If the Super Two threshold was ever a factor keeping top Indians prospect Francisco Lindor out of the big leagues, it does not seem to be anymore, Zack Meisel of the Northeast Ohio Media Group writes. The threshold has likely passed, and teams have promoted top prospects like Carlos Correa and Joey Gallo in recent weeks, but Lindor remains with Triple-A Columbus. Lindor is hitting .279/.346/.398, including .400/.429/.600 in June. The Indians, meanwhile, have undergone upheaval at the shortstop position, with Mike Aviles replacing the struggling Jose Ramirez. Here are more quick notes from the Central divisions.
- David Price and the Cubs will be great fits for one another when Price becomes a free agent next winter, Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago writes. Price’s former manager Joe Maddon is now in Chicago, and Price says he finds a young team like the Cubs appealing. “They have a lot of guys they can control for a long time,” he says. “It’s very similar to when I first came up in Tampa. Just a bunch of young guys out there having fun. That’s what it’s about. You have to be able to have fun. I don’t want to win and not have fun.”
- Cardinals starter Lance Lynn has headed to the disabled list with a forearm strain, and the team has promoted Tyler Lyons to take his place, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. GM John Mozeliak says Lynn should be able to return after the minimum 15 days, as Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. “A little forearm strain, as it looks right now, should be a normal 15 days and make sure we get everything calmed down — make sure it’s not something that flares up as the year goes on and I don’t try to pitch through something and make it worse,” Lynn says. Lynn’s injury is, however, another blow to a franchise that also has Adam Wainwright, Matt Adams, Matt Holliday and Jordan Walden on the disabled list.
Will the Cubs have a 200mil contract in the budget for Price…after the season….Also don’t believe Price at all when he says it’s appealing…he’ll sign the largest contract offered….
Who wouldn’t think having a shot to bring a title to the North Side would be exciting? I’m a Cardinals fan and I can see the appeal of the Cubs. I’m sure Price will sign for the most money, he’s never said anything to the contrary. But I’m sure he’d love to play for the Cubs.
C’mon, it’s a secondary concern.
I’m sure they do. They draw well every game and really don’t have a lot of money tied into guys other than Lester (Jackson I believe is 13 mill this and next year but thats alnost up and of course Montero at about 13-14 mill). Their offense is very cheap, especially with Fowler being a free agent after this year and possibly another rookie in OF next season.
The Cubs are also almost $25MM below their 2010 payroll. I’d say it’s safe to assume they can add $25-$30MM per year with no problem.
I still think the Dodgers outbid them…..they might have to settle for Cueto or Zimmerman….
Greinke is opting out. They have to resign him first
I think the Dodgers go after Zimmerman, Hamels to the Sox or Cubs, Greinke to the Yanks or Nats, Cueto to Toronto or San Deigo.
Dodgers have been rumored to be interested in Zimmerman the most. I think you have to look at the big spenders for the top pitchers, Price, Cueto, Zimmerman, and Greinke.
Or Astros & Rangers for Hamels…….
I actually have the dodgers trading for Hamels because I don’t think they will dish out another 150-170 or even 200 million for another pitcher, and plus I believe Greinke will opt out and test the market, he is having a cy young type season.
With Maddon history w Price and Derek Johnson as Cubs organizational pitching director(Prices Vanderbilt coach) and Cubs payroll flexibility, only way Cubs lose our is if Dodgers give a 10 year deal bc Cubs won’t go above 7–but money wise they’ll match every penny–and all things equal Price would rather play for Cubs
What’s wrong with Zimmerman
Exactly- and just as indicated by “the left shark” montero and jackson come off books and Cubs hold a Hammel option following 2016 so they have 25- 26 million guaranteed coming off and if they, for some reason unknown, wanted to keep their payroll in the bottom half of the lg they could decline Hammel’s option-though they’ll 100% pick it up even if he’s pitching half as good as he is thus far this year. I think Cubs get Price- if Schwarbs stays at catcher and the Cubs trade Castro, move Russel to SS and Baez to 2nd–w Soler in RF Cubs could sign Fowler to a 3 year deal(if decide to), call up McKiney or trade from depth for a strong LF, and have one of Edwards, Black, Underwood, Turner, Sands, Steele, Cease turn into a 5th starter and they would have Price on this team in 2017, conceivably, for the same amount as this years payroll–pretty nice spot to be in
Dump Baez
Why do you say dump Baez? He is younger than this years draft top 2 picks and was hitting over .300/.380/.540 when he was injured in AAA…w a 10% walk rate. Did he struggle last year when he hit majors? Yes. As he has at every level when he is first moved up-before he dominates it-as he was in AAA before injury- runs bases and plays defense better than Castro- by far and away Baez will be the better of the 2—again, the kid is 21!!!!! Everyone acting like he is/was a lost cause are absolutely nuts-
Also will have added revenue from the video boards and in a few years their own TV network
They are just under $82M in guaranteed money next year and their estimated salary with arbitration etc. is around $122M.
They will easily have 200 million to sign Price if they want, a new tv deal lingering, as well as, a huge revenue burst this year. I don’t see them going for it though, 200 million could be spent in other ways.
Here is the committed payroll for the Cubs without arbitration .
2016 $ 82 million
2017 $ 62 million
2018 $ 50 million
2019 $ 55 million
2020 $ 28 million
3 players under team friendly contracts ( Castro thru 19 Rizzo thru 19 Soler thru 20) all could be extended thru options.
In this time frame neither Russell or Bryant will be Arb eligible, If they continue to live up to their billing they could be signed to long term contracts, Even so if they extend Bryant and Russell they have plenty of payroll flexibility.
Arbitration will be a big deal. Those numbers are low, because their players are young, but you can expect $15MM-$25MM/year/player arbitration numbers on some of those guys if they become superstars in their last arbitration years. For example, Price himself is getting almost $20MM in his last year.
Price did not go to arbitration, they agreed upon that 1 year deal. Like I said Bryant and Russell will not be arb eligible till 2018 Those are the two players that will demand hi dollar contracts as of right now. The are no current players that I see eligible for arbitration that will command top dollar.
Arrieta?
I don’t think Arrieta will get a Lester type deal, I think the Cubs could sign him long term for between $15/$2 million.
He’s due for Arb2 next season. He won’t be cheap. As long as he’s healthy, I doubt he plays for any team for a 15 million dollar contract other than his arb next year of course.
Arrieta will get paid , I just don’t think he will a jackpot contract. He is a decent #1 pitcher not the type of pitcher that would command money like Price or Lester.
The Cubs won’t be worried about the money, they will go get the pitching they need.
Same difference. The number could be a year to year compromise to avoid arbitration. So what?
It will still be $15-25MM per player per year.
By the time the arbitration salaries start to hit, the Cubs’ newly-aligned TV deals will all be expiring. I think the TV market is more volatile now than it was in the past few years, but I fully expect it to still be a huge infusion of cash.
Plus, the other Wrigley-related renovations such as creating a hotel and convention center across the street will be in swing, which is likely to bring another stable cash infusion a couple of years after that.
Cubs franchise is in a good position to do virtually whatever they want at this point.
Actually, the Cubs have a ton of money. They’ve been constantly under budget (which Theo says rolls over to the next year and so on).. they’ve split their televised games between a few major networks, garnering tons of cash.. attendance is way up this year, and with the stadium upgrades and advertisements (with larger crowd capacity), they could sign anyone they deem worth it. Now, they ARE tight with the strings, but I am merely saying that if they had the desire, they could outbid anyone at the right time.. which is all they’re waiting for, I believe.
Don’t be so sure…there are cities where DP will not play (e.g. Seattle), and he is a guy who means it when he says he wants to have fun. He isn’t like a lot of major leaguers.
Price ain’t a jerk I knew a AA player for the Rays that met price his name was Kevin brant he said he was a nice dude
The Cardinals just can not keep winning with all of these injuries, they just can’t.
They still have one of the better teams in baseball even after all the injuries. The team is loaded in depth, and could probably acquire anyone they wanted at the deadline without withdrawing anyone from their MLB team.
I agree with that, but I do not expect them to continue to play at a 100 win pace either. No team can after losing their #1 and #3 starters, their setup man and their #3 and #4 hitters. Especially when one of those two hitters is, arguably, their best hitter (Holliday).
While their rotation will probably be a problem, its not a huge one because they still have multiple solid guys and a very good TOR guy with Wacha.
As for the offense, Grichuk and Reynolds have combined for 1.2 WAR this year, Holiday and Matt Adams combined for 1.2 WAR as well. I know down the stretch that’ll be a bigger issue, but for now, its not ridiculous to expect them to continue to play well.
As I said before, if it really is such a problem, they can acquire Cole Hamels or a needed bat later on without removing from their MLB team
Who are they going to trade for Cole Hamels?
So mixture of Piscotty, Marco Gonzalez. Kaminsky, Tim Clooney and Alex Reyes could get something done.
I’d say that’s a maybe at best.
If Amaro was offered Piscotty, 1 of Gonzalez or Alex Reyes, and Kaminsky, a deal would get done. Thats 2 top 100 prospects plus another future one.
I think right now expecting Grichuk to replace Holiday’s production is ridiculous. The drop off from Adams to Reynolds is not as bad, Adams is a overrated hitter IMO, but it is still a drop off. If I was a Cards fan I’d be very worried about the offense.
As for the pitching, Wacha is very good of course. But Tyler Lyons? I would not have much faith there. Lackey can not continue to pitch as well as he has been, doubt Jamie Garcia remains this strong as well.
I don’t think the Cards would trade for Hamels, If they are going to trade for a pitcher might be Kazmir or Harang.
Not bad choices either, but I was just saying that the option is there if needed.
Who is their backup SS, C, 1B? Are you a big Tyler Lyons fan or how about Mark Reynolds? Who is the next position player up? Their depth is a load is how I would put it.
I don’t believe that the Cardinals’ success comes only from the talents of the ballplayers. The minor and major league management/coaching talent is second to none. The team has depth and is so fundamentally sound throughout the organization- talented players are either drafted, or acquired, and are educated, exceptionally well to the intricacies of the game on all levels. The successful bunt, the clutch hit, productive outs, and quality innings from all players are primary reasons why this team is able to withstand the injury setbacks better than virtually any other MLB team this season.
They use black magic.
Cardinals are a well rounded team like the Giants, Dodgers, and Nats. I would expect them all to make the playoffs. The American league has the Royals.
Price is friendly to everyone. He is a big Twitter guy and tweets a lot. I would not read anything he says at this point.
I’ve thought for a while about a 3 way trade with Hamels to Detroit, Price and Detroit prospects to the Cubs and Cub prospects to the Phils. It would make most sense if the Cubs were confident of inking Price to a new contract. Detroit needs a top of the rotation starter under team control beyond this year. The Phils, well they need everything. Good for them to be involved with 2 teams looking to compeete now.
Cubs wouldn’t do that….they would just use their prospects for Hamels….or just try to sign Price….
I would bet the Cubs go after either Price next year or Hamels this year, they also have been rumored to be interested in Papelbon.
I think they go after Price and trade for Papelbon, finish above .500 this year and then become a legit contender to the Cards.
I guarantee if Price signs with Chicago someone in Detroit will yell tampering because of this.
Price to Atlanta!!!
The Tigers are a loose club with Miggy as the leader. They also have a lot of young players: Castellanos, Iglesias, McCann, Gose, JD Martinez, Greene, Ryan, Rondon, … I believe they are waiting to see what Verlander has left. If he looks more like he used to, than like last year, they will attempt to resign him. If Verlander is sunk cost rather than an asset, signing Price, while still keeping them competitive, would not make them WS contenders. They would then be better off trying to find a couple diamond in the rough pitchers than maxing their budget for Price.