Here’s a postseason-flavored set of notes from Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports…
- The Cubs’ decision to keep Javier Baez has proven to be a wise one, and Heyman writes that the team kept Baez over Starlin Castro last offseason because the front office simply had more belief in Baez’s potential. Not only did Castro carry a much higher price tag than the pre-arb Baez, but the Cubs infielder is already looking like the more productive player — Baez posted 2.7 fWAR over 450 plate appearances, while Castro managed just 1.1 fWAR over 610 PA for the Yankees. Baez has shown great power and is cutting back on his strikeouts, though while he is still something of a work in progress at the plate, his defense has already drawn raves. One NL scout tells Heyman that he thinks Baez could win Gold Gloves at multiple positions in the future.
- Jorge Soler could again be trade bait as the Cubs will be juggling a crowded outfield situation. Kyle Schwarber will return to play left field, plus Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist would seem to be penciled in for center and right, respectively. That mix also doesn’t include highly-touted rookie Albert Almora, or if the Cubs were to re-sign Dexter Fowler for center field. Soler drew a lot of trade attention last winter and is signed through 2020, so though he hasn’t truly broken out as a big leaguer yet, he would surely be a big trade chip if the Cubs indeed explored moving him.
- The Tigers and Diamondbacks both “tried hard” to sign John Lackey last winter before the right-hander inked his two-year, $32MM deal with the Cubs. Lackey reportedly chose Chicago over two larger offers, though Heyman doesn’t know if the Tigers and D’Backs were the clubs behind those bigger deals. Arizona was known to have “at least checked in” on Lackey last winter, and while Detroit’s involvement in the Lackey market is new information, it isn’t a surprise given how the Tigers targeted starting pitching last offseason. Either team landing Lackey sets up several fascinating what-if scenarios, given that the D’Backs and Tigers made alternate pitching acquisitions that didn’t pan out in 2016. If the Diamondbacks signed Lackey, perhaps they then wouldn’t have made the franchise-altering decisions to sign Zack Greinke or trade for Shelby Miller. If the Tigers had gotten Lackey, perhaps they wouldn’t have spent $110MM on Jordan Zimmermann, or $16MM on Mike Pelfrey.
- There have already been reports that the Mets intend to exercise their $13MM club option on Jay Bruce for 2017, and a rival executive tells Heyman that retaining Bruce is a move New York has to make. Keeping Bruce would create some defensive issues within the Mets outfield, though the exec noted that “if they don’t want him, they could always trade him.” Bruce slumped badly after joining the Mets but he posted strong numbers in the season’s first four months, so he’d certainly draw interest on the trade market.
- Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield were the two headline prospects sent from Cleveland to New York in the Andrew Miller trade, and Heyman reports that some Indians staff believe Sheffield could be the bigger loss: “Sheffield is a lefty starter, which you can’t find, Frazier is a corner power bat, which you can.” It’ll be several years before we can access how that trade worked out for either the Yankees or the Tribe, though needless to say, nobody in Cleveland has any regrets right now, given Miller’s dominance.
if you can’t find LHSP then you must not be looking very hard.
What quality LHP is available this offseason? Rich Hill is literally the only good option that is available and realistic for a team like Cleveland to acquire. And hes going to cost a ton. John Lackey’s deal would be his floor.
Your next best options are Jon Niese and Brett Anderson.. on the trade market, there is even less.
What makes you think 16 million is Hills floor? Lackey was a proven workhorse who just put up a 2.77 in a full season. Hill put up a 2.40 in 100 innings? They’re the same age and Hill doesn’t have the track record Lackey had.
Lackey stopped being a proven workhorse years ago, prior to 2015 his last 200 inning season was in 2010. ERA also matters little, his peripherals last year were of a #3 starter.
where was that statement limited to replacing it this offseason?
Niese has an option with the Mets. He is not necessarily a free agent yet
Moron
Sure Chester but what about Quality left handed starting pitching? You do not realize the difference.
Oh, and justus sheffield is already a quality lhsp? Silly me, I thought he was a 20 year old who just sniffed AA this year.
He’s a top prospect though who could turn out to be the next big lefty though
What is Soler like on defense?
Not very good.
Good arm though right?
Good arm. Poor route choices.
I couldn’t believe Baez actually got away with stealing home last night. That’s up there with last season’s Hosmer scoring from third on a ground out. Both were great heads up running decisions.
That was a bad decision by the catcher. Before you throw the ball you need to get up and get the runner committed in one direction. THEN you throw. Baez was barely stopping when he threw over to third allowing Baez to just keep going.
I only saw the highlight reel so not sure of the commentators picked up on this but from what I heard from Joe Buck he had no idea the catcher screwed up.
Agreed, if Ruiz deked him on a double clutch Baez would have been like 10 feet away from him with Ruiz still holding the ball. Poor play by a veteran who should have known better.
THANK YOU @Just Another Fan. I was totally prepared for people who don’t really understand the game saying stupid things but clearly you know the game and I appreciate that.
Curious as to what you think of Contreras? During the Giants game I was texting a friend and said “You watch Contreras is either going to make an amazing play or throw one away” and right after that he hit Crawford trying to throw him out at 3B and my buddy texts me back “you called it”. Although I was off, I expected him to throw it into left field. Young players with great arms usually like to show them off and make mistakes. When I played we actually had called plays (by the manager or 3B coach) to use this to our advantage by enticing them to throw the ball around.
He’s an amazing talent but he’s way too amped up as a catcher, he’s not quiet behind the plate because he’s jumping around, throwing the ball all the time. I think he’d be a wonderful talent if he just calmed down a bit and was more thoughtful about when he throws the ball. Also I think his excessive energy there isn’t a calming influence on pitchers. What do you think?
@ ComfortablyStupid You’re a troll dude, either contribute to the conversation or go back to playing your over 50’s slow pitch coed team. I’m quite sure I’ve played at a higher level than you have.
Joe Buck couldn’t even tell the difference between Rondon and Strop. He game calling is horrible. Smoltz on the other hand is a delight to listen to.
Buck is a weak announcer, Verducci is the most knowledgeable person in baseball. Bad move by Fox getting rid of him.
I’ve never found anyone who actually likes Joe Buck. It’s something that intrigues me, I ask a lot of people what they think and have never had one person say anything positive. How is it that he still has a job?
I don’t hate him as a person. I just think there are a crap load of better people. But every year he’s back. I just don’t get it. Please someone tell me why because I’d really like to know what people’s theory’s are.
Wasn’t his father a big announcer? Probably why.
You’re right! I just looked it up. His father was Jack Buck.
I just don’t get it. I’ve never heard or seen anyone say anything good about him, if he’s hated that much why he continues to be employed when someone like Jon Miller (who I’ve never heard a bad word about) get’s (effectively) fired from ESPN.
Again… I don’t hate Joe Buck, I’m kinda ambivalent towards him and really care more about who the color commentators are, it just seems weird.
I’m not surprised Joe Buck didn’t pick up on that. I’ve never thought he did a very good job. He’s always seemed like a lot of Pomp and very little substance.
It would never happen but I wish that the play by play and color commentator from which never club is in the post season could do the national game.
Wouldn’t have mattered, that Montero HR was so clutch!
The O’s should try making a deal for Soler. He would fit in good in right for them.
Anything in specific you would see Baltimore trading for him?
He’s available, but not for cheap.
I’m not too sure. I would say a deal that involves Sisco but the Cubs have a good young catcher in Contreras. It’s hard lining up trades with the Cubs because they have so much talent already and the whole team is young. The O’s would probably have to give up Hunter Harvey and probably 2 more young prospects.
It would take Gausman or Bundy. The need for young controllable pitching is vaunted
I’m guessing the Cubs would want MLB ready talent. Maybe gyvens some prospects close to making the jump to the MLB
I think Fowler only leaves the Cubs if they win it all this season, otherwise why take yourself out of such an environment with a good chance to win and an obvious fit. The only way I see Fowler leaving the Cubs is if they win it all and then he can go cash it in to another club that will pay him obscenely to be their CF.
Solar is a mystery, he just has not been healthy enough to really show the player that he is.. good or bad.
LOL give me a break. No front office in baseball would have kept Castro over Baez this past offseason. There wasn’t even a debate. The Cubs deserve a lot of credit for decisions they’ve made, but this isn’t really one of them. It was a completely obvious move.
Wasn’t there a lot of concern over Castro dogging it a lot? I never watched him a lot but vaguely remember some articles about him just slacking. Am I getting him mixed up with someone else?
No front office would have played it safe with a shortstop that proved effective in the majors instead of the one that had a 40% strikeout rate in his first (large) clip in the bigs? Hindsight is 20/20 but very few people would have made that risk back then.
Agreed. I actually believe a few front offices would take Castro, still.
Problem with the alt. story of Lackey signing with Detroit instead of going after Zimmermann is that they went after Zim so early in the offseason that the alt. story doesn’t make sense really
I thought the cubs would of made a run at Zimmermann, he was a perfect fit for them, What should the cubs do with Arrieta?
Arrieta will walk in FA. He will demand a 6 year deal at age 32. Yes his talent is tremendous, but he’s a question mark after his age 35 seasons
Cashman made all the right moves with Miller and Chapman trade. They might go after Chapman and Jansen this winter. Cashman has restocked the farm in just 2 moves, while still remaining competitive. Look for him to get more pitching this off season trading other players like McCann and Gardner..
Typical Yankee. You’re assuming that all these prospects will pan out, and of course every team will be jockeying for position to trade their best players for Yankee garbage. The Yankees are a minor-league team.
I don’t think he’s assuming anything. The Yanks farm system is so stocked right now they don’t need all of their prospects to pan out. If only 2 or 3 more pan out then they can start signing free agents to fill the voids starting next offseason. And someone will give a great prospect for Gardner… He’s a 3+ WAR player in a year with no qualitity FA OFers.
Yankees Triple A team won the championship, so I doubt the Yankees being a team full of those minor leaguers is a bad thing. The point is, with the farm system stacked now we don’t have to be so protective of our draft pick and we could go after both Chapman and Jansen if the opportunity presents itself. We went from an unranked farm system to a top 3, and we didn’t have to suck for multiple years or put up a losing season, that’s a win in my book.
Zimmerman signed Nov 30
Lackey signed Dec 8
Perhaps they could felt out on Lackey but that doesn’t really make sense either if they were willing to drop over 100 mil on Zimmermann
Change the story now that you’re wrong
I don’t see Schwarber as a NL player, he looks like a DH to me. Cubs will be looking to get some good young pitching to replace Arietta next year and Schwarber could be the answer.
Adding Lackey would have been a great move for the DBacks. Him along with a trade for someone like Fernandez or Sale could have made a huge difference in the outcome of the 2016 season for Arizona. They aren’t far away at all if they get back to full health and get bounce back performances from Greinke, Miller and Corbin. They have one of the better young cores in the NL with Goldy, Pollock, Peralta, Segura and Lamb
im sorry if im reading this wrong… trade for Sale or who?
yeah thats great except JDF is dead…… too early my friend
He meant earlier in the season before it happened