2015 MLB Season Thread

[brandx]

The Cubs aren't trading Schwarber. He's Theo's favorite of the young guns including Bryant. If there was a deal to be made id like to maybe see a package deal with baez Alcanrtra  McKinney and Torres

Lots of interest in Alcantara and McKinney

[Vander Blue Man Group]

The Cubs aren't trading Schwarber. He's Theo's favorite of the young guns including Bryant. If there was a deal to be made id like to maybe see a package deal with baez Alcanrtra  McKinney and Torres

I could see a package deal with some of those guys but certainly not all of them unless you are getting a really good player in his prime under team control for a number of years.  Torres and McKinney are the Cubs #2 and #3 prospects now and both have been ranked in the top 50 (Torres in the the top 30) in a number of recent rankings. 

The Cubs aren't going to catch St. Louis or Pittsburgh this year so I imagine they'll be cautious in giving away to much for the opportunity at a 1 game playoff. 

[🏀]

Peter Gammons said today that he has no doubt that Schwarber will be a major league catcher.

[NavinRJohnson]

The Cubs aren't going to catch St. Louis or Pittsburgh this year so I imagine they'll be cautious in giving away to much for the opportunity at a 1 game playoff.

Correct. They have little to gain this season, and you get far better value in offseason deals. They still have some furniture to rearrange, so with their abundance of money and prospects, They'll make a trade or two, sign a FA or two, and be ready to rock for the next 2-3 years. They will obviously want to start handing out some contracts and buying out arbitration on some of their guys over that period as well, which is another reason to stand pat now, as ithey are probably still soemwhat undecided on who exactly  those guys are going to be, beyond Bryant and Russell, in my opinion anyway.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Correct. They have little to gain this season, and you get far better value in offseason deals. They still have some furniture to rearrange, so with their abundance of money and prospects, They'll make a trade or two, sign a FA or two, and be ready to rock for the next 2-3 years. They will obviously want to start handing out some contracts and buying out arbitration on some of their guys over that period as well, which is another reason to stand pat now, as ithey are probably still soemwhat undecided on who exactly  those guys are going to be, beyond Bryant and Russell, in my opinion anyway.

They absolutely won't trade for a rental that they can just sign in FA next year.  Any moves they make this year will be minor or for a guy they will have for the next 2-3 years.

I'm sure the Cubs would eventually love to buy out Bryant's and Russell's arb years plus a year or two of free agency but with Boras as their agent that seems unlikely. 

Rizzo's contract is absolutely amazing and will provide ridiculous value through 2021.

After this season, Wood will be non-tendered, Wada will likely not be brought back, and Motte may be let go as well.  Unless Fowler turns it around in the 2nd half I don't see them extending a qualifying offer.  That's around $24-$25 million coming off the books.  Unfortunately you still have to pay Edwin Jackson but I could see them eating that next year instead of wasting a roster spot.  Obviously other players salaries will go up but I imagine the Cubs are seeing a nice bump in revenue this season and with the increased viewership a new tv deal may be in the offing as well. 

Arrieta will be an interesting case.  He's clearly the real deal and will be a free agent after the 2017 season.  I'm very curious how they handle that situation.  At this point, Arrieta is the ace of the team. 

Castro is a huge question mark.  He's signed to a really good deal but he's also been horrendous offensively this year.  The front office won't sell low so hopefully he can bounce back in the 2nd half and improve his value if they do determine they want to move him. 

The front office still has a lot of moves to make to fit everything together but with all this young talent and payroll flexibility it's finally a fun time to be a Cubs fan again. 

[brandx]

Peter Gammons said today that he has no doubt that Schwarber will be a major league catcher.

Gammons still thinks Kris Benson is gonna become a Cy Young winner.

[wadesworld]

Gammons still thinks Kris Benson is gonna become a Cy Young winner.

Exactly.

[RushmoreAcademy]

They absolutely won't trade for a rental that they can just sign in FA next year.  Any moves they make this year will be minor or for a guy they will have for the next 2-3 years.

The other thing to consider besides not wanting to give up young prospects and talent is that there are certain things that are going to stay in place no matter who you acquire.  Russell is going to play everyday. His bat isn't where it needs to be yet, but you're not going to run for one game playoff at the expense of not getting him his AB's.  Let it play out, and if you miss the playoffs, it's okay because you were sort of playing with house money this year.  Sign Price or Zimmerman... or both, regroup, and come out firing in 2016.

[buckchuckler]

Sign Price or Zimmerman... or both, regroup, and come out firing in 2016.

Yikes!  Both is being very liberal with the Rickett's money.  That'll probably be looking at about 55 mil per season for those two.  Especially considering the Cubs pitching has been pretty darn strong. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

First home rain out for the Angels last night in over 20 years

[4everwarriors]

I'm thinkin' it's BO's fault, hey?

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Yikes!  Both is being very liberal with the Rickett's money.  That'll probably be looking at about 55 mil per season for those two.  Especially considering the Cubs pitching has been pretty darn strong.

The Cubs definitely won't sign two big money pitchers this offseason - that's just to much risk with Lester's contract already on the books.  Plus they likely only need to fill one spot with Arrieta, Lester, Hammel, and Hendricks under contract for next year. 

A small part of me wouldn't be stunned if they look to address that opening via trade and look to get a younger, cheaper pitcher who is under control for a few more years.  They may not want to stack huge contracts of over-30 pitchers in back-to-back offseasons.  Will be interesting to see how it plays out. 

[buckchuckler]

The Cubs definitely won't sign two big money pitchers this offseason - that's just to much risk with Lester's contract already on the books.  Plus they likely only need to fill one spot with Arrieta, Lester, Hammel, and Hendricks under contract for next year. 

A small part of me wouldn't be stunned if they look to address that opening via trade and look to get a younger, cheaper pitcher who is under control for a few more years.  They may not want to stack huge contracts of over-30 pitchers in back-to-back offseasons.  Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

To me they seem like a great fit for Hamels.  He would give them another proven post season stud, another great lefty.   And even if they can't catch the Cards and Pirates, it wouldn't just be a one year thing.  He has what, 4 more years on his deal at a pretty reasonable rate?  Seems like a good fit to me.

It is just a matter of Theo being able to cut the cord on some of the minor leaguers. 

[buckchuckler]

Meanwhile, the White Sox and Pirates seem to have a match to me.  The Pirates need a replacement for Mercer (out 6-8 weeks) and could use an upgrade at 1st as well. 

They could likely get Alexei Ramirez and LaRoche pretty cheaply.  Both would be upgrades over what they currently have without too much investment.  And if they wanted a little bigger deal, Samardizja would really give them a serious rotation.  Cole, Liriano, Burnett and Samardizja would be pretty daunting in a series. 

[tower912]

The Tigers should be sellers this year.    Cespedes, Price, Davis, Avila...   They have no chance of signing any of the first 3 next year and they are done this year.   However, I highly doubt the Mr. Ilitch will let Dombrowski start selling.      Astounding how year in and year out this team lacks heart.  Lots of talent.   No dirtbags willing their team to victory.   

[ChicosBailBonds]

I'm thinkin' it's BO's fault, hey?

Bo Ryan sucks as a dude.....but he is a great coach.

[CTWarrior]

Bo Ryan sucks as a dude.....but he is a great coach.

Chicos, you must have enjoyed watching the Angels put the final nails in the Red Sox 2015 coffin. 

I was in DC this past weekend to see Nationals Park for the first time.  Beautiful park, traffic surprisingly good and despite the oppressive heat, watching Kershaw totally dominate a major league lineup was something to see, as was Bryce Harper hitting an absolute bomb off of Jansen in the 9th.

Heading west in August to catch games in Seattle, San Francisco and Oakland. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

Chicos, you must have enjoyed watching the Angels put the final nails in the Red Sox 2015 coffin. 

I was in DC this past weekend to see Nationals Park for the first time.  Beautiful park, traffic surprisingly good and despite the oppressive heat, watching Kershaw totally dominate a major league lineup was something to see, as was Bryce Harper hitting an absolute bomb off of Jansen in the 9th.

Heading west in August to catch games in Seattle, San Francisco and Oakland.

I enjoyed it more because of the BoTox fans that come to the Halos games each year.  So obnoxious.  Yankee fans can be a bit much, but they are saints compared to Saux fans.  They were very very quiet this weekend, which was great.  We went Saturday night in the rain.  Yesterday was a bloodbath.  Leaving now for the Halos Twins game, which I expect to be very competitive.

[4everwarriors]

Hope you're sittin' behind the net, ai na?

[wadesworld]

I can just hear the front office conversations going on in the Brewers organization right now.

"We're only 10 under .500.  We can really make a run at this thing!"

After we trade nobody and a few first year guys play well through the end of the year, the offseason conversations change to, "We were so close!  We just need to add one or two little pieces and we're right back in this thing.  Is Jerry Hairston Jr. available?  We have a lot of young pitching, we can afford to lose one of them, let's give up Jungmann to get him and we should be a Playoff team, and once you're in you could win the whole thing."

Next year comes around, the young guys prove that it was just the fact that nobody had a scouting report on them and they really aren't very good, but we continue to only worry about getting 3 million fans through the gates and if we do that we're in a good spot.

Wash, rinse, repeat, every year.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Hope you're sittin' behind the net, ai na?

Ended up not going, my wife took my son.  I have a presentation to do tonight. Taking a little break to check out Scoop, but he'll protect her if a crazy line drive gets to them.

[NavinRJohnson]

I can just hear the front office conversations going on in the Brewers organization right now.

"We're only 10 under .500.  We can really make a run at this thing!"

After we trade nobody and a few first year guys play well through the end of the year, the offseason conversations change to, "We were so close!  We just need to add one or two little pieces and we're right back in this thing.  Is Jerry Hairston Jr. available?  We have a lot of young pitching, we can afford to lose one of them, let's give up Jungmann to get him and we should be a Playoff team, and once you're in you could win the whole thing."

Next year comes around, the young guys prove that it was just the fact that nobody had a scouting report on them and they really aren't very good, but we continue to only worry about getting 3 million fans through the gates and if we do that we're in a good spot.

Wash, rinse, repeat, every year.

Not to worry. Heard Gord Ash a day or two ago. He was pretty clear they have absolutely no delusions of trying to salvage this year. Now, weather that can find the right trade partners, and make  any decent deals is an entirely different question, and a more difficult thing to do, but I am confident their heads are at least in the right place. I would only move Gomez or Lucroy if someone knocks your socks off with an offer. Otherwise I would be content to wait until the offseason with those guys, when you tend to get better value.  Lucroy's position and contract in particular makes him a very valuable commodity. Brewers need to either extend him or trade him, because he doesn't do much for them while they rebuild over the next couple years.

All of that said, the offense has actually turned into what I expected it to be. Coming into the year, I did Think they could have a top 5 offense (with question marks up and down the pitching staff). Unfortunately with the April disaster and all the injuries into May, the season was already over. If they aren't able to make any significant deadline deals, and they continue to hit the rest of the season, then I will start to worry  that they might think near-term instead of long-term.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

[4everwarriors]

Dumped Ramirez's heine, hey?

[Benny B]

I can just hear the front office conversations going on in the Brewers organization right now.

"We're only 10 under .500.  We can really make a run at this thing!"

After we trade nobody and a few first year guys play well through the end of the year, the offseason conversations change to, "We were so close!  We just need to add one or two little pieces and we're right back in this thing.  Is Jerry Hairston Jr. available?  We have a lot of young pitching, we can afford to lose one of them, let's give up Jungmann to get him and we should be a Playoff team, and once you're in you could win the whole thing."

Next year comes around, the young guys prove that it was just the fact that nobody had a scouting report on them and they really aren't very good, but we continue to only worry about getting 3 million fans through the gates and if we do that we're in a good spot.

Wash, rinse, repeat, every year.

Come on now.... if 88 wins gets you there, the Crew only has to go 46-25 over their last 71 games to get the wild card.  Every time they win, remove a piece.