Checking in on the National League…
- The Cubs are “still looking to add depth” to their pitching staff, general manager Jed Hoyer tells Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com. “That’s an annual thing you think about. You prepare for injuries even if some years you go unscathed,” he continued. Starting depth does appear to be an issue at the moment for the Cubs, who lack battle-tested options beyond their current projected rotation of Kyle Hendricks, Jose Quintana, Jon Lester, Tyler Chatwood and Mike Montgomery. Of the other healthy starting possibilities on their 40-man roster, only Eddie Butler brings significant experience in the majors, though he hasn’t been particularly successful. Of course, the Cubs would help their cause quite a bit by signing Yu Darvish (who remains on their radar) or bringing in another high-profile starter via free agency or trade.
- The Mets are reportedly interested in free agent infielder Eduardo Nunez, but Mike Puma of the New York Post wonders (on Twitter) if the organization’s hitting philosophy may ultimately prevent a signing from occurring. The club “emphasizes selectivity,” Puma points out, and that’s not the case with Nunez. Among hitters with at least 400 plate appearances last year, he had the seventh-lowest walk percentage (3.7) and the 14th-highest chase rate (39.6 percent).
- Left-hander Josh Smoker went from the Mets to the Pirates in a trade this week, and it didn’t surprise the reliever that he ended up in Pittsburgh (via Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). “I kind of had a feeling that Pittsburgh might have some interest because in the past I had heard rumblings that Pittsburgh had always had a little bit of interest in me,” Smoker said. “I know it’s a team that needs some left-handers, too.” Indeed, Smoker became just the fourth southpaw on the Bucs’ 40-man roster. While Smoker has only managed a 5.02 ERA across 71 2/3 career innings, he’s hopeful renowned Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage will be able to help him break out with his new team. After the trade, Smoker discussed Searage with his friend, former Pirates reliever Matt Capps, who offered praise for the pitching guru.
The cold stove league has to be hurting this website! Everyday is nothing new! I can’t even believe teams when they say they have interest in a player anymore! I have interest in a fancy new car, but I’m not goin to buy one !
I dunno. I check in the same number of times every day.
Yeah if anything I check it more since there are so many possibilities that are remaining.
If everyone signed already I’d have no real reason to come here until the season started.
Agreed. I am currently in Thailand and frequently checking the website. Makes great reading at the beaches/bars.
Agreed – I’ve been using this site for years. This offseason I’ve probably checked for updates more times than ever. Not to mention I’m reading every update. Even the ones about the minor league signings.
The car industry should sue you and the rest of us for collusion because we all got together and decided not to buy a Bentley.
But what about the poor, innocent Bentley owners?
That’s probably the best analogy for this offseason that I have seen.
smoker will be sent down by may. brought up sporadically until rosters expand. not sure who will lose more games, pirates or marlins
Seriously? At least the Pirates have a semblance of a pitching staff. The Marlins lost their best 3 players…the Bucs lost Cutch and Cole and have replacements…..maybe.
Yeah I’m gonna go with the Marlins on this one.
Cubs should take the money they have available and get Lance Lynn and Andrew Cashner and have a 6 man rotation
yeah Joe would like that considering he doesnt like to use his SP to their full potential
Only one he does that with is Hendricks
Pitchers have to pitch well if they want to stay in games. Walking the bases loaded with nobody out in the 4th inning will get you pulled, and I don’t care who you are.
Joe would pull Hendricks if he walked one guy in the 1st with 2 outs with the Cubs up by 5.
If that’s true then state an example. If not then you’re exaggerating and making a false claim
The way I see the Cubs using a six-man in 2018 is to have it look like a five with an 8-man pen. Then, Maddon keeps his 4th bench bat.
When the six is needed, flip down a reliever who can be sent down, and call up a SP (Tseng/Underwood/Mills/etc) for a day. The next day, return the SP, and call up another RP, as the guy sent down won’t be able to return for 10 days.
The starters and relievers will get shuttled, and Joe gets his 8 man pen (usually) and a 4 man bench.
Cashner SUCKS!! Does he have a winning record??? How many DL stints?
Said it before on here. I am really pulling for my Cubs to get resign Jake Arrieta. Really expecting a rebound year for him. He will feel like he has something to prove. Another resigning that of Jon Jay makes this an extremely successful off-season and finds us making another run at 100 wind.
Yeah cuz Arietta didn’t have anything to prove last year. smh
Not sure there is anything to rebound to anymore. I think Jake is who he is now. Mid rotation starter. Nothing wrong with bringing him back but not if he is paid like he is better than he is
The reason for slow signings I that all these guys are asking for too many years and too much money
Players usually have something to prove during their walk year. You do not overpay a player hoping he will “bounce back” and “prove something” and you do not resign a player based on emotion
That’s a pretty stupid reason to want to sign a player….
Hell no on Jake. Sorry. He’s done done great things for cubs but he’s done. Darvish I’m ok with but still prefer Cobb
Maybe he’d be willing to sign a 2 or 3 year deal with player opt outs. Build up his value for one last contract…
Something will happen soon. When the payroll starts and all these guys aren’t getting a check they will bend.
Wouldn’t surprise me to see a record 1 year deals. Heard it here first.
Payroll does not start until April however
Actually no. Other people on this site have been stating there’d be crazy 1 year deals. It’s been a frequent question in the chats as well.
Quick question, why bother saying “heard it here first?” Is it because you want recognition? Do you want your guess to sound more factual? You should work on your ego integrity. Just a suggestion
Oh great, Smoker is talking to the big bull rider. I vividly remember attending a Pirates game where they led 1-0 the entire game, brought in Capps who threw 5 pitches, and then they were behind 2-1. Can’t stand that guy.
The Cubs need to worry about their position player depth since the “Genius” traded away that depth.
What if Javier Baez or Addison Russell don’t get better at swinging the bat? What if Schwarber who doesn’t belong in the outfield to begin with can’t hit either? What if Happ flops? The Cubs had replacements for them who might end up being stars and they just gave them away.
No offense but you won the World Series with the guys you traded for with those prospects. That’s the cost of winning. Been there done that as a Phillies fan. Gonna have to rebuild eventually maybe sooner rather than later. Look how short of a window Kansas City had.
I absolutely hate that the Cubs no longer have Gleybar. They could make a trade off their MLB roster and have a great SS prospect ready to take over. But you know what – yeah they “gave him away” two years ago and WON THE WORLD SERIES directly because of it. They don’t win the World Series without that trade so it was 100% worth it. So that’s 1 strike against your idiot trollness.
Now your other “give away” and Eloy. At the moment this one stings because of how bad Quintana crapped the bed once e got to the Cubs. I’m sure chisoxcity if he actually is a White Sox fan can tell us that Jose is better than he showed. After that trade went down my first thought was damn I wish before pulling the trigger they would have checked with Tampa to see if they’d take Eloy and Cease for Archer as I’d rather have him. But we need to give Quintana another look. End of the day the Cubs got 3.5 years of at worst a number 3 starter but hopefully he improves. And if they win another World Series in the next 3 years it’ll have been worth it.
Cost of winning a World Series can be steep but 100% worth it.
I’m really interested in who you think they “just gave away” I can’t think of one true prospect that was traded away in a deal that didn’t make sense for the Cubs… Their is always risk involved in any move.. Will a guy feel comfortable in his new city, will he put added pressure on himself, etc… For example the trade for Justin Wilson was not a bad trade… At the time, Wilson was one of the most dominant lefty pen arms in the American league.. No one could predict he would come to Chicago and flop… Therefore, the trade still made sense.
Also, you give a lot of “what ifs,” you can do that with any team! As much as I don’t like him, Baez had a good offensive season. .273 23hr 75rbi is a long long way away from needing to get better.
If anything, they have too much depth which leads to Maddon having to play a Merry go round of line ups to get guys at bats. The only thing the Cubs need is pitching… They do not need any additional position players period.
Who backs up Bryant at 3B now? I would like to have one guy on the bench that can play ALL infield positions. If we do I can’t think of who it is.
Baez can easily back up Bryant; played 8 times at 3rd and so can Happ (played in 4 games at 3rd last year). The depth/versatility the cubs have within the team is abundant. Cubs still need another SP and a real CL (I do not think Morrow will cut it).
They didn’t just give them away. They had to trade them to upgrade their roster. I’m pretty sure the only one who has the potential to be a star anyways is Jimenez.
That’s a lot of ifs. Lol. Cubs will be fine from a hitting stand point regardless. Need pitching
Or you can be smart about trades and free agents and not deplete your minor leagues and have a window that has been open for twenty years and remains open for a long while to come like the cards. Or you can tank, build your roster with crazy depth, trade it all away for a short window and then tank again and start all over.
Their window isn’t short, they’re still the favorites in that division for the foreseeable future, and have been for the past three years
Time will tell, but no reason to think that it’s a 20+year window like I was referencing. All players will be gone from current team and unless they learn how to build minor leagues all the while improving their big league squad, they will need to tank again in the future to go at it again for another run. They’re good, and core is all there for a while, but their model is unsustainable. Unless they figure out how to develop pitching the window will shut.
Who has a “20 year window”?!?! The Cubs have as long of a window as can be expected given the economics of baseball…20 year window..c’mon man.
My cardinals have been on a 20 year window….and it’s still open
*Salt intensifies*
Love the comment about Nunez hitting philosophy not working for the Mets. How do the Mets emphasize selectivity? The lineup is incapable of putting the ball in play when they need to, they strike out constantly. Home run or K has become the way of the league but there is no way the Mets can say they have emphasized selectivity, at least not by the way the team has played.
I thought that too lol. How is Rosario on the roster? Guy will be lucky to get 15 walks next year.
It’s infuriating. It’s also baffling, the team stresses being a patient/selective hitter yet nobody on the team can bat over .270.
Frazier is another one of those guys, HR or nothing with him. We don’t need power, we need average. Bring in Nunez.
I don’t see the Cubs adding any additional depth. The roster you see now will be the roster on opening day and it is much weaker than in seasons past. The Cubs look to be an 85 win team in 2018.
Darvish winds up with the Brewers. Maybe the Angels will swoop in on Arrieta.
And Dipsh*ts will be Dipsh*ts
It’s the same roster on hitting side as last year. Number two in runs scored to Rockies in NL.
Connor cites that, “Indeed, Smoker became just the fourth southpaw on the Bucs’ 40-man roster.” as if that represents some sort of shortage. Yet he ignores or neglects to mention that the Mets, who cut Smoker, has only TWO southpaws, and one of those is a starter. who has been battling injuries for two years now.
sign cashner and holland
what in the word would you do with Cashner?
Holland….Yes!!! Does Cashner have a winning record? He was a CUB, he didn’t pitch for crap, then after being traded to San Diego he ran his mouth about how bad the Cubs were, how the organization sucked etc.
Wonder what it will take to sign Nunez? 1/5, 2/9, 3/12. Certainly not the 2/14 some projected. Maybe 3/15 would do it
I hope the Mets avoid him. They have internal options (Reyes and Flores) who can match the productivity and meh fielding skills of Nunez. The Mets need to go after a mid-tier arm: Lynn, Cobb, or maaaaybe Holland if he wants to be a SP and not a bullpen option.
Damn, I wish we had resigned Daniel Murphy…