2b 2018

chibears55

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Looks like Cubs brass are liking Ian Happs and his play at 2B.

Be interesting to see if they go with Happs over Baez at 2B in 2018..

Also

Maybe if Happs takes over 2B , could Baez bump Russell off SS


This could be an interesting watch this season into the off-season....

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Move Baez to 3B, and trade Bryant for a king's ransom.
 

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Move Baez to 3B, and trade Bryant for a king's ransom.
Stick to the football forum as baseball is not your thing.

Come to think about it after reading your posts....football is not your thing either.
 

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Stick to the football forum as baseball is not your thing.

Come to think about it after reading your posts....football is not your thing either.

We could get 2 top flight starting pitchers for Bryant. Maybe a Syndergaard and Gsellman/Matz.
 

chibears55

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www.csnchicago.com/chicago-cubs/nex...prospects-creating-buzz-schwarber-kris-bryant



"Hitting coaches have been really impressed and now he's taking it into the game. He's definitely a major-league player in waiting and his time will come," Maddon said. "... He's more confident at home plate. He went through a stretch there where he was really spinning off pitches.*

"Then he had one at-bat —*I think against the Angels —*he hit a line drive to right field in the latter part of the game. From then on, he's been locked in. Since that one at-bat, he's been hot."

Happ is a player cut perfectly in the Maddon mold —*a switch-hitter who can play second base or outfield —*and because of that, the 22-year-old said he's been spending a lot of time this spring picking Ben Zobrist's brain.
 

TC in Mississippi

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www.csnchicago.com/chicago-cubs/nex...prospects-creating-buzz-schwarber-kris-bryant



"Hitting coaches have been really impressed and now he's taking it into the game. He's definitely a major-league player in waiting and his time will come," Maddon said. "... He's more confident at home plate. He went through a stretch there where he was really spinning off pitches.*

"Then he had one at-bat —*I think against the Angels —*he hit a line drive to right field in the latter part of the game. From then on, he's been locked in. Since that one at-bat, he's been hot."

Happ is a player cut perfectly in the Maddon mold —*a switch-hitter who can play second base or outfield —*and because of that, the 22-year-old said he's been spending a lot of time this spring picking Ben Zobrist's brain.

I'm not sure what's not to like but I'd take those comments with a grain of salt. Sure if Baez takes a developmental step back or is injured Happ could catch a break but it's far more likely that Happ goes in a trade for starting pitching at the deadline or next offseason than it is to pencil him in a 2B in 2018. Zobrist has 2 more years and 1 more year with a no trade clause, Baez appears to be a rising star and Addison Russell is going to win an MVP one day, in fact he's my darkhorse pick for MVP this year. I love what Ian Happ is doing but he looks much more like a rising trade chip than a future Cub to me.
 

chibears55

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I'm not sure what's not to like but I'd take those comments with a grain of salt. Sure if Baez takes a developmental step back or is injured Happ could catch a break but it's far more likely that Happ goes in a trade for starting pitching at the deadline or next offseason than it is to pencil him in a 2B in 2018. Zobrist has 2 more years and 1 more year with a no trade clause, Baez appears to be a rising star and Addison Russell is going to win an MVP one day, in fact he's my darkhorse pick for MVP this year. I love what Ian Happ is doing but he looks much more like a rising trade chip than a future Cub to me.
I wasn't saying its a sure bet he going to take over 2B and yes he very well can be a significant trade piece for a SP.
But
he even looking to add 3B to his defensive ability with 2B and all 3 OF positions..
He can very well end up being part of that rotation with Baez Zobrist etc. in 2018 and then replace Zobrist in 2019..


Like I said, the Cubs are going to have a lot of interesting decisions to make these next 2 years with all these talented young players

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TC in Mississippi

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I wasn't saying its a sure bet he going to take over 2B and yes he very well can be a significant trade piece for a SP.
But
he even looking to add 3B to his defensive ability with 2B and all 3 OF positions..
He can very well end up being part of that rotation with Baez Zobrist etc. in 2018 and then replace Zobrist in 2019..


Like I said, the Cubs are going to have a lot of interesting decisions to make these next 2 years with all these talented young players

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Agreed, but unless they get some cost controlled pitching none of it will matter. Of course I trust these guys and fully expect them to do that.
 

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I would assume that Happ is on the team at some point next year. As far as a starting gig I doubt that part. He most likely will end up as a bench player due to his versitility.

Now if he just goes out and puts up a .400 OBA with little weakness to either side they may rethink 2018 and use him as the primary lead off.

I do believe something will end up having to give. It could end up Schwarber traded if he gets a few TOR in return. At that point Happ goes to LF and Baez takes over 2B. Baez may end up traded also.

But the thing is all are cheap and when the price tags start to go up then they most likely will start to deal
 

TC in Mississippi

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I would assume that Happ is on the team at some point next year. As far as a starting gig I doubt that part. He most likely will end up as a bench player due to his versitility.

Now if he just goes out and puts up a .400 OBA with little weakness to either side they may rethink 2018 and use him as the primary lead off.

I do believe something will end up having to give. It could end up Schwarber traded if he gets a few TOR in return. At that point Happ goes to LF and Baez takes over 2B. Baez may end up traded also.

But the thing is all are cheap and when the price tags start to go up then they most likely will start to deal

Schwarber is the one guy I don't think they'll trade, OK they won't trade Bryant either. I would not be terribly shocked if they traded Baez, Russell or even Rizzo at some point but I think the see potential HoF in Schwarber.
 

chibears55

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Schwarber is the one guy I don't think they'll trade, OK they won't trade Bryant either. I would not be terribly shocked if they traded Baez, Russell or even Rizzo at some point but I think the see potential HoF in Schwarber.
Trading Schwarber or not is going to solely depends on how he handles LF for a full year.

Also

Lets remember Schwarber has only 278 major league AB in which he hitting .245, which includes just 15 hits in his last 77 AB .194 in regular season..

So

Lets just wait and see what he does in at least one full year before we say he untradable and all.

Another reason why if Sox would of offered Sales for Schwarber I would of been more then good with it...

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Ya it is a interesting topic for sure. They gave Bryant 1.1 mil which bested the deal they gave to Trout. So I'm thinking that they make a long term along the lines that Trout got. Bryant is the face of the franchise.

Schwarber I'm not sure on. He is not plus on D and that part of his game makes him inferior to Bryant. So I can see it going along the lines of if Schwarber stays in his WAR value of contract then they may end up offering him a long term.

But if they have to choose between Bryant, Russell and Schwarber I doubt that they move Russell or Bryant due to the position's they play and the value those positions hold vs a position known for hiding a bat.

Just saying. Who knows they may end up going Yankee mode after the construction is finished. Too many factors to consider.
 

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Happ's 22 right now, turns 23 in August. Why not keep him, develop him, give him close to 1K AB in AA/AAA before calling him up full-time some point next year and have him as a platoon option in the IF/OF. Not sure why you need to trade or play him right now.
 

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I could see Schwarber going too. I don't think he will see much time behind the plate again and his defensive skills, while not terrible, are not up to the level of the rest of the team. A lot will depend on how he progresses this year, especially on that knee.

He is built like a true DH type player and there are more than a couple of AL teams that I could see in a bidding war for him. I'd love to see Kyle here, he is the type of player that any coach would want but if he has a mediocre to good year I could see him being dangled near the trade deadline, especially if we have an injury or two to the front half of the pitching rotation.
 

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Kyle Schwarber is not going anywhere. Full stop. Theo Epstein is infatuated with him. They think he's a better hitter than Kris Bryant. Reigning NL MVP Kris Bryant. This is a guy who missed the entire season and then walked onto the biggest stage in baseball history six months after knee reconstruction and hit .412. That's not supposed to happen.

The story behind how the Cubs "discovered" Schwarber is enlightening: Like everyone else, they scouted him and saw a talented slugger who was probably best suited to the AL. And initially, that's exactly how they graded him, as a great bat who probably wasn't for them. Epstein in particular was not high on him. But then they ran all of Schwarber's pre-draft data--stats, measurables, bio/neurological testing, etc.--through their proprietary modeling software. They have never revealed exactly what it spit out once it crunched all of Schwarber's data, only hinted around it, but when they saw what the model predicted Kyle Schwarber would become, jaws hit the floor and people did double-takes. This is where the only-half-joking "Babe f'in Ruth" comps originate from. That's not to say Schwarber is going to hit 714 home runs, it's a way to emphasize how rare his profile is. He is an anomalous bat, a true outlier. Epstein immediately ordered Schwarber to be "re-scouted" from scratch, to see if they could substantiate what the model found. Ultimately, they realized they had made a massive oversight and so had the rest of the league, too. And that's why they ended up taking Schwarber fourth in a draft when most people thought he'd be a mid to late first round pick. This is a guy who's capable of "2015 Bryce Harper" seasons.

You don't trade that guy. You find a place for him to play.
 

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If you can play 2B, 3B would also be an option. I could see Happ in 2018 taking some time at 2B and backing up Almora. Also, that could signal Bryant moving to OF. It's nice to have options.
 

TC in Mississippi

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Kyle Schwarber is not going anywhere. Full stop. Theo Epstein is infatuated with him. They think he's a better hitter than Kris Bryant. Reigning NL MVP Kris Bryant. This is a guy who missed the entire season and then walked onto the biggest stage in baseball history six months after knee reconstruction and hit .412. That's not supposed to happen.

The story behind how the Cubs "discovered" Schwarber is enlightening: Like everyone else, they scouted him and saw a talented slugger who was probably best suited to the AL. And initially, that's exactly how they graded him, as a great bat who probably wasn't for them. Epstein in particular was not high on him. But then they ran all of Schwarber's pre-draft data--stats, measurables, bio/neurological testing, etc.--through their proprietary modeling software. They have never revealed exactly what it spit out once it crunched all of Schwarber's data, only hinted around it, but when they saw what the model predicted Kyle Schwarber would become, jaws hit the floor and people did double-takes. This is where the only-half-joking "Babe f'in Ruth" comps originate from. That's not to say Schwarber is going to hit 714 home runs, it's a way to emphasize how rare his profile is. He is an anomalous bat, a true outlier. Epstein immediately ordered Schwarber to be "re-scouted" from scratch, to see if they could substantiate what the model found. Ultimately, they realized they had made a massive oversight and so had the rest of the league, too. And that's why they ended up taking Schwarber fourth in a draft when most people thought he'd be a mid to late first round pick. This is a guy who's capable of "2015 Bryce Harper" seasons.

You don't trade that guy. You find a place for him to play.

Amen. I'm not sure people understand just how rare a hitting talent Schwarber is. I've been a baseball fan for close to 5 decades and I've only seen a handful of guys with a swing as near perfect as Kyle's with the strength to hit for serious HR power and those guys have names like Aaron, Griffey and Thomas. If I were to guess I would say if the Cubs found the pitcher they wanted and the other club wanted Rizzo or Schwarber I think they'd trade Rizzo. That's how good this kid's potential is.
 

chibears55

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Amen. I'm not sure people understand just how rare a hitting talent Schwarber is. I've been a baseball fan for close to 5 decades and I've only seen a handful of guys with a swing as near perfect as Kyle's with the strength to hit for serious HR power and those guys have names like Aaron, Griffey and Thomas. If I were to guess I would say if the Cubs found the pitcher they wanted and the other club wanted Rizzo or Schwarber I think they'd trade Rizzo. That's how good this kid's potential is.
There no doubt the kid has great hitting potential and all but we have yet to see it for a full season..

He started out hot when he came up in 2015 but tailed off alot in the final month where he hit under .200

All I'm saying is let see what he does for a full season first..
Plus
We need to see how he handles LF everyday for a full season

Let's just hope he better then Dave Kingman out there ?

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