For the third straight offseason, the Cubs are indicating that some roster shuffling could be in order, and they seem closer than ever before to making some notable moves. As per ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (subscription required), the Cubs have told other teams that “significant turnover” is coming, and “the Cubs are signaling…a willingness to move almost any veteran.”
Javier Baez is reportedly one of the players Chicago is open to at least hearing offers for, which is significant since Baez has been the member of the Cubs core group most often discussed as an extension candidate, rather than as a trade chip. Baez’s extension talks with the Cubs last offseason didn’t really go anywhere, however, and any attempts at further progress were impeded first by the pandemic and the transactions freeze, and then possibly by Baez’s struggles once the 2020 season got underway. The shortstop hit only .203/.238/.360 with eight homers over 235 plate appearances, easily his worst performance since his 2014 rookie season.
Taking a look at the Cubs’ pricier veterans, Baez, Kris Bryant, and Kyle Schwarber are all arbitration-eligible for the final time this winter before being eligible for free agency, while catcher Willson Contreras is heading into the second of three arb-eligible years. Anthony Rizzo is under contract through the 2021 season, Craig Kimbrel is guaranteed through 2021 with a $16MM club/vesting option for 2022, and Yu Darvish, Jason Heyward, Kyle Hendricks, and David Bote are all locked up through at least the 2023 season on longer-term contracts.
Naturally, the phrasing of “almost any veteran” means some trades are more realistic than others. While a case could be made for the Cubs to sell high on Darvish or Hendricks, for instance, the team is also counting on them as long-term anchors for the rotation, so it’s probably less likely that either of those two pitchers are moved. Also, in terms of pure due diligence, most front offices are usually open (to some extent) to discuss trades for almost any player, just in case another team comes along with a truly stupendous offer.
The Cubs also made little in the way of noteworthy transactions in either of the past two winters, despite Theo Epstein’s past hints that bigger moves were necessary. With all these caveats in mind, however, it does seem like the Cubs are finally approaching some level of wider-scale shakeup, as the loss of revenues due to the pandemic may have forced the team’s hand. Nothing can really be ruled out, whether it’s trading only one highly-paid veteran, or perhaps moving several such players in order to cut payroll.
Soft rebuild?
yeah, i dont see them tearing it all down.
A soft rebuild will just make them the Giants after 2014. Don’t get stuck in the middle.
Well the giants made the playoffs in 2016 so that soft rebuild didn’t start until 2017 and they just barely missed playoffs this season
just barely missed the playoffs when more than half the league made the playoffs… lmao
Good one.
And the cubs should have easily swept the giants in the nlds that year. That goob Connie Gillespie somehow learned to hit. And walked off on Chapman.
I think flaccid rebuild is the industry term.
Like a semi-rebuild?
Tacit admittance that the Chicago dynasty that so many predicted failed to deliver the multiple championships its fans guaranteed to everyone around them.
What fans guaranteed anything? The talking heads said it could be a dynasty. They went to 3 straight NLCS. They got to the world series one time. The Dodgers did the same and went to the world series 3 times before finally winning in an abbreviated season.
The Cubs ran into the hottest player on the planet Daniel Murphy. Who was never a HR hitter and he hits a HR in 7 straight games or something like that.
Then the cubs ran into the Dodgers in 2017 who were on fire going into the playoffs.
**It happens. They got beat by the better team. They won their first championship in 108 years. And they’re a “dynasty” not winning more than one shows how hard it is to win multiple championships. They’re hasn’t been a repeat champion since the Yankees in 2000. It’s been even longer for the NL.
They should blow it up. They won’t
If they’re not planning on competing, selling high on Darvish would net a juicy return for sure
Gimme Darvish pls
Who was your team’s first draft choice in June?
Who else?
Kris Bryant to Atlanta for something around Wright or Anderson would be beneficial for both sides.
Anderson is untouchable at this point
It would be more likely Wright who’s mediocre rather than Anderson who’s not going anywhere.
I doubt ATL would give up Wright for 1 year of Bryant after that season, especially if CHC isn’t sending money or taking on dead money (Inciarte), which is partially why they’re sending Bryant packing.
ATL isn’t giving up on Wright, whom has the largest signing bonus in franchise history, only to watch him excel for someone else. This proud franchise does not forget the Adam Wainwright trade (not that I think Kyle Wright is on-par, but for goodness sake, Wright is even in Wainwright’s name! I mean, c’mon! 😉
Bryant isn’t getting anywhere near Anderson, it’s not happening. Wright maybe.
How about Bryant, Kimbrel & Schwarber to Atlanta for Wright, Luke Jackson, Newcombe, Inciarte, & Branden Shewmake. Basically Atlanta picks up $43ish million in salary while sending out about 11 million. It’s basically a salary dump for the Cubs but picking up a starter, 2 relievers, a CF to get the Cubs under the lax line, plus a SS prospect who was a 1st round pick in 2019.
It’s not a salary dump.
Non-tendering Bryant or Schwarber would be a salary dump
Not a bad idea! The cubs really seem to want to cut salary and Atlanta needs a bat at 3B. I would take out Schwarber and Inciarte, but this could work if the Cubs think that Wright still has good potential.
Atlanta won’t take Kimbrel, I doubt anyone else would either
It would be a salary dump move, but I still believe in Kimbrels ability. He still as good velocity, and a move to another club may be what is needed to get him on track. He’s not worth anywhere near 16MM, but he could turn into a nice 7th inning guy.
Besides, if the Braves trade Jackson, they need a reliever who can give up the lead in the 6th inning :p .
Yes, please include Kimbrel with Heyward, sign Mike Minor and Tommy La Stella. Go pull Kris Medlen out of his Christian contemporary band and Frank Wren out of the sand bunker and get the gang back together for one last run! Nostalgia is so in right now!
Cubs could trade Kimbrel in a salary dump, but Schwarber and Bryant won’t be salary dumps. They could just drop both of them and it would save them everything they need. If they’re signed then they will be traded for some form of prospects (be it lottery tickets or legit prospects). They could make that move but it would be shocking to see salaried players going back to Chicago.
Why would the braves want schwarber and bryant? Both are limited to left field considering riley’s presence at third… and the braves lineup wasn’t the issue. It was the pitching. So why would they give up their best pitcher that is cost controlled? Makes no sense
Schwarber is underrated in LF. I’ll never get why so many discredit his fielding abilities. 4 and half years in the ML 13 Errors.
He wouldn’t ever be in the field in game 6 of the world series with the game on the line down to the last strike 2 times. Horribly miss playing a ball over his head.
Not to mention that both a Cubs players maxed out in value 3 years ago.
@Wrek305
Citing errors as your sole stat to try and say he’s a decent fielder is just ignorant. It’s hard to make an error when you get terrible jumps and have little to no range in the outfield. You have to be able to get to the ball to make an error. Plain and simple He’s a terrible fielder and every advanced metric supports that.
The only position he’s graded out worse at than OF is Catcher.
That’s funny Jacob. I did need a laugh. It was almost as funny someone suggesting the Braves to spend $43 million extra while giving Wright and Shewmake away. It’s too late at night to laugh this much!!!
Kris byrant for Wright and ender
If the Cubs took on Ender, a couple prospects are coming with him, too.
Why would the Cubs do that?
Why would the cubs want a downgrade in CF? Ender Inciarte? Really. No thanks.
Austin Riley is a younger and less expensive version of Kris Bryant. The Braves are better off with Evan Longoria or Kyle Seagar than with Kris Bryant. I think the Rangers’ Isiah Kiner-Falefa would be more ideal for the Braves. We all have our opinions.
Austin also brings negative value, and Bryant only has 1 year left on his contract. Longoria still has multiple years left
Anderson is untouchable, I would say Wright or Wilson and a 2nd tier prospect should get it done.
It’s time for the Cubs to completely blow it up. Rizzo, Schwarber and Baez are no brainers to trade. Bryant is the only one they should try to extend but if Boras doesn’t want to hear it, trade him too. If you can get Kimbrel and Heyward out of there too you trade them and run. It may sound harsh but their window is shut. Start the rebuild now.
My guy, Bryant has been abysmal since 2016. Why would they want to extend that?
His OPS+ in 2017 was 142
And 132 in 2019
You’re delusional dude. Baez and Rizzo are no-brainers to extend. Why would they back up the bus when they still have plenty of talent. They just need pitching and a lot of it. Traditng Baez would be like trading LeMahieu less than Ian Stewart and Eloy for Jose Hernandez (if he still played and wasn’t 40+ years old)
There’s literally no reason to trade two of your best players just because.
Do you think they’ll trade the 2nd best catcher in baseball too. Just for the sake of it?
I think he has an argument for 3rd best. The two in front of him are very apparent.
The Cubs are not re-signing them next offseason dude. There is a reason for all this in case you didn’t notice. Not just for the heck of it. Its to be proactive and actually have a plan. Contreras is not the 2nd best catcher in baseball but they should hold on to him. I didn’t include him on my post for a reason.
On some of these guys who are almost through arbitration and are pricier rentals it feels they’d be selling really low.
Kris Bryant making $19M off a year where he had a 206/.293/.351 slash line? or Javy Baez getting $10M off a 203/.238/.360 performance. They had their worst years last season and now they’re making their most money. it’s a tough time to have to sell them.
A lot of good players had bad years this year
Kris Bryant is sounding like Todd Frazier, except at about double or kore the cost.
Rizzo/Darvish to Minnesota?
Imagine that Baez brings more than Contreras, but what do the Cubs want for each ?inquiring Phillies interim GM’s want to know…..
Howard, Bohm not on the table …
Contreras is more valuable than Baez, coming off a better season and two years of control, one more than Javy.
I agree but it’s more than just that; I posit that good catchers are not nearly as readily available as SS will be this season and next between FA and trades.
Jason Heyward (eat half his contract) to Marlins for Monte Harrison, Nick Neidhart and a flier.
I didn’t see anyone taking Heyward’s contract off the Cubs hands, much less the small market Marlins, before the Covid financial disaster..Now, with the last season being a huge hit financially to the teams, next season being a total unknown as to what will happen, and looking worse by the day, and the collective bargaining agreement is up before the 2022 season starts, there is no realistic chance at all anyone takes on that very bad contract.
It’s a really tough year to dump salary. Perfect example is no one was willing to take on Brad Hand’s $10M.
With 3Y/$70M+ left on that deal, I don’t know if they can eat enough Heyward money to move him. Even if the Cubs are absorbing half the cost I still don’t think he has trade value.
Stetch123. Delusional Cubs fans think they can unload Heyward’s contract. He didn’t do anything before to justify that contract. Don’t sign him in the first place.
Baez to the Yanks is a no brainer.
That’s a really interesting thought, and that was someone I could see the Yankees chasing in FA.
Nonetheless, several teams need ss and catcher in Contreras. I could see the Yankees going after either or frankly both. They will have to give up a lot to get them and the question is whether it’s worth it. The answer will be determined based on their performance over the next two years.
I see the two players the Cubs keep, if any, as Baez and Rizzo, with Rizzo the face of the organization/fan favorite.
Would the Cubs takeback Sanchez and Andujar?
Why would they want Sanchez? They have Contreras and Caratini. They don’t need another catcher.
Yankees don’t have enough to get Baez for 1. And 2. Glayber Torres is perfectly fine at SS. LeMahieu is probably re-signing. And Urshela is 3rd. They have a few guys at 1st probably. He’s not gonna DH or play catcher. The no Brainer is extending Baez.
Wrek305: I think they do have the pieces to get almost anyone they want. Will they give up those pieces required to get Baez, likely not. Does it make sense for the Cubs? My inclination is, no, they sign Rizzo and Baez to long-term deals.
Will one of those pieces be Sanchez if they do trade with Cubs? No, not unless the Cubs have a flip prearranged and there is a third team involved.
Just my opinion –
If the Cubs had the stomach for a rebuild, they would have traded a few of these guys two years ago. Not happening. Theo plans to go down with the ship.
They had a little more respect for their fans than to expect them to watch players not trying for 4 years. They just won a division title. It’s not like they are struggling as a .500 team or something.
Only trying to win a WS once in 100+ years? You call that respect for the fans? Why are Cubs fans are so gullible?
Quote the basement troll, who’s team just went backwards 11 years by hiring a 76 year old racist drunk.
How is Tony Larussa racist?
Fine then. Even if he is not a racist, explain away the 76 year old drunk part.
First, I am not a Cubs fan. Next, they tried a lot more than once. They might have just succeeded once, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t try. Respect doesn’t mean winning, it means trying. Finally, the White Sox have only won one WS in 100+ years also. And some of them legitimately got thrown out of base for active not trying to win the WS while they were in it. So don’t act like you are all morally superior or a fan of a more successful ball team. You are just a fan of a little brother franchise that has never been and will never even be the most beloved team in its own city.
“So don’t act like you are all morally superior…”
Have you looked in the mirror lately? And right after your LA Russia post to boot. Hypocrite much?
Cubs need to make a push in 2021 and go for it. Can’t believe a large market team like this is looking to downsize. Spending smart, sure. Non-tender Schwarber, probably a good idea.
Here’s a thought: sign Mike Minor, Michael Brantley and Jake Odorizzi and see what happens? I’d be upset if I was a Cub fan hearing all this crap. 2022 looks like a rebuild year so why not see what this team can do with some help?
The Yankees had a short rebuild, trading Chapman and Miller. Then a year later after shuffling the deck they were back to competing. As is right now, the Cubs are not better than the Dodgers, Braves, and Padres, and they might not be better than the Cardinals or Mets.
I would say, as a Cubs fan, make a few well-targeted trades (Bryant, Schwarber, possibly Darvish, as his trade value will never be higher), while trying to win the division in 2021 with Happ, Contreras, Baez, Rizzo, Heyward, Hendricks, Alzolay, and Kimbrel (he was really good out of the bullpen in the last month).
I think they could win the division in 2021, while still positioning themselves to have more minor league prospects for life at 2022 and beyond.
They could still resign any of these guys they traded away a year later (Bryant, Schwarber, Baez, though I’d hate to see Baez in another uniform.
Where’s the pitching David, next season might be tougher than a 60 game sprint, the Cubs need more quality starters than 2020, they squeaked by in what will be a tight division
I agree with your point, as it’s tough to trade good pitchers like Hendricks or Darvish. Darvish makes more and has been more volatile. I agree with the sentiments of baseballallyearclub13 below; however, I would not be as drastic as he proposes.
Yes, it would be tough with their starting pitching if they traded Darvish; however, they could have Hendricks, resign Quintana (1 yr. deal), Archer (1 yr. deal), and Paxton (1 yr. deal). I liked how Ross used Quintana during the weeks he was available, and I could see shuffling Azolay, Mills, Archer, and Quintana back and forth from opener to long-relief, trying to maximize effective innings instead of just pushing for lots of innings. Paxton and Hendricks could start each week, but then they would need to fill another spot.
Even with Darvish and Hendricks, they are not beating the Braves or Dodgers. They are not going to World Series in 2021, and it’s delusional to think otherwise. AND after 2021, they are going to trim back the payroll. This has been telegraphed for years.
If you trade Darvish now you can get impact prospects that contribute at the Major League level throughout this next decade. How would Brandon Marsh, Reid Detmers, and Jack Kochanowicz look in the Cub’s system? Pretty good!!
Just my thoughts!!
Their salary is also like 400mill. Nearly 75mil just from Cole and Stanton.
Highly unlikely baez is traded. That would be horrible. You gotta give him what he wants. 7/180 and in 4 years when Ed Howard is called up. Baez the Veteran is and will be at that point will move to 2nd. Or maybe even 3rd. Nico Hoerner will be at 2nd.
As a Cubs fan, it’s unrealistic to go full bore every season and contending is cyclical when you do a poor job of building your farm to be productive like the Cubs have. I actually want them to do a full tear down and just keep players like Nico and Ian. I would rather compete for titles than compete to try to squeak into the playoffs and not contend.
It would be the difference if the Cubs had cornerstone guys, but nobody is really a centerpiece for a team. A bunch of guys that are average or a little above, let them fill holes on other teams and reset, rather than keep spinning the same wheels on guys that haven’t really pushed the needle against top talent.
Spoken for the 3rd offseason in a row.
Still not as bad as “The Indians will trade one of their starters this year” or “The Indians will trade Lindor this year” which I’ve been hearing for at least 3 or 4 years before Kluber and Clevinger were finally dealt this past year. Lindor is still there, though.
Thank God Bryant, Baez, Schwarber and Rizzo are all in walk years so this will be the last year we hear this repetitive and annoying proclamation from Cubs sources.
I agree, and think the Cubs sound desperate. They don’t seem to know what to do with their players. I also agree with your Indians analogy. I’m just as tired of hearing about their trade rumors as the Cubs rumors. On a personal bright side, at least I am not a fan of either team. That must be tough.
Well said, brother.
Darvish and Hendricks would be lifelines here. I’ve wanted Contreras for years.
Don’t have enough to likely grab any of them.
Darvish and Contreras for adel and detmers. Angels get ace and catcher, cubs get 5 tool phenom, and a future number 2.
Adell is untouchable
After watching him play, Adell might be undesirable as well.
Nobody is ever untouchable
Unless you’re a married man apparently. Zing!
Very interesting. Basically exchanging a future for immediate help.
I think Darvish for Marsh, Detmers, and Kochanowicz is fair (maybe a little more). I say this as a Cubs fan, as I like the idea of Marsh being ready to contribute 2nd half of 2021 and contributing in CF. Detmers could be ready for a rotation spot in 2022, and the scouting reports on Kochanowicz are really good, though he probably not ready until 2024, but he could be a #1 or #2 starter.
As much as I would love to see Darvish and Ohtani in the same rotation, that’s a bit much for Darvish and I think the Cubs are going to want a starter that can step right into their rotation in exchange for Darvish.
The Angels are not an instant contender just by adding Darvish alone and Darvish would push payroll close to $170 million which would hamstring their ability to add enough other pieces to compete for the playoffs.
Good points. I think the Cubs would surely want Canning in return for Darvish, but if I’m the Angels, why do that? With Canning, Bundy, Darvish, and Heaney I actually do think the Angels can be dangerous and win the AL West.
Their offense and the bullpen needs work, but they’d be tough I think.
Ngl It would be cool to see any of these guys in a Rockies uniform
What would it take angels to get darvish alone?
Marsh?
I think it takes Marsh, Detmers, and Kochanowicz. As a Cubs fan, I would do that. Darvish was one of the top 7 to 8 best starters in baseball last year, maybe even top 5. That’s a fair deal!!
Marsh alone doesn’t get it done.
If the Angels don’t want to trade Detmers then Marsh, Kochanowicz, Rodriguez, and Soriano. I would still take that.
I think adell is more likely than marsh. I’m high on marsh, I’d do adell, kochanowicz, Soriano.
From the Angels perspective or Cubs perspective? I would say yes as a Cubs fan for a return of Adell, Kochanowicz, and Soriano. I would do that yesterday!!
I see Bryant being traded to the Marlins
Bryant, possibly cash, to Dodgers for Gray, Edwin Rios, and Edwin Uceta. I can’t see many teams looking to take on Bryant’s salary, Dodgers may take a gamble on a 1 year reclamation project given his pedigree and recoup a pick via the QO.
Schwarber to Rangers (1B) for Steele Walker, Yerry Rodriguez, Heriberto Hernandez, and Demarcus Evans. Schwarber has defensive limitations. Big bat potential Texas could use if they want to compete.
Contreras to Padres for Campusano, Marcano, Ruiz, and Mears. Realmuto cost the Phillies Sanchez (60 something prospect at time of trade), Alfaro, and a 3rd piece. I can see a similar package going for Contreras with the same amount of control left as Realmuto had. Padres clearly are all in.
Baez to Yankees for Clarke Schmidt, Estevan Florial, Miguel Yajure, Canaan Smith. Same type of situation with Bryant. Coming off a down year, huge arb salary, only a few teams thatd take a salary risk for 1 year and look to get a QO pick back at worst.
These trades are terrible, especially the Padres one.
True, “I beg to differ” these won’t happen, this could b a tight year with little money 2 spend
Friedman would laugh so hard he may pass out
Thanks for the feedback. In the future please contribute to the discussion and provide value to the website instead of bringing down commenters who are willing to put their ideas out there and discuss freely. Thank you.
Did you just look up top prospects from every team and just write down 3 or 4 of that teams top 10. Good luck getting half of that total for rentals
I don’t see any team trading a top 100 prospect for Bryant. The Dodgers aren’t going to trade Gray for 1 year of Bryant at $20 million.
I see it happening if the Cubs chip in money to bring his salary down. How much? I think 12 million (little over half his salary). But will the cubs be willing to chip in $12 mill? That I don’t know.
Not sure that they would trade Baez (at all, but) for that Yankee package. They know what they have in Baez even with a down year, and they know the Yankees covet that type of player. I believe Schmidt would be an addition to a centerpiece, not the centerpiece of the trade, with Yajure, Florian and Smith.
My guess is that the Cubs only take that trade if it includes those guys plus some combo of Garcia with either Frazier and/or Andujar and/or Peraza
They are going to take the impactful youth, not just those that are “polpular” to get rid of right now. Peraza, Garcia, Frazier, Schmidt help them rebuild. The other guys like Andujar have MLB-level bats, but little to offer that the Cubs don’t already have.
Although Sanchez pisses me off too, his stats bear out an incredibly different story. Since 2016 he’s been one of the best catchers in the league. 2020 was excruciatingly painful but it was 60 games so who knows.
The Cubs are certainly at a crossroads. They could bring everyone back for one more year in 2021, knowing fully well they cannot resign everyone (Schwarber, Bryant, Rizzo, Baez, and Contreras) to long-term and hope to have any financial flexibility, while at the same time they cannot seriously believe they are currently better than the Dodgers, Braves, or Padres. They clearly are probably the fourth best team in the NL (maybe also behind the Mets and Cardinals??), while at the same time the playoffs are unpredictable, so just getting to the playoffs and getting hot at the right time can lead to a deep playoff run.
I would sell high on Darvish, maybe to the Mets or Angels (both teams I think really want to make a push for contention, especially with Cohen as the new owner in NYC). Darvish to NY Mets for Mauricio, Allan, and Ginn (maybe something else as well). I would prefer a deal to the Angels for Marsh, Detmers, and Kochanowicz. Cubs get prospects to rebuild around for 2022 and beyond and get $22 million off the books, which can be used to get a few one-year for Hand, Paxton, Quintana, and Archer, etc. (maybe different names). That’s probably more than $22 million for those guys, but non-tender Scharber and you’re there.
Trade Bryant to Detroit for Parker Meadows and Matt Boyd, and use the saving to sign Jackie Bradley and Tommy La Stella. Better defense and more contact.-oriented hitters
Keep Happ, Baez, Rizzo, Contreras, and Hendricks to push for a division title in 2021 and guys to build around in the years to follow. Meadows, Marsh, and Davis as a future outfield (with Happ) and Detmers, Marquez, Hendricks, and Alzolay in the rotation for 2022 and beyond looks pretty good.
I hope they are serious about making trades, as doing nothing with the roster and expecting different results is the definition of insanity!!
Detroit won’t trade for Kris Bryant. He’s not the type of player for the type of team the Tigers stated they will try to build.
CF Parker Meadows may never make it to AA. He was the 4th best OF on the Tigers’ A Grand Rapid Whitecaps. Why would the Cubs build around him?
The prospect bio on Meadows is intriguing, but I certainly don’t think he’s as good as Brandon Marsh or Brennan Davis. He wouldn’t be the centerpiece around which the Cubs would build, but he looks like he’d be a solid defensive outfielder with offensive potential.
Why kind of players have the Tigers said they want?
As a Mets fan, no educated Mets fan would say yes to that deal. Allan is basically untouchable, but to also add their top prospect in Mauricio, their 2nd round pick from 2020 in Ginn “and maybe something else as well”. That would be a ridiculous haul for the Cubs. I would be willing to start with Mauricio + another guy, say, Thomas Szapuki. But I can tell you, Matthew Allan, Pete Crowe-Armstrong, Brett Baty, and Franciscio Alvarez are all virtually untouchable. With Lindor on the market and no chance of the Indians re-signing him, a Baez trade looks far less attractive to teams looking for a premier SS. My advice to the Cubs would be to extend him.
Theo Epstein, in his final year as the Cubs President of Baseball Operations , is finally deciding to part with numerous members of his vaunted core. WTF!
Nothing like waiting until most of them are entering their free agent walk years on the heels of subpar 2020 production and beginning their final season as high priced arbitration eligibles, all in an offseason loaded with financial uncertainty due to COVID-19. The Cubs might be selling low on premium talent that should have been locked up to contract extensions much sooner, like their city rivals on the southside have done as they begin their own new era of championship contention.
With Baez and Bryant both having exceptionally bad 2020 seasons at the plate, their values are both depressed. Who has more value and what would it take to get either one?
A top 100 prospect + what?
Baez has a little more value than Bryant because he is paid less. I don’t think either of them get a top 100 prospect at this point.
Yeah it’s definitely Baez who should have more value because he’s going to make like $8-9M less than Bryant, which is an especially big deal this year.
I think to get anything back of value for Bryant they’d have to eat a ton of salary. It’s really high risk for any team to acquire him as a rental with how much he’s going to get paid. It’s one thing to take on almost $19M, but when he also had a WRC+ of 76 last year and a .644 OPS, he looks underwater on that deal.
Bryant is from San Diego and went to USD so the Padres seem a good fit.
There’s a rumor being floated on radio here saying Bryant to Padres for Pham and Mejia.
Pham is non-tender candidate so not giving much credence to the rumor, but Pham is predicted here on MLBTR to make $8 million in arbitration for 2021 so that would bring Bryant’s net cost down to $10 million if true.
I would believe something like Bryant & $8-10 million to SD for C Francisco Mejia, INF Owen Miller, & RHP Jacob Nix could work for both teams
Mejia was a top catching prospect in baseball but just has not been able to put it together since he was traded to the Padres from Cleveland. 2020 was a disaster for him and now with Nola on board. Mejia appears to be a backup at best in San Diego.
Here is more on Miller. sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/padres/story/2020-…
For those that have forgotten him, Nix was on the cusp of the majors before and injury early in 2019 and his drunken arrest during the Arizona Fall League that season. He has now completed a court mandated alcohol counseling and testing program in Arizona and is healthy and throwing freely. He is still a top prospect with mid-90s stuff .
Bryant would play LF full time taking Pham’s place. It would give Bryant an opportunity to rebuild his value while playing for a playoff quality team in his home town.
Come on Koamalu, you know that Owen Miller is a Cleveland Indian now! And Tommy Pham does nothing for the Cubs if they trade Bryant.
Also, Kris Bryant is from Las Vegas. He went to college at USD but he is from Vegas. Grew up playing alongside Bryce Harper and Joey Gallo.
Angels could be a fit for Darvish. Not sure the money would be ideal but would the Cubs take Adams and a flier for Darvish +$15-20 mil?
It would probably take at least Adams, Detmers, and a couple of flyers for Darvish and his entire contract. That plus the Angels can’t be on his no-trade list. And the Cubs could rightfully hold out for more.
ya, that’s a no
There’s no way the Angels are getting Darvish for Jordyn Adams as the headliner. I like his bio and potential, but Detmers or Marsh (and probably both) would need to be included. I could see Detmers, Marsh, and Kochanowicz. That’d be fair to get as close as you can to an available #1 starter in Yu Darvish.
Somebody above on this thread said Adell, Kochanowicz, and Soriano. I would take either of those deals from the Cubs’ perspective.
I think the Angels with Darvish, Heaney, Bundy, and Canning would be the team to beat in the AL West. I think they owe it to Mike Trout to actually put together a winner.
Darvish has 3 years of team control left so Marsh would probably have to be the headliner among the prospects. The Angels might also have to include a MLB ready starter as well. Not all that familiar with the Angels young starters but maybe Barria? Then a couple of low level prospects. Darvish is not going to be a cheap acquisition and no money would be coming with him.
Clarke floral for darvish and the yankees take Haywards horrible contract.
I was thinking about it, and Sam Huff (probably) isn’t the Ranger’s catcher of the future. He’s waay to big to be a catcher. Reminds me of a Mike Napoli type. So the thought for a while has been to move him to 1b (assuming he doesn’t have stone hands). In doing so, that would leave Jose Trevino as our full time catcher which if I’m being honest, isn’t that bad. He’s not terrible by any means, and he’s probably a top 20 catcher in the game. But what about Contreras? He has two years left before free agency, so an extension could be talked out. Trevino backs him up, and Huff is up and playing 1b by the end of the season full time. So keep the Rangers in your head as these rumors start floating out.
I’d love to see an infield in 2022 of Contreras C, Huff 1b, Ha-Seong Kim 2b, IKF SS, Jung 3b. That would also get the Guzman debacle out of the way as we could finally trade him. I seriously like this
Agreed Contreras would be a great addition for the Rangers and I believe Huff will be at 1b by end of 21. I would not mind seeing what it would take for Scwarber. Perhaps a straight-up deal of Scwarber for Leclerc. Would like to see if Yankees would give Andujar for Rodriquez and Toronto take Lynn, Evans and perhaps Solak for Gurriel That would make an OF line up of Taveras in CF, Gallo in RF and Gurriel in LF with Andujar and Calhoun sharing platoon DH duty..
I think that Baez, Bryant, or Schwarber are most likely to move, but a team could sneak in and grab Darvish or Hendriks.
I think a lot of teams will be interested in Happ and/Horner but I don’t see either of the m getting moved by opening day.
I feel like they would be asking a lot for Rizzo if he was available so I don’t think they can pull that trade off before 2021 opening day.
No team wants Heyward or Kimbrel’s contracts, and I think Contreras could be moved but I don’t see that deal happening. He could be a good piece at the deadline
Hoerner and Happ would be shocking if they were moved. Baez, Bryant, Schwarber, Rizzo, Contreras, Darvish, Kimbrel and Heyward would all be pieces moved before I think the Cubs would look to move Happ, Hoerner or Hendricks. Not saying they wouldn’t, but those guys are still younger and have more control, if Cubs are rebuilding you would be looking to get rid of the guys that have been there longest.
Kris Bryant might be one of the most overvalued players right now! It’s insane to think the Cubs would get a haul for Bryant since his numbers are no where close to being to 2016 and he has a problem with staying healthy. Bryant can definitely benefit playing in that Atlanta Braves lineup but it would not make sense for them to give up young pitching for Bryant.
Andujar is right with Bryant for over-valued.
At least Bryant has had more recent success and more success in his career.
The Cubs evidently believe they are only allowed to win one World Series per century.
No one is trading for Bryant at the moment. He looks real bad. Give it a rest.
Before discussing a Darvish trade we would need to understand his no trade clause in his contract. He has been outward in his expression to stay with the Cubs when these rumors have popped up in the past. I believe his full no trade clause becomes limited in 2021, but I am sure that he has protection against certain teams—which obviously limits his market without negotiation.
This Screams Bryant to Braves to me. Basically a 1 year deal like AA has been doing. Of course, depends on what it would take besides money
Right, Cubs would want a pretty solid prospect or two on top of the contract taken off the books. It’s hard to see the braves spending that kind of money without the prospect capital, combing both doesn’t seem likely to me. A good general rule of thumb for me is you don’t trade future talent for 1 year deals unless it’s at the trade deadline and u desperate need it, which is tough to do anyways.
Lot’s of talent on this team. Honestly amazed they haven’t performed better since 2016 WS….it’s hard to stay on top.
The Reds should really break the bank for Bauer because the rest of the Central is going to blow next year.
Darvish and Baez to the Angels!
Brantley LF CF trout RF adell
3B Rendon SS Javier Baez 2B fletcher
1B walsh/marsh 1B RF / C realmuto / max stassi
Bundy yu Darvish Reid detmers ohtani canning heanny
Middleton FelixPena Sandoval
ty buttery Meyers bradhand Hendricks
Lf Upton 1b pujols
what in the world did i just read. you think Angels are printing money?
Since the overriding sentiment is that all the players had bad years and their value is low—the strategy should be quite simple…KEEP THEM ALL—unless you get what you want for them.
First, there is not going to be a significant boost, if any, in their arb numbers (Bryant is not going from 18 to 26-27 like Arenado did).
They have shaved upwards of $40M off the rotation with Lester, Quintana and Chatwood gone. Plug Mills and Alzolay in as two of the three starters.
In this day, there are going to be DOZENS of players available for pillow contracts and I am certain that there are guys LIKE Lester, Quintana, Chatwood (if not them specifically) available for $1-2M (yes one to two) come February.
If Baez, Schwarber, Bryant all have a bad 2021—-they aren’t making huge money anyways. If two of the three bounce back to average good years, the Cubs will content in the Central and you can either trade them at that point or hope to work the way through the playoffs.
For the rest of the budget—there will be a ton of talent out there looking for work.
Washington needs help at third, but, truthfully, Bryant, last year, wasn’t much better than Kieboom, statistically speaking. Slightly better in most categories. Granted, last year was an unusual year, but the salaries and ages are big factors to consider.
So many people on here think the cubs should back the bus up. For what though. They still have a good team. I get it. The Ricketts are cheap and would rather have a partnership with draft kings than use that 100mil to extend Baez and Baez at 15-19 mil a year each. Then maybe a another starter. A couple relief pitchers. I can see trading Schwarber and Bryant but why trade Yu, Hendricks, Heyward, Contreras and Baez for the sake of it.
They don’t need to fire sale at all. They still have a good team. The last 3 maybe 4 weeks of the season they had the best bullpen era in baseball. Hard to believe but it’s true.
The Ricketts family is not cheap! That’s one of those perception things that tend to become reality in some people’s eyes. They used about $1 BILLION of their own money (no state or city tax money) to upgrade Wrigley Field and the surrounding area. (mind you, almost $500 million over early estimated costs). They set forth the pledge that the profits from those ventures would be put back into the ball team.
I would like to think that most “baseball” teams losses this year are relative to each other based on attendance, TV, etc—so all 30 teams are feeling that pain somewhat equally.
What the Cubs experienced that very few others did this past season is that their income “outside” the park has to be massive on a daily basis and when Tom Ricketts called the losses “biblical’ this summer he has to be taking into account the entire loss.
To you and others they may seem “cheap” but we are talking about millions upon millions of dollars that promised to go back into the team just aren’t there.
That coupled with the possibility that the Marquee Network didn’t gain traction or wasn’t given the opportunity to gain this year all feeds into it.
Of course, I would love to see a $350 million payroll with luxury tax being paid into every year—but you have to at least respect that these are business people as much as they are fans.
The Ricketts took a huge financial hit on the hotel they built. Plus no fans in the stands. Recouping their outlay is a prime concern.
If deals do get done, the returns will be real telling about the Cubs financial situation. If they end up taking $0.25 on the dollar for any of these guys, the motivation to move them is purely financial. If it shakes out this way, they won’t be the only team to make poor value decisions based on financial needs (just look at Cleveland and Brad Hand). This offseason could end up being a bloodbath for 8-10 teams+. The teams will stronger financial stability could have once in a lifetime opportunities to build a winner without having to give up much value in return.
If the Cubs can weather the financial storm, they should hold out and only make deals that return appropriate value for the assets they are looking to move. I guess only time will tell. At least players don’t get paid until the season starts so they have plenty of time to figure this out.
Let’s be real here Bryant is gonna make 20million dollars next year, he’s coming off of a terrible season at the plate, and is only under control for one year. He is not going to get any teams top 5 prospects. If he were to be traded to the braves he might fetch Tucker Davidson, Patrick weigel and CJ Alexander at most.
Wonder if the Bluejays could somehow get in on this. Im thinking what would it take to get YU to Toronto? Easily Jordan Groshans, with Thomas Hatch, and more.
Also maybe the jays take on another player with a big contract as well if the Cubs are looking to trade a player who’s harder to sell.