I like the move. Soler was going to be an odd man out in the outfield. Plus this gives us money flexibility for next offseason for a starter.
Soler can be a plus power bat if given the ABs and time to grow. He wasn't going to sniff the lineup. This is a good deal. Apparently Joe and others on the team hated Chapman. He was never coming back. My guess is they didn't want to invest 100m in a closer. Davis is a elite closer. Our bullpen if healthy should be pretty dominant next year with Davis, Carl Jr, Rondon and Stroop. That's a ton of heat coming at you. This is a good deal for Chicago. Hopefully they can resign Davis at some point
2018 FA class right now looks decent. Cubs will need to be active after this season is done. Lots of FAs on this roster.
Sounds about right, Davis, Strop, Rondon, Edwards, Grimm, Rob Z. If you can bring back a Travis Wood, you could be OK or add in Holland for depth. I think the only other thing the Cubs should do is kick the tires on cost controlled SPs. We will probably lose Jake and Lackey after 2017. We could always add a SP this year if we find something at the right price and keep Montgomery in the pen instead of the rotation.
I think Montgomery is a lock for the rotation. I do like the idea of mirroring what they did with Monty and pick someone up mid year to work out the pen and transition him to the rotation next season.
I don't think all these guys will make it to the market. But if it did in fact happen it would be the best FA class in the history of the sport.
Not that its surprising but Hoyer said that Davis will close. Rondon will setup. Edwards could be used like Miller and Stroop will do the 7th most likely
I hope so. After seeing him show up to the parade in a sleeveless camo vest, then not be able to keep it on the entire time while on stage, he quickly became a favorite on the team. Really like him, especially for the OF performance this year, but came to love him based on his antics and what the other players said about him.
I would not be surprised if a majority does hit FA, you are seeing more and more players betting on themselves and looking to go to free agency.
There was a time like 4 years ago when Travis Wood was putting together quality start after quality start while mashing at the plate and Anthony Rizzo hadn't quite established himself. Starlin was solid but at the time Travis Wood was my favorite player on the team. We've come a long ways.
They all will. They are all either opt out scenarios or players destined to test free agency since day 1 like Harper. Heyward has an option out that year too but LOL he ain't opting out of shit.
I turned on the MLB network special and they had Rick Tellender talking. Is he just going to pretend he didn't write all those dumbass articles?
Pretty impressive to turn an opening day waiver claim (Valbuena) into Fowler, vital piece of world series winner and a first round pick. Tend to agree with this. $80 MM plus is well north of what I figured.
Congrats to Dex. I will always think of him fondly for what he did for us. He was such a great fit. Honestly, I think the money is fine. I probably would have paid him if we weren't in a different position, with practically all of our other positions locked down and Almora maybe being able to grab the reigns in center and costing way less. I wish him the best. He's a good dude. And I will have nothing but love in my heart for all of the 2016 Cubs.
Also I really like the Uehara signing. The bullpen looks really good and really deep. Hopefully Carl's Jr. can step up and give us a nice back-end option for the future so we don't have to keep using assets and money to shore things up there. But I really like what we have right now.
yeah, dude was willing to make a one year bet on himself, and came back and won the cubs a title. if someone wants to break the bank for him, I'm very happy for the guy... his bet paid off, he got a ring and takes care of his family, and his children's children with that contract
hmm.. care to expand on this? I've always been against it, as what do your hands do when the pitch comes? They move to ready position, by raising them where they should be. In doing so you create movement/momentum, that when your hands start towards the ball/zone, you have a tendency to drop your shoulder and/or hands and either swing under the ball or pop out. In the video it's a high pitch, so his hands come up, and are able to attack a ball at his chest. However, major league pitchers aren't dumb. If you create a hole in your swing at the bottom of the zone, you can bet your ass where it's going. I'm also limited in my coaching experience, but have always loved breaking down swings. Would love to hear others' opinions Having said all that, he obviously needs to try something different, so I'm good with change.
Any update on this, or did you just straight up get a ball autographed by the 2016 cubs for completely free?
Just watched the last 3 innings of Game 7 again. In case you were curious, it holds up. Extremely well. Will watch again.
Did the same yesterday. Big fan. Still get a little nervous throughout. Almost doesn't seem real still.
Any of you guys in Freeport today to see the trophy? Hanging out with a few thousand of my closest friends at the Masonic Temple. This is amazing - sitting inside their theatre, away from the cold, watching a replay of Game 7 on the screen as they move groups through to het pics taken. Much better than Naperville (from what we heard) and what I imagine Schaumburg will be like tomorrow.
At a minimum, the man is very dedicated to improving. Hopefully it works out Cubs avoid arb with Rondon (5.8 MM), Grimm (1.825 MM) and Arrieta (15.6 MM) Tyson Ross signs with Rangers 1 year at $6 MM. According to Mooney, Cubs offered similar deal but Ross was swayed by Rangers history with thoracic outlet syndrome. T. Cahill on verge of signing with the Padres per the San Diego Union-Tribune. This rotation is paper thin at the moment.