Cubs offseason rumors/transactions

Cut Hannemann and added De La Cruz, Alzolay and Bote. At 36 now.

So they can add 4 if they don't subtract.

CSF77 said:

Cut Hannemann and added De La Cruz, Alzolay and Bote. At 36 now.

So they can add 4 if they don't subtract.

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Hanneman cleared waivers...
If noone takes him in rule 5, he'll return to Iowa on a minor league deal

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I'm just trying to figure out why protect David Bote?

CSF77 said:

I'm just trying to figure out why protect David Bote?

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Probably the most MLB ready IF in the system and with the spots on the 40, why not?

CSF77 said:

I'm just trying to figure out why protect David Bote?

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He hit .337/.410/.518 over 313 PAs in A+ in 2016. He hit .272/.353/.438 in 536 PAs at AA in 2017. Someone is going to pick that up even if it were only a bench bat. Its like I said before, even if you don't think he's part of the cubs long term future you can deal that for something that is.

If the theory is you're going to deal for pitching he's the prefect type of player as a second tier type to add to a deal. He'll be in AAA and probably could play in the majors by midseason given how he hit in AA/AFL. You look at a team like Tampa who has obvious connections trade wise to the cubs(Archer and/or Colome) and last year they had Brad Miller who hit .201/.327/.337 who is going into arb 2($4.4 mil estimate) and Daniel Robertson who's going into pre Arb who hit .206/.308/.326. Presumably they non-tender Miller given how expensive he's going to be. They also have Matt Duffy who may slide over from SS to 2B given they now have Adeiny Hechavarria. Thing is though Hechavarria is basically only defense(hit .257/.289/.411) and Duffy himself missed all of 2017 and is a career .281/.324/.395 hitter(100 wRC+ so league average). Unless they add some guys they don't have anyone else on their 40 man who plays 2B. They also have Willy Adames who could be a likely call up to play SS and then figure 2B between Duffy/Robertson.

Having said all that Bote could make for an interesting second piece in a Colome trade and you've effectively solved part of the closer situation. You'd still be in a position to go after Davis if you so chose but having Colome would give you a fall back piece. I could see something like Bote plus maybe Clifton and Zagunis or something like that being close. Might take more like Hatch rather than Clifton as if he's not on the 40 man chances are scouting on him last year really went down.

Philly DFA'd Mark Appel. Man he has fall on hard times from being the #1 draft pick. I don't think he's ever going to make it as a starter but I feel like he'd be an interesting guy to move to a bullpen. Has a really good fastball/slider combo that would likely play up in relief and his walk rate issues wouldn't be as bad in relief.

Burks was left exposed and is ranked higher. That was the head scratcher. Bote is just a bat with avg at best D while Burks is that plus speed.

If they lose Burks just to protect another 2B with Zobrist, Baez and Happ as depth is stupid.

On Appel. He has to be the hugest disapointment ever. Him getting coined the best arm sense Mark Prior must have cursed him. That said IDK honestly. The Cubs are really not known for fixing guys like him. I don’t know Hickey’s history and really don’t know if he moves the needle with guys like him. Pitt is a place that maybe his best opertunity to rebound. They have a stronger history with fixing and development of pitching.

Bu the 4 spots is the intersecting part:

https://www.rosterresource.com/mlb-chicago-cubs

On this chart shows the system projected depth.

SP they have Montgomery and Butler in depth.

BP they have Edwards as the best arm.

Had to hazard a guess they have to add 2 SP and 2 BP arms. That is not even getting into them trading off of the 40.

CSF77 said:

Burks was left exposed and is ranked higher. That was the head scratcher. Bote is just a bat with avg at best D while Burks is that plus speed.

If they lose Burks just to protect another 2B with Zobrist, Baez and Happ as depth is stupid.

On Appel. He has to be the hugest disapointment ever. Him getting coined the best arm sense Mark Prior must have cursed him. That said IDK honestly. The Cubs are really not known for fixing guys like him. I don’t know Hickey’s history and really don’t know if he moves the needle with guys like him. Pitt is a place that maybe his best opertunity to rebound. They have a stronger history with fixing and development of pitching.

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Re: Appel not necessarily saying it has to be the cubs to give him a shot but someone surely will

Re: Burks I think you're overselling him. My guess is he's not really a CF long term which is why they chose not to put him on the 40 man. He played 87 games in LF for AA and 34 in CF. Trey Martin was the primary CF for Tenn. I'm not trying to talk Burks down that much but frankly it wasn't an either or. The cubs have room on their 40 man still and chose not to put him on. If he's stuck playing LF with a little CF now and then(a la Szczur) he's not really that valuable because 10 HRs in LF these days doesn't get it done.

Overall, I'm not sure a team would take him because I really don't think there's enough upside. You have to roster him all of next year or he comes back. And it's not like he's a LH bat you can just hide on the bench for platoon type situations. He's a career .265/.359/.381 hitter in the minors. If he were to play in the majors next year I'm guessing you're looking at .230/.325/.355 best case given he's yet to even play in AAA . Even if you suggest he's a true CF, MLB average for CF last year was .262/.333/.426 and obviously that's worse if you put him against LFers. And while he has decent range his arm is well below average.

So, he really doesn't offer that much to a team for 2018. I have to imagine most teams have a guy like him already. For example, Hannemann is a better runner with a better arm, a LH bat and a career .247/.312/.381 hitter in the minors(.265/.324/.404 in PCL this year) and he literally went through waivers with no one claiming him twice if you count the cubs actually getting him back. If you want to argue Burks is a better hitter that's fine but there's not substantial difference in them. That's not to say that either is necessarily bad but there's not going to be many people pounding the table to draft him because neither do anything amazingly. Both have speed but it's not like it's Billy Hamilton speed. Both are ok hitters but it's nothing to write home about.

Cubs have been somewhat quiet with rumors so far outside the obvious ones like Archer and Cobb...

Wouldnt surprise me if they end up with an unexpected blockbuster trade..

I keep thinking a deal with the Rays for 2 or 3 players...
Colome , Archer or Odorizzi, maybe Kiermeir

Just think instead of all individual deals to address needs, they may make one big deal to address a couple needs at once..
Rays seem to be the team that can make that deal



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chibears55 said:

Cubs have been somewhat quiet with rumors so far outside the obvious ones like Archer and Cobb...

Wouldnt surprise me if they end up with an unexpected blockbuster trade..

I keep thinking a deal with the Rays for 2 or 3 players...
Colome , Archer or Odorizzi, maybe Kiermeir

Just think instead of all individual deals to address needs, they may make one big deal to address a couple needs at once..
Rays seem to be the team that can make that deal



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Not sure if the Cubs have the trade weight for that.

Archer and Colome would solve the TOR and closer. But the weight they carry is around 6 WAR.

A return would be something like:

Russell: super 2
Happ: full 6 years control
Schwarber: 5 years control
Alzolay: AA

That would be just to start talking.

Now the impact would be Baez at SS. A Def. downgrade. Bat a push. 2B depth down to Zobrist. No LF.

So in general to net a TOR and a closer you Swiss cheese the diamond.

I highly doubt Theo does this. The point of trading is to save on payroll but trading out controllable talent forces payroll into replacements as that talent is not MLR.

So this is why this is not likely at all.

Honestly they should just pony up for Reed and Yu. Then go internal for the 5 and the pen.

If you look at their depth they have Montgomery and Butler as the 4/5. Pen is Edwards/Strop/Wilson/Rondon/Maples/Rob Z/Grimm

Signing Yu pushes Montgomery to the pen and Rob Z out.

Signing Reed pushes Grimm out.

That leaves Rondon and he can be replaced by
Matt Carasiti.

This leaves the team intact at semi reasonable cost.

CSF77 said:

Not sure if the Cubs have the trade weight for that.

Archer and Colome would solve the TOR and closer. But the weight they carry is around 6 WAR.

A return would be something like:

Russell: super 2
Happ: full 6 years control
Schwarber: 5 years control
Alzolay: AA

That would be just to start talking.

Now the impact would be Baez at SS. A Def. downgrade. Bat a push. 2B depth down to Zobrist. No LF.

So in general to net a TOR and a closer you Swiss cheese the diamond.

I highly doubt Theo does this. The point of trading is to save on payroll but trading out controllable talent forces payroll into replacements as that talent is not MLR.

So this is why this is not likely at all.

Honestly they should just pony up for Reed and Yu. Then go internal for the 5 and the pen.

If you look at their depth they have Montgomery and Butler as the 4/5. Pen is Edwards/Strop/Wilson/Rondon/Maples/Rob Z/Grimm





Signing Yu pushes Montgomery to the pen and Rob Z out.

Signing Reed pushes Grimm out.

That leaves Rondon and he can be replaced by
Matt Carasiti.

This leaves the team intact at semi reasonable cost.

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I agree with this in theory but not the particulars. Possibly Yu but I've never been sold on Reed....I mean he will want closer money but if he were here I'd rather have Edwards close and Reed set up. I think I might go Yu (not real sold on him either) and look again at Davis if they can the years in order. Why destroy half of what you built on a trade for pitching...probably the most fragile position in the game. You buy them and they breakdown, all you're out is the cash.

Diehardfan said:

I agree with this in theory but not the particulars. Possibly Yu but I've never been sold on Reed....I mean he will want closer money but if he were here I'd rather have Edwards close and Reed set up. I think I might go Yu (not real sold on him either) and look again at Davis if they can the years in order. Why destroy half of what you built on a trade for pitching...probably the most fragile position in the game. You buy them and they breakdown, all you're out is the cash.

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I believe Reed is a better set up also but I believe it will be Maples just taking off. His stuff is best in system by far

CSF77 said:

Not sure if the Cubs have the trade weight for that.

Archer and Colome would solve the TOR and closer. But the weight they carry is around 6 WAR.

A return would be something like:

Russell: super 2
Happ: full 6 years control
Schwarber: 5 years control
Alzolay: AA

That would be just to start talking.

Now the impact would be Baez at SS. A Def. downgrade. Bat a push. 2B depth down to Zobrist. No LF.

So in general to net a TOR and a closer you Swiss cheese the diamond.

I highly doubt Theo does this. The point of trading is to save on payroll but trading out controllable talent forces payroll into replacements as that talent is not MLR.

So this is why this is not likely at all.

Honestly they should just pony up for Reed and Yu. Then go internal for the 5 and the pen.

If you look at their depth they have Montgomery and Butler as the 4/5. Pen is Edwards/Strop/Wilson/Rondon/Maples/Rob Z/Grimm

Signing Yu pushes Montgomery to the pen and Rob Z out.

Signing Reed pushes Grimm out.

That leaves Rondon and he can be replaced by
Matt Carasiti.

This leaves the team intact at semi reasonable cost.

Click to expand...

Sure if Yu and Reed want to sign with cubs at the Cubs asking price...

It easy to say just sign this guy and that guy, but those guys have to
A. Want to come here
B. Agree to what the cubs are offering

Im sure there going to be multiple teams making generous offers for Darvish..

Why sometimes it just easier to trade for what needed and basically just need to come to an agreement of players with trading partner..

Sometimes the cost of a trade is less then what you expect it to be...

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CSF77 said:

I believe Reed is a better set up also but I believe it will be Maples just taking off. His stuff is best in system by far

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Maples as closer? I've only seen him briefly but that would be a pretty bold move, regardless of his stuff.

But in general my preference is going all in:

Sign Yu
Sign Cobb. This fixes the rotation at Lester, Yu, Q, Hendricks, Cobb. At that point even if the Crew signs Jake and they go full strength the Cubs can keep up with them. Honestly if that deal goes down the Cubs playing the saving game the fall into a WC situation. And if Stanton goes Cards that bit is in question.

After that you really have to evaluate Maples. Is his stuff good enough to close at the highest level? Is it ready? It is basically yes or no. Is it a time issue or is it more of a inability to throw strikes at will. They should pretty muck know what they have by now. Talent wise he has better stuff than Cease. If you put them in the same role Maples wins on talent.

It has more to do with control with him. He really doesn’t need to be a command pitcher. Which means pin pointing his fastball in a location to survive. He needs to be able to put it into the strike zone. Because a hitter will have to deal with his wipe out slider at any count that is basically unhittable. Not to mention a hammer that is a knee buckler.

So in theory if he can throw his fastball for strikes the rest takes care of themself. Now I like Edwards but even his talent is not as high as Maples is.

But that said if Maples can be that guy with time then Reed costs less and do both roles. If Maples is too much of a gamble then you invest into Davis and let things play out.

Diehardfan said:

Maples as closer? I've only seen him briefly but that would be a pretty bold move, regardless of his stuff.

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He sat in A ball for 5 years and the first time he was able to put it together they rushed him up over 4 levels of baseball and he held his own up to the majors.

Even then he got hammered Sept 4 vs Pit. 10 strikes in 24 pitches and gave up 5 of his 6 total runs. But then his last 2 games he went back to back striking out the side.

All said and done he ended up walking 5 in 4.1. Basically avg 1 per outing But struck out 10 which is 2 per outing. So that is what he has to get under control is the walks. But even then if you are avg 2 SO’s per appearance you can get away with a walk per but that HR will kill you.

Holy hell MLB just murdered atlanta. They've banned their former GM John Coppolella for life to start with. They've also made Kevin Maitan, and backstop Abrahan Gutierrez, shortstop Yunior Severino, righty Juan Contreras, shortstop Jihwan Bae, shortstop Livan Soto and righty Yefri del Rosario all free agents. Maitan was the biggest guy I've brought up before. Gutierrez was mlb.com's #25 prospect in 2016. Severino was #26. Oh and they also have limited their signings til 2023 and made them give up a 3rd round pick next year.

beckdawg said:

Holy hell MLB just murdered atlanta. They've banned their former GM John Coppolella for life to start with. They've also made Kevin Maitan, and backstop Abrahan Gutierrez, shortstop Yunior Severino, righty Juan Contreras, shortstop Jihwan Bae, shortstop Livan Soto and righty Yefri del Rosario all free agents. Maitan was the biggest guy I've brought up before. Gutierrez was mlb.com's #25 prospect in 2016. Severino was #26. Oh and they also have limited their signings til 2023 and made them give up a 3rd round pick next year.

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This was a message to all of the teams to stop fucking around with the international system. Frankly it's bullshit. The St. Louis scandal was far worse without nearly the penalty.

TC in Mississippi said:

This was a message to all of the teams to stop fucking around with the international system. Frankly it's bullshit. The St. Louis scandal was far worse without nearly the penalty.

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Yeah the cards got a slap on the wrist comparatively. This punishment and what boston got was pretty fair