going to try to do a longoria deal and eliminate all the free agent bullshit anyway. Its what they did with Rizzo, what they did with Castro. What did holding them back do for those contracts? Absolutely nothing.

 

[Johnny Sleeper]

Bryant doesn't want that. That is why he hired Scott Boras as his agent. Bryant wants to maximize his baseball earnings. That means working through arbitration then hitting FA for the biggest contract Boras can get him. That means there is a 95% chance, assuming Bryant becomes an all-star, that he leaves for another team in FA. Rizzo and Castro wanted the guaranteed money because their situations were different.

 

[Johnny Sleeper]

Its what they did with Rizzo, what they did with Castro. What did holding them back do for those contracts? Absolutely nothing.

It made them each about $20M cheaper by having one less FA year to buy out to have the player for the same length of time.

 

[anotheridiot]

It made them each about $20M cheaper by having one less FA year to buy out to have the player for the same length of time.

Right, but they are two young men that decided to set their families up for life, then sign for the stupid money in free agency. Maybe Bryant is thinking alike and wants to make sure there is some guaranteed dollars in case he gets injured.

 

[Johnny Sleeper]

Right, but they are two young men that decided to set their families up for life, then sign for the stupid money in free agency. Maybe Bryant is thinking alike and wants to make sure there is some guaranteed dollars in case he gets injured.

Except Bryant refused to talk about signing a deal this off-season that would have made the service time issue irrelevant. Bryant also hired an agent that is known for getting the most money possible for his clients. That means getting to FA as fast as you can. Bryant is from a much better economic background than Rizzo and Castro and is going for the maximum not looking for just a comfortable living. He's envisioning breaking contract records.

Players are individuals and they do not all want the same thing. Some are fine with getting set up and then maybe cashing in bigger down the road. Others are going to bet on themselves and then get paid. Just like Zimmerman and David Price not wanting to talk about extensions this off-season and going into FA next year to get more than Scherzer, instead of a guaranteed $180M now.

 

[anotheridiot]

well, it sounds like there is no chance for Baez to make the club, hitting .111, 4 more k's last night with some more pretty pretty swings at ugly ugly pitches.

I guess wondering why LaStellla was brought in pretty much should have told me that Baez wont break camp this year. Still no takers with Castillo we will need that roster spot.