The Cubs have agreed to a deal with right-hander Shelby Miller, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports (via Twitter). The non-guaranteed contract will pay Miller $875K if he makes Chicago’s big league roster, with another $600K available in bonus money. The signing will be official when Miller passes a physical.
Miller signed a minor league deal with the Brewers last winter but didn’t see any action, as he opted out of the 2020 season in August. Since the start of the 2017 season, Miller has tossed only 82 big league innings, thanks in large part to a Tommy John procedure that sidelined him for much of 2017 and 2018.
Still only 30 years old, Miller will be joining his sixth different organization in a pro career that has seen major highs and lows. Drafted 19th overall by the Cardinals in 2009, Miller posted very strong numbers over his first three MLB seasons — with St. Louis in 2013-14 and with Atlanta in 2015, after Miller was swapped to the Braves as part of a noteworthy trade that saw Jason Heyward go to the Cards. Unfortunately for Miller, he was part of another blockbuster trade a year later, going to the Diamondbacks and then never again regaining his early-career form.
There isn’t much risk for the Cubs in adding Miller as a reclamation project, as Miller could be one of a few veterans brought into camp on low-cost or non-guaranteed contracts as Chicago looks for veteran rotation depth. Beyond Kyle Hendricks and Zach Davies, the Cubs’ other rotation candidates don’t have much experience — projected third and fourth starters Adbert Alzolay and Alec Mills, and then a plethora of young arms competing for a look as the fifth starter.
Come on cubs. This is getting ridiculous
Ever heard of depth? Every team does it
No, I’ve never heard of depth. What a stupid comment. The point is the cubs haven’t spent a dime this offseason and are currently banking on these remarkable depth plays to man a shell of a rotation. They have shed 60-70 million dollars and haven’t spent a nickel and don’t appear like they are going to either. Not sure they have signed one guaranteed contract with 30 days until spring training.
Honestly yours are the stupid comments, as are any that get mad at non guaranteed deals. The Cubs are clearly retooling or rebuilding and this is the kind of deal that should be done
What teams in the division have spent money? Uncertainty over fan revenue this year because of pandemic, 800 mil spent on Wrigley Field, new network that had to cost many millions to get up and running.
Cubs retooling: as in rearranging the tools on the Titanic
Depth? That implies talent to begin with. They are turning into a AAAA team for no good reason.
he’ll be playing for the AAA team to start. that’s depth.
Depth? He’s your #3 starter? Maybe becomes #2 if they move Hendricks or Davies? It’s a great time to be a Cub fan!
Red Sox fans went through this in 2020 and it looks like it is continuing in 2021
They’re not moving Hendricks. After trading Yu. He’s now the cubs ace.
Yeah we got Perez for 5x more
If Shelby Miller is your #2?.. hold on, I dropped my phone laughing
Agree, cubs suck what are they doing lmao
Except he’s probably already demanded a trade since he probably wants a chance to win. Hell Davies probably has as well. Why stick around for the dumpster fire? They’re trying to trade Bryant and Contreras. Baez will be next
And there’s nothing to lose. If you give him a couple of chances and he sucks then don’t pitch him it’s only 800k
I am not a Cub’s fan but I’m thinking that if the Cubs had DONE ANYTHING BUT SUBSTRACT from their roster the poster might not mind this signing
Every team does it and it’s the freaking Cubs so why would I defend them of all people if it’s a bad signing. Every team makes these deals
Seems like 800k is no longer pocket change for the Cubs
Good depth signing.
Great low risk, high ceiling acquisition.
I absolutely love this signing.
Another under-the-radar move by Theo.
I’ll take things every new Cubs fan said in 2017 for $600 Ken
^^^^^THIS
oh shocker, comment said by a Sox fan seconded by another. i prefer not to hate on whole fan bases but you guys havent made it easy.
I’m a fan of both teams who often gets tired of the overboard trolling from either side but this comment gets a big thumbs up for originality and making me laugh out loud. Well done chitown311!
He’s used that same joke on every cubs signing for the last two years.
Hey Thanks Aaron! Always love your insight and comments. Thinking of changing my handle to chitownTRUTH311. Dunno yet
Still funny. Never gets old.
At least they know how to type like adults.
Look, a fan of both teams means a fan of no teams. Have some gumption, get off the fence. Make a decision. Don’t be wishy washy. Make a choice. Come on now. I’m waiting…
You can easily e a fan of two teams. They are after all in two different leagues.
Cubs fan have been acting like the cubs team are great!! Cubs are a joke right now!! Nothing but bad contracts and overrated players with not much in the minors!!! Go White Sox !!! Cubs suck
Cubs fans make it even easier to hate them
Your brilliant
It’s one thing if you make this move and have 6-7 solid starters like the cubs have had the last 6 years. It’s no longer considered a depth signing when this donkey might legitimately be your 5th starter.
Im12- I actually spit my drink out reading “this donkey might legitimately be your fifth starter”
Ummmm–Theo is NO LONGER with the Cubs !!
He was in 2017. I’ll take ‘Reading is hard’ for $100 Alex….
Alex is dead, homie.
So are the Cubs chances!
Randy red sox…. really?? Lol. come on Sally, come on
Touché
@iml12 Sorry. It’s definitely going to be a rough offseason for Cubbies fans. The good news is, the NL Central is still very winnable.
People can disagree with me all they want but I felt that like the Cubs should have been making these types of moves for years. Sign a reclamation project to pitch as their fifth starter and a high upside guy like Miller is perfect. If he doesn’t workout you can simply DFA him and make a trade if need be if he does work out, great!
Granted, I wanted the Cubs to do this when they were paying 10-15 million on their fifth starter which is not sustainable. If you look as to why the Cubs really could never extend their core players, it was because we were paying Cole Hamels 18 million, Jon Lester 22 million, Yu Darvish 22 million, Jose Quintana 10.5 million, Tyler Chatwood 12.5 and Hendricks 14.
Ok Miller is only 30 years old. He is now far enough out from Tommy John surgery. Not to mention he has been working with a bunch of coaches that have turned some careers around like Burnes, Jeffress, Lyons, Pomeranz, Miley, Jackson careers around.I think he will do just fine.
I like the signing but like I said, I’ve always wanted the Cubs to sign a couple guys just like this to battle for the fifth starter/swing man role.
I personally would like to see Miller/Azolay/Mills battle for the fifth starter slot and add one more middle of the rotation starter…
You rang?
Probably need to update your name since Epstein is no longer associated with the Cubs.
Missed the whole joke here. On another note, I’m humbled that I have created a meme here
I don’t think he missed the joke…it’s just not funny anymore because Theo is gone. If he had made a name about Junk collecting Jed, or something of the sort, it’d be another story.
Started a social movement did you
Dumpster divin’!!!
Remember they let Quintana go and he has more wins above 509 in last 3 years than Hendricks…
Why get rid of Quintana.?
Eats innings
6 games above 500 last 3 years
Good solid sign. You give guys like this many chances to comeback and if they do, this contract will be a major value for them. I wish him well!
This is a clown move. Chicago spending like the pirates
The Chicago Brewers are going to go into the season with an Erwin/Martini platoon in left, this is beyond ridiculous.
An Erwin Martini platoon is extraordinary in that it shakes and stirs
A depth signing of a guy who once showed potential. How is that a bad thing?
Dude couldn’t even crack a slot on the Brewers for crying out loud. Now that’s saying something. That’s why it’s a bad thing. The Brewers and Pirates make these signings because they kinda have to catch lightning in a bottle. That should not be the case for the Cubs. Have to admit, even this Brewers fan feels bad for the Cubbies fans…
Giving up lots and lots and lots of runs is considered a bad thing in some precincts
On its face, it’s a depth signing and you’re right, those are not really bad deals. But when you take into account the rest of the moves the Cubs have made this offseason, a move like this is one of the very, very few they’ve made to improve the team, and it’s a lottery ticket with very remote odds. Cubs fans have a right to be mad.
Ricketts family has probably tripled or quadrupled their investment in buying the Cubs just 11 years ago, so they should not be crying poor or stripping the team down like this. If they don’t want to improve the team or even do a proper re-build (this offseason’s mantra seems to just be ‘shed salary’), they could sell the team to someone who *would*, and they’d have no shortage of buyers.
Hawkin’ Hoyer Hauls in another Herring
nice
Doesn’t hurt. Non guaranteed contract. Feels like it would have been a move the Giants would have made.
Why bother? Guy’s been washed up for half a decade.
I hope the Cubs carefully ran their luxury tax numbers before making this move.
That trade will haunt Dave Stewart forever.
I dunno, Ender fell off of a cliff after a few good years while Dansby Swanson has yet to find that next gear. The Braves received value for the deal for a little while but it’s looking less and less like a Ryne Sandberg type trade with each passing year.
At the time, he could have gotten way more than Miller for the package he gave up. So even if the players didn’t work out (I’d argue they did) it was still a bad trade
really if it ends up well they can trade him to the DBacks
Junk jugglin’ Jed!
Tom*
Piss poor. I hope the fans empty the seats in 2021. This team has turned into a disgrace
I hope they sell the team! To someone who wants to spend even less money on players. Give you people something to really complain about.
See they’re trying! Lol just kidding!
This is a good depth signing yes. But Cubs fans and baseball fans are crapping on this deal because a depth signing like this is good when you’ve made other moves to shore up your rotation, OF, and bullpen. The Cubs traded away their best starter/2nd best pitcher in the NL, a solid catcher, and released their slugging LF for nothing. They have not extended any of the 2016 core outside of Kyle Hendricks and have lots of money coming off the books both this year and next.
For anyone commenting on depth, depth is good when you have stuff in front of it. This is not depth, this is cheap. Plain and simple. And being a White Sox fan, I genuinely feel bad for Cubs fans and the city.
Nailed it. Some homers in here trying to rationalize this garbage signing. Miller has been finished. This guy wouldn’t be a #5 on the 1995 Cubs.
They need to sign Matt Harvey to complete this rotation.
Hendricks
Mills
Harvey
Miller
Bartolo
At one time… that could’ve been a great rotation… But it’s 2021. Might as well sign Harvey & Colon, they’ve already lost all credibility.
Wasn’t Harvey the imaginary rabbit of Jimmy Stewart’s nightmares? The Cubs are matching with imaginary pitchers.
When will mlb give up on this guy ..?
Don’t worry Cubs fans, you can hang out with us Red Sox fans. We too have to watch the best roster in our lifetimes get torn apart player by player just to watch them sign afterthoughts and has-beens to play meaningful innings.
This bum is still around?
Another blast from the past. Shelby Miller hasn’t done much since 2015 when this last group of current Cubs were just beginning their window of competing. That same window now appears to be closing fast if not shutting down completely.
I get why Cubs’ fans are PO’d as Chicago appears to be giving up on competing for another WS with the current core of players it has. But it seems a little excessive to get angry over signing a guy to a non-guaranteed minor league deal. This move is generating way more hate than it warrants. I understand the hate is directed more at the FO than at Shelby Miller, but depth moves like this get made all the time during the offseason. Sometimes they pan out, but usually you’ll forget it happened a month into the season.
I’d be more open to the idea of this as a depth signing if the cubs a signed one major league contract this offseason. They lost Lester, Quintana, chatwood, schwarber(for no reason), caratini, Darvish, kipnis, jeffress, tepera and I am sure I a missing others. They added Davies and have done nothing but sign Shelby Millers. Any impact prospects are probably not coming until the end of 2021. This is being cheap and waving the white flag in the crappiest division in baseball for really no reason other than save a couple bucks.
yep… it is EXACTLY what it looks like. There’s no reason to cover for it. NOW… we know why Theo bailed.
All signs point to you being right, waiving the white flag, but the off-season is not over yet.
I’m still holding out hope that they sign a TJ Walker and a veteran bat or two. The roster is not bad, def. weaker after letting Darvish go but I do think if they sign a high up-side starter or even a third starter this rotation won’t look that bad.
When the Cubs non-tendered Kyle Schwarber I was actually pretty excited. I knew the Cubs had their back up against the wall financially and thought cutting KS 7-9 million off the roster would allow them to re-invest in a better fit. Spend it on an outfielder that isn’t completely lost against left handed pitching, add a high contact guy, so on.
I was ok with the Darvish trade as well, not a fan of losing Caratini in the deal but Darvish for four very high up-side prospect and the removal of his contract over the next three years? Heck yeah! People want to bash the Darvish trade because we didn’t get a “top 100 prospect” on one hand and praise the Cubs international signing of Christian Hernandez on the other… They got four freaking Christian Hernandez’s in the Darvish trade.
If the Cubs punt this next season, it is what it is, but I do like how they are gearing up the farm system.
I actually get the Darvish trade. They were trying to get as many quality pieces as they could. Plus I ultimately think Yu falls back down to Earth. But they still have to replace Kyle. Yes… he had a down 2020, but from 19 back, he was a core HR/RBI guy in the middle of that order. That production has to be replaced. I certainly don’t know of anyone in the minors that’s gonna replace Schwarbs. Not right now. Unless they’re planning on keeping KB, putting him in LF and giving Bote a chance to play full-time @ 3B.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Kris Bryant could be manning an outfield corner on the southside of Chicago come 2022 and beyond. Bryant just turned 29 on January 4th. It’s not as if KB can’t regain his previous form, one that looked like a sure fire HOF candidate after his first 3 years on the northside of town. He played with a bad shoulder and back in 2018 but bounced back nicely in 2019 before sucking at the dish like virtually every other Cub during last year’s two month season. Moving off of 3B and finishing his career on the grass just might be what the doctor ordered for Bryant to resume his 130 OPS+ career for another decade.
Personally, I don’t care which cap Bryant wears in Cooperstown so long as it says Chicago on it. Same goes for World Series rings, hopefully enough to fill a whole hand worth of fingers.
A guy like Brantley fits this line up a whole lot better than Schwarber (although I doubt the Cubs go that direction).
I’ve said all off season I would like the Cubs to move Bryant to LF and sign Wong to play second base. I think I would like LaStella at third despite his defense just to add that contact to the line up.
I like Nico but he needs to go back to the minors, get some at bats at the AAA level and prove his bat is big league ready. Based on what I have seen, neither his eye nor his bat is.
Frankly, I’m disappointed in the Cubs brass having Hoerner start at the big league level last season. When he was called up in 2019 it was out of necessity, not because Hoerner “earned it” and he didn’t “earn” a starting position in 2020. All people remember was his first 10 games but he fell off a freaking cliff after… in 2020 it was more of the same, great first 7 games, then nose dive. He has holes in his game that need to be correct at the minor league level.
The Cubs have dropped the ball consistently since their 2016 championship.
The front office failed to lock up most of their talented young group of hitters to contract extensions, Anthony Rizzo an early exception, and now find all of them including the face of their franchise on the precipice of free agency except for Kyle Schwarber who they already pushed off the cliff with their December non-tender, making him one even sooner until he signed with the Nationals earlier this month.
Theo Epstein failed to veer toward pitching after successfully drafting and developing hitters through an extended rebuild that culminated in a 2016 World Series title that ended a 108 year drought. The Cubs had the young position core to potentially become a dynasty but failed to properly address their pitching aside from trades and throwing excessive dollars at free agents. All that resulted in the stripping of a formidable farm system that still had elite hitting prospects like Gleyber Torres and Eloy Jimenez and potentially another in SP Dylan Cease. The money that went toward FA pitchers might have been better utilized in extending their positional core but there was a dearth of arms in the pipeline.
Theo did manage to hire a proven manager who took them to the promised land but Joe Maddon ultimately managed to feed an ego that was intent on over-managing and not accepting blame. Instead of looking in the mirror, the ‘genius’ discarded hitting coaches like they were his underwear which helped contribute to the gradual regression of so many talented young bats. He also orchestrated excessive turnover with the pitching coaches which was especially notable in the loss of Chris Bosio who was instrumental in the development of bullpen arms like Hector Rondon, Pedro Strop and Carl Edward’s Jr. and SP Kyle Hendricks, to say nothing of the career resurrection of Jake Arrieta who transitioned from journeyman to Cy Young Award winner.
Theo finally parted ways with Maddon a year too late and Tom Ricketts did the same with Epstein this offseason. Jed Hoyer, a contributor to all this, now has the unenviable task of cleaning up the mess left by the other three. Hopefully he will learn a thing or two from the mistakes of his mentor along the way.
2017 they had a legitimate chance. Their biggest mistake was not resigning Chapman and spending big money and trade capital to try to find that production. 2018,2019 and 2020 they stopped spending and didn’t tweak the roster. Now they apparently have to get the payroll below the rays.
Theo didn’t re-sign Aroldis Chapman, partly because the lefty closer wanted to return to the Yankees. Epstein also took flack from some Cubs fans for his acquisition to begin with as a previously suspended pitcher due to a domestic issue, so there was that as well.
What Theo did was to replace Chapman with closer Wade Davis who was light-out as the Cubs closer in 2017. Of course, that trade with the Royals cost the Cubs additional young talent in Jorge Soler, that on the heels of the Chapman deal that saw them part with Gleyber Torres and others. To make matters worse, the Cubs were having SP issues later that summer which prompted Epstein to deal Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease and others to the cross-town White Sox for Jose Quintana.
Bottom line: All this and more was a result of Theo not prioritizing the drafting and development of pitchers throughout his tenure with the Cubs. It wound up biting him in the rear and has left the Cubs with their current mess, one that is being compounded by the sudden thriftiness of an ownership that has been printing money since buying the team back in 2009 even after accounting for the money they spent ‘fixing-up’ Wrigley Field and the surrounding neighborhood.
I’m so sick of hearing “Theo failed to develop pitching” Out of the most successful franchises recently…
How many elite level pitchers did the Astros develop?
How many elite level pitchers have the Red Sox developed?
How many elite level hitters have the Cardinals developed?
Chris Bosio? Really? Where is Chris Bosio now? and why is he there? Need a history lesson as to why the Cubs got rid of Bosio and why the Tigers did as well?
Theo left a huge mess in Chicago? Winning percentage above .500 6 of 6 years… 5 playoff appearances, three NLCS trips, 1 World Series title..
Epstein was coming into the last season returning the majority of the same roster that won the Central last year and were 50+ million below the luxury tax threshold. Not to mention the Cubs have a better than advertised farm system.
What left the Cubs in a mess was Covid 19 and the Wrigley renovation bill being due. But I guess that was Theo’s fault.
Wow, another Cubs fan in denial. Are you related to Theo or Tom?
As for Chris Bosio, he and Joe Maddon weren’t on the same page, at least until things starting going south after the Cubs 2016 championship season and blame needed to be passed around. This happens sometimes in professional sports with the two top guys on a staff, especially when strong egos are involved and there’s a dispute over who gets the credit for success and the blame when things go sideways. In these instances the bigger of the bosses usually wins out. It happened after the Bears 1985 Super Bowl victory with head coach Mike Ditka and defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan. It happened again with ‘Genius Joe” and Bosio Bosio following the 2017 season, one year after the Cubs championship season. Bosio got fired in Detroit for a different reason, insensitive comments. If Bosio was ‘insensitive’ in Chicago, how did he manage to keep his pitching coach job for 6 seasons and under 4 different managers? As it turns out that Maddon wasn’t on the same page with some subsequent pitching coaches either.
Maddon’s relationship with the hitting coaches was even worse with a new one coming and going annually during his last 3 seasons. All told, Maddon managed the Cubs for 5 seasons and had 4 hitting coaches working under him. Of course, it wasn’t just results that cost all of these coaches their jobs. It was the blame game and Maddon wasn’t taking it. One manager and all this coaching turnover. Who was the common denominator in all this? Joe and also his boss Theo!
When it came to hitting coaches, Epstein was even worse than Maddon with 10 hitting instructors coming and going since 2012 during his regime (nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/looking-back-cubs-10-hi…)
That isn’t true, the Cubs let go of Bosio because he had a toxic personality and it got worse (as will happen) the more comfortable he got in Chicago.
Outside of spouting off at the mouth about Eric Thames, which infuriated the Cubs brass, he butted heads with Maddon, he got in the face of Cubs pitchers, Lester and him had a public altercation, he had a bunch red flags which obviously led to him making racist comments while a member of the Tigers coaching staff (CJ Edwards insinuated he also make insensitive to him).
Regardless there’s no denying that the Cubs saw their greatest tightness under that Coaching regime that included Maddon, Dave Martinez, Hinske, Bosio, Doug Dacenzo, Henry Blanco, Manny, etc. There was something there in that mixture. It was never the same after.
I still say the Cubs single worst decision that doomed them was not re-signing Chapman. Signing Chappy would’ve solved their closer problem indefintely. Even if they had to overpay. They keep Soler who’s bat blooms with them. J-Hey gets transferred to CF, Morrow is never signed (extra cash), Kimbrel is never signed (extra cash). So many dominos fall and change. The Quintana trade was a waste as well. Would’ve been a much different 2017-2020.
Aaron, in their first five drafts (2012-2016), the Cubs chose 38 pitchers versus 12 position players in their first 10 picks. So, they were drafting pitchers. They were just bad at picking and possibly had some bad luck. Underwood, Norwood, and Tyson Miller are on the 40 man roster from those earlier drafts. Alzolay, an international signing, might pan out.
If you get one player each draft contributing average play in MLB, that’s probably par for the course and they did that 2012-2015 (Almora, Bryant, Kyle, Happ). In 2016, they gave up their first two picks to sign Heyward and Lackey.
Theo didn’t prioritize pitching at the very top of the draft. He opted for position players with plus hit tools. Immediately before Epstein took over the reigns, Jim Hendry selected Javier Baez with the Cubs #1 pick. Then Theo had the run you mentioned from 2012-2105.
After not having a 2016 #1 pick, Theo drafted LHP Brendon Little (#27) and RHP Alex Lange (#30) in the latter part of the first round in the 2017 Draft. Two years later Lange was packaged in a deadline trade for rental slugging RF Nicholas Castellanos. Lange was recently added to the Tigers 40-man roster while Castellanos signed a FA contract with the division rival Reds following his two months with the Cubs in 2019. Meanwhile, Little was eligible for the 2020 MLB Rule 5 Draft but wasn’t protected by the Cubs with a promotion to their 40-man roster. Apparently no other team thought enough of him either to bother selecting him so he remains in the Cubs system as we post.
With his last three #1 picks before leaving the Cubs, Theo took SS Nico Hoerner (2018), RHP Ryan Jensen (2019) and SS Ed Howard (2020).
he hurt himself signing the contract
Miller is the Brandon Morrow of Starters. ’nuff said.
Bwahahahahahaha… This is so bad it’s good now.
I wonder if ownership had a meeting on who could sign the most has-beens this year. The bigger the payroll the more points for signing and starting them. Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, are all playing with determination! Yankees forgot for a few days though.
Good lord
Complete waste of time, resources & money. I’d rather them signed Big Sexy than Shelby. One of the richest teams in baseball, spending like they’re the Bucs. #SellTheTeamTrickyRicketts
Thank you White Sox for being a bright spot in this upcoming sports year in Chicago. I don’t care who you root for but Hawks Cubs and Bears are useless next year. Sox are on the rise. Let’s embrace that.
You’re not wrong. I’d rather watch a good team with Steve Stone next year than to see a team I love get ripped to shreds for no reason. They made the playoffs the last 5 of 6 seasons, and suddenly it’s 1995-1997 around here again. WTFH?!?
Sorry to see good Northside fans like Curveball get treated like this by Ricketts. First price gouging and the Marquee network now a premature teardown. Think its why Len Kasper gave up a plum job for Sox radio.
Lots of truths being told here
They definitely do deserve better, I know I like to joke a lot (the whole dumpster divin’ Theo is one of my favorite things on this site that I’ve seen on here for years @chitown311.) But I don’t have anything against the Cubs. It’s just sad to see a front office and a market as big as the Cubs do dirty by their fans after the ex general manager running his mouth about how they “print their own money” and stuff like that. I remember a lot of cubs fans use to talk down on the white sox though so I can’t really blame Sox fans for having a little fun at their expense. Still, I don’t wish this on any fan base.
The Hawks are useless every year unfortunately for me.
The jokes keep writing themselves. This guy is beyond useless, at this point I’d hide all transactions from the media to keep from being further humiliated.
how is miller still only 30? wasn’t he still only 29 last year? in a few months he’ll still be 31.
I think we need an entire post with a pole grading the recent Cubs’ moves
*poll; but a post with a pole would be interesting too
it’s a sliding scale
I thought you were going with letting the loquacious matron of a pierogi stand on Milwaukee ave hold court. Which would also be entertaining.
Or the somewhat redundant Dick Pole
At least Theo was always upfront, honest and transparent as to what they were intending to do and why. Now, it didn’t always turn out as well as Cub fans hoped – except for one glorious season when even a goat milked tears of joy – but you knew where they stood.
Fast forward to 2020 and Jed and Tom were so quick to blurt out that the Cubs were not tearing this thing down…not rebuilding…just “retooling” a bit and were still trying to contend in 2021. Well, then, if that were true, you’d try and get back some MLB-ready talent in return for a guy like Darvish. I mean, if you told me Jake Cronenworth was coming to the Cubs as part of that deal, then yeah I can understand the move. But 4 teenagers and another soft-tossing righty to go with the other soft-tossing righties on the staff are not what you do when you’re trying to compete. At least in this decade, anyway.
I don’t drink but this is a good jingle:
When it’s time to relax, one beer stands clear (Beer After Beer), if you’ve got the time, we’ve got the beer…Miller Beer
Barney Miller is my all-time favorite TV show.
My grandma’s maiden name was Miller. She was a Cub fan in downstate Illinois. Watched the Cubs faithfully on the WGN Superstation. Died in 2010 at the age of 95. After the World Series win, Mom made a six hour round trip to her grave in order to leave some flowers with an attached Cubs balloon.
Those are some good things with the name Miller in it. Shelby isn’t one of them.
The Cubs can save themselves $875,000 and throw Tyson Miller out there for 30 starts and probably get the same result.
kyleschwarbwemom obviously by now you know I’m a Sox fan, but let me tell you I LOVE these stories of what die hards did when the Cubs won in ‘16. Lots of my friends up north had similar stories of family members that never got to see the Cubs win it after following them for years and years. Great story and god bless your grandma!
The Cubs are a complete joke again. Man, that was quick.
You guys are saying this bad. But if he can stay healthy (I think he can), he can be very effective. He still throws high 90s. Don’t give up on him yet. He can totally rebound now that he is fully recovered and healthy.
Stop… I heard all of these same statements lurking here when they kept resigning Morrow, over and over. Anybody remember Pedro Strop? Didn’t he say he was shocked the Cubs wouldn’t spend an extra $250k (??) to match the Reds offer. To keep a guy that was a large part of that NLCS run from 15-17 and won a ring with them. I get Ricketts waxing smart and making hard decisions — this is in the mound with Strop. Dumb decisions. Anybody got Tim Lincecum’s number?
How did Strop work out for the Reds?
Good point. But it’s principle. Strop was getting at, the Cubs had never done better financially, but they were wanting all of them to take paycuts. The only exception was Arrieta. They did offer Jake, Yu’s deal, and he turned it down. They then offered it to Yu… who accepted. Jake overplayed his hand.
Cheap deal with the hopes he can find some of that spark he once had. Still young, very well could. Had that amazing year with the braves which we couldn’t get him the wins he deserved and has lost it ever since.
The only people who should be giving this move a standing ovation are the other teams in the NL Central. Even that Pirates lineup is licking its chops.
Say hello to your new ace Cubs fans. Bc let’s be real, odds are high that Hendricks and Davies have already demanded to be traded to a team that will try and be competitive
Meet the new Cubs. Same as the old Cubs. I’d be a little shocked if Shelby Miller makes the major league squad, much less becomes a contributor. This probably sounds stupid but I may have rather seen the Cubs spend the same money on Matt Harvey. Or even a little more for another retread such as Gio Gonzalez who may be gotten for $1.5-1.7M
Cubs please note this ……I am an old guy but I will work for free. Great publicity! Fits in with your budget.
So many people giving up already. Cubs, at the moment, still have one of the best lineups in the division. Yes, need to add a couple of pitchers. They are rebuilding. Many teams do the same thing. See Red Sox, Indians, among others. Theo did the same thing his first few years. Relax.
Too bad the teams best offensive players all sucked last season
The problem with that is they non-tendered Schwarber and they’re banking on all of their guys rebounding. They’re also banking on J-Hey repeating his “career year” which still wasn’t all that impressive considering the $$$ he’s being payed. Maybe it happens… Maybe. But you’d have to be banking on bounce backs/injury-free seasons from Bryzzo, and career years from Happ & WilCon.
He’s obviously had his physical issues but the mental is what’s holding him back.
I’d have to say you are absolutely wrong. He was healthy in STL and ATL and was very successful. Since then has struggled to stay healthy and sucked since then
You can say I’m wrong but I disagree. Obviously injury issues are there but he fell apart in AZ prior to the injuries.
Ok depth signing, But if the Cubs plan to rely on him to fill a rotation spot its gonna be a long season. But I would be surprised if they dont bring another legitimate mlb starter. Relying on mills and alzolay to be your 3-4 with whoever they pick up off the scrap heap to fill #5 is a terrible plan.
The cubs 3-7 right now probably don’t have 100 mlb innings combined. It will be an absolute disaster. No reason they can’t go sign 2 guys with upside to 1 year deals. Nobody is saying they should sign 100 million dollar contracts but spend some money and compete. The have the rare opportunity to retool/rebuild and be competitive.
Na. They have been getting starts out of Mills for over a year now. He is a decent 5 on a non contender. Alozay added a 2 seem and tightened up his slider and it has become a weapon.
There is no reason to hold them back right now.
In 3 years mills has 18, 36 and 62 innings and he’s by far the most mlb experience out of any of their 3-7 options.
Jed is doing the right thing but he is aiming low.
What he should be looking at are pitchers that are reastablishing value. Miller has been bad ever sense he went to Azl.
My top target would have been Folty. He fell of a year ago but had solid value and stuff wise higher quality. A 1 year fix and trade he is the ideal guy to Target. 29 now. Can use this opertunity to build up his next market
The Cubs are just sitting on Marquez right now. He is still learning and should be close to a slot in Aug. Now he has TOR potential and I believe that Jed is planning to start contending after he estaishes himself.
Folty is a headcase, that has had numerous clubhouse issues, not to mention the Yips which can take years to iron out. Some never recover. Folty is gonna have to find himself on a team with no pressure at all. Like KC or Seattle.
In all reality, the Cubs’ organization lost a lot of money in 2020 due to this pandemic. Ricketts bought up everything in that area to banking on the tv deal had major effects in his pocket book with no fans being able to go to the games in Wrigley and going to all of the establishments in the area while the network was free in 2020. Most importantly Theo Epstein spent all of the money on the MLB team while he did not focus on building up the farm system in the last three seasons.
Bad logic. Owners will turn profit just about every year. What happens in the stadium is about 40% of their total revenue. Joe sold America Trade and is most likely not funding the team right now so Tom had to retie the purse strings back.
Most likely there will be fans in the stadiums this year. There will be seat limits for sure but that cuts into that 40%.
It’s not a bad logic at all! There are a lot of facts behind my statement. I was in the Wrigleyville area for the first time at the end of 2019 since Ricketts bought the team. Ricketts put a lot of his money into the area and he lost a lot of money in 2020 due to the lack of fans not being able to be in the area.
At least he is 10 million cheaper than kluber for Yankees and will be just as good/bad
Should have targeted Folty instead.
Why can’t they still do that?
Unlikely because I see this as a low investment for a vet starter. If he gets Folty it would put Mills and Alozay in a battle for a rotation spot.
So seeing Miller signed really takes that bridge role to Marquez. He has been bad for 5 years now. After 5 years you are what you are and as a flip it was a poor investment choice.
Cubs fan here. I think if these moves were made without the context of an owner that is seemingly out-of-touch with the general populace, making outlandish comments such as, “a billion dollars isn’t what it used to be, times are tough right now,” then I’d be okay with these moves.
However, arm the ammunition against an owner that is seemingly out of touch with the reality of a pandemic. I’m all for it. Anything that makes this man look like a cheapskate is fair game in my book.
It’s the Cubs fan base that is out of touch and Tom Ricketts comments were taken out of context.
To understand the “a billion dollars isn’t what it used to be” comment, you have to understand that The Cubs spent a billion dollars on the Wrigley renovations. A project that came in over 500 million dollars above budget. Does that put some context into the comment?
Times are tough given the fact Wrigley renovations was finished in 2020 and the bill was due after the 2020 season…. again, 500 million dollars over budget.
Furthermore, that dumpster of a stadium to the south was financed 100% by the city of the Chicago and between the Cell and Soldier field, the city of Chicago has recently coughed up over $400 million in upkeep and renovations. The City of Chicago paid not one red cent to help cover Wrigley renovations…. not only did they not help, they fought the Cubs tooth and nail for everything they did which ended up forcing the Cubs to pay the city 5 million dollars spread across 10 years known as the “good neighbor” tax.
It’s all about perspective and apparently the majority of Cubs fans do not have it. They think they “print money” but completely disregard all the debt and financial hardship the Cubs actually face.
True. But you also know “that’s business”, in a JR Ewing-sense. The WSox couldn’t turn a profit if they were selling ass & grass at the door (that happens outside the gate). Jerry has threatened to move the team everytime he needs Billionaire-Welfare. They should’ve called his bluff. They didn’t. The Cubs are railroaded because THEY ARE PROFITABLE. That’s why the city breaks it off in them. It’s not right, and I do respect Ricketts for trying to do it without public dollars… But I still think he’s holding back. This is still a business. Fans don’t care about that. They care about there team — winning.
Reinsforf and Illinois’ governor at the time, Thompson, were buddies to get that deal for the White Sox to get that deal done for the new stadium. Honestly, calling it dumpster is a joke. A lot of Cubs’ fans I know of say they love going to Sox’s games. The only difference between going to Wrigley and going to the Sox games on the south side is that are not a lot of bars in the area like In Wrigleyville. If there were no bars by Wrigley Field there would be no reasons to go to Cubs games. People partied before and after Cubs’ games.