The Cubs made a run at David Price this winter, but they weren’t necessarily close to landing him. Chicago fell roughly $50MM short of the Red Sox’s offer, Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein told WEEI this week. “We ended up a distant third,” Epstein said.
“He’s a great pitcher and we were involved and very interested,” said Epstein, who was apparently also behind the Cardinals in the Price sweepstakes. “We thought, he’s an elite, elite pitcher, the kind that very rarely makes it to the free agent market, he’s got terrific makeup, where he influences a team not just through his performance on the field, but he’s a real culture-changer or a culture-enhancer, at the very least, in the clubhouse.”
Here’s more on the Cubs:
- The Cubs’ current focus is on trading for relievers, major league sources tell Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Chicago isn’t looking for high-end types like Andrew Miller of the Yankees, but they are fishing for middle-inning and setup options who would provide additional depth. In the outfield, he adds, the Cubs’ plan is to play Jason Heyward in center field rather than add a center fielder and slide Heyward into right field. The Cubs could also consider a trade for a starting pitcher.
- After sitting on lower payroll numbers for six years, Cubs ownership has opened up the purse strings, Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago writes. Epstein & Co. now have a projected $155MM payroll on the 25-man roster for 2016, eclipsing the previous watermark of $145MM in 2010. The payroll should keep rising from here, thanks to a projected attendance hike this season and a TV contract that will give the Cubs billions of dollars worth of revenue.
- In his introductory press conference this week, Heyward explained that he was drawn to the Cubs in part because of the roster stability he expects them to have going forward. “Knowing the core is young and those guys are going to be around for a while is very exciting,” Heyward said, according to Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com. “I don’t want to take the highest dollar amount when my gut is telling me to go somewhere else. Being 26 years old and knowing that my contract would put me in any clubhouse for longer than most people there, you have to look at age, how fast the team is changing and how soon those changes will come about.”
I’m fine with the other moves we made. Better off without him. Go cubs go!
How do you figure they are better off without another ace at the top of their rotation? The biggest positive out of not signing him is it leaves more money to commit to our young core (Bryant and Schwarber could prove to be very expensive) and I would hate to commit a large sum of money and lose Bryant (I could see them letting Schwarber walk or trading him for pitching in the next year or two).
TV deal money is coming.
Yep. Which that helps tremendously but I don’t see the Cubs going all out to throw 200 million at a pitcher, plus having the money to lock up Bryant, Schwarber, Russell long term. I do believe they want to keep Arietta around. All for those moves would surely put them over the luxury tax at some point (if they had signed a guy like Price) which I don’t see them wanting to do.
And debt payments disappear at the same time. The Ricketts had to take on a TON of Tribune Co. debt as part of the purchase agreement. It’ll be a significant influx of baseball operations money in addition to the TV money.
Hang on there Harper and Bryant if the price is close and a cap is put in place before 2018 would love to play for each other and think about why Heyward joined all will be in the same age group so stick to are plan stay with are kids ( many as possible) the ones in the minors now will be needed in a year or 2 . Don’t mess with your plan Theo and you like dumb dumb Beane will be in the Hall of fame. Keep Soler for 1-2 years and start getting Scwaber ready to be Bench like – not on the bench but like Johnny Bench
I’m curious of what they’d be looking for bullpen wise if they aren’t going for any elite arms. I like the young core there (Rondon, Strop, Ramirez, Grimm) but there are so many middle-relief and other set-up arms under contract (Warren, Cahill, Wood, Richard, et al) that trading for other bullpen pieces is puzzling.
As for SP’s, it’ll be interesting to see if Baez or Soler are used as the centerpiece for a Tyson Ross or Jake Odorizzi type. Part of me would love to see Heyward slide to right with Soler being traded for a controllable SP, and signing a stop-gap type to play CF (Span?) until Almora is ready. But I also hesitate because I really like Soler, and he could prove to be an absolute stud with a ridiculously team-friendly contract.
I would much rather Heyward play his natural position of RF – Perhaps a Soler/Hammel/Alcantara to Giants for Heston/Pagan/Romo? Maybe another pc added to one side or the other but something along those lines would be ok by me ( not that they call for my approval lol)
As a Giants fan I would love that trade.
yeah – upon further review not sure cubs would do that – I like Heston and Pagan is a nice 1 yrs stopgap but may have over paid lol.
I’d aim way higher than Heston in any Soler trade. There is pretty much nothing I like about this scenario, from a Cubs perspective.
I think in trying so hard not to overvalue cubs players I went too far the other way lol.
Trading Soler is dumb. His ceiling is as high as Scwarber. If you need a stop gap CF then there is Denard Span that will not cost any prospects.
So under your plan of keeping Soler and signing someone like Span to play CF – where the F does Jason Heyward play?
IMO, signing Heyward was always about him playing CF. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me to sign him with the intention of having him play RF because then the Cubs are right back where they started—seeking an overpriced free agent CFer or dreaming about acquiring one in a trade.
The Heyward signing creates a nice stopgap to see what they have in Almora. If Almora pans out in the Minors and Soler doesn’t develop the way they’d like, you can move Heyward to RF, bring Almora up and deal Soler. It’s also insurance in case Heyward opts out after year 3. The Cubs value depth as much as talent and they’ve got it in spades right now.
I really don’t see the Cubs trading Soler at this point. Unless they are super confident Almora will be ready in a few years and they can get a solid return for him. They have every opportunity to let Soler develop more to see his true potential (yet to be seen). If Almora is ready in a few years, and Soler puts together 2 really good seasons like Cubs fans are hoping and expecting, it gives you a few options on whether you want to keep as is and dangle Almora out for trade, or trade Soler with his value being higher vs it being lower now due to the injury he had this year. At this point I think teams are looking to buy low on him. Cubbies need to see what this kid can do unless we get a ‘wow’ type offer (which I would not expect right now)
Agreed. I would understand the Cubs pulling the trigger on a trade now for a controllable young SP they like, but I’d much rather wait to see what becomes of Soler.
Per your scenario, if Soler does develop and Almora is ready in ’17, I think the more likely scenario would be to trade Schwarber to the AL and have an OF of Soler (LF), Almora (CF), Heyward (RF). I know that Schwarber is currently untouchable, and I’m not exactly a fan of trading him… I just think he’d be the more likely piece to go if Soler and Almora both live up to their potential.
Of course, if Schwarber can stick at C this becomes moot.
But your likelihood is based on two unrelated best-case scenarios occurring. Whats the likelihood that Soler AND Almora both live up to their potential when both have merely flashed at various points since they signed in 2012? Really, short of those flashes, there hasn’t been any level of consistency with either player.
That is true. Obviously, anything that anyone can ever say about prospect or a guy who has not been in the majors very long is based on best case scenario. All I am saying is, Cubs would be best suited to see how their investments will payoff, vs underselling at this point. If one (or both) don’t pan out, you adjust from there. They didn’t go into this full rebuild mode that has taken years and years to trade some could be outstanding pieces for something that doesn’t help them out in one area long term.
I am totally down for them to trade Soler, Baez, or even Schwarber for the right piece. Like stated before though, without Soler and Baez having that great of success yet, they would not be able to oversell one of those guys for a young SP they need. In fact, I think they would have to kick in quite a bit to get a young SP that will help them out long term. Yes, you have to give up a lot to get what you want either way, but I think the Cubs know they need to see what their potential is, to help raise their value and see where they want to take their lineup from there.
True. And that’s why I’m fully on-board with trading either Baez or Soler if there’s a young SP they can control that comes back to Chicago. The good news is that, right now, the Cubs are well off, and don’t need to make any additional moves before the start of the season. It might make more sense to wait until the trade deadline to reassess, but I’m quite happy with what they’ve accomplished this offseason.
Yea. I think at this point it’s vital to let the young kids you have invested in pan out unless you can get something you know you would absolutely love in a trade. If Schwarber, IMO, seems like the piece that would go in a trade. You are completely right, if Soler starts putting together some good seasons, and they like Almora’s development, unless Schwarber can stick it out at catcher (which I could see them being ok with to keep his bat in the lineup) he is the one to go. Could you imagine in 3 years if your lineup is:
1st – Rizzo
2nd – Baez
SS – Russell
3rd – Bryant
LF – Almora
CF – Heyward
RF – Soler
C – Schwarber
Not only is that a potent lineup full of tremendous upside on offense, the IF and OF would be very solid at defense as well. Not only that, it would be pretty cost controlled at that point still. May need to fill out some rotation holes and bullpen again by that point, but that lineup would be filthy
Schwarber at C would be huge for the Cubs. His bat is solid, so he’d just need to be mediocre back there for it to be an advantage. HIs defense in LF..uhm…he has a good bat?
Fact. You would imagine his offense is going to become more potent the following year. If he plays a halfway decent back stop, you stick him back there if Almora pans out to make room for him in the OF. All of these are huge if’s, but things are looking way to bring to pull a move unless it’s a clear long term upgrade!
This is why I wished he would have caught Jake and Lester a few times. Those guys could really help him learn how to manage a game back there. Maybe Ross and Montero will really work with him this next season and spring.
That kind of money to a pitcher with that kind of post season track record makes no sense. Cubs I think the Cubs are better off without him, but should have went after Zimmerman instead.
If you just listened to Epstein after the Cubs season ended, you could see this coming a mile away. He made mention of acquiring multiple starters and of trying to improve the outfield defense. As great as Price is, these weren’t goals that were going to be accomplished by bringing him into the fold. Could they have afforded him? Absolutely. They dished out $158 million in guaranteed contracts over 4 years to Heyward, Zobrist, and Lackey. So the money was there – but the Cubs thought it was considerably more important to balance out a lineup that struggled mightily against hard-throwing right-handed pitchers. Given the rotations in New York, Arizona, Washington, San Fran, St. Louis and Pittsburgh – it’s hard to disagree with the assessment. The Cubs are going to need to beat two of those staffs to get where they want to go next year…
Not sure Theo is getting rid of a special bat such as Shwarbs after he only played half a season in the bigs. Give these young guys a year or two and then make that call. You don’t want to end up trading another Josh Donaldson…
Agreed, but Schwarber and Donaldson is an apples/oranges comparison. Donaldson was apart of the Harden deal in what, 2008? He didn’t develop into a top level player for quite a few years. Schwarber is already a proven commodity at the plate, and while I would cringe at the thought of trading him I could see it making sense in a few years – pending on the development of other prospects and overall team needs. Hopefully he finds his home at Catcher, which I’m not disqualifying from happening. I just don’t think trading him in a few years is an impossibility.
Agreed. From all that’s been reported, Schwarber studies his butt off, so you’d hope the guy is putting in serious hours working on his fielding as we speak. I think you see him being much improved in LF next year, and also at C (he can only go up from where he was). Still think there’s another impact arm to be acquired…A nice bullpen arm would be nice, and I think Baez is the odd man out. Maybe the look at moving some younger prospects and keeping Baez in a super utility role, however.
I would actually love to see Baez in a super utility role if he’s not traded. If he pans out in CF he could play up to 4 different positions, and along with Zobrist, that’d give Maddon a ridiculously flexible roster. A utility role in which he starts 3’ish games per week could also be good for him mentally.
There’s so many options for the Cubs right now. I’m relishing all of this.
It’s awesome. I think the fact that they’re improving the roster while also keeping an ammunition of young players to replace and replenish the major league team is great. I think this year is a big year. It’s hard to see the Cards winning as many games, but PIT is gonna be right there all year. Would be huge not to play in the wild card game.
Baez is pretty good at second. I truly like him for that. If he can get his k’s down and work counts he’d be pretty damn awesome. Not a ton of powerful 2b like him.
So Heyward’s decision had nothing to do with the fact that he got 2 opt-out clauses, which are practically free-rolls? Hmm…
$155M?
Players and their salaries and projected salaries through arbitration and the rough pay increases pre-arb players get
STARTERS
CF Heyward – $17.5M
2B Zobrist – $10.5M
3B Bryant – $530K
1B Rizzo – $5.286M
LF Schwarber – $520K
RF Soler – $3.67M
C Montero – $14M
SS Russel – $520M
BENCH
C Ross – $2.5M
OF Coghlan – $3.9M
OF Szczur – $515K
3B/2B La Stella – $530K
2B/SS/3B/OF? Baez – $520K
ROTATION
SP Arrieta – $10.6M
SP Lester – $25M
SP Lackey – $16M
SP Hendricks – $530K
SP Hammel – $9M
BULLPEN
CL Rondon – $3.6M
SUa Strop – $4.7M
SUb Ramirez – $520K
RP Grimm – $1M
RP Wood – $6.4M
RP Warren – $1.5M
RP Brothers – $1.42M
Now they have more people signed to ML contracts, but this article says 25 man roster…… if I were the Cubs front office this would be my 25 man roster. This is more like $140.6M give or take a couple hundred thousand.
1 – You forgot Cahill who was signed to a $4 million deal and Richard who signed for $2 million. Both will be on the roster.
2 – You’re forgetting that Edwin Jackson’s $11 million will cost against their 2016 payroll
That still hurts to laugh about edwin jackson and gerrardo concepcion still being on the payroll. For another year.
Russell has the greatest contract of all time at $520M.
They don’t need to do everything right now.
Could try to find a trade partner at the deadline as well.
What I’d personally like to see is them trying to take chances with
former Cy guys Tim Lincecum and Cliff Lee.
See if Bosio can bring some life back into these guys.
I think that Tim could be the biggest steal of the year if
his hip surgery brings some velocity back to his fastball.
And also maybe take a chance on a guy like A.J. Griffin
who has always pitched decently at any level through out his career.