Over the past year, the Cubs have sent a lot of good players out the door on their way to slashing payroll and starting a new rebuild. Yu Darvish, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, Craig Kimbrel and more. But one of the key pieces of their recent competitive window remains. Despite occasional rumors that he was being shopped around, Willson Contreras is still a Cub. The backstop will be eligible for arbitration for a third and final time this winter, a season in which the Cubs are unlikely to be competitive, given their recent sell-off. That means they would be wise to commit to one of two paths, either extending him or trading him.
When choosing between the two paths, however, something that might tip the scales is the weak free agent crop of catchers this offseason. With such a low supply of catchers available, teams might have to turn to trades if they want to upgrade behind the plate. That could make Contreras a hot commodity, given his solid track record. Across the past six seasons, Contreras has a line of .259/349/.458, for a wRC+ of 114, producing 12 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs. Only five catchers in baseball produced more fWAR over that span. (Yasmani Grandal, J.T. Realmuto, Buster Posey Mike Zunino and Gary Sanchez.) Contreras has also been remarkably consistent in that time, with his wRC+ falling between 101 and 126 each year, and his fWAR always between 0.7 and 2.7.
Financially speaking, he won’t be prohibitively expensive. His 2021 salary was $6.65MM. He will get a raise on that through arbitration, probably to the $10MM range, approximately half of what Grandal, Realmuto and Posey are making per year on their current contracts.
As to who would be interested in acquiring him, it would have to be a team with a need behind the plate, of course. But given that he only has one year of control, it would also have to be a win-now club. Let’s look at which teams could fit the bill.
Cleveland: Roberto Perez can be controlled for 2022 with a club option valued at $7MM. However, he’s now two years removed from his excellent 2019 season. Since then, he’s only played 76 games due to various injuries and hit .155/.253/.277 for a wRC+ of 49. Austin Hedges got 85 starts at catcher this year and hit just .178/.220/.308 for a wRC+ of 40. There’s certainly room for improvement on that kind of production. The club also has maximum payroll flexibility. Once they exercise their $11MM club option on Jose Ramirez, that will bring their total 2022 payroll commitments up to the range of… $11MM. Bringing in Contreras along with a few free agents, and then having some better health in the rotation, 2022 could see the club easily surpass their 80-82 record from this year.
Mariners: After surprising the baseball world with a 90-win campaign, the Mariners have seemingly moved beyond rebuilding and into competing. In 2021, they gave playing time to Luis Torrens, Tom Murphy and Cal Raleigh, none of whom ran away with the job. Murphy had a tremendous season in the shortened 2019 but couldn’t replicate it in 2021. He hit .202/.304/.350 this year, for a wRC+ of 87 and 1.0 fWAR. Torrens was better with the bat but was mostly being used as a designated hitter down the stretch. Raleigh has decent defensive numbers but hit a paltry .180/.223/.309 for a wRC+ of 47. Mariners’ president Jerry Dipoto recently spoke about adding more offense for 2022 and has a trade-happy reputation. Going after Contreras could be one way to add some more thump to Seattle’s lineup.
Red Sox: In 2021, Boston split the catching duties between Christian Vazquez and Kevin Plawecki, both of whom were okay but not great. Vazquez hit .258/.308/.352, wRC+ of 77. Plawecki’s line was .287/.308/.389, wRC+ of 102. They each produced 0.5 fWAR. Both of them have one year of team control left, as Plawecki is going into his final arbitration year whereas the Red Sox have a $7MM club option on Vazquez. Contreras would be an upgrade for the 2022 season and could help bridge the gap to younger catchers like Connor Wong and Ronaldo Hernandez.
Rockies: The Rockies gave most of their 2021 catching starts to Elias Diaz, who had a sudden power breakout. Coming into this year, he had 15 home runs in 273 career games. In 2021, he had 18 dingers in 106 games. Despite this power surge, he still only put up a wRC+ of 92, partially because of playing his home games at Coors. (wRC+ controls for ballpark factors.) Dom Nunez was the primary backup to Diaz, and he put up a line of .189/.293/.399, which adds up to a wRC+ of just 69. Contreras could easily provide a boost to this tandem, if the club thinks it’s in win-now mode, which they apparently do.
Yankees: It’s become an annual tradition for people to debate whether or not the Yankees will stick with Gary Sanchez. His tremendous early years have seemed too tantalizing to give up on, even as he’s struggled more recently. In 2021, he was competent enough, hitting .204/.307/.423, producing a wRC+ of 99 and 1.5 fWAR. Like Contreras, he is going into his final arbitration season, and will be due a raise on a salary of $6.35MM. Could the Yankees be willing to swap him out for a catcher with a similar payout but more consistent production?
Yankees are a mess. Contreras won’t help much. Yankees were badly hurt by making the playoffs because now it will be tougher to dismiss Cashman
“Playoff” – singular. If that were true then the ghost of Steinbrenner is no more and Hal is limboing beneath that low bar he’s set.
Gary Sanchez and Mike Zunino have more WAR than Contreras? Am I the only one who finds that surprising? Those 2 guys names come up frequently as non-tender candidates. I always thought Contreras was at least one full level above both of them if not multiple levels. I feel like most teams would definitely prefer to have Contreras on their roster.
I think that also serves as a stark reminder that total cumulative stats, like WAR, will only tell you so much about a player… Imho, Contreras is a top 3 catcher during the same time frame, with JT Realmuto 1, and Grandal/Contreras as interchangeably 2 & 3.
Agree with you here. WAR is such a subjective stat. And also, just because one guy produced X amount of WAR during a season, doesn’t always means they are a good fit for your team.
JT Realmuto has a career OPS+ of 110. Better than average but is that considered anywhere near superstar category? Heck Will Smith of the Dodgers has a career OPS+ of 136 and I don’t consider him a superstar.
Buster Posey to me is the cream of the crop.
Not bWAR. Sanchez doesn’t even come close. Contreras is clearly the superior player to both. WAR does need qualification but it’s being severely misrepresented in these comments.
This is why WAR is a stupid stat…clearly Contreras is a better catcher than both..WAR is especially a stupid stat for catchers
Yeah. WAR has gotten a little ridiculous. For starters there should not be 2 forms of WAR. It defeats the purpose if half the people say a player has x-amount of WAR and the other half says he has less but they both have the statistics to back up their argument. Everyone needs to agree on 1 formula to calculate WAR or else it’s almost useless. They literally both cannot be true at the same time. If you replace a player on a team with a replacement player the win total is going to change by a specific amount. It won’t change by 2 amounts. So at the very least one of the WAR stats is dead wrong and in reality they are probably both dead wrong. Unless you are psychic it is impossible to calculate the actual number of wins any given player would add to any team by taking the job from a replacement level player so they shouldn’t even really call it WAR. Teams need different things from different players to win on the their current rosters. All those stats should really just remain separate. The number of wins a player can help provide varies drastically depending on which team he ends up playing with so generalizing it all while also giving it such a specifically seemingly accurate stat name as “Wins Above Replacement” is stupid. There are so many other things involved that the actual member of wins for either version of the stat is virtually certain to be wrong so they should never call it that. And again, they should not have multiple versions of the stat. That just screams inaccuracy in and of itself. OPS+ and wRC+ are at least far more accurate at what they are trying to accomplish. My only problem with them is the fact that if a player gets hurt and loses a ton of value due to missed time that players lack of value isn’t reflected in OPS+ or wRC+. Whether injuries are the fault of the player or not they definitely make them less valuable and that should be reflected. Maybe they should make a more accurate stat called OPS+V or wRC+V where the V stands for actual value. Then they could take a players OPS+ or wRC+ and divide it by the number of plate appearances the average major league hitter has. After that multiply the answer by the actual number of plate appearances said player has. That will tell you the real value of a players bat. Players who have a below average number of plate appearances should see their overall hitting considered less valuable. Players who have a higher than average number of plate appearances should have their overall hitting be considered more valuable. The value of what you do at the plate seriously depends on how many times you are able to do it.
Dodger1958, we were speaking about the past six seasons. Will Smith Is not the best catcher over the past six seasons.
Cards81- very true
Cosmo2 – that’s a good point. I notice defensive metrics vary so much depending on the site it’s almost absurd.
Yankee you think those 3 are better than Buster? The posts here listed JT, Contreras, and Grandal as the top three. Over the last six years Buster is the best. Maybe even Yadier.
Posey, Molina, and Press
laswagn You can add Sal Perez who has five golden gloves. I wouldn’t even pick Contreras in my top 3.
Not Cashman’s fault Cole didn’t do his job against the Sox, that Stanton’s two singles could’ve been homers elsewhere, or that their fate came down to a walk-off by Anderson at a little league field.
I can’t stand the Yankees, but there’s worse options out there than Cashman.
Stanton’s two singles should have been two doubles if he didn’t trot out of the box.
@padam
Cashman paid the big bucks for Cole. He traded for Stanton, who Home run trotted those two doubles into singles, forgetting he was playing in Fenway, a Major League ballpark. (Rizzo’s home run would have been foul in any other ballpark, but don’t mention that!) Plus he chooses to keep that poor hitting DH, Sanchez, making the pitching staff suffer, as the manager is given little choice at C. Yeah, this is Cashman’s team, and it’s on him.
Sanchez wouldn’t be called lazy if he ran to 1st with any effort whatsoever a couple years ago.
There isn’t a team that wouldn’t pay for Cole, just not as much as the Yanks. Furthermore, the trajectory and distance of the Stanton HRs would have been out at any other park.
The point I’m making is that a walk-off HR changed the fate of the Yankees. If they moved on in the playoffs, this wouldn’t even be a conversation.
padam2 hours ago
Furthermore, the trajectory and distance of the Stanton HRs would have been out at any other park.
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That’s a non-factor. That’s like saying I could easily take that turn at 85, if only it wasn’t snowing. Stanton knows that the balls to LF and LCF at Fenway need to be run out. There are some crazies out that might think, with your season on the line, maybe make the effort to run out everything.
And I wish these things would be discussed, even if they don’t affect the outcome. I didn’t even get paid and I never didn’t run out the play, back up the play, etc.
Joe agreed. And home many home runs hit down the right field line at Yankee Stadium would have been outs in most, if not all, parks.
It’s not cashmans fault that the people he hires never get the job done even though he always has as much money as just about anyone in the game?
Haven’t you ever heard of the word accountability?
I can’t stand people who refuse to hold anyone responsible for their decisions but happily trash people for mistakes or for not winning a competition every single time.
No it’s not, but it is his fault for putting the roster together. Then at the trade deadline he goes out and trades for Gallo, another swing for the fences, strike em out type of player. And it took a miraculous 17 game win streak for them to even make the 1 game playoff. You’re right Cole or Boone don’t deserve the blame, all that blame is on Cashman.
I’m a die hard Red Sox fan and hate the Yankees with a passion. But Boone is being made the scapegoat when it was Cashman who built the roster and I feel Boone did an amazing job with a team that plays station to station, not that good defensively and swings for the fences or go home.
Well I will tell you this much I would have no problem at all trading Sanchez for him. I have really become fed up with Gary’s laziness behind the dish. Yankees are in need of an upgrade big time. Maybe Cashman can wake up from his slumber and get a deal done.
The Stanton trade was a catastrophe for the Yankees. You have to be very very careful GMs the core you add long term
Stanton is one of the best players in the Yankees – he’s one of the few earning his salary. He’s been clutch and carried this team through the playoffs, and this entire year, just about.
Why would the Cubs trade Contreas for Sanchez. Sanchez is a mess. If he’s one of the hardest workers on the team, then the team is in trouble. You can’t give Gary Sanchez away let alone tell me for Contreas.
Frankt: I didn’t see anywhere where anyone posited a trade of Gary Sanchez for Willson Contreras. Nor did I say that it would be sufficient because he worked hard. You need to read before you respond – it works better that way.
Or you can just troll and make random comments responding to something that was never said.
I agree but some may see in OP that a trade of Sanchez for Contreras is in order. Not explicit but I could see where it comes from
I was trying to figure that one out too. I even scrolled back to the top to see if Darragh had suggested a trade. No. He said ‘swap out” meaning move on from Sanchez and make a trade for Contreras, or perhaps even wait for him to become a free agent in a year. Sanchez has only one more year of control, as does Contreras. Of course, keep in mind who posted it. Just a Camden troll, or someone not particularly bright. I guess that can be one and the same.
Cubs are rebuilding, they don’t want Sanchez… maybe a few prospects? Sanchez can be dealt to one of the many national league teams that will need a DH.
I assume if a deal is done it would include pitching, which is what the Cubs are openly stating they need. Yankees, fortunately, have some really good arms that are stuck behind their reclamation projects.
@yankeeclipper
See.post by @stupendousyappi
Clipper you say this now after he finally had a somewhat healthy season but what will you say next year if and when he hits the IL? In 12 seasons he’s played 145 or more games 4 times. He played 139 games one season. He didn’t even play 50% of the games in the shortened season last year. He’s a liability in the field for the sole reason that his knees are clunky so there’s always this fear that he’ll get hurt which he will. I say this season was an outlier let’s see if he can give the Yankees another somewhat full season next year. The trade was horrible when you factor in that he’s basically a DH. It’s all about his contract when as a team the Yankees find themselves up against salary cap restrictions as we’ve heard all season that they don’t wanna go over that threshold. Maybe they wouldn’t if they weren’t paying a DH over $20 million and an outfielder(Aaron Hicks) another $10 million to headline their IL every season. The Gallo and Rizzo trades still have me scratching my head when what they needed was a starter badly. They traded two good bullpen pieces away to free up money to trade for Gallo and Rizzo. Cashman while I appreciate his contributions to the team needs to be replaced as GM. Move him into a different role in the organization and get some fresh blood in that front office. As for the manager, unless they could somehow get Mattingly I’d keep Boone. He doesn’t bother me like he does some fans. I actually like him.
Exactly. Why get worse at catcher? That’s just dumb.
Feel free to look at yappis comment. So perhaps you should practice reading
Yankee Clipper: from StupendousYappi
“Well I will tell you this much I would have no problem at all trading Sanchez for him. I have really become fed up with Gary’s laziness behind the dish. Yankees are in need of an upgrade big time. Maybe Cashman can wake up from his slumber and get a deal done.”
Frank was right, maybe you’re the one that needs to read before you respond. Just saying …
yankeeclipper… He was responding to stupedousyappi, who wrote, “I would have no problem at all trading Sanchez for him.”
Please expand on how you think trading for Stanton was a catastrophe. This should be good…
‘Catastrophe’ is slightly harsh, but he has averaged 2.1 bWAR over the past four years. How would you describe it?
He’s probably one of those people who called Obamacare a catastrophe.
Drama queens gotta have drama.
Bull.
The problem isn’t trading for a DH or a 27 mil tax number for a great hitter.
The problem is signing or trading for a DH every year and thinking you can play 3 or 4 at the same time.
Why would the Cubs make such a trade? Sanchez is, well, pretty terrible. Only thing going for him is he can hit a home run now and again. Awful catcher, poor hitter.
Because they get more than Sanchez in the trade???
No.
Willson Contreras is the type of catcher that would fit very well with the Yankees and my personal top choice – he’s good on offense and defense, he’s a good base runner, and he’s good with pitching staff.
Sanchez is often perceived as lazy, but contrary to that popular perception, he’s a very hard worker. He’s noted in the clubhouse as being one of the hardest working members of the Yankees. His problem is a lack of mobility (especially with knee down) and that he’s simply regressed on defense.
Yeah Clipper I wonder if some of Sanchez’s problems come from so many different people telling him how to catch. Seems like there’s been a coaching change about every year. It’s not surprising he never got better.
I agree with both of you here. I never thought Gary was lazy, and you constantly hear from everyone that he works extremely hard, is a good teammate and is a good catcher; at least in the regard that he builds relationships with the pitchers and really puts that work in… unfortunately he is not that good defensively. He has had 3+ different catching coaches over the last 4/5 years, and I think they’ve messed with him so many times behind the dish with all of those changes. I also don’t understand the 1 knee on the ground philosophy, but they are legitimately teaching this philosophy up and down their organization. This position is making an already (seemingly) un-athletic catcher be more un-athletic.
Joe, I believe his downfall truly started when they started making changes to improve his D – and the never stopped. I think a less pressured environment may yield better results, drawing more of his incredible potential out. His first appearance in the majors was surreal.
I am a big Sanchez backer. I always thought his bat had all star potential and his arm was a gun. The issue I’m now having with Sanchez is I’m hearing snd reading way too many comments from Yankee best writers that it’s a well known secret that most of the Yankee pitchers are not happy with him behind the dish. I don’t think it has anything to do with him being lazy!
The Yankees would not have attempted to make changes to his defense if he didn’t need to improve on an MLB level. He is not even close to being an elite catcher and to me/many others not even an average catcher on an MLB level.
Joe says what???
There is no pressure to play defense if you play defense.
If you don’t play defense the options are pressure or the minor leagues. This isn’t a mental hospital.
Whatever the Cubs want the Yankees response needs to be, “Yea we can do that.”
Not sure about Sanchez off field but on field, I’ve never seen anything close to hard work, or all out hustle during a game and I think games mean more. Also Stanton trade hurt because of the money and he can’t play a full season.
Baseball is hard and cathing is really really hard.
His body on the other hand is not hard nor are his food choices.
I’m sure he works harder than I do.
I’m also sure he doesn’t work as hard as the best catchers in the game.
Cubs don’t want Gary Sanchez!
Chicago would have all types of problems taking Sanchez on anything but a minor league contract, after the Yankees non-tender him. Sanchez has negative trade value. No ones trading for him at more than $7MM!
Don’t wanna be called lazy, don’t hit into a double play when the guy bobbles the ball like 4 times. Run to first = not being called lazy.
Thank you!
I don’t know what these people are watching.
There is absolutely no way the cubs would take Sanchez for Contreras. If I’m the cubs strictly going by this article I would shop him to Seattle and insist on Abraham Toro in any deal
The Astros could use an upgrade behind the plate. Their win now window will still be open and since Cubs GM Jed Hoyer never gets a decent return for players he trades it makes sense for Houston
Wrong daddyT, it was Theo who often was bad at negotiating trades. Jed is still TBD.
Hoyer got great returns this year. I don’t think he lost a single trade. The players he brought in on the Darvish trade look especially good.
daddytbone21 hours ago
Cubs GM Jed Hoyer never gets a decent return
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Hoyer did really well this year, imho.
What’s apparent is just how weak the catching position is in today’s game. 80% of fans want to replace their catchers, until they look around and see the options.
I do hope that if MLB eventually moves to “robot umps” it will free up the catching position for more offensive-minded catchers. I agree. The position right now is abysmal. As bad as I’ve seen it in decades of watching the game.
RobM: I often wonder if that’s because, similar to many SS coming up, they take guys who can hit and/or are athletic and stick them in that position now. I don’t recall ever seeing the C position this poor overall. It used to be treated as a QB position in many respects (Dickie, Berra, Howard, Munson, – Even Girardi was only part-time and I’d take him right now).
League wRC+ for catchers has hovered around the mid-to-upper 80’s for the last handful of seasons. Not really all that much different from when it was in the 90-93 wRC+ range in the 70’s. Gotta go back to 1879 when catchers had a wRC+ above 100, and that was only 105. Catcher will always be a defensive minded position.
Fans will complain when their team’s catchers don’t hit, but teams are realizing more and more that defense matters fan more for the catcher position. So an 80 wRC+ with a great defensive catcher is worth more than a league average offensive catcher with even average defense.
framing is not the only defensive value of catchers
Every team has like 5-6 fans who complain about their back up catcher hitting below .200 batting average.
There’s a similarity between back-up quarter backs and back-up catchers. A segment of fans overrate them and often want to make them the starters.
If they are wanting to start making moves, Miami is a great chance of happening.
I agree. Miami has some talent and is in the market for a catcher. If they think they can contend in 2022, I can see a trade here.
Miami would’ve been at the top spot last off-season but with only 1 yr left in arb I highly doubt Marlins offer anything substantial for a rental.
I don’t dislike him but the Yankees pitching staff needs a defensively competent catcher behind the plate, not a DH. Non-tender and say goodbye
Goodbye to Sanchez*
I don’t think non-tendering him makes much sense. Unless they secured a viable replacement via FA or trade 1st, then maybe. They’d be letting him go for nothing, and someone else will 100000% scoop him up. The catching position overall is quite weak across MLB, that even though Gary has been subpar defensively and basically average offensively, he could fetch something in a trade guaranteed.
BINGO!
With the way teams value catchers nowadays (defense & handling pitchers), Sanchez honestly doesn’t have much value. Maybe they could get something, but I doubt a team is gonna trade much for him if he’s making like $7 million +. Probably what he takes home in arbitration?
Seattle catcher Tom Murphy missed the entire shortened 2020 season with an injury after his encouraging 2019 campaign of 75 games.
If Ricketts can’t afford Chicklets…
Stanton was a HUGE mistake especially after it cost the Yankees Harper the following off season because the Yankees started caring about the Tax
Stanton carries a $22MM luxury tax hit for the Yankees, which is relatively minor in today’s game, particularly for the Yankees. Considering how he enjoys crushing the Red Sox in Fenway, and he’s one of the few Yankees to hit in the postseason, I’d probably focus on other areas to fix.
Thinking $22 mill is nothing is why it cost so much to go to a game
Looks like you failed that Economics 101 course.
You mean something broken?
How lazy
Thinking the options are nothing or huge mistake is why you don’t have any money.
They traded for Stanton because they were getting the reigning NL MVP at pennies on the dollar, his luxury tax hit per year (especially for a player of his ability) is considerably low, and they probably didn’t want to get involved in the potential Harper market. At the time, Harper was a year away from free agency and 11+ years and $400M + were the numbers being floated around by everyone… and the Yankees probably felt they didn’t want to compete at those potential numbers when they could get a comparable player for considerably cheaper.
Mlbnyy: Although I understand your position relative to Harper, the fact is that NY probably wouldn’t have matched Phillies’ offer for him anyway. In fact, Stanton has produced and been clutch when on the field for us, and since Cressey rewrote the training curriculum, he and Judge were able to stay healthy all year, except Covid IL.
In hindsight, yeah they could’ve used that money elsewhere, but in reality, not trading guys at their peak value (Voit) hurt them more. They have the money to spend, they need to get rid of the 3 extra DHs. Here’s my proposal on what we have to fill and my preference for each:
C – Contreras (Zunino would probably be second, only if necessary)
SS – Story or Seager (via trade, DeJong or Cronenworth, if necessary)
CF – Marte, Sterling or Ketel (Also Chris Taylor, or M. Taylor, if necessary)
1B – Matt Olsen (Rizzo, if not Olsen)
Utility – Chris Taylor or Jonathan Villar
It requires prospects and capital, but it can be done. All the naysayers will start with – “You have to give up Peraza and Dominguez for x player!”, but as we’ve seen, rentals are not nearly as expensive as fans hope, mostly because teams want to build prospects and save money.
You’re dreaming. Taylor isn’t going anywhere if the Dodgers want him. Seager will cost the Yanks between 25-30 million on a long term basis. Yankee fans thunk the they can buy their way to the title in FA. They should look at actually developing their farm system and building a much better Front Office, It works better that way.
The Dodgers rarely make large FA signings. Bauer being an exception and that certainly didn’t work out well. At least that cluster was only a three year commitment.
See, this is what a delusional Yankees fan sounds like. Why do you guys think you can just go buy a team or trade for anyone?
C- Cubs aren’t trading Contreras for Sanchez, Zunino, the Rays have a club option on him and wouldn’t trade him.
SS – Story or Seager – both will cost $20 mill plus, why would the Padres trade their starting 2nd basemen, a guy who can play all over the infield. Lastly, why would STL trade DeJong to the Yankees? just because he had a bad season at the plate?
CF – They could sign Sterling but he will probably cost too much, why would Arizona just trade Ketel, a guy with 3 years of control to the Yankees? M. Taylor and the Royals agreed to a new two year contract last month. Why would the Royals trade him to the Yankees?
Utility – Lol, you really think the Dodgers would let Chris Taylor just walk away? Jonathan Villar might be available assuming he doesn’t resign with the MEts.
Red Sox should trade Vazquez and try to pick up Stallings from Pittsburgh, the offensive production was nearly identical. Stallings is better defensively and has a few more years of team control.
Yeah, that would be nice, but why would the Pirates trade him?
Cal Raleigh is a 24-yer-old catcher who split his 2021 season between AAA Tacoma, where he posted a .324/.377/.608/.985 line in 44 games, and Seattle, where he posted a .180/.223/.309/.532 line in 47 games.
With Tom Murphy and Luis Torrens on board, the Mariners have more important needs to fill.
They should actively be looking to move Contreras, unless they plan to blow him away with a big contract. No particular reason for him not to enter free agency as the Cubs enter a rebuild. The catcher market is weak. They should look to capitalize and get some value for him.
Contreras to San Diego for Hosmer and CJ Abrams
Probably have to add more than just Abrams if you expect them to take on Hosmer.
Lmao. Cubs are not paying anyone in 2022
Jed isn’t dumb. Why would he want to take on Hosmers contract? That’s a terrible return for a too 5 catcher in baseball. The cubs also don’t need a SS. They have 3 or 4 potential superstar players that play SS. All of which are 4 years away. The point is why trade one of your best players for a terrible contract of Hosmer and Abrams?
“They have 3 or 4 potential superstar players that play SS. All of which are 4 years away. ”
This is why people give cubs’ fans a hard time.
Why trade 1 year of Willson for Hosmer and Abrams? Because you think the value of Abrams – the cost of Hosmer > value of Willson. You could argue about that value proposition, but with a payroll that looks to be pretty low in 2022, I’d like to see the Cubs take on bad contracts if it can increase their player return.
Now add gore to that trade and it could be considered
If they’re going to move Hosmer they’re either going to have to take back a bad contract in return and hope the scenery change helps, or pony up two quality prospects probably.
But Cubs already have Madrigal and Hoerner, they don’t need another. Unless they move one of them to 3rd base. I think Cubs need pitching. Need young pitching stud.
Until the players can cement themselves as productive, healthy big leaguers, the cubs just need to accumulate talent.
I could see the Cubs trading him or extending him, but one vs. the other depends on how long they project this rebuild/retool to be. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
Voit for contreras
Plans and simple
Dfa Sanchez and move on
Why aim so low? Why not Voit for Juan Soto? /s
Lol. That’s a terrible deal. Voit is a DH.
Tom murphy didnt play a game in the shortened 2020 season. The season youre refurring to is the 2019 season.
I only view the Yankees and Red Sox as “win-now” clubs presented in this article. The Rockies have no business being included while the Indians aren’t likely to trade for a catcher with just one season of control. A case could be made for the Mariners but would they really be willing to part with enough young talent to satisfy the Cubs when they are just beginning their own window of competitiveness in the AL West?
I could see the MAriners trying to trade for Contreras, they do have 3 catchers and their window is to win now.
These so-called writers are really fishing here! Just because the Cubs traded some dinner-to-be free agents does not mean they are planning to trade every decent player they have. This is the same garbage as Hoyer plainly stating they will be big FA spenders this winter, then scrubs writing “the Cubs will not spend a dime for the next few years!”
Please do better and find a real story.
Where did he say they’d be big spenders?
The Cubs have enough payroll flexibility to speed up the rebuild and I fully expect Contreras to be around for their return to the top of the NL.
I like the Mariner fit best. They definitely have a need and could use someone with his experience to help build their young staff.
Yankees need a catcher that can actually catch. Throwing to Sánchez is like throwing the ball with no catcher behind the plate.
I know the Rockies are extending everybody they can right now, but has anything been said about their new GM’s plan for this off-season? I haven’t really been keeping up with them, and I wouldn’t know if he’s looking to get guys under control for a 2-3 year time-table or try to buy a team this off-season.
1-I think if the Cubs had an interest in trading Contreras, they’d have done so at the deadline.
2-I doubt that the Red Sox or Yankees have any interest.in Contreras. They both have catchers, who are both decent but not great, on one-year contracts. They won’t be trading away good prospects for what might be a 2 WAR upgrade.
Contreras is better than any catchers the Yankees have had in the last 10 years. Jorge Posada was their last great catcher.
So I guess the Tigers don’t exist. They have a clear need behind the plate, the finances and plenty of interesting prospects to trade.
He knows they aren’t making trades so why waste space
I noticed that too, and I’m wondering how TR missed them in the article. It’d be nice if they could trade from the logjam of prospects they are accumulating, particularly on he infield.
The Cubs are not entering a rebuild. Fake news as always. They are lightly retooling. Contreas is not getting traded. Cubs will add a bat, and try to fix their pitching. At the start of 2022, they will again be competitive for the division. A very weak division as it stands.
A delusional cubs fan I see. Is that you Mr. Ricketts?
They really don’t need to add a bat. It wouldn’t hurt but with Davis coming up next year. Likely gonna be on the opening Day Roster. Madrigal can lead off they’ll finally have a lead off hitter. If they add anyone I’d love to Nick Castellanos. He would have to opt out though.
If they’re, “lightly retooling”, they’re gonna continue to be bad. They would need to spend so much money in FA to fill all of the holes that currently exist, it’s just not realistic.
Unless they change how service time works, I’ll be shocked if Brennen Davis is on their opening day roster.
I don’t think the division is that particularly weak. The Pirates are terrible, yes- and those are some easy wins. The Reds bounce between all-in and all-out far too often, too. However St. Louis and Milwaukee have some real talent. It’d probably be easy for the Cubs to retool and comfortably finish 3rd, but I think it’d take some serious heavy lifting to take the crown.
Hahaha
They need to extend him not trade him. They need to build around him and Brennan Davis.
Building around a 30 year old catcher is probably not the best idea. Not all of them have longevity like Molina. Also, should probably wait to see Davis succeed in MLB before planning to build the team around him.
And with that, Vazquez can no longer be traded.
Some incredible luck on the ground rule double.
Then, boom.
Unfracking believable. And if it didn’t bounce exactly right, Renfroe might have grabbed it before it bounced back over the fence.
I feel bad for the Rays but at least it was a two run homer so if everything remains the same and the Rays run counts the Red Sox still win the game.
Willy wants to stay with the Cubs so just extend him.
I would trade Contreras and Hendricks package. But I feel Cubs need young pitching studs. Maybe Padres have some good prospects
I noticed that too, and I’m wondering how TR missed them in the article. It’d be nice if they could trade from the logjam of prospects they are accumulating, particularly on he infield.
How long will Houston go with a 180 catcher. There may be an opportunity for Cubs to get with them on a trade for Contreas. Like what I have seen regarding pitcher Javier?
They better not trade him. Sign him to a 50 yr deal