Chicago Cubs 2021 season

#126      
I don't know what the Cubs' plans for 2022 are. I presume that once they start letting fans back into the stands - and into all the bars, restaurants and stores in the surrounding neighborhood properties that are also owned by the Ricketts - and the Marquee Sports Network starts having its full inventory of 150-whatever games, the Cubs' cash crunch is going to be a thing of the past.

The Cubs only have $40MM in salary commitments in 2022. They have $20MM in options that can be picked up with Kimbral and Chafin, which I would assume - unless one of them has an absolutely outstanding year - won't get picked up.

BR estimates that the Cubs' 10 arbitration eligible players will get approximately $50MM. But of these 10, only Ian Happ, Willson Contreras, Kyle Ryan and Trevor Williams are expected to contribute anything this year - and in the cases of Ryan and Williams, those expectations are certainly in some doubt. Those latter two, and the rest can easily be cut if they aren't worth the bump in salary. So that $50MM is probably closer to $30-35MM.

The only returnees on the roster will be - Contreras at catcher, Bote and Hoerner in the infield, Heyward and Happ in the outfield. Hendricks, Mills, Alzolay and Williams as starting pitchers. And Kyle Ryan, Brad Wieck, and Rowan Wick in the pen

The Cubs will be ~$130-140MM shy of the luxury tax and 13 MLB players shy of a MLB quality roster. Pretty much all of the star shortstops are going to be free agents - Correa, Lindor, Seager, Story and Baez; two of the top first baseman - Freeman and Rizzo; two of the top third basemen - Bryant and Jose Ramirez. A great DH - JD Martinez. And a bunch of Hall of Fame pitchers heading into the twilight of their careers - Greinke (age 38), Verlander (39), Kershaw (34), Scherzer (37), Jansen (34). Not to mention several other interesting less established players, reclamation projects, and etc.

The Cubs will not have any particular reason not to spend money. There's nothing to tear down in order to do a rebuild. It's already been torn down. They can sign a ton of players and can take on salaries other teams want to dump. Jed is going to have the chance to completely remold the team into his vision. It will be very interesting to see what he does.
 
#127      
So why did the Cubs let Lester go and sign for less than they are giving Arrieta? Lester signed for 5 mil and was wanting to give the Cubs a discount to stay. Or was he asking for more and took so much less? I liked Arrieta as a cub, but also Lester.
 
#128      
So why did the Cubs let Lester go and sign for less than they are giving Arrieta? Lester signed for 5 mil and was wanting to give the Cubs a discount to stay. Or was he asking for more and took so much less? I liked Arrieta as a cub, but also Lester.
Jed said it was a timing thing. I also think they didn't want another soft tossing starter, as they already have that in Hendricks & Mills. And I think Jake has more left in the tank than Lester. At least I hope so.
 
#129      
I don't know what the Cubs' plans for 2022 are. I presume that once they start letting fans back into the stands - and into all the bars, restaurants and stores in the surrounding neighborhood properties that are also owned by the Ricketts - and the Marquee Sports Network starts having its full inventory of 150-whatever games, the Cubs' cash crunch is going to be a thing of the past.

The Cubs only have $40MM in salary commitments in 2022. They have $20MM in options that can be picked up with Kimbral and Chafin, which I would assume - unless one of them has an absolutely outstanding year - won't get picked up.

BR estimates that the Cubs' 10 arbitration eligible players will get approximately $50MM. But of these 10, only Ian Happ, Willson Contreras, Kyle Ryan and Trevor Williams are expected to contribute anything this year - and in the cases of Ryan and Williams, those expectations are certainly in some doubt. Those latter two, and the rest can easily be cut if they aren't worth the bump in salary. So that $50MM is probably closer to $30-35MM.

The only returnees on the roster will be - Contreras at catcher, Bote and Hoerner in the infield, Heyward and Happ in the outfield. Hendricks, Mills, Alzolay and Williams as starting pitchers. And Kyle Ryan, Brad Wieck, and Rowan Wick in the pen

The Cubs will be ~$130-140MM shy of the luxury tax and 13 MLB players shy of a MLB quality roster. Pretty much all of the star shortstops are going to be free agents - Correa, Lindor, Seager, Story and Baez; two of the top first baseman - Freeman and Rizzo; two of the top third basemen - Bryant and Jose Ramirez. A great DH - JD Martinez. And a bunch of Hall of Fame pitchers heading into the twilight of their careers - Greinke (age 38), Verlander (39), Kershaw (34), Scherzer (37), Jansen (34). Not to mention several other interesting less established players, reclamation projects, and etc.

The Cubs will not have any particular reason not to spend money. There's nothing to tear down in order to do a rebuild. It's already been torn down. They can sign a ton of players and can take on salaries other teams want to dump. Jed is going to have the chance to completely remold the team into his vision. It will be very interesting to see what he does.
Yeah, Jed's gonna be like a kid in a candy store next offseason.
 
#130      
Looking at the schedule for April, the Cubs have a chance to get out of the gates strong, with 6 of their first nine against the Pirates. They also play 15 of their first 21 games at Wrigley.
 
#134      
Not sure if serious. You talking about the guy with a 2.90 ERA over 373 innings during his Cubs career and a 1.90 career ERA in the playoffs?

I strongly doubt he has anything left in the tank, but he was a very, very good reliever from 2012-2018.
Looking back, that has to be one of, if not the best, trade in Cub franchise history. Scott Feldman for Strop and Arrieta. Unreal.
 
#135      
That trade ranks up there pretty high. There was also...

Jenkins for Larry Brown

Sandberg and Bowa for Ivan DeJesus

Derrek Lee for Choi.

But I think the all-time greatest Cubs trade - at least in my lifetime - has to be Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton from the Pirates for Jose Hernandez, Bobby Hill and a bag of used baseballs.

Hill played 185 games for the Pirates, OPS-ing .689, and was out of baseball.

Hernandez hit .223 in 58 games for the Pirates and was released.

Lofton hit .327 for the rest of the season and was instrumental in the Cubs winning the division. He left in free agency, played four more seasons, hitting over .300 and averaging more than 20 steals a year. He probably should be in the HoF.

Ramirez played 9 seasons for the Cubs, hit 239 home runs, consistently put up a .300/.350/.530 slash line and is one of the best players in Cubs history, easily the best 3rd baseman between Santo and Bryant.
 
#136      

KBLEE

Montgomery, IL
But I think the all-time greatest Cubs trade - at least in my lifetime - has to be Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton from the Pirates for Jose Hernandez, Bobby Hill and a bag of used baseballs.
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#137      
That trade ranks up there pretty high. There was also...

Jenkins for Larry Brown

Sandberg and Bowa for Ivan DeJesus

Derrek Lee for Choi.

But I think the all-time greatest Cubs trade - at least in my lifetime - has to be Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton from the Pirates for Jose Hernandez, Bobby Hill and a bag of used baseballs.

Hill played 185 games for the Pirates, OPS-ing .689, and was out of baseball.

Hernandez hit .223 in 58 games for the Pirates and was released.

Lofton hit .327 for the rest of the season and was instrumental in the Cubs winning the division. He left in free agency, played four more seasons, hitting over .300 and averaging more than 20 steals a year. He probably should be in the HoF.

Ramirez played 9 seasons for the Cubs, hit 239 home runs, consistently put up a .300/.350/.530 slash line and is one of the best players in Cubs history, easily the best 3rd baseman between Santo and Bryant.
Did the Cubs get Randall Simon in that deal too? I seem to remember him being a Pirate before a Cub. He was a fun player on that 2003 team. Platooned at 1B with Eric Karros if I recall correctly. And I agree, Lofton should be in the Hall of Fame. Ramirez was a huge favorite of mine as well.

The Derrek Lee trade is a great one that went over mind head. One of the best offensive seasons in my Cub fandom lifetime.
 
#138      
Jed said it was a timing thing. I also think they didn't want another soft tossing starter, as they already have that in Hendricks & Mills. And I think Jake has more left in the tank than Lester. At least I hope so.
"So why did the Cubs let Lester go and sign for less than they are giving Arrieta? Lester signed for 5 mil and was wanting to give the Cubs a discount to stay. Or was he asking for more and took so much less? I liked Arrieta as a cub, but also Lester."

To me this reeks of watching Billy Williams finish his career in an Oakland A's uni...and that was such a different time.
Coming from a Northside Sox fan...really liked Lester and many of Cubs championship team as I did the Jenkins, Williams ,Banks era Cubs. Such a shame Ron Santo (fairy kicked/, !!!!! slapped 18 year old CF ) that team to 2nd place.
 
#139      
Not sure if serious. You talking about the guy with a 2.90 ERA over 373 innings during his Cubs career and a 1.90 career ERA in the playoffs?

I strongly doubt he has anything left in the tank, but he was a very, very good reliever from 2012-2018.
I was partly. I know he has had some great years, but always made me very nervous.
 
#140      
I was partly. I know he has had some great years, but always made me very nervous.
you mean walking the bases loaded , or wild pitching a guy to third , made you a bit nervous ?


yea, me too

is it other teams too ?
or why do the Cubs ALWAYS have these relievers that issue 2-3 walks an inning ?
 
#141      
who ARE the Cubs starters for this year? No one knows, not even the Cubs so I don’t know how you can make this statement.
Easy. I am talking projected rotation. Hendricks, Davis, Mills, Arrieta and Alzolay. I like that rotation to what we had last year if they would have played a full season.
 
#142      

KBLEE

Montgomery, IL
Easy. I am talking projected rotation. Hendricks, Davis, Mills, Arrieta and Alzolay. I like that rotation to what we had last year if they would have played a full season.
And if any of those get injured / disappoint, Trevor Williams is waiting in the wings.
 
#143      
And if any of those get injured / disappoint, Trevor Williams is waiting in the wings.
Ross hinted in a recent article that Mills might be used more in long relief, with Williams in the rotation. Tyson Miller and Kohl Stewart will also get a chance at 5th spot. He stated that the main goal in spring training would be to get a lot of pitchers stretched out for multiple innings use.
 
#145      
And if any of those get injured / disappoint, Trevor Williams is waiting in the wings.
That is true. We eliminated a lot of dead weight from last years rotation. Q, and Chatwood gave us nothing. Lester, as great as he was, just does not have it anymore. A great warrior but at 37, he was wearing down. Then we have Yu. Yu is a above average pitcher. He has issues making an entire season heathy or strong. He wears out easily. Last year he only started half the games any itcher would start but he wore out in late September. At 22 million, that money can be used other places. He needed to go. I think we are in a much better place with our starters and brining Jake back will only help. As I said in an earlier post, we are in a bad division. We can win this.
 
#146      
I don't know what the Cubs' plans for 2022 are. I presume that once they start letting fans back into the stands - and into all the bars, restaurants and stores in the surrounding neighborhood properties that are also owned by the Ricketts - and the Marquee Sports Network starts having its full inventory of 150-whatever games, the Cubs' cash crunch is going to be a thing of the past.

The Cubs only have $40MM in salary commitments in 2022. They have $20MM in options that can be picked up with Kimbral and Chafin, which I would assume - unless one of them has an absolutely outstanding year - won't get picked up.

BR estimates that the Cubs' 10 arbitration eligible players will get approximately $50MM. But of these 10, only Ian Happ, Willson Contreras, Kyle Ryan and Trevor Williams are expected to contribute anything this year - and in the cases of Ryan and Williams, those expectations are certainly in some doubt. Those latter two, and the rest can easily be cut if they aren't worth the bump in salary. So that $50MM is probably closer to $30-35MM.

The only returnees on the roster will be - Contreras at catcher, Bote and Hoerner in the infield, Heyward and Happ in the outfield. Hendricks, Mills, Alzolay and Williams as starting pitchers. And Kyle Ryan, Brad Wieck, and Rowan Wick in the pen

The Cubs will be ~$130-140MM shy of the luxury tax and 13 MLB players shy of a MLB quality roster. Pretty much all of the star shortstops are going to be free agents - Correa, Lindor, Seager, Story and Baez; two of the top first baseman - Freeman and Rizzo; two of the top third basemen - Bryant and Jose Ramirez. A great DH - JD Martinez. And a bunch of Hall of Fame pitchers heading into the twilight of their careers - Greinke (age 38), Verlander (39), Kershaw (34), Scherzer (37), Jansen (34). Not to mention several other interesting less established players, reclamation projects, and etc.

The Cubs will not have any particular reason not to spend money. There's nothing to tear down in order to do a rebuild. It's already been torn down. They can sign a ton of players and can take on salaries other teams want to dump. Jed is going to have the chance to completely remold the team into his vision. It will be very interesting to see what he does.
I think this sets Jed up nicely to have the ability to make a lot of changes if necessary. If you put yourself in his shoes, it is really difficult to judge how to plan this team out for the next 5 years. The trio of Rizzo, Bryant, & Baez all under-performed last year. I think trying to figure out anything long term based on what happened last year would be foolish. Only about 1/3 of the games, virtually no Spring training, no fans, DH.... Just a really weird season.
I think the prudent thing to do is take the route he is going down. Wait and see who bounces back, and invest in them. If no one does, tear it all down and start over.
It's all in play.
 
#147      
Just read an article showing the stats for Yu Darvish the past 2 seasons, compared with Zach Davies stats during same time. Darvish was 14 and 11 with a 3.39 ERA in 43 starts and 254 2/3 innings. Davies was 17 and 11 with a 3.30 ERA in 43 starts and 229 innings. Other than strikeouts, pretty much a wash.
 
#148      
Just read an article stating that the Cubs won the inaugural team Gold Glove award last season. They had 6 individual finalists, with Javy & Rizzo winning at their positions.
 
#149      
Cubs resign right-handed relief pitcher Ryan Tepera to a 1 year deal for $800,000 plus incentives. Tepera had a 3.92 ERA last season with the Cubs and a 3.66 ERA over his career.
 
#150      
Cubs resign right-handed relief pitcher Ryan Tepera to a 1 year deal for $800,000 plus incentives. Tepera had a 3.92 ERA last season with the Cubs and a 3.66 ERA over his career.
That's an absolute bargain for a reigning NL-MVP-vote-receiver.