According to Jon Heyman on Twitter, the Cubs are close to a deal with RP Brandon Morrow.
Lefty P Drew Smyly to the Cubs on a two-year deal.
Possibilities for 1-year rental starting pitchers would be...
Patrick Corbin (rumors are that D-Backs are trying to trade a starting pitcher)
J.A. Happ (If the Jays decide to punt)
Matt Harvey (If the Cubs think they'll have better luck with him than the Mets)
Edinson Volquez (Could probably be gotten from the Marlins for a used bag of baseballs)
Matt Harvey would be veeeeeeeeeery interesting. I have no idea what to make of him right now, but there was a point in time where he was dominating. So many of the top closers were former starters that just didn't cut it for one reason or another. I wonder how open to that role Harvey might be at this point. His average fastball velocity is down 2.0 mph from a couple years ago, pitching out of relief might help improve that particular number and his overall effectiveness.
There is also the matter of actually getting him from the Mets. Alderson doesn't sound too keen on trading him with his value so low, but that could just be a bargaining ploy.
Cardinals get better with a trade for power OF Marcell Ozuna from Miami. #FireSale
I see Harvey as almost a 0 probability. This front office does place value on the locker room chemistry. With Harvey’s past I can’t imagine them bringing him into the fold.
Maybe, I am always skeptical that this is a major factor. We traded for Chapman and won a World Series with an assault charge hanging over his head.
I would love to be a fly on the wall for the Matt Harvey conversation between Theo and Jeb.
Good point on Chapman. Harvey just strikes me as an abrasive guy in general. Chapman, while with his apparent flaws, seemed to be well liked enough as a guy in the clubhouse and cared about the team. Harvey seems to be a me first guy. Don’t think the front office will go for that. If these rumors about Montgomery not being happy with his role are true I wouldn’t be surprised to see him shown the door too.
Cardinals get better with a trade for power OF Marcell Ozuna from Miami. #FireSale
Cubs sign sidewinder Steve Cishek to an unknown deal, per Ken Rosenthal.
https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/941311129409728512
can one of you baseball junkies inform the rest of us exactly what the teams above have done this off season ?
I know the Dodgers have lost Morrow to us and seem likely to lose Darvish , but who else have they lost / acquired and what have the other teams above done?
and have the Brewers lost anyone important?
The Cards are always competitive, but I haven't heard of them improving themselves that much either. am I wrong on that?
The Brewers won't be losing anyone significant this offseason, but have been mentioned as a potential destination for Arrieta.
Im willing to live with Schwarb's fielding issues if he can hit .275 and bash 32-36 homers.
All of the concerns about Schwarber's bat come down to a 41 game stretch from April 12 to Jun 2 last year. He looked clueless at the plate and hit .152/.264/.305 over 174 plate attempts.
In all the other at bats at the MLB level both before and after (playoffs included), he's hit .250/.354/.532 in 661 plate appearances.
Critics only seem to want to look at those 41 games when criticizing Schwarber and ignore everything he's done both before and after.
Starting to sound like Darvish to Cubs.
Sounds like Cobb got too expensive and the Cubs decided, “Well, if we’re going to spend that much money, might as well...”
If Darvish happens, it would probably vault the Cubs over the Dodgers in fangraphs’ win predictions for the year. Cubs are 2 Behind the Dodgers now, and Darvish would probably net them plus 3.