2022-2023 Cubs Offseason Free Agent & Trade Thread

[Stratos]

Does anyone read these letters and think “wow, that was great. I’m glad he sent it.”

Lots of nothing and one sentence about “being active in free agency” that everyone will quote if they aren’t active in free agency (I assume they will be).

He also said they "have the necessary resources available to substantially supplement our current roster". Which I guess is something lol.

But I agree that talk is cheap, and actions speak louder than words.

I wish they spent a lot more last offseason but I'll defend Jed with the team he build. Had we not had the crazy amount of injuries in the 1st half, especially from normally healthy guys, we had a good shot at being a .500 team. And with the 2nd half we had we would have been in playoff contention. If we hadn't sold off our late inning guys we'd have been even better the 2nd half. But the guys we landed, like Brown, are good too, and Wesneski may have never happened.

Let's hope the Cubs are optimistic enough about 2023 that they'll start investing real money

[thawv]

Does anyone read these letters and think “wow, that was great. I’m glad he sent it.”

Lots of nothing and one sentence about “being active in free agency” that everyone will quote if they aren’t active in free agency (I assume they will be).

I'm not even sure he wrote that. It sounds like a "baseball guy" wrote it.

[thawv]

I agree with you on this point, but we also don't know how much Ricketts gave him to spend last offseason so hard to judge.

I think Jed said that he had an additional 23 million that he chose not to spend. They're end of season tax number was 175 million. Is he saying that the budget was 198 million? That's what it sounds like to me. So they also said that they are going to "roll over" that money in to next season. Is next years budget going to be knocking at the tax threshold door now?

[rcal10]

You can't just look to the present in FA if you're signing a guy for a lot of money for 8-10 years. You have to factor every single season over the length of the deal. Hoyer is trying to build a sustainable winner. Signing a bad deal to make next year better is illogical. A team like the Cubs has a chance to sign usually 1 or 2 big contracts on a payroll. It's a franchise-defining decision over the course of an entire decade. It's the biggest decision any franchise will make. The wrong decision can sink several wins from a team per season. The difference in the Angels investing in Pujols vs Trout is massive. So you better be very confident that the player you choose is the right player. This is basically what Hoyer is saying. He's not saying they aren't going to spend this offseason.

But what is smart spending? Let’s take Correa as an example. Do you agree he could cost $280/8 years? If he puts up 5 war for the first 6 years but falls off year 7 and 8, is he a good signing? Because that is what the reality is if they want to sign a star free agent. Are you satisfied with getting 6 quality years and then overpaying for 2? Was the Lester deal a good deal and smart money in your opinion? Last few years he was overpaid. Is that ok because they won a WS. Had they lost that last game in 16’ would Lester have been considered a bad contract? For the record, I had no problem with his contract at the end. It was necessary to get him when he was good.

[rcal10]

I think Jed said that he had an additional 23 million that he chose not to spend. They're end of season tax number was 175 million. Is he saying that the budget was 198 million? That's what it sounds like to me. So they also said that they are going to "roll over" that money in to next season. Is next years budget going to be knocking at the tax threshold door now?

Welcome back thawv. Sorry to hear about your last few weeks. That sucks.

I read it as you suggested. Now let’s see if they actually do that. TBH, there is absolutely no reason they shouldn’t.

[CP_414]

I'm not even sure he wrote that. It sounds like a "baseball guy" wrote it.

I don’t think a baseball guy could write “The first half of the year was defined by our young players struggling to adjust to everyday roles” and keep a straight face.

I’m sure it was a PR person who actually wrote it.

[CP_414]

I think Jed said that he had an additional 23 million that he chose not to spend. They're end of season tax number was 175 million. Is he saying that the budget was 198 million? That's what it sounds like to me. So they also said that they are going to "roll over" that money in to next season. Is next years budget going to be knocking at the tax threshold door now?

I saw a post that said David Kaplan said that. I haven’t seen anything about Jed saying that and since Jed won’t answer any question with specifics, I really doubt he said that.

Maybe it’s true. Maybe not. If so, I agree with Cuzi that Jed should have spent that money.

[rcal10]

If Abreu wants to strictly be a DH then sure, but he's going to want money to be on the field and play 1B so no.

Why does the money change if he plays first base? I agree with you that I wouldn’t want him if the plan was to play him at first. But to play there maybe 30 times a year and DH the rest, why not pay him for his bat? He would be a good bat to add. He would also be a good back up plan if Mervis doesn’t get the job done. Hopefully he only plays first, at most, 30 games, however. What is a reasonable 2 year deal for him? If they go Smyle and someone like a Stroman, won’t they have enough for 2 bats. One a SS and the other the best nat they can get, regardless of position. And still add a pen arm or two and maybe another lower priced bench fiy(preferrably a left handed bat)

[thawv]

Why does the money change if he plays first base? I agree with you that I wouldn’t want him if the plan was to play him at first. But to play there maybe 30 times a year and DH the rest, why not pay him for his bat? He would be a good bat to add. He would also be a good back up plan if Mervis doesn’t get the job done. Hopefully he only plays first, at most, 30 games, however. What is a reasonable 2 year deal for him? If they go Smyle and someone like a Stroman, won’t they have enough for 2 bats. One a SS and the other the best nat they can get, regardless of position. And still add a pen arm or two and maybe another lower priced bench fiy(preferrably a left handed bat)

How does 2/38 sound for Abreu? Maybe 42 mil? This man can hit! He's not afraid to walk. He can still hit for power. He has a low K rate. If he became a DH only to rest his aging body, he could really do some damage.

Adding: Using both wRC+ and FG Offense, he was the 5th best hitting 1B in baseball. I think he would be even more productive if he didn't have to play the field.

[Dfan25]

Abreu didn’t hit as many home runs this year , but he still a good hitter . Defensively he has actually gotten better since the 2020 short season and actually ended with 1 OAA this year . I would be okay with him on a 2 year / 34-36 mil deal . He averaged 16.7 per on his last extension I believe .

Between Mervis / Wisdom / Abreu they can cover those DH / 1B ABS . Wouldn’t hate him at all .


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[toovey107]

I'd take Abreu just to piss Sox fans off. But yeah, I'd be all aboard if we actually went all out to compete. Have him and Mervis basically split time at 1B and DH.

[Stratos]

I'm not even sure he wrote that. It sounds like a "baseball guy" wrote it.

If I were a billionaire I wouldn't write anything lol.

[Stratos]

I think Jed said that he had an additional 23 million that he chose not to spend. They're end of season tax number was 175 million. Is he saying that the budget was 198 million? That's what it sounds like to me. So they also said that they are going to "roll over" that money in to next season. Is next years budget going to be knocking at the tax threshold door now?

Yeah i'm interested to know about that too. It kind of sounds like BS, I mean who knows. Actually I don't even care, just spend money & stop making excuses.

[Stratos]

But what is smart spending? Let’s take Correa as an example. Do you agree he could cost $280/8 years? If he puts up 5 war for the first 6 years but falls off year 7 and 8, is he a good signing? Because that is what the reality is if they want to sign a star free agent. Are you satisfied with getting 6 quality years and then overpaying for 2? Was the Lester deal a good deal and smart money in your opinion? Last few years he was overpaid. Is that ok because they won a WS. Had they lost that last game in 16’ would Lester have been considered a bad contract? For the record, I had no problem with his contract at the end. It was necessary to get him when he was good.

Hard to define "smart spending". The answer to all your questions is basically "yes".

I assume the Cubs want to maximize every million they spend. They want to roughly maximize the WAR per million they get out of any contract. But there's also context to decisions, like filling a hole to try to put you over the top that you might overpay on.

Hoyer in the press conference also mentioned that the timing of a big FA signing has to be right, whatever that means. Just seems like Hoyer has a very longterm outlook of the franchise, which IMO is good.

He also mentioned the Cubs overcommitment to the team post-WS. I think if we had kept Gleyber, Eloy, and Cease then 2018-2022+ would have been better. But trading Gleyber was the right move at the time. What makes me PO'd is that it wasn't necessary had Ricketts not been cheap and we had money to sign a good closer in the 2015-16 offseason.

[cuzi]

The Cubs added $290M of new money in the 2015-16 offseason and there wasn't some stud closer available on the market. How is that cheap and who were they not spending money on?