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Post by batman66 on Aug 11, 2024 15:33:41 GMT -5
Sharma puts out article saying that Hoyer "aggressively" pursued O'Hoppe at the deadline and was "repeatedly and firmly rebuffed." Well, that kind of lends more weight to his statement on air of "trades are harder to make than you would think". And it also backs up what Jed said that the focus would be at the deadline that some people interpreted him wrongly that he would be selling. He was targeting the two problem areas for long term fits that we've been saying they should for months. |
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Post by irishcubfan on Aug 11, 2024 16:27:31 GMT -5
Bored. Next year's team, accuracy 100 percent. No need to follow any rumors. This team is it for 2025.
Offer up Aliendo, Caissie, Fat Man, and Gray for Hopper and Moniak.
C O'Hoppe Amaya
1b Busch
2b Hoerner than Shaw mid season or sooner
3b Paredes
SS Swanson
LF Happ
CF PCA
RF Suzuki
DH Soto (can rotate between 1b, LF, RF- a man can dream)
SP Steele, Imanaga, Flaherty, Taillon, Assad or Birdsell or others-at least two injury concerns and/or performance regression in a bad way imo. Think Assad will be run out of the league on a good team as a SP within 2 years or less.
RP Neris, Hodge, Little, Merryweather, lefty FA, Miller until DFA, Lopez until DFA, Brown, others throughout year.
Bench Who knows has to be better than this year. Moniak, maybe Mastros returns. Maybe Tauchman. LV as back up IF.
New 3b coach for sure. Prob other changes to some of the coaching staff. Hottovy stays.
Bellinger opts out.
Cristian Hernandez stays at MB for the third straight year.
Beer advertisements through the roof with Hopper and Busch.
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Post by batman66 on Aug 14, 2024 8:53:40 GMT -5
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Post by kfidd on Aug 17, 2024 10:19:53 GMT -5
At what point does the question about Paredes turn from “how long will this slump last?” to “has the league figured him out?”
He’s hitting .164/.266/.367 as a Cub, but his struggles at the plate extend way beyond that limited 61 plate appearance sample size (although hilariously people were getting worried over PCA when he had even fewer sample sizes and now everyone is all about him so whatever). His numbers by month:
April: .316/.383/.537, 6 hr, 16 rbi
May: .299/.421/.494, 3 hr, 15 rbi
June: .237/.304/.409, 3 hr, 11 rbi
July: .136/.340/.309, 3 hr, 12 rbi
August: .149/.255/.298, 2 hr, 8 rbi
The biggest concerns with Paredes were always going to be the lack of hard hit rate (his average exit velocity this season is down to 85.1mph, a number that continues to decline year over year and ranks 214th for qualified hitters this season) and the park factor. His swing was BUILT for the Trop. Park factor for expected home runs at Wrigley this season? 13. I’m glad it feels like people are finally coming around to understanding that the lack of slug and pop in this lineup is the biggest issue it faces but here we are having locked up another position with a multi-year commitment to a guy who continues to fail the sniff test as a heart of the lineup run producer.
Remember early in the season where everyone was questioning Bellinger and his lack of production but now he’s hot and we all feel all gooey inside over his last ~2 week stretch?
Bellinger
2024 hard hit rate: 31.6 (12th percentile)
2024 avg exit velocity: 87.1 (20th percentile)
Year over year slugging drop: -.93 points (his expected slugging last season was .91 points below his actual slugging… interesting…)
Over the last two weeks where he’s been actually slugging?
Hard hit rate: 42.5
Avg exit velocity: 91.7
See ball + hit ball hard = slug
Back to Paredes, is this 2.5 month long slump he’s in actually just a slump? Or have teams figured out that a guy who only hits for power in one very particular way requires a very simple gameplan to attack him with? I’m going with the latter until he proves otherwise.
An optimist will look at his slash and say “hey, that’s the best production we’ve gotten from third base in years!What’s there to complain about?” There’s plenty to complain about, the biggest being a continued pattern of locking up positions with at best good players but rarely great. Does the acquisition of Paredes make us better in 2025+ over Morel and Bigge like Jed told us he does? I’m not convinced, but even if I play along nicely the one thing for absolute certain is he does not make us a contender and now we have one less position to find that organization changing talent in.
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Post by okeecub on Aug 17, 2024 11:07:48 GMT -5
At what point does the question about Paredes turn from “how long will this slump last?” to “has the league figured him out?” He’s hitting .164/.266/.367 as a Cub, but his struggles at the plate extend way beyond that limited 61 plate appearance sample size (although hilariously people were getting worried over PCA when he had even fewer sample sizes and now everyone is all about him so whatever). His numbers by month: April: .316/.383/.537, 6 hr, 16 rbi May: .299/.421/.494, 3 hr, 15 rbi June: .237/.304/.409, 3 hr, 11 rbi July: .136/.340/.309, 3 hr, 12 rbi August: .149/.255/.298, 2 hr, 8 rbi The biggest concerns with Paredes were always going to be the lack of hard hit rate (his average exit velocity this season is down to 85.1mph, a number that continues to decline year over year and ranks 214th for qualified hitters this season) and the park factor. His swing was BUILT for the Trop. Park factor for expected home runs at Wrigley this season? 13. I’m glad it feels like people are finally coming around to understanding that the lack of slug and pop in this lineup is the biggest issue it faces but here we are having locked up another position with a multi-year commitment to a guy who continues to fail the sniff test as a heart of the lineup run producer. Remember early in the season where everyone was questioning Bellinger and his lack of production but now he’s hot and we all feel all gooey inside over his last ~2 week stretch? Bellinger 2024 hard hit rate: 31.6 (12th percentile) 2024 avg exit velocity: 87.1 (20th percentile) Year over year slugging drop: -.93 points (his expected slugging last season was .91 points below his actual slugging… interesting…) Over the last two weeks where he’s been actually slugging? Hard hit rate: 42.5 Avg exit velocity: 91.7 See ball + hit ball hard = slug Back to Paredes, is this 2.5 month long slump he’s in actually just a slump? Or have teams figured out that a guy who only hits for power in one very particular way requires a very simple gameplan to attack him with? I’m going with the latter until he proves otherwise. An optimist will look at his slash and say “hey, that’s the best production we’ve gotten from third base in years!What’s there to complain about?” There’s plenty to complain about, the biggest being a continued pattern of locking up positions with at best good players but rarely great. Does the acquisition of Paredes make us better in 2025+ over Morel and Bigge like Jed told us he does? I’m not convinced, but even if I play along nicely the one thing for absolute certain is he does not make us a contender and now we have one less position to find that organization changing talent in. never liked the trade and not sure we’ll get any more production from him than we would from Morel. Supposedly defensive improvement but he’s looked shaky on a few plays too. Might be okay with Morel and lower level prospects, but giving up Bigge too was too much I think |
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Post by kfidd on Aug 17, 2024 11:35:57 GMT -5
I don’t think Paredes is the type of player we should have targeted regardless of cost. Already discussed the offensive concerns, defensively we went from a below average project at third base to a guy who has been playing the position his whole life and checks out as average at best… on a good day.
The Cubs *must* start thinking bigger. Every move they make further underscores how mediocre and uncreative they are. Bandaids everywhere.
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Post by okeecub on Aug 17, 2024 12:06:51 GMT -5
I don’t think Paredes is the type of player we should have targeted regardless of cost. Already discussed the offensive concerns, defensively we went from a below average project at third base to a guy who has been playing the position his whole life and checks out as average at best… on a good day. The Cubs *must* start thinking bigger. Every move they make further underscores how mediocre and uncreative they are. Bandaids everywhere. I don’t know his contract status but I’m pretty sure we could move on from him if not producing so may not actually be blocking a potentially better prospect at third base |
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Post by batman66 on Aug 17, 2024 12:08:18 GMT -5
At what point does the question about Paredes turn from “how long will this slump last?” to “has the league figured him out?” He’s hitting .164/.266/.367 as a Cub, but his struggles at the plate extend way beyond that limited 61 plate appearance sample size (although hilariously people were getting worried over PCA when he had even fewer sample sizes and now everyone is all about him so whatever). His numbers by month: April: .316/.383/.537, 6 hr, 16 rbi May: .299/.421/.494, 3 hr, 15 rbi June: .237/.304/.409, 3 hr, 11 rbi July: .136/.340/.309, 3 hr, 12 rbi August: .149/.255/.298, 2 hr, 8 rbi The biggest concerns with Paredes were always going to be the lack of hard hit rate (his average exit velocity this season is down to 85.1mph, a number that continues to decline year over year and ranks 214th for qualified hitters this season) and the park factor. His swing was BUILT for the Trop. Park factor for expected home runs at Wrigley this season? 13. I’m glad it feels like people are finally coming around to understanding that the lack of slug and pop in this lineup is the biggest issue it faces but here we are having locked up another position with a multi-year commitment to a guy who continues to fail the sniff test as a heart of the lineup run producer. Remember early in the season where everyone was questioning Bellinger and his lack of production but now he’s hot and we all feel all gooey inside over his last ~2 week stretch? Bellinger 2024 hard hit rate: 31.6 (12th percentile) 2024 avg exit velocity: 87.1 (20th percentile) Year over year slugging drop: -.93 points (his expected slugging last season was .91 points below his actual slugging… interesting…) Over the last two weeks where he’s been actually slugging? Hard hit rate: 42.5 Avg exit velocity: 91.7 See ball + hit ball hard = slug Back to Paredes, is this 2.5 month long slump he’s in actually just a slump? Or have teams figured out that a guy who only hits for power in one very particular way requires a very simple gameplan to attack him with? I’m going with the latter until he proves otherwise. An optimist will look at his slash and say “hey, that’s the best production we’ve gotten from third base in years!What’s there to complain about?” There’s plenty to complain about, the biggest being a continued pattern of locking up positions with at best good players but rarely great. Does the acquisition of Paredes make us better in 2025+ over Morel and Bigge like Jed told us he does? I’m not convinced, but even if I play along nicely the one thing for absolute certain is he does not make us a contender and now we have one less position to find that organization changing talent in. All I know is they do a helluva lot more research on players than we do and they said they were aware of the projections and still feel he's a good fit for Wrigley . Players go through hot and cold stretches all the time for different reasons and the league figures them out, they adjust or they don't but people seem to have no patience at all anymore and want immediate results. We even had people on here bailing on PCA as a top prospect because he wasn't showing signs he could hit major league pitching in 100+ at bats and he seems to be coming around after they made a few adjustments both physically and mentally with him. All I know is Parades even with the errors he's made has made more than a handful of plays already that Morel doesn't make and I'm willing to give him a helluva lot more time than a couple of months . I'd love to have a "great" player at every position , or hell even one position , but I'd also usually rather have a bunch of good players than one great one and a bunch of mediocre ones because this is a team sport. |
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Post by thisbuds4u on Aug 17, 2024 13:17:34 GMT -5
At what point does the question about Paredes turn from “how long will this slump last?” to “has the league figured him out?” He’s hitting .164/.266/.367 as a Cub, but his struggles at the plate extend way beyond that limited 61 plate appearance sample size (although hilariously people were getting worried over PCA when he had even fewer sample sizes and now everyone is all about him so whatever). His numbers by month: April: .316/.383/.537, 6 hr, 16 rbi May: .299/.421/.494, 3 hr, 15 rbi June: .237/.304/.409, 3 hr, 11 rbi July: .136/.340/.309, 3 hr, 12 rbi August: .149/.255/.298, 2 hr, 8 rbi The biggest concerns with Paredes were always going to be the lack of hard hit rate (his average exit velocity this season is down to 85.1mph, a number that continues to decline year over year and ranks 214th for qualified hitters this season) and the park factor. His swing was BUILT for the Trop. Park factor for expected home runs at Wrigley this season? 13. I’m glad it feels like people are finally coming around to understanding that the lack of slug and pop in this lineup is the biggest issue it faces but here we are having locked up another position with a multi-year commitment to a guy who continues to fail the sniff test as a heart of the lineup run producer. Remember early in the season where everyone was questioning Bellinger and his lack of production but now he’s hot and we all feel all gooey inside over his last ~2 week stretch? Bellinger 2024 hard hit rate: 31.6 (12th percentile) 2024 avg exit velocity: 87.1 (20th percentile) Year over year slugging drop: -.93 points (his expected slugging last season was .91 points below his actual slugging… interesting…) Over the last two weeks where he’s been actually slugging? Hard hit rate: 42.5 Avg exit velocity: 91.7 See ball + hit ball hard = slug Back to Paredes, is this 2.5 month long slump he’s in actually just a slump? Or have teams figured out that a guy who only hits for power in one very particular way requires a very simple gameplan to attack him with? I’m going with the latter until he proves otherwise. An optimist will look at his slash and say “hey, that’s the best production we’ve gotten from third base in years!What’s there to complain about?” There’s plenty to complain about, the biggest being a continued pattern of locking up positions with at best good players but rarely great. Does the acquisition of Paredes make us better in 2025+ over Morel and Bigge like Jed told us he does? I’m not convinced, but even if I play along nicely the one thing for absolute certain is he does not make us a contender and now we have one less position to find that organization changing talent in. All I know is they do a helluva lot more research on players than we do and they said they were aware of the projections and still feel he's a good fit for Wrigley . Players go through hot and cold stretches all the time for different reasons and the league figures them out, they adjust or they don't but people seem to have no patience at all anymore and want immediate results. We even had people on here bailing on PCA as a top prospect because he wasn't showing signs he could hit major league pitching in 100+ at bats and he seems to be coming around after they made a few adjustments both physically and mentally with him. All I know is Parades even with the errors he's made has made more than a handful of plays already that Morel doesn't make and I'm willing to give him a helluva lot more time than a couple of months . I'd love to have a "great" player at every position , or hell even one position , but I'd also usually rather have a bunch of good players than one great one and a bunch of mediocre ones because this is a team sport. The Cubs need players who are more consistent. While they get hot for a stretch, they also have prolonged slumps. While batting averages are an over-looked stat nowadays, it still indicates who will be more consistent offensively. When this team was losing back in May and June, the bottom half of the lineup was filled with players at or below the Mendoza line. That's on Hoyer. He had the opportunity to bring up some of the top prospects but chose not to further delaying their development. I wonder what effect it will have on the 2025 season? Other teams young players are getting valuable experience which gives them a leg up on the Cubs. Hoyer's "play it safe" approach doesn't cut it. If the kids struggle, they can be sent back down but , at least, they get an understanding of what's to come. |
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Post by kfidd on Aug 17, 2024 13:59:54 GMT -5
That’s why creating roster flexibility and moving on from some of the underperforming veterans (even if you had to sell low on them, hey he did it with Morel, why not others?) was so critical. When you are several games under .500, have a good farm system with much of the hypey talent already at AAA, and laughably at risk of being over the luxury tax, you’d think it’d be a priority to try and create some fluidity on the roster to get these kids their first exposure to the bigs. They didn’t do it with Mervis, Canario, and PCA and it’s seeming unlikely they’ll do it with the next batch either.
Hoyer said they looked at the projections and think his game will profile well at Wrigley? Hoyer hasn’t earned the trust and respect from the fanbase to buy into anything he says. This is his fourth season as president of baseball operations for the major market Chicago Cubs. We are at risk of going backwards in the standings this season which would officially make this year four of the “retool.” His roster building has stunk to the high heavens.
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Post by batman66 on Aug 17, 2024 14:32:58 GMT -5
That’s why creating roster flexibility and moving on from some of the underperforming veterans (even if you had to sell low on them, hey he did it with Morel, why not others?) was so critical. When you are several games under .500, have a good farm system with much of the hypey talent already at AAA, and laughably at risk of being over the luxury tax, you’d think it’d be a priority to try and create some fluidity on the roster to get these kids their first exposure to the bigs. They didn’t do it with Mervis, Canario, and PCA and it’s seeming unlikely they’ll do it with the next batch either. Hoyer said they looked at the projections and think his game will profile well at Wrigley? Hoyer hasn’t earned the trust and respect from the fanbase to buy into anything he says. This is his fourth season as president of baseball operations for the major market Chicago Cubs. We are at risk of going backwards in the standings this season which would officially make this year four of the “retool.” His roster building has stunk to the high heavens. Did he really sell low on Morel? I love Morel , great kid , one of the nicest Cubs of all time , but lets not forget going into 2022 when he made the team he was rated 21st in the Cubs system and was never close to being labeled a top prospect but he came up and hit a shit ton of homers and did little else and we all fell in love with him. Prior to that he was projected as a utility guy at best. |
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Post by batman66 on Aug 17, 2024 14:38:05 GMT -5
How long until the Cubs sign Elias Diaz , the Rockies flat out released him.
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Post by cfin on Aug 17, 2024 17:19:09 GMT -5
At what point does the question about Paredes turn from “how long will this slump last?” to “has the league figured him out?” He’s hitting .164/.266/.367 as a Cub, but his struggles at the plate extend way beyond that limited 61 plate appearance sample size (although hilariously people were getting worried over PCA when he had even fewer sample sizes and now everyone is all about him so whatever). His numbers by month: April: .316/.383/.537, 6 hr, 16 rbi May: .299/.421/.494, 3 hr, 15 rbi June: .237/.304/.409, 3 hr, 11 rbi July: .136/.340/.309, 3 hr, 12 rbi August: .149/.255/.298, 2 hr, 8 rbi The biggest concerns with Paredes were always going to be the lack of hard hit rate (his average exit velocity this season is down to 85.1mph, a number that continues to decline year over year and ranks 214th for qualified hitters this season) and the park factor. His swing was BUILT for the Trop. Park factor for expected home runs at Wrigley this season? 13. I’m glad it feels like people are finally coming around to understanding that the lack of slug and pop in this lineup is the biggest issue it faces but here we are having locked up another position with a multi-year commitment to a guy who continues to fail the sniff test as a heart of the lineup run producer. Remember early in the season where everyone was questioning Bellinger and his lack of production but now he’s hot and we all feel all gooey inside over his last ~2 week stretch? Bellinger 2024 hard hit rate: 31.6 (12th percentile) 2024 avg exit velocity: 87.1 (20th percentile) Year over year slugging drop: -.93 points (his expected slugging last season was .91 points below his actual slugging… interesting…) Over the last two weeks where he’s been actually slugging? Hard hit rate: 42.5 Avg exit velocity: 91.7 See ball + hit ball hard = slug Back to Paredes, is this 2.5 month long slump he’s in actually just a slump? Or have teams figured out that a guy who only hits for power in one very particular way requires a very simple gameplan to attack him with? I’m going with the latter until he proves otherwise. An optimist will look at his slash and say “hey, that’s the best production we’ve gotten from third base in years!What’s there to complain about?” There’s plenty to complain about, the biggest being a continued pattern of locking up positions with at best good players but rarely great. Does the acquisition of Paredes make us better in 2025+ over Morel and Bigge like Jed told us he does? I’m not convinced, but even if I play along nicely the one thing for absolute certain is he does not make us a contender and now we have one less position to find that organization changing talent in. In order to see any big moves, you've got to get rid of Hoyer. That's it plain and simple. Hoyer's "play it safe" approach isn't going to cut it.
He's ruined Canario and Mervis. They are now too old to be considered prospects but lack enough major league experience to know anything about them as a major leaguer. This is the problem with keeping guys down in AAA too long. They age out and then you're left with nothing. You might argue that Mervis was given at least some of a look, but Canario was never given a chance. And now... is everyone at AAA now going to follow that same path? It sure as hell looks that way with all of the MLB positions locked up.
I do agree that Bigge is probably the one that will shine from this trade that will be missed. And I do think they sold low on Morel. I think you would have gotten a lot more for this past offseason - although there just really weren't a lot of third basemen to be had.
I don't know if Paredes is necessarily set in stone as the starting third baseman next year. I mean, he's there if he has to be. But I don't think it's out of the question that he's moved in the offseason. But again... you're going to be selling low on him.
I don't know how you can label this roster that Hoyer has assembled as anything more than just a complete disaster. He waited too long to trade the old core and missed out on getting more for them - and he's got practically zero to show for it with all of those trades, PCA is about it. Hoyer is the anti-Brad Pitt as Billy Beane Moneyball executive. He lets his relationship with players guide his decisions. He should have traded Contreras and Happ in 2022, but he let his feelings get int he way. He never should have signed Happ to that extension. I'm not really sure if the Suzuki signing was really that great. He should have traded Bellinger last year. He activated Bellinger from the IL this year a day before the trade deadline, but he didn't play. I'm not sure if Bellinger really had a lot of trade value this deadline, but he's sure as hell not going to if you don't play him that day before the trade deadline. The Counsell signing is looking to be a disaster (not that I was really all that much of a fan of Ross). He should have moved some players this deadline, for whatever he could get for them, just to clear out some roster space. It's just been a disaster.
I sure hope Ricketts has seen enough and fires Hoyer at the end of the season. It's clear that Hoyer is not the right person for this job.
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Post by batman66 on Aug 17, 2024 17:41:20 GMT -5
At what point does the question about Paredes turn from “how long will this slump last?” to “has the league figured him out?” He’s hitting .164/.266/.367 as a Cub, but his struggles at the plate extend way beyond that limited 61 plate appearance sample size (although hilariously people were getting worried over PCA when he had even fewer sample sizes and now everyone is all about him so whatever). His numbers by month: April: .316/.383/.537, 6 hr, 16 rbi May: .299/.421/.494, 3 hr, 15 rbi June: .237/.304/.409, 3 hr, 11 rbi July: .136/.340/.309, 3 hr, 12 rbi August: .149/.255/.298, 2 hr, 8 rbi The biggest concerns with Paredes were always going to be the lack of hard hit rate (his average exit velocity this season is down to 85.1mph, a number that continues to decline year over year and ranks 214th for qualified hitters this season) and the park factor. His swing was BUILT for the Trop. Park factor for expected home runs at Wrigley this season? 13. I’m glad it feels like people are finally coming around to understanding that the lack of slug and pop in this lineup is the biggest issue it faces but here we are having locked up another position with a multi-year commitment to a guy who continues to fail the sniff test as a heart of the lineup run producer. Remember early in the season where everyone was questioning Bellinger and his lack of production but now he’s hot and we all feel all gooey inside over his last ~2 week stretch? Bellinger 2024 hard hit rate: 31.6 (12th percentile) 2024 avg exit velocity: 87.1 (20th percentile) Year over year slugging drop: -.93 points (his expected slugging last season was .91 points below his actual slugging… interesting…) Over the last two weeks where he’s been actually slugging? Hard hit rate: 42.5 Avg exit velocity: 91.7 See ball + hit ball hard = slug Back to Paredes, is this 2.5 month long slump he’s in actually just a slump? Or have teams figured out that a guy who only hits for power in one very particular way requires a very simple gameplan to attack him with? I’m going with the latter until he proves otherwise. An optimist will look at his slash and say “hey, that’s the best production we’ve gotten from third base in years!What’s there to complain about?” There’s plenty to complain about, the biggest being a continued pattern of locking up positions with at best good players but rarely great. Does the acquisition of Paredes make us better in 2025+ over Morel and Bigge like Jed told us he does? I’m not convinced, but even if I play along nicely the one thing for absolute certain is he does not make us a contender and now we have one less position to find that organization changing talent in. In order to see any big moves, you've got to get rid of Hoyer. That's it plain and simple. Hoyer's "play it safe" approach isn't going to cut it.
He's ruined Canario and Mervis. They are now too old to be considered prospects but lack enough major league experience to know anything about them as a major leaguer. This is the problem with keeping guys down in AAA too long. They age out and then you're left with nothing. You might argue that Mervis was given at least some of a look, but Canario was never given a chance. And now... is everyone at AAA now going to follow that same path? It sure as hell looks that way with all of the MLB positions locked up.
I do agree that Bigge is probably the one that will shine from this trade that will be missed. And I do think they sold low on Morel. I think you would have gotten a lot more for this past offseason - although there just really weren't a lot of third basemen to be had.
I don't know if Paredes is necessarily set in stone as the starting third baseman next year. I mean, he's there if he has to be. But I don't think it's out of the question that he's moved in the offseason. But again... you're going to be selling low on him.
I don't know how you can label this roster that Hoyer has assembled as anything more than just a complete disaster. He waited too long to trade the old core and missed out on getting more for them - and he's got practically zero to show for it with all of those trades, PCA is about it. Hoyer is the anti-Brad Pitt as Billy Beane Moneyball executive. He lets his relationship with players guide his decisions. He should have traded Contreras and Happ in 2022, but he let his feelings get int he way. He never should have signed Happ to that extension. I'm not really sure if the Suzuki signing was really that great. He should have traded Bellinger last year. He activated Bellinger from the IL this year a day before the trade deadline, but he didn't play. I'm not sure if Bellinger really had a lot of trade value this deadline, but he's sure as hell not going to if you don't play him that day before the trade deadline. The Counsell signing is looking to be a disaster (not that I was really all that much of a fan of Ross). He should have moved some players this deadline, for whatever he could get for them, just to clear out some roster space. It's just been a disaster.
I sure hope Ricketts has seen enough and fires Hoyer at the end of the season. It's clear that Hoyer is not the right person for this job.
I can't really bring up an arguement against most of what you said and I'm not against making a change from Jed because he seems like a thrift store shopper and that's not going to cut it here , but you lose me on the Suzuki signing. "great" , well very few signings really register as great but I'm baffled as to why some people on here seem anti Suzuki. Unless people expected a 85 million signing to be a mega star. The guy is among the OPS leaders in all of baseball and has the 3rd highest among OF's . His numbers don't jump off the page , but look around both leagues , few hitters numbers do these days . How would it look to other players especially the guy you just signed to your biggest contract if they traded the teams best player last year when they felt they still had a chance at the playoffs? Thats not sending a good message to anybody. And do you REALLY think playing Bellinger in 1 game before the deadline would have mattered? |
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Post by cfin on Aug 17, 2024 17:57:10 GMT -5
I think the notion that Suzuki is your best player on the team is really the problem.
With this team lacking in slugging and Suzuki is your best slugging percentage player... and he's 29th in the league... that right there explains your slugging deficiencies.
It's not so much that Suzuki is a bad player (although I don't really think he's worth his contract) it's just that THAT'S the best you have!
If you're going to contend you really need to have a top 20, if not a top 10, slugging percentage in your lineup. Now... do you absolutely HAVE to have that to be a contender? No. But it makes things a lot easier.
Was there a better option available in 2022 as an outfield slugger than Suzuki? Japanese power to the MLB just doesn't really translate. There's a few that work (like Ohtani) but I think for the most part power hitters in Japan don't keep that say power in MLB. And I think that shows with Suzuki.
The Suzuki signing isn't Hoyer's worst move, but I don't think it's his best move.
As for Bellinger, I kind of doubt he had much trade value anyway. But the object was probably more to get out from under his 2025 option than anything, so trading him for anything would have been a win. I just don't understand the point of activated him on July 29th and not playing him when the trade deadline was July 30th. Activating him was probably a Hoyer decision and a not playing him was a Counsel decision, but seems these two should have been on the same page. Playing him on the 29th would have at least given other teams a chance to see if he could still swing the bat without pain. Would they have gotten much for him? Probably not. Was there really any teams interested in him? That's a valid question. There seemed to be talk about him before he was injured, but how much of that was real and how much was fluff? I just think it was stupid to activate him on the 29th and not play him. Just leave him on the IL for one more game then. That move speaks more to just how lack of a clue Hoyer really has.
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Post by cfin on Aug 17, 2024 18:04:31 GMT -5
Also, don't forget that while Suzuki's payroll hit is $85M divided by 5, the Cubs had to pay a $14.625M posting fee to sign him. So they effectively spent $100M divided by 5 to sign him.
Jose Ramirez (who probably wasn't going to leave Cleveland anyway) signed a 7 year $141M contract the same offseason the Cubs signed Suzuki. That averages out to $20.142M AAV. Kyle Schwarber signed with the Phillies for 4 year $79M, $19.75M AAV that same offseason.
I'm not necessarily saying that Suzuki's contract is that bad, but maybe that money could have been spent more wisely.
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Post by batman66 on Aug 17, 2024 19:01:41 GMT -5
Also, don't forget that while Suzuki's payroll hit is $85M divided by 5, the Cubs had to pay a $14.625M posting fee to sign him. So they effectively spent $100M divided by 5 to sign him. Jose Ramirez (who probably wasn't going to leave Cleveland anyway) signed a 7 year $141M contract the same offseason the Cubs signed Suzuki. That averages out to $20.142M AAV. Kyle Schwarber signed with the Phillies for 4 year $79M, $19.75M AAV that same offseason. I'm not necessarily saying that Suzuki's contract is that bad, but maybe that money could have been spent more wisely. You are right Ramirez wasnt leaving Cleveland and that was very clear so to bring him up makes little sense since he really was not an option for the Cubs.The Suzuki money to me is a non factor and its not even close to being a bad contract even with him likely to be a DH the last two seasons of it. There were some rumblings about a possible return of Schwarber when he was a free agent. Too bad it didt happen. |
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Post by irishcubfan on Aug 17, 2024 20:20:00 GMT -5
How long until the Cubs sign Elias Diaz , the Rockies flat out released him. Hopefully Hoyer has not seen the Diaz release, hopefully he is distracted by watching every double, home run and walk of Soto's career. |
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Post by batman66 on Aug 17, 2024 20:41:36 GMT -5
How long until the Cubs sign Elias Diaz , the Rockies flat out released him. Hopefully Hoyer has not seen the Diaz release, hopefully he is distracted by watching every double, home run and walk of Soto's career. We can hope but we know its not going to happen. |
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Post by thisbuds4u on Aug 18, 2024 4:08:05 GMT -5
How long until the Cubs sign Elias Diaz , the Rockies flat out released him. Hoyer does like to sign catchers. Barnhart, Gomes, Amaya, Nido and Bethancourt have all been on the roster in less than 2 years |
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