The Cubs and Justin Grimm will have an arbitration hearing this week, reports ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers (Twitter link). The right-hander filed for a $2.475MM salary for the 2018 campaign, while the Cubs filed at $2.2MM (as seen in MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker). The two sides haven’t been able to make any progress in their talks, per Rogers, so they’ll head to what will be the Cubs’ first arbitration hearing in the Theo Epstein/Jed Hoyer era. Grimm, who earned $1.825MM in 2017, struggled to a 5.53 ERA with 9.6 K/9, 4.4 BB/9, 1.93 HR/9 and a 43.1 percent ground-ball rate in 55 1/3 innings for the Cubs last year. The 2017-18 offseason marks his second winter of arbitration eligibility as he heads into his age-29 season.
Elsewhere in the division…
- The Brewers have the capacity to add to their payroll even after acquiring Christian Yelich and signing Lorenzo Cain, Jhoulys Chacin, Boone Logan and Matt Albers this offseason, writes Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. “Mark wants to do what’s in the best interests of the organization,” GM David Stearns tells Haudricourt. “He has made that very clear throughout my time here and even before I got here. He’s going to be supportive of the baseball process. He’s going to be supportive of investing when it’s warranted.” That said, Haudricourt notes that a top-of-the-market offer for a free agent like Yu Darvish still doesn’t seem likely, per Haudricourt, and the Brewers do want to leave some room for in-season moves, should the need arise.
- Anthony DeSclafani, Homer Bailey, Brandon Finnegan and Luis Castillo will head into Reds camp as the top four rotation options, writes MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon, but the competition for the fifth spot is “wide open.” Tyler Mahle, Sal Romano, Robert Stephenson, Amir Garrett, Cody Reed, Jackson Stephens and 2017 setup man Michael Lorenzen will all vie for that job. (Presumably, a return to the bullpen would be in order for Lorenzen should he not win the final spot, whereas the others would likely head to Triple-A Louisville.) “We want to make sure we have depth in our starting rotation, and we’ve got a lot of good, young guys with options that we still believe in as starters,” said GM Dick Williams. “…I would also leave the door open that out of [the fifth starter’s mix], there is a possibility, like last year, that you could see someone appear in the Major League bullpen just to get exposure and to help the team.”
brewers will sign neil walker..
0% chance
No biggie. Still boring.
With those numbers, Grimm should be happy to have a job, let alone be getting any type of pay raise.
Grimm had great stuff at one point, but has become a fat pitch at the wrong time guy that you dread seeing coming into a game. Very surprised they’re even interested at any price.
Unless he can bounce back this season, his future looks Grimm.
Oh SNAP!
Did you reply to your own comment?
I think Justin Grimm should be happy he has a job
To have an ERA in the mid 5s and demand a raise?! I really hope the arbitrator sides with the Cubs.
In fairness, the Cubs are offering him a half million raise as well.
Idk about you guys, but if my agent told me I could potentially get 275k extra after one hearing, with no real consequence if I fail, I’d go for it.
There is a consequence though. He is the worst pitcher in the cubs bullpen by far, and this doesn’t look good for him. Any trouble and he may not be back.
I agree, may be no consequences on paper for going to arbitration, but being their first hearing with the Cubs, and given his performance last year, this could very well have some repercussions. If he has options left, I’d expect him to be starting the year at Iowa unless he dominates this spring. If no options he could very well be DFA. There’s better relievers available to take his spot.
I think he has 1 option left. Which is why they kept him instead of Rondon.
Grimm has no options. He could be cut near the end of spring training and the Cubs will only be on the hook for a small percentage of his salary.
Eddie Butler has no options, too. So, he will have to make the team to stay on the 40 man.
If it came down to keeping Grimm or butler. I would keep butler at least he serves a purpose. Maybe butler can serve a little in the bull pen and if there is a injury or spot start if need be.
The Brewers are sitting on a ton of money which includes at least fifty million they made in profits last year. No one is out of reach if they choose to spend and there worth it. Hell they could pay for Darvish’s first two years with last year’s profits.
Why would they give profits away?
To add talent which presumably leads to wins
Glad you don’t run a business I invest in.
You invest in businesses that don’t produce anything? What are you in, bitcoin?
you invest in horrible businesses if that’s the case
Im glad MLBtraderumors has become the wallstreet journal where I get investment ideas and where the owners can do no wrong.
Wins = attendence and television increases people.
Not always ask the white Sox. They won a world series and attendance still was low.
Understood ken…. but if I recall miwaukee… has regularly been in the top 10 in attendance. Without a World Series… and when competitive did they not regularly turn 3m thru the gates? ( I may be wrong feel free to correct me if I am).. I believe they have recently had great attendance for a rebuilding team… if the team is taking another step forward why wouldn’t they invest in the expectation to turn 3mill.. thru the gates? Different city no compition for them to compete with as far as market..(although the bucks will steal attendance early as they are a very competitive team that could go deep)
When the nba season is over for the bucks the brewers own the market… people travel to see them (Wisconsin wide not not claiming from a national level) we have one team and a retractable roof… I understand some call it an airplain hanger atmosphere… but I live 5 hours north of miwaukee and a huge factor for me is the fact I’m going to see a game.. snow and rain don’t matter…. I remember the days of county stadium driving 5 hours to get rained out.. was a huge bummer I quit going there due to the expense to see nothing … i try to see as many parks as possible I’m excited to see pnc this year hopefully I can!!
You must be a Cubs fan.. a simple google search will tell you that in 2006 a year after the World Series the White Sox were top 10 in attendance. Why are Cubs fans eternally obsessed with White Sox attendance? Here is your link below.
espn.com/mlb/attendance/_/year/2006
How can you understand Ken? He is a Cubs fan that is taking an opportunistic shot at the White Sox in a thread that has nothing to do with the White Sox. Mustache here is the proof right here. You can understand Thai right?
espn.com/mlb/attendance/_/year/2006
Milwaukee seems to be no higher than 10th but no lower than 15th on average. They were 7th in attendance in 2011. Probably a stretch to say regular top ten but by no means low attendance even in down years.
This is not how it works.
2006 Chicago White Sox attendance spiked up to 36,511 and finished 3rd of 14th overall in the AL. In 2005 it was 28,924 and finished 7th of 14. In 2004 they averaged 23,834.
Winning a World Series spiked their attendance.
White Sox drew 2.95 million the year after they won
As a business the Milwaukee Brewers organization has been very profitable. With the 50 million dollars increase in tv and shared revenue that they have been receiving for a few years now they could have easily had a payroll over 120 million and still made a profit. But they kept it lower to make money and give them the flexibility if they choose.
Last year was different as they dropped all the way to having the lowest payroll perhaps by design. Like I said they are sitting on a ton of money and can still go out and sign a big name with more then enough money in reserves.
Antanisio as the principal owner is still very much about making money but like most of us is also a very competitive man and would love nothing more then to lift up a world series trophy. In the past he’s been very open and even aggressive in his desire to add big names. Given his position and how healthy the Brewers organization is he is ready to go for it at all costs.
One more thing. If it’s all about just making money and keeping your profits then why don’t the dodgers and Yankees just cut their payrolls to hundred million. Didn’t the Yankees literally just spend 260 million on Stanton.
It’s because the Yankees and Dodger’s want to win.
Should Milwaukee just hang on to their profits and be happy with that, or just take advantage of this window of opportunity when the big clubs aren’t spending any more, and use those profits to steal an important free agent while they can?
I believe that 50 million is earmarked for spring training renovations in Maryvale.
Reds have about 100 options for their rotation. I like Stephenson I think he finally started to come on at the end of last season. Not sure why moving lorenzen back would even be an option considering all the alternatives.
was about to post exactly this.. Stephenson really seemed to be making huge strides towards the end of last season. Give them a healthy rotation for the season and I think the Reds will achieve better than what most are predicting. Bailey should be a good deadline piece if he keeps things respectable, clearing the way for Mahle or Garrett
I think Romano and Stephenson are front runners with Mahle right behind
They will battle for the basement with Pittsburgh in the Central !
If the pitching staff stays healthy this year, nobody will have an easy road against the Reds. I predict 85 wins. I agree on Stephenson. He was very very tough the last third of the season. He’s the real deal. Any club would be happy to have him as their 5th starter. And that lineup….yeah. 83+ wins.
That lineup is definitely tough, but the Reds haven’t won 70 games in 3+ years and don’t look any better than last year’s 68 win club… I’m not so sure about this prediction.
Agreed. If the Reds get 30 starts from any three of those veteran starters, they’ll win at least 85 games.
Write that down.
maybe in 2019, but unless everything goes right (no injury, rookies making perfect transition, every single player on the roster over performing, etc) they really have no chance at winning more than half of their games
Garrett should settle down now that he’s got some time under his belt and Stephenson started to snap out of it last year. Bailey’s contract and injury history are gonna make it tough to move him. The Reds have some nice position players in the minors and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them finish strong this year and compete in 2019. Then there’s this years draft which is supposed to be quite good so they can strengthen their minors system even more. Maybe the Reds can change this thing around for the good sooner then later.
Was going over the Reds starting pitchers. Seems like the base on balls was their big problem. If they can cut down on those…….
Garrett will be spending the majority of the year in the minors.
Things are gonna get pretty grim for Grimm. He’s not even a lock to make the team. Buh bye
Not the team in general but the major league team. I think he has an option left
I think it speaks volumes that they are $275k apart and are going to arbitration. As stated, Grimm should just be grateful for a job at this point, yet here is his agent- one would assume- filling his head with nonsense about how he deserves that extra $275k, pushing his employer beyond their comfort zone with regards to his pay. I will be shocked if the Cubs lose this case.
And players wonder why the offseason has been so quiet. Teams just aren’t willing to pay top dollar for replacement level performance anymore. I’d rather see Dillon Maples take Grimm’s spot. At least Maples has upside, we know what Grimm is at this point. He had one good season, and the league figured him out. I would not expect any substantial improvements from this guy moving forward.
It’s exactly like it should be in real life work situations. He didn’t do a great job last year and barely kept his job but his agent says you deserve a raise. No he really doesn’t. I’m all for the players getting what they deserve but he doesn’t deserve a raise.
THIS. CHC should take their chances with Maples.
If Maples throws quality strikes in Mesa, he earns a spot. However, throwing enough quality strikes has always been a concern for Maples.
Jen-Ho Tseng will be up, no reason to bring Maples up yet.
The problem with this is, who do the Cubs fill out the bullpen with to begin the season? A veteran with bloated numbers (Grimm) or a young inexperienced flame thrower (Maples)? The point is, 2.4 million is worth having an experienced arm in the bullpen who is familiar with the system and has a mindset of “new year, new me” is safer than brining in a young prospect who hasn’t faced a full MLB season yet.
I would go with Maples. He looked pretty decent last year. But my gut tells me they won’t be too upset about this and life will go on and Grimm will be in the pen
Grimm has had a rather bad stretch. Nobody should argue that.
However, they brought in a new pitching coach, and apparently decided to see if Jim Hickey can recover what had been lost. Will he? We shall see.
Either way, Butler or Grimm belong on the 25 over Maples, who has three option seasons remaining. Neither veteran has any.
And, if both are rubbish in the spring, so it goes.
I think the Brewers would be better off signing Cobb and trading for Duffy or Ordorizzi then signing Darvish. I honestly don’t think they need another second baseman cause I believe Orf or Durbron can give you the same as Walker a lot cheaper.
So all 3, are you on crack cocaine why would they want all 3? Cobb, Duffy or Ordorizzi and then Darvish? I have a hard time believing they have a chance to get 1 of those 4.
This is grimms third time through arbitration. He was a super 2 player!
Are the Reds actually considering Lorenzen? They overused him and wore him down in the pen last year so maybe a steadier workload will be beneficial to him. It would also weaken the pen though. This is first im hearing of him as the 5th starter option
He has been talking about wanting a chance to get back into the rotation since like mid way through last year. I totally agree though, he’s much more beneficial to the team in the pen, especially with all those other options.
Grimm doesn’t deserve a raise after that season. in fact, I wouldn’t have even offered arb to him.
Arbitration awards are based on several recent seasons not just the last one.
Why did they even offer him arbitration. Just cut the bum already
One of two things happens with the Brew crew, they lead the NL central by 8 games at the all star break or they are in fire sale mode two weeks later.
Unless he is slow getting out of the gate, Tyler Mahle has to be given the #5 slot.
Price knows this and is just trying to keep the other contenders motivated going into the spring.
I believe Grimm could very well have a rebound year. He is not that old and has pitched better in the past. I would probably actually rebound before I went to a hearing if I were him however.