The Padres have done a tremendous job in recent years growing the top farm system in the game, but the organization underwent a financial reshaping that was just as important to long-term stability, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Mired in the debt inherited from previous owner John Moores, Executive Chairman Ron Fowler led the charge in two important ways: refinancing the debt (thereby lowering interest rates and freeing up money to funnel into baseball ops), and opening the organization’s spending ledger to the public – an uncommon degree of transparency for an MLB club. Acee’s entire article is well worth a read as it paints a fairly complete picture of San Diego’s battle to build a winning franchise that is also fiscally sustainable. Essentially, the Padres followed the structural rebuilding approach popularized by Theo Epstein in Chicago: improve fan experience with additions/renovations to the ballpark while pouring roster resources into the acquisition and development of amateur and international talent. Epstein’s focus on improving the ballpark itself was a strategy he employed in Boston with Fenway Park, and again with Wrigley Field in Chicago. Speaking of…
- The Red Sox are treading awfully close to the penalty-inducing $246MM tax threshold, and Masslive.com’s Christopher Smith wonders if that might be why they didn’t make a push to sign reliever Adam Ottavino. Dave Dombrowski has said there’s no mandate from ownership to avoid the highest tax bracket – but that’s still the goal. It’s easy to wonder why the Red Sox haven’t made more of a push to reinforce the back end of their bullpen, but it’s not totally fair to assume Ottavino was available to them for $9MM a year, as merely matching the Yankees offer doesn’t steal the contract like a white elephant gift. Still, with Joe Kelly in LA and Craig Kimbrel twisting in the wind, there is a surprising lack of urgency to add to the current stable of arms in the bullpen, especially considering the narrow margin for error in the AL East.
- Much has been made of the Cubs lack of activity this winter as well, burnished by Theo Epstein’s early-offseason assertion that the offense was broken. Owner Tom Ricketts, however, doesn’t see any room for an addition in the lineup, writes the Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma. Considering the overall youth of their core and the injuries that limited star Kris Bryant to 102 games last season, Epstein and Ricketts might both be right. The team clearly isn’t willing to give up on Jason Heyward yet, so you can pencil him into the starting spot in right, with Ian Happ in center and Ben Zobrist at second, Albert Almora Jr., Addison Russell, David Bote and Daniel Descalso make up the remaining bench unit, ostensibly filling the roster. Outside of fringe roster types, the Cubs offense might be a one-man-in, one-man-out situation for the rest of the winter.
- There’s cause enough to be concerned about the Cubs offense in 2019, certainly, between Russell’s suspension, Zobrist’s age, and Willson Contreras’ obvious exhaustion near the end of last season, but internally, there’s much to be excited about. At the Cubs Convention this week, Bryant and Epstein both talked up new hitting coach Anthony Iopace, whom Epstein calls “the ultimate fox-hole guy,” per Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter). As the Cubs former minor league hitting coordinator, he has a rapport with many Cubs hitters already and should be able to hit the ground running. Bryant, for one, is excited about a new season under the infectious energy of “’Poce,” per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. The Cubs brain trust appear firm in their belief that tinkering of internal processes is all the team needs to bounce back from a “disappointing” 95-win season and challenge for the top spot in the NL Central once again.
They had down years from multiple guys, and still won 95 games. Big year coming in the NL Central.
Did you see where the clowns were hating on Bryant in the other article?
Bozos
Reds, cardinals, brewers are all getting better/got better. I don’t think that premise is wise to bank on.
Brewers have done nothing this off season
Yah, minus adding one of the best catchers in baseball…
Brewers added the best catcher available, plus as a team gained valuable experience last season.
Who folds like a lily every postseason.
I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if that’s how the central shakes out .Cubs/Cardinals in first/ second then the Reds/Brewers for third / fourth.And I would still trade Wong move Carp to second and sign Moose/ Goldy to 3 to 4 year deals , whatever it takes with Goldy. He’s our offensive balance for as long as we have him.
The Brewers easily finish ahead of the Reds…
The Reds are everybody’s favorite ‘dark horse’ team right now because of all the trades they made
They still have only 2 decent starters, though, and niether is known for being a workhorse… So they’ll be e everybody’s favorite disappointment come next off season
Exactly, the amount of disrespect from Cubs fans and casual fans is insane. they only made the NLCS and were 1 game away from the WS, yet theres stupid projections of them winning 70 games. We’ll see in October…
And stl. Love the red birds but they are old and trying to grasp one last playoff run. Reminds me of the giants before their collapse.
“From Cubs fans… and casual fans..” hmmmm… and the media and pretty much everyone outside of Milwaukee. Sure, IF their no name staff pitches outside of their minds again, IF Yelich has another insane career year, same with Cain and IF the Cubs MVP, Closer stud FA pitcher ALL get hurt again AND their offense completely shuts down again AND NONE of the young championship proven core improves as they enter their prime years AND IF the weather forces the Cubs to play a previously unprecedented 40 games in 40 days down the stretch of the season then the Brewers might catch the Cubs again and force a one game playoff for the division.
Again, there’s a reason why so many still don’t believe in the Brewers. Your a homer, your team has been to as many post seasons in the history of your franchise as the Cubs have played in within the last 4 years. Can’t blame you for being excited, but don’t assume that others that are not drinking the Kool Aid are haters.
To put it rather simply every team goes through bad breaks in the season, it isn’t an excuse. Teams are supposed to have depth to combat injuries, where is this Cubs dynasty everyone talks about, because I’m pretty sure we won the NL Central 2 years after rebuilding, took the Cubs 108 years to get over the hump, I say were making good progress. According to those power rankings by ESPN last season the Cubs were better than the brewers, again, casual fans and biased analysts who actually dont watch our games and see our offense and chemistry. All of our moves go under the radar, isn’t the kool aid but it’s actually recognizing we have talent, the brewers were exciting and HAVE a promising future WITH a farm system. We spend our money wisely and this is the first year we have a 120M+ payroll, while the Cubs blow stupid money on overrated talent, but I guess that’s the Cubs right, dirty players like Rizzo, disappointing seasons one after the other… But that’s okay were better to be an underdog makes it all the better inOctober, if we actually have NL central competition besides the Cardinals.
Stop dreaming and take ur head out of the ice, Brewers were a 1 yr team , will be only looking at the Pirates in their rear view mirror
Cubs fans think they’re a dynasty destined to be on top forever, while teams like the White Sox, Reds, Brewers and Pirates are beneath them. I think reality will be a hard and rude awakening for them the next few season. The Cubs haven’t sufficiently planned for the short term and longterm future either. We may not hear much from their for atleast a decade once the wheels fall off.
They’ll still be raking in stupid money on the operations side, with that tv deal though.
Chitown, my head isn’t in the ice, but yours is if you say we’ll be looking at the pirates in the rear view mirror. the pirates are a decent team but haven’t proven themselves yet. they had a good start last year but the wheels always fall off for them. ChiSox, I agree completely. the teams you mentioned have promising prospects and have made moves to contend in the near future, especially the White Sox rebuilding that farm so quickly, I’d pick them to be in a better place than the Cubs in 5 years. They haven’t prepared for the long term, aging rotation minus Quintana, lack of a farm, and an inconsistent offense. Funny how all these Cubs fans come out the woodwork when they have a good run for a couple years but hide when they crash back down to earth for 10. Itll happen soon enough…
Where are these “dynasty” quotes coming from? And Seriously?!?! White Sux fans chiming in? Haha, soooooo here are the facts. No team has won more games the last 4 years. 4 straight post season appearances (and counting) including 3 straight NLCS appearances and a ring already in the bank with a young core, still intact, that hasn’t even hit their prime years yet. I’m suppose to complain about that?! I’m suppose to be upset about that? Hahaha, nahhhh I’m good. If you’re trying to troll.. try harder. If you’re trying to look like a clown…. keep going, you’re on the right path. Cub fans have nothing to be upset about and moving forward there is no reason to think that the Cubs will continue to contend. So for all the haters, try and stay calm, your pain is just getting started. Haha
They will be the 2019 version of the 2015 Padres. Big splashes in the offseason that become tiny ripples in the regular season.
No trolls or clowns here, I understand your stance, but dont come at someone defending their team as a homer when you dont understand the flaws of your own team. Funny how you bash the white Sox when they’ll have a promising core in a couple years, especially with Eloy lol. Dont expect you to be upset, itd be stupid to think they dont have talent, but the FO hasn’t built the right pieces around the core. A couple players doesn’t equal success, Sandberg, Maddux + Dawson didn’t equal much in the 90s. Cores separate and more likely than not with all the bad FA signings they cant afford to blow any more money in the coming years when they demand more. Had a good run, finally had enough to win in a century, but enjoy the success now, other teams are just as hungry to prove they belong.
I think you missed what a REAR view mirror is Greek. Then again you like greek, so you know what a rear END is.
Sounds about right. I mean, Darvish isn’t a Top Level guy like he was with rangers, they’ll pay 13 M annually to a Triple A level pitcher, 20M to a RF who has an arm but an average bat, 20M to a pitcher who had a good run but is in his mid 30s, 20M to Lester who’s been better. They could be wiser with their money, payroll speaks for themselves, they’ll be like the Padres trying to rid themselves of bad money.
ChiSuxCity (NW Indiana isn’t a city BTW) try and maintain at least a shred of credibility, please. Don’t compare the Sux to the Brewers… or even the Reds or the Pirates. The Sux ARE beneath the Cubs in EVERY way imaginable. That’s why JR almost moved them to TB a few years back.
That’s why the media, both locally and nationally constantly forget about them, because NO ONE cares about them. Now they’re hyped up about a “rebuild” that shoulda happened years ago. You know, when they claimed to be “All In” with LaRoche(and his son, lol) they traded for No Game James Shields, remember? What happened? They literally lost more games than teams ACTIVELY tanking. Wet themselves on their high first round picks (shocker) got fleeced in trades. In otherwords, this is the SAME inept and clueless front office that misidentified their own talent so bad that they couldn’t even win more games than teams actively trying to lose. Now we’re suppose to trust these same clowns to evaluate/develop “prospects”?
Hahaha, you do realize that it takes more than a subscription to Baseball Prospectus to build a consistent winner, right? “Prospects” are just that… NOTHING until they perform in the show. Ya know, just like the 4 straight 1st round picks that Theo drafted have done. It’s no coincidence that many already consider Moncada a BUST. Giolito, Rodon, Davidson, Lopez… BUST, BUST, BUST, BUST… Kopech? His arm fell off, won’t even pick up a baseball til 2020 and wasn’t exactly lighting up the bigs before that happened. The last time they signed a legit, MLB proven FA in their prime? Albert or Joey(whatever he called himself) Belle and he was literally crazy.
There’s a reason that most treat the Sux like they’re irrelevant… because they are.
Judging by attendance and ratings, even the dwindling fanbase feels the same. That’s why JR is forced to operate like he owns a small market team. So YES, in every measurable way, the Sux are ABSOLUTELY beneath the Cubs.
Antetokounmpo is the Greek, not the other reference lol. Looking at the rear view, what’s the quote, “History repeats itself.” I mean, the 80s Brewers success might be making a comeback, while Medicore Cubs teams are plentiful. My hatred for the Cubs isn’t because of their success, but mainly the fans and the amount of attention, I get they’re a big market, but it gets old, other teams deserve recognition, hello brewers, Rays, and A’s. But any of their success is dubbed flukes while people seem to forget Cubs failure, just saying, but that’s enough for now. Had to at least put my thoughts in a post, it’s all banter in a thread, but we’ll see.
greekfreak34, if you want to have an intelligent conversation, why bring up 108 years? The Cubs have had plenty of winning seasons, playoff appearances in their history, but none of that matters either. What matters is the present. The current group of players, staff, front office, etc… Besides, when was the last time the Brewers won a WS? 190…… NEVER? Exactly. Also, in the last 4 years, the Cubs have made the Playoffs the same amount of times as the Brewers have IN THEIR ENTIRE EXISTENCE. True story.
FF to current times, you wanna compare rebuild efforts? Win a ring. Plain and simple. With this current team/front office. The Cubs are enjoying EXACTLY what Theo promised, sustained success. Not a one and done, one trick pony like other team’s fans like to overbake. 4 straight playoff appearances and counting including 3 straight NLCS and a ring already in the bank. So, to this point, Stearns rebuild has netted a single playoff appearance. Who knows when this “rebuild” started? Again, the Brewers have 4 playoff appearances TOTAL in their existence. You say two years ago, sure… why not. Again, it’s hard to differentiate between when they were trying to win and didn’t or when they weren’t trying to win… and didn’t.
All I know is MANY have tried to tear it down to the studs and rebuild like the Cubs/Astros did and VERY FEW actually achieved it.
Damn
Nope, greekfreak, NOT a homer. The Cubs have pen issues that I’m concerned about. As far as bad contracts, every team has them at one point or another. Edwin Jackson, Tyler Chatwood terrible signings by Theo. Heyward was key to the Cubs winning, he brings a lot to the table, BUT he is paid way too much considering his bat is below placement level. I actually like the Yu signing, he was hurt last year. So I’ll give Theo an INC on that one. If Yu wets himself THIS year, he goes in the Chatwood/Jackson column. Zobrist GREAT signing… same with Lester, they don’t even sniff a WS without them. The severely one sided trades for Arrieta, Hendricks, Edwards, Strop, Russell, etc… brilliant. I even like the trade for Q, a solid starter with team control for years. that I KNOW the Brewers are already sick of seeing. I hope Eloy is good, but still a prospect. Remember, Buxton and Moncada were “cant miss” …. along with plenty of others. Then, Theo/Jed drafting. What other team literally hit on 4 straight 1st round picks? Not “prospects”, but legit, graduated, proven MAJOR LEAGUE champions? Again, I see the good and the bad and the results have spoken (and continue to speak) for themselves.
R u a Punky Brewster fan ? Must be or you would realize Yelich had is career yr , Cain a yr older & a iffy starting pitcher rotation! Can’t win a pennant with only a bullpen.
Bryzzo, I’ll make one more comment because I have seen your effort to detail, and unlike most people in comments, I commend you. Yes, the goal of a rebuild is to “re-build” with quality talent, and the Cubs have done that. I’m only saying what I am of the Cubs is because media itself only focuses on these big market teams, and if you are a fan of one, great, but when you rarely hear a positive remark for a 96 win team it’s frustrating. The Cubs have a decent team, Yu is TBD but Heyward is at least 10mil/year overpaid, decent but no all star. Cubs have past success but nothing to get them consistent success, blips on the radar if you will. Milwaukee won in 1957, I’ll count that they were in Milwaukee at the time, and 1982 was a game away, if they win you’d adjust a lot of your points. Only reason we haven’t done much in our history is lack of high end talent, hard to lure anybody except through trades, and while we’ve done that recently with a good analytics team led by Stearns, we’ve suffered not being able to retain our talent when we have to trade them because of not having an astronomical payroll. Give Brewers 200M payroll, or adjusted for the era, wed have way more playoff appearances, point made.
oh and chitown, I replied with a thought out response but I guess it doesn’t matter ,you are the reason Cubs fans have a bad rep. Keep finger tapping bashing the brewers, yelich probably won’t repeat his success to 2018 level, but a move to Milwaukee helped, he has a great glove, 300 average, 25 + Plus HR potential, and is better than any Cubs player, but, ok, ignore that. Cain has consistently been a solid OBP guy with great fielding, perfect glue guy and part of the royals WS core. We had the best pitcher ERA for a time after August 1st I believe, isn’t all bullpen, Chacin outperformed all FA pitchers(Yu) but Ignore that, we have Jesus lol, Shaw, Braun, Grandal still able to anchor a lineup with aforementioned 2, ignore that, woodruff Peralta and Burnes along with chacin and at least a healthy Jimmy, whose year when healthy was only a 3.49 ERA and ace of a 86 win team but these are all just points making you look stupid. Just a punkster huh, find something else to say, anyone with half a brain cell can make a better conversation…
I’ll give you the point on the market, I agree. The A’s, Brewers, Rays have not gotten the media they deserved. I agree that Heyward is worth 10 mil less a year. The trades, draft picks that Theo has made has nothing to do with payroll. Also, I’ll point out that this upcoming year, the Cubs will be in the luxury tax for the first time in Theo’s tenure, so they actually haven’t spent like the Dodgers, NYY, BOS etc…. As far as 1957, that was the Braves. You might want to ask them before you claim ownership on that as a Brewers fan. Stearns has done well, at some point (if the Brewers are actually gonna win a WS) he’ll need a proven SP or two. Can’t expect guys like Chacin and Miley to continually pitch over their heads. Hi affinity with unathletic corner infielders should probably stop. A legit ML middle infield might help the cause; but that’s really none of my business. I’m more focused on our young core elevating their play as they hit their prime years and HEALTH, that’s my major concern, but every team hopes for good health. I also think this team needs bullpen help. I love the rotation, I really love that Hamels takes Chatwood’s spot in the rotation and I’m excited to see these kids continue to grow.
Fair enough, but 1957 was for Milwaukee, even though Braves left our city won that being technical. Cubs dont spend like the Red Sox and Dodgers which is true, and Theo has fleeced teams like getting Arrieta and Strop for Feldman, lock him up for robbery. Agree on SP, but those moves were wise not overspending yet, dont know how much more we can spend, again constrained. Shaw is pretty athletic moving to 2nd while picking up moose. Cubs have a solid core, but they have to find a way to reduce payroll in the coming years to keep all of them, or it will reach Dodger level. We all have hope for the coming season, glad you replied, not all Cubs fans are hopeless after all lol
Haha, no, not all of us. Anyway, I’d wish you luck next year, but we both know I wouldn’t mean it. But I will wish you the best in the scenario that you make the playoffs and the Cubs do not. Either way, I think we can both agree that ST can’t get here quick enough. Cheers.
Cubs have 3rd place written all over them…personally, I’m not totally confident that they can beat out both the Reds and the Pirates…
Yep, I agree. Last in the division. Oh well, it was a fun run. They’ll probably fight with the Marlins for the top pick in the draft. I sooooo hope they get Zion!
Cubs dynasty? LOL. The “model” of how to do a rebuild? Double LOL.
If they keep making dumb decisions like the Heyward and Darvish contracts, their next fire sale (aka rebuild) is going to be sooner than people think. Ownership has already started worrying more about budgets than wins.
I’m with you Bryzzo 2016, lots of jealous trolls out there ! We won 95 without a few key players, we’ll be better this season!
Because I don’t agree with you I have no brain cells? Ur the people we don’t need making comments on these sites !
Yet the Cubs keep winning. The Padres have modeled their rebuild after the Cubs. Guess you are saying they will fail?
Rizzo is a dirty player? You lost me on that part.
Cardinals are the second youngest team in the NL at an average age of 27.6 years.
Ha! A Brewers fan talking about dirty players. You can say that with a straight face and still root for Ryan Braun?
The only have half of their pitching staff in free agency
The NL central does not get to fatten up on the AL central this year. 95 wins for both the Cubs and the Brewers was an artificially inflated number. Plus the Pirates, Reds and Cardinals are no longer pushovers. Those opponents masked some serious problems.
What have the Pirates Done?
Well, they managed to pry Yordi Rosario away from the White Sox…not sure how the Sox will ever recover…
Obviously your point is correct. But they had terrific young pitching last year that drove the Cubs and a Brewers nuts…they swept a FIVE game series from Milwaukee just before the all-star break…As they hit their stride they pushed the Pirates over 500. I think you can count on them to be improved again this year.
Agreed, think pitt is a darkhorse.
Not only have do they have a young pitching corps, they also have some solid youth coming up as well. Future gold glove 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes and slugging 1B Will Craig for example.
The Cardinals were never a push over lol.
Get sick of hearing down years and injuries. Happens to all teams.
I’m not sure why fans always assume a bad year from a player is a harbinger of future success. And why do fans assume that if “multiple guys” who had down years in 2018 rebound, then those who performed at or above expectations in 2018 will continue to do so? I don’t know. I guess that’s why teams play the games on the field, not in comment columns like this one.
Well put.
Well for a player like Bryant, is a pretty safe bet he is going to have a better year when there is no reason to think otherwise. Contreras is a toss up, I wish he would improve his framing of pitches more than anything as he was the worst in baseball by a wide margin on that. Baez, on the other hand could do a complete 180 and have a season nowhere close as 2018. I couldn’t believe how many pitchers threw him pitches in the zone. He is borderline automatic out when you throw high heat and sliders away.
Bryant has no track record of success. He hadn’t adjusted to opposing pitchers taking advantage of that corkscrew swing of his. Which is making his MVP season look like an abberation. If he’s still dipping his head and trying to get underneath every pitch he sees, he’ll continue to strughle at the plate.
His statistical track record would be he’s above average even in his worst season
You comment a lot about things you seem to have no knowledge about…
Bryant has had “no track record of success” Hmmmmm, ok, well… name another player that won College Player of the year, MiLB player of the year, MLB ROY and MVP (along with a ring) in FOUR CONSECUTIVE years. It’s ok, I’ll wait. Actually, I’ll spare you the suspense… NO ONE has. So, technically, his “track record” has been nothing but success. Last year is the outlier, but he also played or was on the shelf with a injured shoulder. Sooooo, I guess haters can hope he hurts his shoulder every year moving forward, hahaha. It seems that you actually go out of your way to make yourself look ignorant ChiSuxCity.
No success? College Player of the yr , ROY , MVP , WORLD SERIES CHAMPION, plays multi positions !!
Are you a want to be hitting coach ? Go back to step one…
Pay attention before you foolishly post and try helping out some T-Ballers
What’s Bryant done since 2016? Stats trending down… for a young player who’s had success early, that’s a telltale sign of one thing. Pitchers have figured a young hitter out, and dominance at the plate is over. The Cubs know this, and they’re also aware Bryant most likely wants nothing to do with them once he reaches his walk year. He’ll be the first player traded when they blow the team up next offseason.
Bryant trending down since 2016? You can’t be this dumb, can you? Did you know that his OPS in 2017 was slightly higher than 2016? And he missed about 60 games in 2018. You’re better off playing in the streets of the Southside around 2:00am. You might be dumb enough to try that and think you can survive.
Kris Bryant and Ryan Dumpster are straight up losers. Bush league comments they will forever make your character very weak.
So they aren’t entitled to voice their opinion? Who cares what they said about STL? You think they are the only ones who think STL is boring? The insecurity of the American people has reached epic insanity.
No by all means say what you want about whoever. Still bush league. As a professional baseball player, a roll model to children, you need to act like one. But it does tarnish their character.
Cry baby cry
Haha
sO mUcH f0r ThE PaDrEs sIgnIng MaCHadO…
They wouldn’t had to clear hosmer and myers contract 1st.
Why? The Padres payroll stands at $85-86 million today. They ended last season at $130 million. According to the article they have another $8 million per season they can spend above that. They have more than enough room for Machado and might even be able to add someone like Kuechel.
The Padres were fourth in baseball in 2018 w/r/t fewest dollars spent on payroll compared to revenue. (the Yankees were first, obviously). The Padres can afford to increase payroll dramatically, they just won’t.
No, they won’t. Which makes the Myers and Hosmer contracts look dumber by the day.
Preller still has few weeks of dumpster diving before ST, but as it stands now, we have a worse roster than last year. On both sides of the ball.
Padres spent 130 million with 266 million in revenue.
The Yankees spent 198 million with 619 million in revenue.
Get your facts straight. The Padres were at the top of percentage of revenue going to MLB payroll and the Yankees among the lowest.
Do all Padres fans get the basics so wrong?
Your 266 million dollar figure doesn’t include revenue sharing, money from MLBAM, money from the national TV deal, or any of the gambling money that all MLB teams are about to gorge on. The Padres revenue was way more than 266 million dollars in 2018.
I have no idea what the Redsox will do this yr. What does make it palatable is the Evil Empire spent a fortune where it made no sense, not when you think their starting pitching is very old n choke tendencies.
Yeah, Red Sox have definitely stood pat, the Yankees have gotten better pretty much in every phase of the game. They’re going to be the team to beat next year imo
They added Paxton and Ottavino and get Britton another year removed from surgery. And added DJ LM to give them a much better infield defense. Sanchez and Judge will likely be healthier. They’re going to be scary — and I’m a Sox fanatic.
The Red Sox have a very dynamic offense. That is not going going to change this year when you factor in all phases of offense they have the best one.
The Red Sox starting pitching is as good as anyone’s starters and if anything I think they could be better then they were last year.
The elephant in the room is the bullpen. If there pen as bad as some people think it is then they won’t beat the Yankees this year because they will be blowing games right and left with there pen. I believe, while they won’t be a top tier bullpen they will be at least average and that should be enough to make it a neck and neck race with the Yankees all season.
I do think the Yankees got better last year but the Red Sox starters on paper are better then the Yankees and the offense is more dynamic and better on paper. I also believe the defense is a bette then the Yankees. It should make for an interesting year. That Bullpen the Yankees have put together looks absolutely lights out on paper and makes up for other areas of deficiencies.
This should be a great season again for both franchisees and look forward to what happens. The East also has Tampa can’t go to sleep on them they look they have improved and will be a wild card contender for sure. Al East has three really good teams.
So we can expect career years from everyone on the team again? I agree the Red Sox have a great offense, but every single player outperformed their career averages besiders Devers. In addition to this, they had incredibly healthy offense with only Pedroia missing extensive time.
The Red Sox can regress back to career averages next season and still beat the Stanks !
In terms of window of opportunity, I feel ok w the expectations of the current line-up/bench. Defense is still strong. Starting pitching is good to go.
Unfortunately, we might be experiencing another neglected bullpen by DD… just like he did in Detroit. The current trend of the game is to stack arms as insurance for less than stellar starting performaces… shortening the game. DD maybe painted himself in the corner w salary allotments. That BP needs reinforced and all the top (and expensive to be fair) arms are off the market.
My question is, will Kimbrel be enough? Say he falls back to Bos at 4/55, what else can they do? Aside from clearing salary space (and subtracting from the ML roster…!) there isnt much left for BP arms. Be interesting to see what happens.
I just think the Red Sox offense is more rounded then the Yankees offense. The Yankees have quite a few three outcome guys and they also have more base cloggers. While it may be true that Mookie and JD may regress some I expect Devers, 10d, the catcher position, JBJ, and probably 2nd base to be better then last year. I think the Red Sox offense is just more dynamic all things considered.
I dont think people realize that by adding Eovaldi for a full season as a starter that will move an arm from the rotation into the pen
.. they signed Carson Smith and Tyler Thornburg they will clearly get more out of them this year then they got last year.. you also have Johnson Velazquez and Wright.. you have the pieces in place now it’s just a matter of them performing in their roles.
Career years from JBJ and Leon/Vasquez? Agree on injuries but more than anything else, the team was as clutch as any that I can remember. Championships are always won on the field as people were annointing the Yankees the champs last year before a game was played. AB should continue to improve and a big if, Pedroia will if he can stay on the field provide better priduction at second, freeing Holt to be the jack of all trades. Let the games begin and it will be fun when the 2018 championship banner gets raised.
It is what it is with JBJ good glove and no bat.
They also have Poyner, D. Feltman, T. Lakins and D. Hernandez at AAA/AA.
The AL east will be a lot of fun, once again, to watch. The Red Sox are no joke, but the Yanks will have the best pen I’ve seen in years. Their offense will be right up there, maybe a tic below the Sox. Had the Yanks signed Corbin it would be REAL interesting.
Career years? Nobody is even in the age of their prime. If DD and the crew can keep this team together, your going to be looking at the Patriots of baseball with a window open for the next 10 years plus.
The Red Sox won’t be able to sign them all just going to be to costly. There will be some sort of soft rebuild probably after this season.
Not many career years on the Red Sox and they still were better than the Yankees.
Moreland had a down year.
Devers had a down year.
Pedroia didn’t play. Nunez put up a negative WAR in his place.
JBJ had a down year.
Their catchers were the worst in the AL.
And that is coming from a Red Sox hater.
Mookie Betts isn’t going to improve on a 10+ WAR season, JD Martinez had a career year, Xander slugged more than 100 points over his career mark, Moreland had the same season he usually does but missed time.
You have to be honest with yourself. The Red Sox offense has much more room for falling than getting better
Streaky bat. Mostly bad but he was key in the playoffs and that glove is great. Anyone remember a time period when so many teams had top fielding CFers?
Every RS player outperformed their career averages? That is not even CLOSE to right. Moreland .245 15 HRs .. definitely NOT. Benitendi .290 16 HRs .. down in HRs from last 2017. Bradley .234 and “13 HRs .. not career numbers. Nunez played most of the games a 2nd base .. .265 10 Hrs .. no career year there. Their two catchers hit under .200 with just 8 HRs combined. Career years? Ian Kinsler hit ONE HR for them in 132 ABs.. In fact, only Betts and Martinez could be said to have had career years, and JD’s HR total, OPS and slugging % were all actually down a bit from 2017.
3 career years is most? Come on. Stop making Yankee fans look bad.
I have the hope that based on Henry’s latest interview and his reference to Dombo as ‘Trader Dave’ that Dombrowski will trade a catcher and/or maybe JBJ for bullpen help.
If not then we’re screwed. Not only because we desperately need back of the bullpen help but Blake Swihart is out of options and JBJ’s stock will never be higher.
What fortune was spent in areas that weren’t a need? They Signed Happ, Britton and Ottavino. How are those not needs? The only money spent thus far on offense was for DJ and 2/$24 is hardly a fortune. Just say you hate the Yanks and keep it moving. I would respect that vs the non=sense you just posted. Worry about your own team and who’s going to close for them in 2019. Or can they get by with zero offense once again from their catchers. Or can Eovaldi or Rodrigues pitch at least 150 IP of sub 4 ERA. Or can Price and Sale stay healthy and deliver ace like performance. Or how well healed will Pedroia be? Or can JD and Betts club other teams to death next year.
Closing is true but Boston win last year in spite of Kimbrel melting in the heat of October. Let’s see: Zero offense from a catcher in 2018. At least Boston had superior defense from the position last year. Sanchez of course if healthy should do better but let him prove it was injuries and not in his head.. Starting pitching: Severino became mortal the second half of 18, Sabathia and happy are both 35 or older, Paxton has never pitched close to 200 innings. Didi is hurt and until proven otherwise, TT is even a bigger risk than Pedie. The team as of now also still has the only 3Bman as bad in the field as Boston’s. I could go on but the point again is let’s wait for the fun to begin, hope everyone gets and remains healthy and have the best team win in October/November.
To be more precise Paxton has only reached 160 innings once, and he only started 24 G in 2017, 20 G in 2016, and only 13 in 14-15, so yea health is a huge concern.
I am hopeful the cubs can rebound. It does seem like everyone in division got better (minus pirates), so it’s not like their own individual rebound performances should dictate 100 wins. My big beef is if ownership isn’t approving more funds to sign players, then why can’t they extend the ones they have? They’ll likely save money in the long-term and it surely might not cost a bundle to extend a guy( not name Bryant). I would love to see these guys signing deals to stay at friendly confines long-term, but each year we haven’t seen this.
Cub fan too. Extensions for sure if players willing to do . Let’s save money this year for sale or mad bum next year? Need bullpen pieces as well. Zo Hamels strop Cishek gone next year 50+ mil off books. Lester and q next year after 35 off with those 2. Not bad to sit for a year on sidelines . Can’t spend every year
True, that’s why I am not going to curse the owner or Theo. I do still believe in this team. Lol I just want to see someone get extended or a couple guys. I don’t want the cubs to just end up selling these guys away 1 year or so from end of their deal. I would love them to sign KB and Rizzo to long-term deals. Rizzo as a “this is what you’ve done we’ll reward you deal. And KB “life time cub contract”. He deserves to retire a cub. I just wish the NL would get the DH. It’s a competitive advantage to have the DH and for that reason alone I think both leagues should have it. It opens the door to NL teams signing DH types and shelling out more money. They only people who want the NL without a DH is NL purists, and some AL fanboys who know it’s advantageous for them to have it.
Not to mention the extra revenue that should be coming the Cubs way with their own TV network beginning in 2020.
You mean the “stupid” tv money earmarked to pay off debt and fill the Ricketts’ family coffers? Epstein ain’t seeing none of that cheese. lol
I don’t believe many of the players being platooned will sign with the Cubs long term and I certainly don’t believe Bryant will stay one minute after his contract is up. The fans will want many of them to stay but if I played major league baseball I would want to play, not watch from the bench half the time. Keep the Maddon managing style, lose the players.
mistry- Totally agree there. Schwarber is one of my favorite players, but he has been shafted by Maddon’s approach. He has such a great team first attitude, he doesn’t make a big deal of it. If Maddon platoons him this year, or keeps pushing him down in the order, he should definitely be asked to be traded at some point. I think Happ and Almora would also be every day players for most other teams, but Madden chooses to go with Heyward most of the time. If it were up to me, I would have the starting outfield Schwarb LF, Happ CF, Almora RF, and Zobrist/Descalso platooning at 2B. Heyward, Bote, Russell, Caratini bench.
Schwarber has to be the most overrated player in the league, atleast with Cubs fans.
I’d be surprised if any NL team won 100 games this season. With the strength and balance of both the NL East (save for the Marlins) and NL Central 95 wins might be plenty for a division crown.
Rebound from 95 wins?????????????????????????
Ummm how about you’re not seeing any cubs extensions because they are still dealing with horrible albatross contracts of Heyward, Chatwood, Darvish, and Lester. They should be saving to extend Baez no doubt.
The guy who wrote the article said the Cubs weren’t ready to give up on Hayward yet. That must be news to Theo, old Joe, Tom Ricketts and every Cub fan on the planet. Maybe the writer’s on loan from BuzzFeed…
I’m sure they would give up on him if they could. They know they have no choice but to keep him and try to get some value out of his D and little offense. Similar to Ellsbury but at least Heyward is playing.
I wouldn’t go as far as sayin Lester’s contract is horrible. However the rest are spot on. Hot garbage in the summer time
I hate when ppl misuse terms. There’s a difference between a large contract and an albatross. Lester is absolutely NOT an albatross and is earning his pay. Chatwood sucks but it’s only 2/$25 mil. The other two mentioned are certainly large investments that haven’t paid off yet but Darvish has a shot of rebounding. The Cubs can absolutely extend some of their key players. The early years of their extensions are probably going to be under market value anyway. You’re acting as if teams only ADD money. They can let several non-essential FAs walk after 2019 (Zobrist, Hamels, Morrow and Stropp) that’ll save them about $40 mil in salary space next season.
Lester was one the best signings in Cubs history. Heyward not so much but he did help win us a ring. Chatwood and Darvish can rebound but that doesn’t mean they will. So I’ll agree on the last 2.
Boston is not going to sign Kimbrel. That much should be clear, clear, clear, clear, clear. And, they probably won’t spend big on ANY closer, as they have to look ahead on what they will do with Betts next year, etc.
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The Padres piece was nice. If only we had more like that from more clubs. And, if more papers (looking at you, Post-Dispatch) worked on stuff like that.
Padres piece was indeed nice. Given their attempt to be financially responsible and open about it, how the heck did they give Hosmer a contract that was so irresonsible/downright dumb?
A 1.4 WAR last season which is provided the Padres a $17 million value. A 2.6 WAR per season the past 4 seasons. That is over $20 million in value on average.
Signing a player like that shows other FA that they are willing to spend money to get better. Nothing that makes it either a bad contract or irresponsible.
What it does make it is an off year for Hosmer. Something he does every other year. A 3.0 WAR season means the Padres are into surplus value on Hosmer’s deal.
It never ceases to amaze me how uninformed so many fans are.
All of which has nothing to do with wiining baseball games.
Whats the penalty if the red sox go past $246 million?
Another higher tax bracket, but that doesn’t matter much. Big one is that their first round draft pick gets bumped down 10 slots(draft money pool goes down with it too). They’re already stuck with that this year.
I think it goes to something like 42% on the amount over the threshold, but I’m not sure.
Yes. Financial penalties increase for those dollars above each penalty level.
Knocked down 10 slots in the next draft (with draft pool going down with it) and another luxury tax hit (they’d get fined about a full dollar for ever dollar over $246M). They’re already getting hit with it for this year’s draft.
“Under the 2016 CBA, first time offenders would pay a fee of 20% on the dollar, second time offenders would pay a 30% on the dollar, and third or subsequent time offenders would have to pay 50% on the dollar (These offenses must be in consecutive years for these percentages. If a team falls below the threshold one year the penalty re-sets the next year to the “first offense”)”.
I’m not sure what penalty level the Sox would face if they go over again for 2019.
They reset in 2017 so last year was year one of going over the penalty number.
The Red Sox are going to sign Kimbrel, but it will be 3/45. Not anywhere near what he was asking for.
He would probably accept a 1/16MM or 1/20MM over that deal. If he’s great should be able to secure 3/45 or greater the next year and make more money that way.
NO, they are not.
It seems like they didn’t want to go over two years for anyone since year three would be when they had to start paying Mookie a zillion per year. If that was true, I can’t understand why they didn’t sign Robertson before he took a two year deal from Philly. Supposedly, his priority was to be as close to his Rhode Island home as possible.
At this point, I bet they’d be thrilled to get Kimbrel at that price, but I doubt the Phillies let him fall that low. Signing Kimbrel and turning their crazy-good closer into an 8th inning guy would save them a ton of money when that guy goes into his arb years without a boatload of saves.
With so many SP prospects the Braves have I don’t understand why AA doesn’t make a deal with the Cubs like Coppy did with the Touki deal. The better the prospect the more money the Cubs eat on the contract.
I understand he hasn’t lived up to that contract but brought down some I don’t see it being the burden that some make it out to be. With the new Stadium & the added money for the tv contracts, plus add in the aspect of him coming home and playing with his best friend, I think the gamble could be well worth it.
I think the Cubs would be on board so they could make a run at Harper before he signs somewhere else. I think Heyward at a McCutchen price or a Brantley price could turn out to be a steal.
Offense wasn’t the problem last year so I could definitely see him producing Markakis production.
And at the very least great defense.
Wait what? You want the Braves to take heyward? GTFOH.
…and he wants to send a prospect to Chicago lmao . Heyward is an albatross contract. If he were a free agent his projection is 1/$5m. He is glove first forth outfielder. If atl traded for him it would look like $90-105m + Cubs #1 prospect (#87 in mlb) c Amaya for ptbnl or cash considerations.
Kimbrel will be a Brave again.
I suspect given their tax situation, Dombrowski is talking with Zaidi right now about Smith and Watson.
Or perhaps a Smith and Wesson.
Wondering about Wright’s knee. If healthy, he can slot in Porcillo’s slot and they have their money for either a closer or to keep for injury or deadline improvements. Otherwise I suspect they will sign whomever is still a free agent and will accept minimal dollars. Can’t see them trading for a reliever and worsen their minor league talent pool. Perhaps the Giants would take Nunez back. That’s the only piece I see being traded for a reliever and anyone good will cost more.
1) You spelled the name of new Cubs hitting coach Anthony Iapoce wrong.
2) He probably does have a report on each Cubs hitter, but I think you meant rapport.
Angels are gonna be the dark horse team for machado
That designation already claimed by George Harrison.
Could see that
Most of that is true, and yes most young or bandwagon fans just couldn’t seem to get Harper out their head. But the division is even tougher this year. Taking first in the division depends on a lot of “ifs”. IF Bryant and Contreras bounce back, IF Morrow and Darvish stay healthy, IF Hamels pitches like he did last year, IF Javy’s offensive numbers weren’t an anomaly and he continues to chase sliders away, IF Maddon can be keep Schwarber and Happ in the lineup consistently and not screw around so much, etc. Obviously, ON PAPER they are the still the best in the division, but whatever broke last season is still lingering under the surface without being addressed at all. And they still need a closer.
What broke last year was an offense that didn’t hit the ball in the air enough late in the season, and the change of hitting coaches was a big step towards addressing that problem
I really hate the “launch angle” fad, but with the Cubs it probably make the most sense as they have 5 guys that should be hitting 30 homers and have no team speed whatsoever. Combine that with Maddon being one of the worst coaches when it comes to fundamentals and small ball, they should absolutely be preaching to hit it in the air this year. They should make Schwarber do 10 push ups every time he hits one on the ground.
He doesn’t play small ball because it doesn’t work….
It’s trading outs for single bases… Bad trade
Yes. It does work.
Small ball would have gotten them the one more run they needed last year.
No, it doesn’t. It’s statistically prove to result in less runs per game… Because you’re wasting limited opportunities for marginal gain.
Being a San Diego Padres is probably the worst inheritance a kid in the 90’s could have received.
Hooked a bunch of young baseball die hards in the summer 98’ and we’ve been living off of it for 20 years now.
Ownership spend some honest money and make this team watchable..
Moustakas is sitting there, Harrison can play third, Marwin if they they want more Flexibility.
I swear if I have to watch Greg Garcia, Jose Pirela, Ty France or Esteban Quiroz get good chunks of playing time I’m going to puke.
Better yet
If Joey Lucchesi is the opening day starter I’m just going to burn my tickets lol.
If ownership can’t dig out of their pockets enough to snag one or two of Dylan Bundy, Stroman/Sanchez, Duffy/Junis, Leake, Sonny Gray, Jon Gray, Dan Straily or Wacha there are going to be a lot of empty butts in the seats.
An opening series rotation of:
1. Lucchesi
2. Lauer
3. Strahm/Mitchell/Perdomo/Nix
Scares nobody.
knowyourmeme.com/photos/820439-bye-felicia
Some Padres fans sure are stupid. The Padres spent $130 million last season. That the most they have ever spent.
legacy.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/nl…
They have been spending more money than any other ownership.
They spent $88 million on international free agents in 2016. More than any other team.
Maybe you should read the article they linked to about the team you claim to be a fan of.
The “most they have ever spent” means almost nothing when you use raw dollar amounts. It’s completely disingenuous. The FACT is that we ranked 26th in payroll. That’s the same slum neighborhood we’ve been living in for decades.
How is Ian Happ a starter in CF over Albert Almora? In what world does that make sense?
Depends on if you are comparing the two players, or just the position of CF. Almora’s defense is superior to Happ in CF, although he did get a little overconfident/showboat sloppy at times. The offensive comparison is really not that close though. Happ is easily the better player with a much higher ceiling. I don’t see Almora improving much more given his metrics up to this point, He is one of the few players on the team that Chili Davis’s approach actually benefited. His average shot way up when taking the ball the other way. Happ has the potential to be a 25-30 HR and perennial +.800OPS type player who hits from both sides of the plate and provides more versatility as he can play the infield as well. Happ is the more valuable of the two by far, but Almora would make a great addition to most clubs CF which is why I couldn’t understand why no trades were made. In a perfect world, they would bench Heyward and start both of them.
Spot on. Almora’s ceiling is 300avg with GG defense. But I don’t see him being an above average on-base guy. I think Happs ceiling is 25-30 hrs like you said, with a .260-.270 avg and good on-base skills. He also has the speed edge over Almora.
Almora will never win a GG with Inciarte and Cain in the NL.
GG is an over hyped, subjective, meaningless award.
You might be right about that. But neither of us can predict the future.
Great article on the Padres. Makes the Hosmer acquisition that much more of a head scratcher.
I don’t understand why people are worried about the Lux Tax. MLB teams reap billions as most of them fail to even try to win 50% of the time. The NYY & BoSox are the only ones that have tried to win every yr.
Since the Lux Tax began for the 2003 season:
Red Sox have paid a total of 37MM for 4 WS titles.
NYY have paid a total of 340MM for 1 WS title.
I think you are already seeing the beginning of the Red Sox long term plan. The first base platoon is a one year deal with Chavis and Dalbec coming. Third base with Devers is low cost. Catcher is low cost. Nunez comes off books next year, maybe Holt too. Bullpen will be low cost with young arms on the way to fortify. Maybe Bradley is moved. Not a big market for dh, JD. The money will go to Betts, Bogaerts, Sale, Porcello. Core of championship team will still be in prime years and will move forward as annual playoff team with trade deadline moves to put them over the top.