2015 Chicago Cubs

[eric7064]

Hendricks is in rotation. Guranteed. Jackson has no right no matter the salary. 5 spot will almost certainly be Wood. Barring any trade then I'd say Wada has a good shot.

[MrOldboy]

Hendricks will be on the 4th starter unless he is hurt or somehow forgets how to pitch in ST. The question is the 5th spot and I'd put money on Wada impressing enough in ST to give him that shot or at worst the 6th man at AAA if they want to let Wood establish some trade value early on, then call Wada up once Wood is traded. I guess theoretically if Wood pitches well he could convince the Cubs to hold onto him for 2016, but via arbitration he will get a bit expensive.

They have been trying to move Jackson, quite hard by some insider rumors, but there just isn't a team willing to take on any part of Jackson's salary and give up anything resembling a prospect. Their best bet is a bad contract swap and there aren't many options there and in most scenarios Jackson is the short end of the stick and teams know this.

I still think he could make a solid 6-8th inning guy if he focuses on relieving and can gain a the bump in velocity that some converted pitchers gain. That is one expensive reliever though. But on the other hand, what is the other option except to eat the salary for the privilege of removing from the roster.

[Gagnon39]

Quote: Originally Posted by Figment

Does anyone else get the feeling that Kyle Hendricks may end up starting the season in AAA regardless of what he does in spring training? Looking at it logically, the first three spots are locked up: 1) Jon Lester 2) Jake Arrieta 3) Jason Hammel If nobody is moved before the season starts, there are a few starters making too much money: - Edwin Jackson is making something like $10 million this year and would be too expensive to put in the bullpen or DFA. You have to expect that the management is relying on the new, experienced, catching staff to help him be the pitcher they thought they signed. Nobody will trade for Jackson, so we will either eat that money or play him. - Travis Wood is in the same boat making $5 million this year, and especially coming off his amazing 2013 season, they may want to see if better pitch framers behind the plate can pull it off. -There is still Tsuyoshi Wada to consider as well who, like above, is making $4 Million, he may make a little more sense to go to the bullpen as our new Carlos Villanueva (but lefty) long relief pitcher. Those are three pitchers who will not be in the minors that are competing for a starting role on the team. So where does all this leave Hendricks? Not sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if he spends a good deal of time in the minors to start the season until some of these players can be moved or otherwise "disposed of." Just a little food for thought, what are your thoughts? Assuming the Cubs are going to keep 13 pitchers on the roster, here is the obvious: SP1 Jon Lester SP2 Jake Arrieta SP3 Jason Hammel SP4 ? (Maybe Kyle Hendricks) SP5 ? CP Hector Rondon SU Neil Ramirez RP Pedro Strop RP Jason Motte RP Justin Grimm RP ? RP or Long Reliever ? Long Reliever ? So four pitchers competing for the last two starting spots, and the long relief role in the bullpen (probably going to be a lefty, don't count out Felix Doubront for this one either).

There's a lot of questions that we won't know until Spring Training, obviously. There's too many "MLB-ready" pitchers now and something's got to give. I still would not be surprised if Jackson is moved before the start of the season. It will require either trading him for another over-priced player or the Cubs will just have to eat 80% of his contract like they did with Soriano. Then there's Wada. If he doesn't start he's not going to want to go back to Triple-A. He was a highly touted Japanese pitcher a few years ago but injuries plagued him and didn't allow him to get a shot until last year. He performed admirably and will want to continue to pitch at the highest level, as anyone does I supppose. Hendricks is there too, and like you said, so is Wood. Lot's of questions and few answers right now as far as who will be the starting five. I wouldn't rule out the Cubs putting Jackson in the bullpen however.

If I had to take my best guess for the start of the season, I'd say the starting five are as follows:

Jon Lester
Jake Arrieta
Jason Hammel
Travis Wood
Kyle Hendricks

[Shaffer26]

Comparing this OSFM's Cubs minor league thread to years past when Theo and Jed weren't running the show is like comparing night and day. They've done such a great job collecting talent. Not all prospects can work out, obviously, but we have such a great foundation that even if some of the tops guys don't pan out, we have some great under the radar guys down in double and single-a.

With living in South Bend, we now have the Cubs single-a team here so if you guys want some info on those guys, I'll be happy to give it to you. As I plan on going to a ton of games.

[Figment]

Quote: Originally Posted by MrOldboy

Hendricks will be on the 4th starter unless he is hurt or somehow forgets how to pitch in ST. The question is the 5th spot and I'd put money on Wada impressing enough in ST to give him that shot or at worst the 6th man at AAA if they want to let Wood establish some trade value early on, then call Wada up once Wood is traded. I guess theoretically if Wood pitches well he could convince the Cubs to hold onto him for 2016, but via arbitration he will get a bit expensive. They have been trying to move Jackson, quite hard by some insider rumors, but there just isn't a team willing to take on any part of Jackson's salary and give up anything resembling a prospect. Their best bet is a bad contract swap and there aren't many options there and in most scenarios Jackson is the short end of the stick and teams know this. I still think he could make a solid 6-8th inning guy if he focuses on relieving and can gain a the bump in velocity that some converted pitchers gain. That is one expensive reliever though. But on the other hand, what is the other option except to eat the salary for the privilege of removing from the roster.

One player we forgot to mention is Jacob Turner. I feel like unless he completely blows up in camp, he is guaranteed either the 5th starter job, or the long reliever role given his high upside talent, but since he has no minor league options left, he will not be sent down or we WILL lose him through waivers. Given that he is a right handed pitcher, I feel like if he doesn't get the 5th starter spot, he would push Edwin Jackson out of the long reliever role, and it just seams like another nail in the coffin for Jackson. I don't think Jackson is in a Cubs uniform on opening day. I think the opening roster will be:

SP1 Jon Lester (LHP)
SP2 Jake Arrieta
SP3 Jason Hammel
SP4 Kyle Hendricks
SP5 Travis Wood (LHP)
CP Hector Rondon
SU Neil Ramirez
SU Pedro Strop
RP Justin Grimm
RP Jason Motte
LR Jacob Turner
LR Tsuyoshi Wada (LHP)
and if they decide to carry 13 (which I am pretty sure they will) it will be between these guys as a lefty specialist:
Francisley Bueno
Joe Ortiz
Drake Britton
Zac Rosscup
and maybe give these starters a chance to convert to full time relievers:
Felix Doubront
Erik Jokisch

Long story short, Edwin Jackson appears to be gone from where I am sitting (about time) and the REAL battle this spring is actually for the lefty reliever role. Just my 2 cents.

[CWSpalehoseCWS]

Quote: Originally Posted by Figment

One player we forgot to mention is Jacob Turner. I feel like unless he completely blows up in camp, he is guaranteed either the 5th starter job, or the long reliever role given his high upside talent, but since he has no minor league options left, he will not be sent down or we WILL lose him through waivers. Given that he is a right handed pitcher, I feel like if he doesn't get the 5th starter spot, he would push Edwin Jackson out of the long reliever role, and it just seams like another nail in the coffin for Jackson. I don't think Jackson is in a Cubs uniform on opening day. I think the opening roster will be: SP1 Jon Lester (LHP) SP2 Jake Arrieta SP3 Jason Hammel SP4 Kyle Hendricks SP5 Travis Wood (LHP) CP Hector Rondon SU Neil Ramirez SU Pedro Strop RP Justin Grimm RP Jason Motte LR Jacob Turner LR Tsuyoshi Wada (LHP) and if they decide to carry 13 (which I am pretty sure they will) it will be between these guys as a lefty specialist: Francisley Bueno Joe Ortiz Drake Britton Zac Rosscup and maybe give these starters a chance to convert to full time relievers: Felix Doubront Erik Jokisch Long story short, Edwin Jackson appears to be gone from where I am sitting (about time) and the REAL battle this spring is actually for the lefty reliever role. Just my 2 cents.

There's no way a NL team would carry 13 pitchers. I'd be shocked if the Cubs did that and took an extra bat off the bench.

[Figment]

Quote: Originally Posted by CWSpalehoseCWS

There's no way a NL team would carry 13 pitchers. I'd be shocked if the Cubs did that and took an extra bat off the bench.

That makes sense. So barring injury or trade, the pitching roster looks a lot more set than it appeared, at least to me. I think the only competition is really between Wood, Turner, and Wada on who starts 5th and who's in the pen.

[JoeCoolMan24]

Starlin Castro a 90-92 rating?

Bad baserunner, average defender, average hitter.

He's more like an 82-84.