The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

[BleacherBum2310]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

Much as already been said so I will keep it short. Although the NLCS left a bad taste in my mouth, I couldn't be more proud of this team for what they accomplished this year when they were supposed to be an afterthought in the NL Central until next year.

In terms of personnel, I didn't see much from our current catcher rotation that warranted moving Schwarber to LF to make it work. Is Schwarber really THAT bad defensively behind the plate that we had to make room for David ****ing Ross who was absolutely abysmal in the playoffs. Both him and Montero offered nothing defensively. Ross has to go. Unbelievable a roster spot is even being wasted on such a useless baseball player. I don't care how great of a "clubhouse" guy he is. Go away.

Was good to see Soler get it going after a rough full rookie campaign. Still holding out hope that he will end up being one of top players on this team.

This team definitely needs a front end rotation guy, and maybe another arm at the back end of the bullpen. I would definitely like Fowler back if the price is right as well. One thing this team is missing is that high average on base guy. This team struck out way too much this season. Kris Bryant being public enemy number one. If this team really wants to go all the way, that has to be improved upon tenfold.

yeah Schwarber calling a game leaves much to be desired they were several occasions on stolen bases his footwork was so bad he would throw balls into CF. Montero's arm isn't what is used to be but blocking, calling a game and framing he's really good. and I still don't get the hate for Ross.... He's a backup catcher who is very good defensively and doesn't hit which is why he's a backup. I honestly think Wilson Contreras is the catcher of the future.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

Here is my shopping list for the offseason:

David Price (top of the rotation guy)

Dexter Fowler/Denard Span (a defensive anchor in CF and a guy who can hit for contact and OBP/bat leadoff)

Dioner Navarro (a catcher to compliment Montero. Navarro had a good 1st stint as a Cub that earned him a lucrative deal for a backup catcher. Navarro also hits much better from the right side and would platoon well. The problem with any acquisition here is that David Ross is still under contract for $2.5MM in 2016 and although he had one of the worst offensive seasons I can ever remember from a Cub, I really doubt the Cubs move on from his defense/being a personal caddy for Jon Lester. Despite hitting .176/.267/.252 with a pitcherly 33 wRC+, Ross' defense pulled him back up to 0.1 fWAR.)

Wade Davis (a lights-out back end guy. I don't care if he'd cost Andrew Miller money; this guy is a beast and having him set up for Rondon or vice versa would help us start to shorten games better like the Royals and Yankees have and it would be enormous in the postseason not to have to trot out the Trevor Cahills of the world in every single game). Interested to see if C.J. Edwards makes the pen right out of the chute in '16.

A swingman or 2 (nobody really out there specifically that I like, but see how the pitching market thins out and snap up a couple of guys on ST invites to hold them as depth for the inevitable injury--the SP staff was remarkably healthy this past year and that probably won't go so well every year).

We should probably check in on the Ben Zobrists and Jason Heywards, but I think further development of our own guys should fill all of our positions and eventually it makes sense to trade Javy Baez or Starlin Castro and start one at 2B for good.

[JODYE]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

I just don't think you can trade Castro until you find out what you really have in Baez. He was still striking out at an alarming rate and the defense was nothing to write home about.

Castro showed the type of player he could be the last 2 months of the season. Maybe that raised his stock enough to where you can fleece a front line guy from someone desperate for hitting, but with 3 more years of control at a very team friendly price, I think you have to keep him around.

[fugazi]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

Strikeouts are better than GIDP.

Bryant will never fix the K problem. He will hit 40Hrs though

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

I just don't think you can trade Castro until you find out what you really have in Baez. He was still striking out at an alarming rate and the defense was nothing to write home about.

Castro showed the type of player he could be the last 2 months of the season. Maybe that raised his stock enough to where you can fleece a front line guy from someone desperate for hitting, but with 3 more years of control at a very team friendly price, I think you have to keep him around.

Castro's showed that he can completely sleepwalk through entire seasons, too. I'm beyond the "potential of what he could be" stage for Castro. This is who he is. He's an average defender who makes more than his fair share of mistakes/lapses in the field and on the bases. His defense and athleticism will continue to decline and we haven't seen the power spike to 25 HRs that some predicted. He's stuck in between trying to hit for power and trying to use the whole field as he broke in as a contact hitter. If he's going to hover around replacement level in half of his seasons and be a 1-3 WAR player in his other seasons (this is what his track record shows), then his contract is probably reasonable ($7 MM in '16 and ~$9 MM per year over the next 4 years), but we should be open to upgrading the position especially since Castro is much less valuable as a 2B now than he was at SS. I have a feeling that Addy Russell is going to be the Starlin Castro that we hoped Castro would become a few years back and that Addy will be playing SS for a long time in Chicago.

Moreover, oscillating between complete garbage production and hitting .400 for an entire 2 month stretch is pretty alarming. Why is Castro so inconsistent? How can he play at massively different levels for entire seasons? This isn't fluctuating between 4 WAR and 6 WAR; what Castro's doing is playing like a decent regular in the Japanese League one year and a decent regular in MLB in another year. What is up with that? How does that happen? Does he not adjust as well as a normal MLB hitter? Does he pout and not take coaching? I don't know the answers to any of these questions, but I can't remember a Cub vary this wildly in performance without a major injury in the mix.

[JODYE]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

While I agree that he has definitely been the most polarizing Cub in recent memory, I still don't think we have seen the best of Starlin Castro.

Let us not forgot that this kid went through 3 years of plate approach changes, only to have his confidence completely shot and became the scapegoat of a team by one manager for 2 seasons. Then he is finally back to his old self in 2014 and on his way to another 170+ hit season, and he goes down for the last 30 games, setting him back once again.

I agree, the mental lapses are inexcusable, especially now on a team that is looking to contend year in and year out, but he played much better at 2B than SS when Russell replaced him and they began to develop a great chemistry together in the middle infield and as wildly as he is criticized for such lapses, he still only committed 6 errors on the year and had a fielding percentage of .987 which would have been good enough for Top 5 at either position last season.

Sans his putrid May and July, he hit almost .320 for 4 months of the season and was the Cubs best offensive player when they needed him most. I definitely believe the benching was a wake up call and I think you will see a new rejuvenated Starlin Castro next year. Now, if next year comes and goes and we are still having this conversation, then I will be the first one in here bashing him and looking for his ticket to be punched.

And again, given his team friendly contract and the uncertainty behind him, I believe you have to keep him around.

[JODYE]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

One of my favorite Cubs ever, Aramis Ramirez retired today after 18 seasons.

One of his many great moments in a Cubs uni:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRQlrE5aNwQ

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

Congrats to Jake Arrieta on winning his 1st Cy Young Award!

[JODYE]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

Well deserved. Glad to see voters got it right.

[fugazi]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

It's true that the team needs another starter...

but I'd be happy to throw money at O'Day or Davis and Heyward and see how things work out.

I don't know that I want them to sign Price...that's going to be a lot of money that could be used in a lot of places.

I'd rather risk watching Soler or Baez blossom with another team if we could get a cheaper SP in return.

[k_mac]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

It's true that the team needs another starter...



but I'd be happy to throw money at O'Day or Davis and Heyward and see how things work out.



I don't know that I want them to sign Price...that's going to be a lot of money that could be used in a lot of places.



I'd rather risk watching Soler or Baez blossom with another team if we could get a cheaper SP in return.

I'd be very comfortable with the Cubs not throwing money at any of those guys. O'Day is going to command way too much, and Davis' option was picked up by the Royals. I think that our front office is content with piecing together a bullpen with scraps (recent pickups of guys like Jack Leatherstitch, Andury Acevedo, and Spencer Patton). 20+ million over three years to a 33 year old.. No thanks. Save that money and put it towards a starter. If the Cubs feel confident that Heyward can play center day in and day out, then sure. I just think other teams want/need Heyward more.

On the starting pitching front, we've been hearing all sorts of things about guys like Price, Samardzija, Zimmermann, and even Lackey here recently (please don't happen). I wouldn't be surprised if we got one of the tier two guys (Zimmermann, Cueto, Shark) and then someone like Mike Leake, who has not only proven he can pitch in the NL Central, but is only 28 and isn't tied to a draft pick. That scenario would probably cost just as much as Price alone. If that doesn't work out, I could see a one year Doug Fister deal on the cheap as a reclamation project for Bosio to work some of his magic.

[fugazi]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

Lackey.

Well, ok.

It's a short deal.

The team needs a third plus reliever. Strop and Rondon are good, but everyone knows it isn't enough.

[Jr.]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

Lackey.

Well, ok.

It's a short deal.

The team needs a third plus reliever. Strop and Rondon are good, but everyone knows it isn't enough.

Ramirez and Grimm were those guys, but I think they were overworked in 2014. Hopefully they can both bounce back.

[WaitTilNextYear]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

Good luck, Starlin. Welcome to Chicago, Zobes.

[ThaBoss18]

Re: The Friendly Confines: The Official Chicago Cubs Thread

I'm kinda sad Starlin Castro was traded

Figured he was going too, but guess I will be cheering for the Yankees on the side now