In one of the winter’s most fascinating storylines, the Nationals face the potential loss of two more centerpiece players after bidding adieu to Bryce Harper last winter … and then winning a long-awaited crown. The D.C. organization would like to “get quick resolutions” on both Anthony Rendon and Stephen Strasburg, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter), rather than engaging in a protracted courtship. If it’s a fond farewell, in either situation, then the Nats would like to get on with sorting out a replacement plan. The offseason could take any number of different directions for the defending World Series champs.
More from the National League …
- The Cubs like Nicholas Castellanos and he likes the Cubs. So … why not bring him back? Sahadev Sharma breaks down the situation for The Athletic (subscription link), explaining the many barriers to a reunion. In part it’s simply a financial issue, but there is also a legitimate dilemma in the outfield. Kyle Schwarber’s season went much like that of Castellanos, starting meekly and ending quite strong, so why replace the former with the latter? Both are bat-first players that probably shouldn’t be standing on the same outfield grass for too long. That leaves the focus on center field, per Sharma, which is where things get tricky. There are loads of other clubs facing similar situations and relatively few up-the-middle options available — particularly in free agency. It’ll be interesting to see how the Cubs sort things out, but Castellanos seems to be a bit of a mis-fitting puzzle piece — unless, perhaps, other developments intervene and his market doesn’t develop as he hopes.
- It is still tough to gauge whether the Rockies will end up pulling off some major roster moves or simply make a few tweaks. GM Jeff Bridich and owner Dick Monfort have suggested the club will need to improve largely from within, while also expressing optimism that it can do so. But we’ve heard persistent chatter regarding possible trade scenarios involving top Colorado players — much of it speculative, to be fair. Odds are, the Rox will simply be looking for affordable, marginal improvements this winter. Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post provides a transcript of Bridich’s most recent comments. Bolstering the pitching and finding a second catcher are the two goals, though it still seems those will be of modest expense. So what of the idea of trading Jon Gray? Saunders tweets that the Rockies could be open to it … if they can secure a major package involving significant prospects as well as “an established pitcher” to replace Gray. That feels unlikely to come to fruition.
- The Cardinals have traded away a huge volume of outfield talent in recent years and have plenty of internal options at or near the majors. Yet the teams still enters the winter with a possible need in that area, as Mark Saxon of The Athletic writes (subscription link). He reasons that the team needs to add a left-handed-hitting piece and looks at a few theoretical trade possibilities. The trick is that the Cards don’t appear interested in raising payroll and all the veterans cited will not be particularly cheap. Joc Pederson ($8.5MM), David Peralta ($8.8MM), and Jackie Bradley Jr. ($11MM) probably wouldn’t require major prospect hauls to acquire, but could bust the self-imposed St. Louis budget. We actually predicted that this year’s top two left-handed-hitting free agent corner outfielders, Corey Dickerson and Kole Calhoun, would secure less annually than each of those players.
Go Cards!
F the cards
Yes, free the Cards, let them play.
It great that you think the Cards are Fantastic!
After the Cardinals owners extended John Mozeliak for 3 more years, its a pure indication they didn’t mind Mozeliak getting them in a financial bind on lengthy multimillion dollar contracts. Contracts to over the hill players. All Cardinals fans know they can expect absolutely no young proven star help for 2020. I’ve got 8 season tickets that will be open in Section 252. Had them for 9 years. If I want to go, I’ll use stub hub. As long as Mozeliak and his Low Hanging Fruit self remains with the organization!!!!
He has made some poor choices in contracts to be sure, but several of them were likely pushed by ownership more so than by Mo. Carpenter and Molina’s contracts for sure likely came on orders from the very top.
I have a suggestion for the Cards trading for Bradley, and MUCH more. Working on a blog post for Monday.
I’m gonna keep saying this, the Cubs should trade Hoerner and Happ to the Royals for Merrifield play him in center. Trade contreras to the Mets for McNeil and play him at second. That would give them an elite #1 and 2 hole hitters with team friendly contracts to help save money. If the Cubs want to stay competitive, and still be able to sign most of their core to long term deals these trades need to happen.
No
Mets won’t trade McNeil, that’s a complete pipe dream. He’s got a chance to be a superstar, they aren’t giving that up.
You might be right that the Mets shouldn’t trade McNiel. That doesn’t mean they won’t. It’s not like Queens fans have the benefit of enjoying the smartest GM/Ownership combo in the league. Quite possibly the opposite. That being said I still bet the Mets don’t trade him. If they were smart they would try to trade him as a too tier player to any team that would take Cespedas and/or Cano in the same deal. I feel like BVW is too arrogant to admit that Cano is done though and no one is touching Cespedas so it’s not happening.
Cespedas is only signed for 1 more year and if he don’t play insurance covers his salary. If he does play he is an asset
Nobody is taking Cano’s contract under any circumstance. Especially not to get a guy whose best position is Cano’s.
Mets need to make a move for JBJ which would basically cost money
Or they make a deal for Marte which would cost young talent.
Why do people bring up insurance?
…because, why would a team trade a player to get rid of his contract if insurance is already going to pay for most of it. The only reason would be to avoid salary cap implications, but the Mets still have room.
And you’re going to keep hearing that Hoerner and Happ DON’T GET YOU MERRIFIELD. Royal’s DON’T NEED a SS, and Happ is garbage.
Hoerner’s no shortstop, his arm is too weak. He will be a second baseman next year and probably won’t ever move back.
Seriously? Watch him firzt, then comment.
I did. He doesn’t have the arm to play SS everyday.
Except coaches across the board pretty much confirm his arm could play at short. So there’s that.
In a pinch, yeah. But let’s get Javy signed to play SS for the next seven years.
If you watched any of last year while he was covering for Javy, you would see that there were some throws that he struggled with that most major league shortstops could make. He profiles better as a second baseman that can occasionally take a start at short, but committing to him as your full time shortstop would be a mistake defensively.
This is such a dumb take. Ian Happ is 25. He put up a OPS+ of 126 last year with an .898 OPS. He’s a solid OF and can play 2B and 3B. He’s going to make 600K next year with 4 more years of control. That doesn’t “suck”..
Merrifield put up an OPS of .811 and an OPS+ of 113. He gets on base at a .34% clip vs. Happ’s .33%. He’s going to make $5M+ next year. He is going to make more than $6M in 2021. He is controlled though through 2023 when he’ll be 34.
Hoerner is 22 and comes with 6 years of control. The jury is obviously still out on him given he had all of 75 ABs last year.
If I’m the Royals and I get a guy like Happ who can play everyday and a potential starting 2B in Hoerner for a 31 year old who is going to make $22M+ over the next four years I am definitely listening. .
gcg15 You’re so right. Too many fans look at things from a fantasy baseball perspective instead of actualities.
The Cubs should just hold onto them while they are cost controlled and up against the luxury tax thresholds. They both have promise. One of them could turn into a Merrifield type player or a reasonable facsimile thereof. Maybe both. Maybe neither.
Happ put up 126 OPS+ over 156 PA, not a full season of PA. Happ is also the guy is 25 with multiple years at ML level and gets sent down.
July OPS+ 56
Aug OPS+ 111 thats solid
Sept/Oct OPS+ 169 over ^66 PA thats smal sample sized theater.
Nvm that Happ had 10 of his 18 hits for Sept in least week of season, 7 of those for Xbh, with 10 of the 17 rbi for the month in that week too.
So basically you are trying to sell us a scorching hot week from Happ as thats who he is.. Its not who he is, Happ is nothing more then a hair above avg with bat, based on power and an avg defender at best…
Happ is an ok player I am not bashing him, but dont make him out to be something that he is not..
Dumb take? You are ignorant to baseball it sounds like. Hoerner is a SS, MAYBE, Heard of Bobby Witt Jr? He’s #8 on the top 100 list. Where does he play you say? At SS. Heard of Raul Mondesi Jr? Where does he play? SS. Hoerner is #47, 39 places behind Witt, and without the tools of Witt. Happ got hot for about 3 weeks, and only played in 58 games there genius. Merrifield is under contract, which GUARANTEES his salary. And has PROVEN to be the player he is, in more than a month long sample. The only dummy here is you. Get over your thinking that the players you’re trading are more than they are. Do some ACTUAL research. Over the last 4 years Merrifield has been worth 15 WAR. In the 3 years of Happ, he’s been a 3 WAR player. Doesn’t even match what Merrifield did LAST year. Happ is a utility guy, Period. And Hoerner is redundant on the Royal’s. Spout your ignorance all you want. Doesn’t make it true.
And Happ still has a higher OPS, the same OPS+ and the same OBP as Merrifield over his almost 900 career plate appearances. He’s also 6 years younger, has more power in his bat and costs a fraction of what Merrifield costs. So spare me the notion the Royals have someone worthy of more than a Top 60 type prospect and Ian Happ in Merrifield when you take contracts into account.
OK my wizard, go look a their career stats. Happ has 900 career plate appearances. He has a higher OPS and the same OPS+ career as Merrifield and the same OBP. He’s 6 years younger than Merrfield. He costs a fraction of what Merrifield costs. So do go on about how the Royals are going to get a king’s ransom for a guy with a career OPS of less than 800 who is 31 years old. He’s a nice player. I think he’d be a great fit for the Cubs. But he is not going to yield them a ton in trade talks. Guys like him are really important pieces on winning teams. They are not cornerstones where the Royals hang up the phone on a player like Happ and Hoerner.
C’mon, you’re not really comparing Happ’s 140 ABs (only 30 against lefties) to Merrifield’s 680, are you? Happ’s never looked like an everyday player for more than a month. He got sent down to start the year. I wouldn’t make this trade either, but it’s not because Happ’s just as good as Merrifield.
You can’t reason with him teachuh. He’s actually dumb as a post when it comes to comparing players. His trade proposal for Merrifield is asinine at best. And its the very reason fan trade proposals are laughed out of the room. Happ and Hoerner for Merrifield, I wish he would take that to someone with inside knowledge, and get told how stupid of a comment it really is. Writers of these articles are to nice when it comes to shooting down fan trades imo. They need to think about what it does to BOTH teams. And this trade does absolutely NOTHING to help the Royal’s. Over 4 seasons Whitley is a .296/.445/.789 hitter. He’s had 2400 plate appearances in that span. He led the A.L. in hits last year. He’s also got 107 stolen bases, and has struck out 400 times. He’s carrying a fielding % of .983 between all positions played. Happ, has 1000 plate appearances in 3 years. He’s a .246/.476/.816 hitter, he’s struck out 335 times in less than half of the PA’s. He’s also carrying a fielding % of .983 at all the positions he’s played Identical to Merrifield. And he’s stolen 18 bases. Happ is a utility player. The Cubs know it, and so does everyone else in the free world, except this delusional moron who is on a rant about his dumb@ss trade proposal. I’d take Happ in a trade. But unless the Cubs start with Alzolay, who isn’t that exciting IMO to start, plus Happ and a couple more, these trade talks go absolutely nowhere. The Royal’s don’t need Happ, THEY HAVE A BETTER OPTION IN MERRIFIELD. And they don’t need Hoerner. They do need cost controlled pitching, which the Cubs have NONE of. You don’t have to like it. But its the truth. Go back to your playstation. Turn force trades on, and tell your mom you need a snack.
The only reason the trade doesn’t work is the pitching angle you mentioned. Happ, due to his age, longer control, and lower current salary is nearly as valuable a trade piece as Merrifield. Merrifield’s age (he is right at the point where most guys start to seriously decline) makes him a risk even though his defense and baserunning is elite.
Happ and a top100 pitcher (not shortstop) for Merrifield would absolutely be a reasonable trade.
Happ isn’t the player that Merrifield is. Now, thats not saying he can’t become that. But he strikes out wayyyyy to much. He has some pop yes. But the pop he has isn’t Kauffman stadium pop. The Royal’s are much better off with Merrifield than Happ. I agree. Whit is getting a little long in tooth, but its not like he’s 35. He’s 30, He’s still fast, and he’s still a much better hitter than Happ. None of the Cubs pitchers are good enough to get the Royal’s attention either probably. Alzolay is meh. Cubs don’t have a top 100 pitcher. But I agree. A trade with the Padre’s makes some sense. Petino and Owen MIller might get KC’s attention. I don’t truly see the Royal’s trading Whit. It’s just not their style. But if they did, it’d certainly take a lot more than Happ and a couple throw in’s from a not so great Cubs farm system.
You will need to package a lot more than that to get the Royals to even to accept your call… Happ is nothing more than a utility guy at this point, so the answer on the Royals end will be no…
Are you insane? The Royals aren’t trading Merrifield for Hoerner and Happ.
Why do you not do that deal if you are the Royals? Merrifield is a solid player but he’s 31 and is set to make $24M over the next four years. And the math in terms of cost, years of control and production looks really favorable for that deal if you are KC.
Happ comes with the same amount of club control at a fraction of the price and has better OPS+, OPS over his career to date and puts up the same OBP. He’s a solid OF, maybe less secure as an IF but can also play 3B. And he has more pop in his bat than Merrified (and obviously less speed). Then you get a 22 year old with 6 years of control who projects as an eventual starter in your infield on top of this?.
I’m not doing that deal if I’m the Cubs given their desire to spread out service time over players that can help the team over the next several years.
Happ IS probably faster than Merrifield.
At walking to the dugout after constantly striking out? Sure.
Not a chance in hell he’s faster than Merrifield. And he does strike out more than Merrfield but also gets on base at the same clip bc Merrifield literally never walks, like ever.
Who knows, maybe the Royals would accept this trade of Happ showed improvement. He needs to work on shortening his swing so he can cut down on the strikeouts. If Happ made more contact, he’d be devastating.
If he showed improvement? Again, he costs 600K. And he has a higher career OPS and OPS+ than Merrifield with more pop in his bat and an almost identicial OBP. And he is a good OF who can also play 2B and 3B. Of course they’d think long and hard about getting Happ and Hoerner for a 31 year old who will make 4x what Happ and Hoerner will make combined. The Cubs are not making that trade if they are serious about spreading out their service time given they have like 8 good players up for FA in the next 2 years.
How is that high K bum Soler from the Cubs working out for the Royals?
You forgot that Ian Happ sucks
Eh. He doesn’t “suck” He’s 25, OPS+ 126. OPS .898. Serviceable player at a few positions. As is the case with a lot of players it is about what you get in return for the $$ you pay. If I’m the Royals and someone is telling me i can trade a guy who is 31 and is about to see his salary balloon over the next few years for Happ and Hoerner, I’m listening. I just don’t see why the Cubs do this trade. They need to be thinking how they get more players like Happ and Hoerner to compliment their core instead of adding players who are going to cost more in the near term.
Mets would never do Contreras for McNeil
So, to be clear, you want to trade away a player with 3 years of control slated to make under $5M for a player with 4 years of control who has yet to reach Arb. 1. Then you want to trade away two players with 4 and 5 years of control for a player slated to make over $5M with 4 years of control but who is going to start the year at 31 years old. While I like both of the players you are citing the pieces you are moving for them does nothing to save the Cubs money and, in fact, hurts their flexibility financially longer term. If you are going to move Contreras getting McNeil in return isn’t a bad move – we can debate the merits of the positions they each play. But I would not move Hoerner AND Happ to land Merrifield. Merrifield is a really good player. But he’s 31 and his salary is going to jump much faster than those of Hoerner or Happ.
NO NO NO !
Do not trade Hoerner. Very bad idea to trade him.
Try Bote to replace Whits versatility, maybe Kemp to add both 2b & outfield insurance along with speed, and then Amaya because MJ Melendez might not be a legit prospect that was once thought, & throw in your top 2 OF prospects in Davis & Roederer.
So to summarize for last years AL hits leader & the stolen base champ 2 outta the last 3 years, it’ll take a couple of immediate assets, a top 100 prospect, & a couple higer end position player prospects.
A high price to pay for a known commodity although the return only garners 2 for sure (albeit less talented) MLB players & 3 prospects who may never sniff the bigs for whatever reason.
I think that’s called a puke point trade which rarely occurs anymore.
And honestly, even if the Chubs offer that, I’m still not taking it for Whit. Cubs farm system is pretty crappy tbh. The Royal’s can get a lot more somewhere else. If they do indeed decide to trade 2 or 3 or 4 hit Whit.
Bote is on a very favorable club contract through 2026 (and it includes two club options). So that is appealing for any trade partner. Kemp OK. But I don’t think the Cubs are sending back either Davis or Amaya in that trade for Merrifield. Merrifield is a very good player, but he doesn’t even have a career OPS of 800. That is not the type of guy who yields two Top 100 level prospects plus two ML players – one of whom is inked to a very favorable contract for 6 years.
If the Cubs want the most out of the team trade Bryant and take the prospects. The farm system is week and although Bryant is a superstar he is going test FA.
Why do you want the cubs to start a rebuild?
Not only are you get older with Merrifield he doesnt solve anything but the leadoff man
I think Dickerson & Kalhoun could potentially both be the steals of free agency.
The Rockies have some intriguing names. They’re probably on the fence when it comes to pulling the plug and rebuilding. They would need major bouncebacks from Kyle Freeland
and their bullpen arms plus a step forward from Brendan Rodgers and Ryan McMahon. That left side of the infield is enviable though.
This might not be a popular opinion but I think the cardinals should just see what they have in all their guys then go from there…Every young guy in the outfield pretty much has nothing left to prove in the minors…I don’t know what do you think Clepto?
im not a cards fan, but when did they sour on tyler o’neil?he looked like he’d be given a shot going into last year and then fowler produced better than the previous year
O’neil is essentially a more powerful version of randal grichuk especially in the plate discipline department. Fowler had his best year with us so far. id like to give O’neil a legit chance in left but lots of questions. Bader is peter bourjos 2.0 but his defense should keep him on the field, if hes not traded for diamond dirt, sadly. But I doubt. that. I think castellano would be our best bet but god knows we wont spend money.
O’Neil’s his own enemy his body is stiff and muscular therefore injuries will be a constant issue.
I also remember going to the game tyler o’neil hit his first major league homer against your phillies. fowler hit a deep fly ball to the track for the last out and your win…how does philly feel about harper now that the seasons over? he pretty much had the same year Goldschmidt had for us his first year.
harper had a solid all around year after what i felt was a slower start. happy with his production although i feel like there’s still better years to come now that he’s fully acclimated and i wasnt a fan or kapler’s lineup construction,which was the reason i personally felt he had to go
O’Neill couldnt stay healthy last season, every time he got some AB’s he would get a minor injury for a short IL trip and then return to no PT time, rinse and repeat..
Tyler needs a long run of games to get himself comfy, and learn to adjust to how pitchers are attacking him.
When he swing at strikes he crushes the ball all over the field with effortless power. Everything else about his game is really good too, goof OF with damn good speed for a guy as ripped as he is.
was unaware of the injury problems last year. in 2018 he had very good numbers in triple-A after making some adjustments, last year it seems he took a step back even there but inconsistent playing time will do that as well. the K’s will always be in his game but his OBP has been good enough when he’s had time to adjust coming up thru the minors. i think he’s got the floor of joc pederson but also believe he’ll hit lefties better
Throughout his time in minors, anytime he struggled, he found away to adjust and produce.
Generally that’s the sign of a ML player, key for him is staying on the field and getting enough reps at ML level to take that final step in becoming an everyday ML player. He has the talent.
Mark Saxon Cards beat writer for Athletic, just wrote an article Cards should target Joc as a platoon player.
They are kind in a weird spot, they have a handful of guys who all show some really good talent but have been unable to take that last step.
Sleeper is Lane Thomas, dude just blistered the ball and made plays every time he played. His PT was erratic at best, then he broke a wrist and out for season.
Isn’t that the problem though, they have way too many outfielders? And the way I see it, a package of at least a couple like Thomas, O’neil, Garcia (throw in) plus maybe a pitching prospect like Woodford (for example) to land a really nice outfielder from a rebuilding team like Mancini from the O’s or Hanniger from the M’s. And still they’d have a glut because Williams is on the 40man roster & actually is finally making noticeable progress & that’s on top of having J-Mart, Dex, Bader, Randy A, plus Edman who can log innings out there.
They need to do a bit of a purge…
Corey Dickerson would be good fit for Cardinals or Padres
Why when they have Carlson…who might not be ready yet but…why sign Dickerson unless it is a one year deal…although Dickerson would be a nice left handed bat the cardinals still have to many options to justify that signing…barring a trade
I wonder what the Cardinals outfield and trades would have looked liked if Oscar Taveras didn’t die?
RIP stands for Rest In Peace…which means there is no reason to speak of it…RIP Taveras
Uh, death doesn’t mean you can’t talk about someone. Grow up.
It’s a senseless debate and I grew up a long time ago
Can’t tell
Sorry I have different values and morals than you…but keep commenting
Its not about morals to speculate how OT would have developed and matured. Kid had massive amount of talent..
why Speculate? Why…it’s senseless
Hot Stove is pretty much all about speculating.
About people who are still alive lol I know that
what would the marlins look like if fernandez didnt die? would they have even been shopping stanton,yelich, and ozuna? would they have still sold the team? would they have actually threw some money into the team?
Weren’t they trying to trade him to L.A or something?
there has always been rumors about every superstar,or even star, that’s put on the marlins jersey simply because of who they are(small market) and who their owner was.
Lost in his death (and his killing of his girlfriend, another thing forgotten) is that he just wasn’t very good. Granted, it was only like 1/2 of a season, but he was atrocious in the majors, putting up a whopping -1..2 bWAR
He was great in AA and A, but okay at AAA and I don’t think it’s a given he ever would have been good, given his lack of plat discipline
Theres not a single reason why the Cubs wouldn’t have both castellanos and Schwarber in LF and RF. Schwarber still gets shat on because of 2 mistakes 4 years ago in the NLCS … ever since they he’s been a liability in the outfield. Yet in 2018 and 19 he had almost 20 OF assists. But he’s horrible in left
Schwarber has definitely improved from 2017, but he’s not been super good in the outfield. Overall he’s been average. Not going to hurt the Cubs, but not going to be Byron Buxton out there.
Schwarber 214 po
Buxton 217 po
Schwarber assist 7
Buxton assist 5
Schwarber errors 6
Buxton errors 2
did u forget to put the number of innings each played there though? how abour a uzr or runs saved metric?
Ha not to mention the fact that literally no one runs on Buxton and his cannon arm? Or that EVERYONE runs on Schwarber? The more players run on you, the more opportunities you have for an assist? Stupid stats once again by Mikel Grady
This also completely misses the fact that Buxton’s range is twice what Schwarber’s is. He is what he is no matter how much you want to manipulate the numbers: a below average fielder with an above average arm
Buxton (2018-2019): 12 DRS, 10.9 UZR, 30.7 UZR/150, 7.0 range runs, 1.6 dWAR
Schwarber (2018-2019): 1 DRS, 8.9 UZR, 13.1 UZR/150, .8 range runs, -1.2 dWAR.
Remember, this Buxton played just 115 games between 2018 and 2019, while Schwarber played 292 games.
Buxton missed a lot of time this season due to injury so it is a bad comparison.
so to summarize, this is a horrible comparison considering buxton is 1 of the best centerfielders in the game….BUT schwarber’s not as bad of a fielder as the media apparently makes him out to be. matter of fact, id say he’s anywhere from perfectly average to slightly above.
I admit as a cardinals fan that I believe that is true…hey if the cubs dont want him The cardinals are looking at adding a power left handed bat in the outfield…ship him over
Hey ward is the reason, castellanos was the only cub hitting down the stretch, dump Almora for castelanos or trade heyward.
Heyward is not being traded, so it would have to be Schwarber instead…
Heyward is going to make $23.5 next year and $49M the two next years. How much of his salary are you eating to trade him.? And then what impact does eating that salary have on who else you can sign? Almora will make $1M next year. Castellanos will make $15+M next year somewhere. If you are going to talk about trades have the common sense to think about all the money involved because it has a huge impact on how teams behave. You don’t just waive a magic wand and create the team you’d like to have. The reason the Cubs will likely pass on Castellanos is that Schwarber will make around $8M next year and was a lot more productive as the past season wore along. So they bank $7-8M by keeping him and letting Castellanos go elsewhere.
You make cubs fans look pitiful with these Schwarber posts. An outfield with Castellanos and Schwarber at the corners is not going to work. They’re just not athletic enough. Heyward in CF doesn’t work either. The cubs nerd to completely renovate their OF if they want to contend. You’re HIGHLY DELUSIONAL if you think otherwise.
Jeff Todd evidently hates Kyle Schwarber. I keep reading that he is horrible. He and gold glover Heyward each had 6 errors this year, Schwarber hit 38 home runs, had 92 RBIs and brought his B A up 25 points since Castellanos arrived. He doesn’t cost much and came into his own hitting clean up. Having Schwarber in left and Castellanos in right, long term, would very nice in my opinion. Dump Russell, Kemp, Descalso and trade Bryant. .. who will never re-sign with them anyway.
KB has statistically been best 3b in baseball since 2015, Yeah go ahead and trade him, good luck filling that production across the board without spending crazy money on Rendon who is older.
“KB has statistically been best 3b in baseball since 2015”
Looks a lot different if you close the aperture to 2018-1019.
There absolutely are reasons the Cubs would not have both Castellanos and Schwarber in the same outfield – starting with the fact Castellanos is going to cost 15+M a year and the Cubs already have over $185M on their books for next year.
Schwarber has been the poor man’s Bryce Harper the last 2 seasons.
Schwarber : power hitting lf with no defense. Hello Evan gattis, he’s replaceable.
You could do a lot worse than Schwarber in left field. Gattis was much worse in LF than Schwarber has been the past 2 years.
And so is Eloy Jimenez, far worse.
Schwarber couldn’t sniff Eloy’s jockstrap homer
Resembles Matt Carpenter—- Matt hits a homerun once every 15 games and strikes out over 200 times. When he hits—- He hits it dead into a full defensive shift. If he actually hits a double, he’ll run past second base and get picked off. If a ground ball is hit to him at third base, he has to stiff arm the ball to first base. Plus, he’s starting to misjudge super high fly balls. Carpenter should see the hand writing on the wall. Such as when Mark McGwire did when MLB raised the strike zone. McQwire couldn’t catch up with the 97-103 mph fastball. McGwire had a year to go on his contract and retired a Cardinal. He donated the rest of his money back to the Cardinals so they could obtain a super talent. And They did.
Been waiting for this……
Of course The Nationals want “quick resolutions” of Rendon and Strasburg.
Those 2 are represented by Boras – whose history is to drag out client negotiations into February and March. By then the Nationals will either have to overpay, or their 2020 is going to be poor and it’ll take them 2 more years to get on target. Rizzo & Company can make moves this off-season that while may not be Rendon and Strasburg, will still position the team for not only 2020, but beyond.
Don’t forget last off-season……
The younger Lerner said the Nationals were moving on from Harper shortly after the season ended. MLBTR was constantly publishing blurbs that the Nationals were still in the bidding right up until the day Harper to the Phillies was announced. At the presser Boras was asked about the Nationals, and he replied that they never once called Boras over Harper. All the rumors were media nonsense – for whatever reason.
The Lerner family and Boras have a very good relationship. Over the years they’ve paid top dollar for his clients. They run a first class, quality organization. It will be interesting how this plays out. My feeling having followed the Nationals for about 5 years now is that there is no bluffing going on – Rendon and Strasburg have been treated (and backed) very well by the Nationals organization. If they want to stay with a nice salary, they’re welcome to. But if they want to piddle around, the Nationals will thank them for their contributions, and move on ASAP.
i could see stras signing early if he wants to stay with nats just because of the fact that he previously signed an extension with them with what we can only assume was against boras’ asvice. if rendon chooses to wait i dont see any reason why they wouldnt move on and try to improve that massive hole he’d leave behind, especially with donaldson on the market for less years and overall money
@Vandals…
Maneuvering to earn additional tens of millions of dollars is hardly “piddling around.”
I mean I hate the offseason shenanigans as much as anyone, but I do understand that it’s because there’s tons of money at stake and I respect the players efforts to cash in after a lifetime of hard work. I just would like to see a FA deadline, like the trade deadline, of January 15. The window could re-open like 3/15 or 4/1. Enough is enough. Move on to ST.
They already have a K machine in DeJong and Goldschmidt. Yeah lets add Muscle boy to the mix. Plus he’s always injured or striking out.
They need to sign Dickerson.
They absolutely do not need to sign Dickerson.
I want to know this answer…….why didn’t Topps have a Cubs Castellanos & Lucroy updated cards in their 2019 Updated series ?
The Rockies would be positively nuts to trade Gray. He is a solid young pitcher with a 98mph fast ball who actually pitches better in Coors Field than on the road. He has a high ceiling which he has not yet reached. The Rox need more pitchers like him and Marquez. By the way Cub fans–Schwarber is a bum.
I’m not sure what the big deal is with Merrifield the guy is going to be 31 in January while Happ is still young and his numbers were just fine for what he makes salary wise. You don’t trade youth and affordability for aged and more costly. Some of these comments are plain crazy. The Cubs are not trading Happ and Hoerner for Merrifield and the Mets aren’t trading Jeff McNeil, Cano, or Cespedes all for what should be obvious reasons.
Why do Cubs’ fan think Hoerner and Happ will land the Cubs Merrifield when the Royals would want a top pitching prospect for him? I swear these Cubs’ fans don’t understand how things operate! It is comical to see Cubs’ fans thinking the Cubs should move Heyward as if some team is going to take on his contract!
Every team has idiot fans.. Just other day on a Cardinals board, a guy said he would trade Cards top prospects if it meant Carpenter and Fowler were gone from team.
Its truly like WTF is wrong with people?
Experience is the great teacher…
As the inexperienced show us all the time LOL
As fans gain wisdom and skill in there posts there is always a new generation behind them with vim and Vinegar in their fingers. I’ve found over the years it is better to leave the vent open and let the smoke go than it is to blow on the fire…
I think Adam Weishapt said that….
BeeVeeTee I swear you do not understand that Cub fan commentors are no different than any other fan base who makes silly trade ideas or bad taste comments (like yours)
Cubs’ fans may be the worse ones with the trade ideas! That is from just reading their trade ideas in the last year. At least these people can be realists but they obviously live in make believe land to think a team is willing to pick up bad contracts or take bad players for a bad player.
If I’m theo I’m signing castellanos and packaging schwarber and Russell for Lindor. Put javy back at 2nd base lindor can also leadoff. The money issue cubs can make the contracts backend heavy plus the new tv deal. All we’ve been hearing out here is wait till 2020 when the tv deal hits the cubs will have so much more money to play with. They are already extending javy this season plus they are trying to do the same for some of their other stars. Kb and Willy both stay too they won’t get rid of lester’s catcher.
Watch!
This is the perfect of Cubs’ fans coming up unrealistic trade ideas!
What do you mean Bee? You don’t think Cleveland would jump all over trading their franchise cornerstone for HOFer’s like Schwarber and Russell???
Russell is a pos as a human being granted and defensively he isnt what he was offensively he has definetly regressed since 2016 but the cubs could non tender him or see if he has any value what so ever. So trading Schwarber and Russell isnt a bad trade offer for 1 year of Lindor but as a cubs fan I wouldnt want to do that. I would just nontender Russell and keep Schwarber and keep developing him for a few more years that he is under contract. He will never be a speed demon but will mash 30-50 homers a year and hopefully continue improving his plate dicipline and defensive lines for batted balls. After all he is homegrown tallent.
Peterson, Bradley Jr. or Peralta to St. Louis????? Come on!!! That’s just more dead money contracts. They might as well just keep the dead money contracts they have. They’d be better
off just giving “lets hit into the shift” or “strikeout” Carpenter and Fowler for another year!!! Oh crap….. they’ve already done that, haven’t they!!! Ha!
How did Mike “cracker barrel” Shildt win manager of year? Makes no sense…he goes from serving raw bacon to mismanaging a team of underperforming All-Stars…has a pitcher pitch like cy young and carry the team into the playoffs. But sure let’s give him an award…the old people at the restaurant will all applaud.