Trade deadline/rumors

TC in Mississippi

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Figure it's that time of year so might as well be it's own topic.

Saw this

http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/184080478/cubs-eyeing-aroldis-chapman-andrew-miller

which makes little sense to me but I can imagine there's a few here who will like it. Strikes me as the writer wanting it more than him having sources though.

Phil Rogers is an idiot. I swear he makes stuff up. I still don't see Chapman to the Cubs and I really believe Miller is untouchable. Something tells me that if there's a huge trade it's going to be with Oakland with Doolittle in the deal.
 

chibears55

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Figure it's that time of year so might as well be it's own topic.

Saw this

http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/184080478/cubs-eyeing-aroldis-chapman-andrew-miller

which makes little sense to me but I can imagine there's a few here who will like it. Strikes me as the writer wanting it more than him having sources though.
Ha.. as much as id like to say told ya so

Phil Rogers a moron to me..
if you listen to him talk he will make your head spin and be like what the hell did he just say...



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beckdawg

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I'm wondering if Soler has injured his way possibly off the team. When healthy I actually like Soler's potential quite a bit. But he has been some what fragile over his career and that has given Almora the chance to come up and potentially take his job. Basically, I'm curious about the playoffs. Almora has started hot in the majors which obviously could change but for the sake of argument let's just say he's league average which is like .257/.324/.419. If he's anywhere near that I think Maddon is going to have a tough time keeping him out of the line up. The outfield defense would be incredible. Fowler is 8th best in DRS and 4th best in UZR/150 at CF. Heyward is 2nd and 3rd in RF). You add Almora into that and it's going to give them some fairly massive range in the outfield. The cubs in general are pretty ground ball oriented but having the safety net behind you in the playoffs could be big even if it's only turning what would be a double into the gap into a single.

Getting back to Soler, Fowler is pretty safe to leave after this year. But you also have Schwarber returning. And they obviously dealt for Cogs(lefty) and Szczur is hitting .327/.373/.491 on the season and also happens to be a far better baserunner(22 SB last year 30 in 2014). So, both seem like better bench pieces in the playoffs even if Soler's a potentially great hitter. Soler is also making $3.666 mil which isn't huge but if the cubs are as cash strapped as I've suggested they might be dealing him as the main piece for whatever would open some wiggle room.

As for what they would use him to get, that's open for debate but he certainly seems like one of the more obvious players the cubs could trade. I'm still sorta partial to the idea of dealing for Drew Smyly as a bullpen piece for 2016 with the idea of moving him to the rotation next year. He has some warts on him but to be fair so does Soler and his underlying numbers are pretty good especially vs lefties. His 2 and 4 seam fastballs have been flyball magnets but Arrieta also faced similar HR issues before coming over to the cubs. If Bosio could work out some of those issues, he has a pretty dominating slider(34.9% k rate) and also not bad cutter(25.8% k rate). To me, if you're going to deal for a lefty and not go the LOOGY route this makes more sense because you at least give yourself some better options long term for the heavy price you are likely to pay for someone like Miller.

Also, one last thing on Smyly. He's got a 12.1% swinging strike rate this year which is 11th in the majors. Top 10 are Clayton Kershaw, Noah Syndergaard, Jose Fernandez, Max Scherzer, Michael Pineda, Matt Shoemaker, David Price, Cole Hamels, John Lackey, and Danny Salazar. So, pretty good indicator of TOR type stuff even if his ERA/FIP are pretty bad.
 

cubsmann

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I'm wondering if Soler has injured his way possibly off the team. When healthy I actually like Soler's potential quite a bit. But he has been some what fragile over his career and that has given Almora the chance to come up and potentially take his job. Basically, I'm curious about the playoffs. Almora has started hot in the majors which obviously could change but for the sake of argument let's just say he's league average which is like .257/.324/.419. If he's anywhere near that I think Maddon is going to have a tough time keeping him out of the line up. The outfield defense would be incredible. Fowler is 8th best in DRS and 4th best in UZR/150 at CF. Heyward is 2nd and 3rd in RF). You add Almora into that and it's going to give them some fairly massive range in the outfield. The cubs in general are pretty ground ball oriented but having the safety net behind you in the playoffs could be big even if it's only turning what would be a double into the gap into a single.
.

Happens all the time in other sports. Remember Tom Brady taking over for Drew Beldsoe when he got hurt? No way Brady was giving the starting job back after the season he had. When a guy play as well as Almora has played he's not going back to the bench. I wouldn't be surprised to see Soler riding the bench for the rest of the year. Especially once Folwer comes off the DL. The Cubs have too many quality OF'ers and not enough playing time for them. Actually I think Soler is going to be traded for a pitcher at the trade deadline.
 

TC in Mississippi

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Happens all the time in other sports. Remember Tom Brady taking over for Drew Beldsoe when he got hurt? No way Brady was giving the starting job back after the season he had. When a guy play as well as Almora has played he's not going back to the bench. I wouldn't be surprised to see Soler riding the bench for the rest of the year. Especially once Folwer comes off the DL. The Cubs have too many quality OF'ers and not enough playing time for them. Actually I think Soler is going to be traded for a pitcher at the trade deadline.

Listen I love Almora, I think he's a huge part of this team's future and his defense is amazing. He's off to a nice start as well slashing .294/.314/.441 in a small sample size of 35 PA and he's only walked 1 time. Teams will catch up to him and he's going to struggle. I wouldn't be so sure that he'll still be in MLB a month from now, or even when Soler is ready. Jorge had slashed .308/.438/.590 with 3 HR and 7 walks in the 15 games prior to his injury and appeared to be figuring things out. I get that Almora is the far superior defensive player but the offense could use a little punch and Soler can provide that. Maybe Soler is moved and this is moot point but I'm nowhere near certain that Almora is up for good.
 

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Listen I love Almora, I think he's a huge part of this team's future and his defense is amazing. He's off to a nice start as well slashing .294/.314/.441 in a small sample size of 35 PA and he's only walked 1 time. Teams will catch up to him and he's going to struggle. I wouldn't be so sure that he'll still be in MLB a month from now, or even when Soler is ready. Jorge had slashed .308/.438/.590 with 3 HR and 7 walks in the 15 games prior to his injury and appeared to be figuring things out. I get that Almora is the far superior defensive player but the offense could use a little punch and Soler can provide that. Maybe Soler is moved and this is moot point but I'm nowhere near certain that Almora is up for good.
Totally agree. Almora has terrific defense but he is a singles hitter with no real power. He stands too far from the plate and hits a lot of balls off the end of the bat

I do love his aggressiveness on the bases and I'm betting he is great in the clubhouse
 

TC in Mississippi

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The more I look at the market the more I think that Fernando Abad makes an awful lot of sense if they have to trade for a lefty. I was encouraged by Concepcion last night though.
 

Parade_Rain

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The more I look at the market the more I think that Fernando Abad makes an awful lot of sense if they have to trade for a lefty. I was encouraged by Concepcion last night though.
I wasn't able to even listen. How did he do?
 

beckdawg

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Listen I love Almora, I think he's a huge part of this team's future and his defense is amazing. He's off to a nice start as well slashing .294/.314/.441 in a small sample size of 35 PA and he's only walked 1 time. Teams will catch up to him and he's going to struggle. I wouldn't be so sure that he'll still be in MLB a month from now, or even when Soler is ready. Jorge had slashed .308/.438/.590 with 3 HR and 7 walks in the 15 games prior to his injury and appeared to be figuring things out. I get that Almora is the far superior defensive player but the offense could use a little punch and Soler can provide that. Maybe Soler is moved and this is moot point but I'm nowhere near certain that Almora is up for good.

I admit this is a possibility but I'd also argue Soler has some of the issues a lot of the cubs do in that he'll get on base a lot but he's got a meh average. I think you'd rather have someone like Almora behind on base types than Soler. Granted Soler has more power but Almora hits for doubles.
 

chibears55

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Carlos Beltran?

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DanTown

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I admit this is a possibility but I'd also argue Soler has some of the issues a lot of the cubs do in that he'll get on base a lot but he's got a meh average. I think you'd rather have someone like Almora behind on base types than Soler. Granted Soler has more power but Almora hits for doubles.

Soler is more likely to be on base than Almora and he's probably going to end up with a vastly superior slugging percentage.

Almora and Baez together make two fairly K prone hitters who simply don't walk.

Almora also doesn't really "hit for doubles" as his five doubles in 35 PA is highly fluky.

If the Cubs trade Soler, it's going to be because of the guy they got for him, not because they think Almora is "ready" or anything like that.
 

chibears55

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Soler is more likely to be on base than Almora and he's probably going to end up with a vastly superior slugging percentage.

Almora and Baez together make two fairly K prone hitters who simply don't walk.

Almora also doesn't really "hit for doubles" as his five doubles in 35 PA is highly fluky.

If the Cubs trade Soler, it's going to be because of the guy they got for him, not because they think Almora is "ready" or anything like that.
If the Cubs trade Soler, yes it will be for the player in return
And
It will be because they have another LFer they plan on bringing in.



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beckdawg

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Soler is more likely to be on base than Almora and he's probably going to end up with a vastly superior slugging percentage.

Almora and Baez together make two fairly K prone hitters who simply don't walk.

Almora also doesn't really "hit for doubles" as his five doubles in 35 PA is highly fluky.

If the Cubs trade Soler, it's going to be because of the guy they got for him, not because they think Almora is "ready" or anything like that.

Firstly, Almora doesn't k often. Granted he's higher in the majors but he's typically been in the 11-13% range in the minors. This is obviously a case of a young player adjusting. And even then he's at 20.0% which is below league average. As for being flukey hitting doubles, he had 26 last year in 451 PAs at AA plus 4 triples. He's not going to hit more than 10-15 HRs a year unless he suddenly gains power but he can easily hit 30+ doubles in 650 PAs. That would be basically on par with what Heyward does.

Additionally, the point here isn't that you play Almora in LF long term. It's pretty obvious he's going to be the starting CF next season barring something weird with Fowler. The thing is, Schwarber is going to be the starting LF next year if healthy. What it comes down to is how you feel about his defense vs Soler's bat because Soler even playing better defensively this year probably is going to cost you runs where as Almora is already saved multiple runs. If Soler were hitting like he has before in his first call up or how he hit in AAA then sure there's not much of an argument to be had. You take Soler's offense. However, over 152 PAs this season he's hitting .223/.322/.377 and over 404 PAs last year he hit .262/.324/.399. Almora is hitting .286/.324/.429 right now. His BABIP is still a bit high at .370 but the point here being is that if he's even in the neighborhood offensively he's far more valuable.

And to the point about trading Soler, of course if they trade Soler it's going to be for who they can get. I specifically suggested you weren't just going to give him away. However, as of today you can make a strong case that Almora is a more valuable player in LF than Soler is largely because Soler hasn't hit well and also because he hasn't stayed healthy for a full season.
 

CSF77

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They won't trade Almora. He is pretty much getting ready to become the long term CF. next year you are looking at Schwarber and Contreras locking up LF/C. It would be Soler reduced to hitting LH starters. Even then. If Schwarber starts killing them Soler becomes a over paid PH.

If you look at it Soler has little chance to impact the team long term. The signing of Heyward signaled it. Then Fowler resigning just drew a exclamation. Schwarber's injury gave him a shot to prove himself again and he got injured (again) to his hammy (again)

End of the day he is expendable. And you can argue that they are better off with Baez at 3B and Bryant in Left
 

CSF77

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Soler is more likely to be on base than Almora and he's probably going to end up with a vastly superior slugging percentage.

Almora and Baez together make two fairly K prone hitters who simply don't walk.

Almora also doesn't really "hit for doubles" as his five doubles in 35 PA is highly fluky.

If the Cubs trade Soler, it's going to be because of the guy they got for him, not because they think Almora is "ready" or anything like that.

It is more so about his D and him and Heyward covering vast ground. Which reduces the range demand on Schwarber next year. Which is a major factor post injury.

I believe that the Cubs would rather trade players lower in the system that don't impact this year but if Chapman = Soler you have to consider it. Chapman can push you to the WS. Not many teams will survive the 8-9 with Rondon and Chapman's gas
 

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It is more so about his D and him and Heyward covering vast ground. Which reduces the range demand on Schwarber next year. Which is a major factor post injury.

I believe that the Cubs would rather trade players lower in the system that don't impact this year but if Chapman = Soler you have to consider it. Chapman can push you to the WS. Not many teams will survive the 8-9 with Rondon and Chapman's gas
It will take more than Soler to get Chapman, plus Chapman hasnt been that good this year
 

Mr. Bates

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Nobody cares about Soler. He's 25, and his baseball reference page rivals War and Peace.

If he's so great - why doesn't he have any recognizable MLB numbers by now?

Otherwise, you Cub fans needs to get with reality and realize nobody wants him/gives a shit about him.

Soler for Chapman...

Get real.
 

SilenceS

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Nobody cares about Soler. He's 25, and his baseball reference page rivals War and Peace.

If he's so great - why doesn't he have any recognizable MLB numbers by now?

Otherwise, you Cub fans needs to get with reality and realize nobody wants him/gives a shit about him.

Soler for Chapman...

Get real.

He is 24 and his numbers are not awful and he still has tons of potential. You seem sour.
 

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