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By Mark Polishuk | at
Email a copy of 'NL Central Notes: Castro, Montero, Kazmir, Walker, Lucroy' to a friend
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whiddon3
I think you meant Orlando Arcia as being the shortstop prospect for the Brewers. Oswaldo Arcia is an outfielder for the Twins.
MLB4LIFE
Sign Kazmir to bolster the rotation,bring up Almora for centerfield.Yes,Almoras bat isnt there yet,but he is the best defensive player the Cubs have and can lock down centerfield.Or like reports have said,use Baez in centerfield with his athletic ability..If Baez doesnt get traded and I think he shouldnt,well see how well he does in CF in winter ball.I just think the Cubs are making a mistake selling low on Baez.Just my two cents
whiddon3
I think you meant Orlando Arcia being the shortstop prospect for the Brewers. Oswaldo Arcia is an outfielder for the Twins.
Justin Broja
Oswaldo Arcia plays for the Twins not the Brewers
WisBrave 2
Yeah, should be the younger brother Orlando Arcia.
JoshBoman2001
I think they are talking about the shortstop/second base, prospect for the Brewers, not the outfielder for the Twins
mike156
it’s altogether possible that the Cubs, despite having other revenue streams, and despite having wealthy ownership, have a business model where a reasonable return of investment is desired. The Ricketts family has other businesses, and they have other interests–and particularly in politics, where they are very large contributors–Joe Ricketts gave $5M to Scott Walker alone. So far, despite the comparative tight-fistedness, the team seems to have done good for itself by tanking first and then rebuilding with younger players. It would be good for baseball to have a Cub World Series win (and that’s speaking as a Yankees fan)
CascadianAbroad
When the Ricketts bought the team from the Tribune Company, part of the deal was that they’d have to take on a lot of the Trib”s debt. It amounted to about $580 million. The debt payments were a big part of the low payroll approach to the rebuilding process and why the Cubs can’t just throw $200M at every David Price on the market.
That debt will be paid off in 2019, the same year the new TV deal is expected to be in place. After that, the Cubs should be flush with cash and able to compete with the Dodgers for the top payroll in baseball. It should allow them to keep homegrown talent due for major contract extensions in 2020-21 and sign top free agents for the foreseeable future.
Kaylee12
Rangers should trade for Jonathan lucroy
sportingdissent
I don’t think catcher depth is at heart in the team’s reluctance to ditch Montero. His defense has regressed in the last few years that he’s not really an effective backstop. Hard to think hanging on to him trumps a Heyward signing. The reality is Montero has no value as a bad catcher on a big contract. Its the same reason Castro is staying a Cub. He’s owed a lot of money and nobody values him.
The Cubs are having a horrible offseason because they overvalue their own players. They have guys owed big money that no one else wants and young players with holes in their games, like Schwarber. I think they thought they could not go after the marquee starters in the trade market and easily pick one up from their assortment of high priced players and are learning that teams don’t value them or place negative value on them. Realistically (because Bryant and Russell aren’t being traded), only Soler has high trade value. Scwarber has value but as a DH so it’s not as high as the Cubs would want. And most teams have soured on Baez.
sportingdissent
^That should read go after marquee starters in the trade market. Take out “not”
CascadianAbroad
I think it’s short-sighted to give up on Schwarber as a serviceable LF or even catcher after just half a season. He’s accrued more games in LF in the Majors than he did in the Minors. His bat will more than make up for even below-average defense in LF, but I think given time to actually develop out there, his athleticism will get him by for several years.
sportingdissent
I think it’s beyond delusional to view him as an option behind the dish. It’s not like he’s shifted to catcher or recently started playing baseball. He’s been catching all his life and has never been,decent at it at any level. That isn’t a knock, that’s just what he is and always has been. It’s not all going to come together 15 years later.
With left field, yeah he’s relatively new to it. He’s also not a great athlete as baseball players go. Even if his instincts take to the position, that won’t be for many years and the upside is pretty low. Realistically, as an outfielder his ceiling would still be amongst the worst defensively. And by the time he’s decent enough at it that he isn’t absolutely killing you out there (like he is now), he’ll be on his way to seeing what athleticism he has regress. Realistically if the Cubs are trying to compete for a title, he can’t be on the roster. Even if they feel someday he’ll be okay in the field. For the few years down the road he’d be viable, it’s not worth the investment.
This, of course, is based on the NL not having the DH. If that changes, his value skyrockets.