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Cubs beat writer sees big moves ahead.
So during the last 6 years, the Cubs:
– won 505 games
– won 1 WS
– appeared in 1 WS
– appeared in 3 NL CS
– finished with more wins than the Cardinals in 4 seasonsthe Cardinals:
– won 478 games
– won 0 WS
– appeared in 0 WS
– appeared in 2 NL CS
– finished with more wins than the Cubs in 2 seasonsSo Theo’s tanking and rebuild wasn’t really all that successful when compared to the Cardinals. He can claim an average of 4.5 wins a season more in the last 6 years and 1 more WS. Yet, they are staring at a rebuild of their team just like the Cardinals. However, the Cardinals have a farm system to rebuild with. The Cubs don’t.
One thing the Cardinals can say that the Cubs can’t: they only have 1 losing record season in the last 20 years. In the last 10, the Cardinals have no losing record seasons while the Cubs have 4.
As a Cardinal fan, I hope the Cards beat the
Cubs every time out. On a personal basis, I hope Jed does well.I hope the Cardinals beat the Cubs every time out also. Trust me there isn’t another team I would rather beat.
Having said that I don’t expect they are going to crash and burn. They literally just won the division so dancing on their grave seems premature to me.
I don’t build the Cubs up because I like them. I despise them but I believe it is wiser to be prepared for a tough battle than to get cocky and come up short.
From betonline.ag:
Theo Epstein Next Employer
Mets 5/4
Phillies 3/2
Mariners 5/1
MLB as Commissioner 5/1
Rangers 7/1
Yankees 12/1
Dodgers 14/1
Angels 16/1
**Note: Must be hired by 12/31/21 for action.Nats considering making a run at a Bryant trade.
Sources: #Nats are considering a trade for #Cubs 3B Kris Bryant, among numerous hitters they’re currently monitoring on the market. Free agent DJ LeMahieu is another option, as I reported earlier today on @MLBNetwork. @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 20, 2020
The Cubs are in an interesting position. If they are truly making everyone available then I assume they would listen on Bryant, Rizzo, Baez, Schwarber, Contreras, Heyward, Darvish, Hendricks, and Kimbrel.
The first four names on the list would be appealing to other teams but they only have one year of control left so that would diminish the returns somewhat. Contreras should fetch a nice return while Darvish and Hendricks should be able to fetch a big haul. They would have to eat a lot of money to move Heyward and Kimbrel.
The bottom line is that the Cubs may take a step back in 2021 but in doing so they are going to be bringing back a lot of younger talent and free up a lot of payroll space, which means they could turn right around and spend big on other elite players. I don’t think they will be down for long.
The Cardinals will need to be prepared go big in 2022 to match them.
Gscottar, I think you’re overestimating the return the Cubs would get from those guys. While they may be able to build a decent farm from trades and then buy some free agents, it’s not like all the guys they’ll get back will be MLB ready by 2022. Bottom line, the Cubs won’t be back to championship quality for probably 3 years at best. If the Cards don’t blow it next year, they should be in year 2 of their championship window before Chicago may be back.
Well I guess we shall see. It depends if they seek players close to being MLB ready or not. Regardless, they will open up quite a bit of payroll room. Also, we don’t know how Hoyer will operate. It has been awhile since he was the top guy. He might be a little different than Theo.
From Ken Rosenthal:
“Ricketts could be expected to receive between $100 million and $125 million in tax credits once federal and state officials determined that the renovation of Wrigley met national historical preservation standards.”
The Cubs and President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer have agreed to terms on a new five-year contract that runs through the 2025 season. pic.twitter.com/OnF2eB04g3
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) November 23, 2020
Stop me if you’ve heard this before… “Playoff-worthy”
I guess Ricketts is just going to pocket the credits.
Jed already has the lingo down pat, saying the Cubs will need to be “opportunistic” to retool and compete at the same time. Mo should have trademarked it! 😉
My guess is that Hoyer will be like Mo and Friedman in that he will go big when the opportunity is there but is also going to build from within. Epstein got into the Dombrowski rut of gutting the farm system for short term gain and it fizzled.
Fortunately for Hoyer and Mo they reside in the worst division in baseball so they can be prudent and opportunistic and still have a good chance to win the division.
New MLB title alert – Asst. GM/VP of Pitching!
Both join Randy Bush, who was already assistant GM. https://t.co/GXnEue6zfM
— Russell Dorsey (@Russ_Dorsey1) November 30, 2020
Looks like everyone is a VP… Hard to tell which are replacements and which are new positions. But while Ricketts made a lot of cuts at lower levels, it sure looks like he has a lot of chiefs. And if others besides Theo left the organization, who and why? I am guessing beat writer stories are coming…
Other promotions: Chris Moore, VP of research and development; Matt Dorey, VP of Player development; Louie Eljaua, VP of international scouting; Alex Suarez, senior director of international player development and operations; Greg Davey, director of baseball ops; (more)
— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) November 30, 2020
Jeremy Greenhouse, director, strategic modeling in baseball ops research and development group; Gian Guzman, director, Dominican Republic scouting ops/international crosschecker; Meghan Jones, assistant director, baseball operations and strategic initiatives; (more)
— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) November 30, 2020
Garrett Chiado, senior player evaluation analyst; Nate Halm, pro personnel specialist; Adam Unes, coordinator, minor league operations; Alex Smith, coordinator, major league data and development, and Jackson New-Smith, assistant, baseball ops.
— Mark Gonzales (@MDGonzales) November 30, 2020
Jed has respected for a number of years the way Cardinals do business as far as building from within and supplementing from the outside. Remaining a competitive, winning team every year that has a good chance of getting into the playoffs
and perhaps going deep.Cubs Claim Robert Stock https://t.co/RwB802mA3e pic.twitter.com/mGlRuWd3yY
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) December 2, 2020
Between Robert Stock and Rowan Wick, the Cubs are really cornering the market on guys the #stlcards drafted as hitters and turned into pitchers. If they sign Sam Tuivailala this winter, something’s up.
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) December 2, 2020
Clubs starting to inform players. Per source: Cubs Jose Martinez has been non tendered. Came over from TB midseason but struggled. He's a FA.
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) December 2, 2020
The #Cubs are definitely tendering a contract to Kris Bryant, but barring a change of plans, will cut ties with outfielders Kyle Schwarber and Albert Almora, as @MDGonzales predicted.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 2, 2020
Speaking of Almora……whats the latest on the young gal he hit with a foul ball down in Houston last year? The last I heard she was not doing very well.
r/Esteemed Rat
Tanking is not without its limitations…
The #Cubs will be non-tendering the No. 4 overall pick from 2014 (Schwarber) and the No. 6 overall pick from 2012 (Almora Jr.). Even with a World Series in 2016, not what the brass had in mind eight years ago.
— Russell Dorsey (@Russ_Dorsey1) December 3, 2020
The Cubs got their World Series out of that crew, so I’m sure they are not sad. No doubt that they are entering a rebuilding phase, which will have to start with building a farm that can supply their team with new talent, especially on the pitching side. I wish them all the worst of luck in that department.
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