The Brewers placed outfield Tyrone Taylor on the 10-day injured list with an oblique injury. They recalled Eric Yardley to fill his roster spot, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (via Twitter). Taylor is expected to be out for 3-4 weeks, per MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (via Twitter). Taylor has been a key contributor for Milwaukee, piling up 1.2 rWAR as a fill-in outfielder. The 31-year-old Yardley has struggled to the tune of a 6.75 ERA over 18 2/3 innings this year, but he was gold for the Brewers in 2020. That season, he tossed 23 1/3 innings with a 1.54 ERA, though still with just a 4.09 FIP. Elsewhere in the NL Central…
- Cubs shortstop Nico Hoerner will begin a rehab assignment in South Bend tomorrow. He is likely to move up to Triple-A when the Iowa Cubs return home on Tuesday, per The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma (via Twitter). Hoerner will probably start to see more concentrated playing time at shortstop now that Nick Madrigal has joined the organization. Regardless of where he plays, Hoerner has a much more central role in the organization now than when he went down with an oblique strain on July 29th.
- Keegan Thompson got the start in Chicago today after being recalled from Triple-A. Jake Jewell was optioned to Triple-A to clear the roster spot, per Bruce Levine of WSCR-AM (via Twitter). Jewell has appeared in nine games, tossing nine innings with a 8.00 ERA.
After the departure of Javier Baez and the acquisition of Nick Madrigal at the trade deadline, it’s clear that Nico Hoerner will get first crack at becoming the Cubs everyday SS, at least through the end of this season. It will be interesting to see where the Cubs allocate their dollars this offseason but SS and 2B should be far down on the Jed Hoyer wish list.
Uh, what?
Not so sure. Can Nico move to 3B to accommodate Correia?
Corey Seager and his left-handed bat would also be a great FA possibility for a new Cubs lineup. Carlos Correa (26) and Seager (27) are also plenty young enough to build around for the Cubs next contending team. Signing either one of them would put Nico Hoerner back into a ‘Ben Zobrist’ role of the super utility everyday player.
I’m guessing that Seager might be the easier get now that the Dodgers have traded for superstar SS Trea Turner. With their current payroll it would tough for them to add another huge FA contract this offseason that will also include future Dodgers HOF’er Clayton Kershaw.
Kenley Jansen leaving plus Seagers current money is an easy way for LA to keep Corey
Why would you think LA would suddenly stop spending? More so, why on earth would the Cubs suddenly add a 200+M contract!?
I highly doubt Seager returns. The Turner move seems to indicate that, and that extra money is more likely earmarked for Taylor rather than Seager. Although, I wouldn’t put it past the Dodgers to just keep them all and add on top of that.
Seager has a $13.75M salary in 2021 before hitting free agency. As you suggest, he’ll be looking for a $200MM + multi-year contract this offseason.
The Dodgers just traded 4 top young talented players for SS Trea Turner and rental SP Max Scherzer. I suspect the Dodgers will prioritize keeping Turner and try to extend him before he can become a free agent following the 2022 season, much as they did with Mookie Betts. Turner can also play CF and 2B but his best value at 28 is to remain at SS, especially with Cody Bellinger and Gavin Lux on hand to primarily fill the other two positions. Last I checked, the Dodgers also have a big investment left through at least 2022 with 3B/INF Justin Turner, to say nothing of their commitment to INF Max Muncy. There’s a lot of talent and dollars already allocated to the positions that Seager and Turner (Trea) play. I believe the Dodgers will let Seager walk and concentrate on adding pitching this offseason, both in the rotation and to fill the role of pending FA closer Kenley Jansen.
JT is on a 2 year deal and is 36. Muncy is signed for 2 more years at 13M per. Neither is excessive or restrictive
The reality is for Seager to walk LA has to believe Gavin Lux is ready to be an every day starter. It’s a great negotiating position to be in, having Trea+Gavin, but given how this team works, I have a hard time seeing them just handing the reigns to Lux. They’ve tried now 2 years in a row. It hasn’t worked, for numerous reasons.
They’ve won 3 of the last 4 pennants and are 1.5 out from the best record in baseball. They could very well be back to back champs by the time Corey hits FA. Just expecting them to hand over a key up the middle position to a 23 year old who dominated AAA 2+ years ago and not much since seems like wishful thinking
There’s really no reason to think LA won’t be paying the luxury tax for the next 2-3 years, so that’s not a hard line either. Again. Wishful thinking if you’re banking otherwise
The closer is Treinen
If you’ve watched the dodgers this year, it’s pretty obvious what Seager does to this lineup.
The dodgers aren’t some NLC club that just wants to squeak into the playoffs 3 games above 500 and pray for a hot run. They have shown repeatedly they want to be the best team on paper and on the field. Just because they added an all star who easily can play 2B doesn’t mean they have no intention of keeping Seager. Or Taylor
The team is built on depth and you’re assuming they will abandon that strategy. I am a huge Lux fan, but I see almost zero ways he is guaranteed a starting role in LA in 2022 at the moment. Short him hitting .500 all Sept+ postseason
Whatever happened to superstar Lux. Who they wouldnt part with. Looks like another supposedly superstar phenom bust
They might try Nico in CF if they sign a SS…done think he’s blocking any all star SSs
No way do I want a cheater Astro on the Cubs. No Correa.
Cubs will be looking to trade Contreras and Hendricks this winter, not spend.
If the cubs were planning on trading either player, I am sure they would be gone already.
FA market is weak again on FOR starters. Teams will call about Hendricks
Catchers fetch far more, typically, when traded in the hot-stove. This is because more teams enter the bidding instead of just contenders in need of catching.
Catchers, particularly starters, are also more likely to be traded during the “hot-stove” than during the summer because of the overall value they provide above and beyond hitting and defense. They are often a team’s leader and deeply attached to their pitching staff. Veteran backup catchers are more commonly acquired by contenders but starters are less likely to be obtained by the July trade deadline.
I love how fans are deciding for Cubs upper management that winning next year isn’t a possibility to shoot for. The team may have other plans.
The obvious need is pitching- and lots of it, but I dont know if they will be spending too many dollars just yet, or continue to try and pile up prospect capital. Happ has squashed his trade value, but the Cubs still have a few guys that could be traded for SOME sort of return. I’d expect (at least) one more year of reclamation/buy-low FAs w the hopes of flipping them at the deadline for prospects/young MLers. The Cubs just dont have enough talent in the system to win right now.
A good start this offseason would be to lock up Willson Contreras to a long term contract extension, something the Cubs failed to do with the likes of Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and a few others. Contreras seems amicable to remaining on the north side of Chicago and would become the cornerstone of their retool if they choose that path over a full fledged rebuild.
The Cubs will have enough dollars available to attract some premium free agents. They should concentrate on pitching and other FA’s who are still in or approaching their prime years.
It’s not as if the NL Central is a juggernaut. There was a time when the ballpark was the team’s biggest attraction but their success as ‘contenders’ more often than not since 1984 has left much of Cubs Nation spoiled. Jed Hoyer has already gone on record stating that the Cubs won’t be fully tearing things down like they did after hiring his longtime boss Theo Epstein following the 2011 season. It remains to be seen just how accommodating the Ricketts ownership will be but they do have a number of reasons to put a competitive or at least a compelling team on the field sooner rather than later, especially with their relatively new Marquee Sports Network.
Contreras will be going into his age 30 season, Hendricks his age 32 season. Both should be shopped for a haul of prospects. Hang onto them if you can’t get that haul.
The Cubs are in rebuild mode, which means they won’t contend for atleast 3 to 5 years. Why waste money resigning Contreras? They’re better off trading him for prospects and controllable big leaguers.
Jed Hoyer ‘claims’ that the Cubs won’t be “in rebuild mode”. We will see how accurate that statement is this offseason.
No offense, but I think you and other likeminded Cubs fans have failed to grasp the situation on the northside. The Cubs have traded away their entire core of veteran players, starting with Darvish. They might be spend money on big contracts at some point moving forward, but I wouldn’t hold my breath on them doing it next year. They are clearly in tank mode, as they should be with a tight wad in the boardroom.
Do you ever worry about the team you root for? Asking for this entire trade rumor community.
The way they are trending this year, they should have a top ten pick in the 2022 draft and I am sure that they will be in the top 10 for 2023. They will draft college pitchers that will be MLB ready. Along with they players they got at the trade deadline, 2024 will be year that you see a decent team that should wild-card worthy.
The Cubs are in rebuild mode cuz you say so? We’ll see. The organization may not buy into your defeatist attitude.
They are definitely not in “tank” mode. It’s a retool. No team actually “tanks” as in trying to lose. This is the delusion of small minded fans who obsess over draft position, which means very little in this sport.
He is either an unemployed parasite or a grumpy old loner who has nothing better things to do, other than being in front of a computer looking for Cubs news.
I could see them spending on one major Free Agent this off-season like 2015 with Lester, with an eye on going all in again for 2023.
Hoerner and Madrigal should be set at SS/2B respectively. Contreras behind the plate (if he’s not traded). Heyward in RF. Happ in LF or CF. Maybe Deichmann earns a spot in spring training. David Bote can float around or play 3B. Patrick Wisdom reminds me of Bryan LaHair, one good half season but probably not a regular piece moving forward. Matt Duffy is another player best suited for the bench but with Bote and Wisdom on the roster he may not be brought back next season.
Brennan Davis should factor into the Cubs OF and they could always use some combination of Wisdom/Duffy/Bote/Schwindel at 1B/3B so the Cubs could invest mostly in pitching this winter
The Cubs should absolutely nail down Willson Contreras if for no reason than the position is becoming more difficult to fill now. Having experience behind the plate will help the younger pitchers too.
Uh, no.
Glad to know you’re so in touch with Cubs news.
Contreras would bring top prospect catcher as well as controllable major league talent.
Define “top prospect catcher”? Contreras wouldn’t even fetch Adley
Rutschman in a straight one-for-one deal, let alone more “controllable major league talent”.
So if he won’t get not only the top catching prospect in baseball, but literally the ACTUAL top prospect in all of baseball, he couldn’t possibly be worth any young catcher?
Your takes are awful..
There are currently 12 catching prospects listed in the new MLB top-100 list (mlb.com/prospects/top100/). That list includes all of the top-10 catchers (mlb.com/prospects/c/) along with two others at #75 and #99. Name one of those who Contreras might fetch by himself, let alone more controllable MLB talent. It was a question I posed to Cubfan Mike but feel free to chime in yourself.
You said “he won’t even fetch Adley” so he couldn’t possibly get a young catcher and/or additional talent
Adley is not being traded for anyone. So saying Contreras won’t even get him doesn’t mean anything. You didn’t make a good argument…
and to answer your Q, he probably could get the Giants to start discussing Joey Bart. That’s the 3rd best guy on the list..
Lmao no, he absolutely wouldn’t fetch Bart. Talk about an awful take.
Meh. Bart isn’t the reason it’s not a clean fit lmao
If Posey retires you think SF is really comfortable with Bart being the everyday catcher? Especially if they think this year means their window is open earlier than expected? I do not and I’m certainly not sold that Zaidi will not trade Bart
The Giants won’t let future HOF catcher Buster Posey walk this offseason any more than the Dodgers will allow Clayton Kershaw to sign a FA deal with another team. They will retain Posey and figure to keep Joey Bart as his backup and heir apparent. With that in mind, I don’t see a fit for Willson Contreras in San Francisco.
At 34, Posey may get some additional reps at 1B and potentially as a DH when it is made universal as part of the new CBA this offseason. Posey has continued to be the Giants #1 receiver and that doesn’t figure to change enough over the next couple of years, at least not to accommodate another starting backstop like Contreras.
Campusano. But only because Preller can’t say “no” to a trade
Posey has more than hinted he could retire after this year or next
I never said he was going to play elsewhere
Unlike most top catching prospects, Joey Bart would probably not be considered an ‘untouchable’ one by the Giants. He was even mentioned in some rumors as the summer trade deadline came and went. I’m fairly confident his name was brought up by Jed Hoyer when the Cubs and Giants were discussing trade possibilities that eventually landed Kris Bryant in San Francisco.
Acquiring Bart would have made it easier for the Cubs to consider trading Willson Contreras this offseason as he enters his walk year. I still doubt that Contreras would have also been involved in those recent trade talks for all the reasons I have provided in this comment thread.
They are more likely to skip off-season signings, in lieu of prospects.
It would make more sense to re-tool the entire farm system as best as possible, and wait for J-Hey’s contract to expire.
If that’s the case, the Cubs likely won’t be pursuing any free agents who are certain to have a QO attached to them including Carlos Correa and Corey Seager. They wouldn’t want to be forfeiting any draft picks in order to “re-tool” their farm system.
This might not preclude the Cubs from pursuing any of the premier FA’s who won’t be eligible for a QO this November including three of their own former stars, Javier Baez, Kris Bryant or Anthony Rizzo.