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Not surprising. Other than the fact that they won’t be contenders, the Cubs have a starting CF spot and a small field to entice lefty batters to improve their lot in. The Cards don’t really have anything besides “we will win the Central if we show up” to offer in the way of guarantees.
I wouldn’t completely rule out the Cubs as a NLC contender, especially if they land one of the big shortstops. They still need a lot of pitching help though.
I guess the Cubs have reason to be optimistic for the reason of them having won 12 of 15, which included an 8 game winning streak, to close out the ’22 regular season. They also won their first 6 of 7 games out of the gate last April. In between they were horrible…Haha! But yeah, you can never take them lightly when they play the Redbirds. I’m sure a lot of others are like me when I say that my favorite games during the regular season are when the Cardinals play the Cubs at Wrigley. Especially on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Those are fun games to watch.
The Cubs also have the payroll capacity to spend double what they are spending now. They could spend with the Yankees, Mets, and Dodgers if they wanted to. Someday they may decide to do that.
The Chicago Cubs signed starting pitcher Jameson Taillon to a four-year, $68 million deal.
The Chicago Cubs signed outfielder Cody Bellinger to a one-year, $17.5 million deal.
Are the Cubs fans all fired up and honked off at Contreras for signing with arch-rival St. Louis?
Imagine if Molina would have signed with the Cubs years ago.
r/Esteemed Rat
I am sure most Cub fans aren’t very excited about this news but the Cubs seem to be on the upswing overall. They are slowly and surely putting some pieces together in their rebuild. Last year they brought in Stroman and Suzuki. This winter they have brought in Taillon and Bellinger, and could be the favorites to sign Swanson.
The Cardinals are still favored to win the NLC and the Brewers are probably still second but the Cubs are getting close to the Brewers.
I can comment on this first hand since Wrigley is 0.8 miles from me or less as a bird flies, and everyone I know in the neighborhood knows I’m a Cards fan….. CUBS FANS ARE LIVID!!! And I love it! One of my dogs friends dad’s went off acting as if it was my fault we “stole him” (he was joking, but yes, they are not happy).
Long term, the DH and the fact he can play other positions might make it look like a pretty good deal.
Frank Schwindel Signs With NPB's Orix Buffaloes https://t.co/XzUOkvKYdC pic.twitter.com/5zcHbnWP3c
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) December 11, 2022
Oh, this is hilarious
Giving Cubs Fans the Double Bird
While it’s generally true in baseball that there’s no such thing as a bad one-year contract, it’s still a $17.5 million wager the Cubs have placed on former Rookie of the Year and 2019 MVP Bellinger that he rediscovers his All-Star production after a three-year tailspin that included a .203 average, .648 OPS and 1.2 total bWAR in 295 games — enough that the Dodgers released Bellinger rather than pay him similarly through arbitration.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, backfilled in part with another former All-Star outfielder who had been released by a team he’d helped win a recent championship, getting Jason Heyward on a minor-league deal and invitation to big-league camp.
Heyward, over those same past three seasons, hit .224 with a .667 OPS and 1.2 total bWAR in 202 games.
But that’s not even the double-bird part.
It’s this: By releasing Heyward with a year left on his contract, the Cubs are paying roughly $40 million for both players in 2023 — the Dodgers on the hook for only the major-league minimum if Heyward makes the club.
BREAKING: Shortstop Dansby Swanson and the Chicago Cubs are finalizing an agreement on a contract, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 17, 2022
The Cubs are going to be breathing down the neck of the Brewers for second in the NLC but I think we will hold them both off for the title. The Cubs still need more pitching but it appears they are done being in rebuild mode.
I like the Cubs starting rotation. Their bullpen is probably bad though. Although bullpens can be so difficult to guess at. But their lineup still looks terrible. Contreras was their best hitter last year. Maybe Swanson produces at that same level, but probably a little less. Otherwise, I don’t see where they are getting any help outside Hoerner and Haap both being around average. Maybe Merton comes up and hits some home runs? But I doubt he’ll be much better than replacement level. Maybe Bellinger gets to about average as a hitter? I doubt he can get better than that. Overall, I just don’t see them scoring runs. They may still finish in 4th behind a Pirates team that could quietly take a step forward. I for one would love to see the Cubs finish dead last, but it will be hard to finish behind the Reds.
I would like to see the Cubs finish last also but that isn’t going to happen. At a minimum this is a third place team and possibly second.
This “Best of” pronouncement from Passan is generating a lot of heat from Cardinals fans.
2022 SABR Defensive Index (25% of Gold Glove scoring)
NL SS
Hoerner 8.3
Swanson 7.7Edman (2B) 7.1
Donovan (3B) 4.9Maybe he has a point…
The final numbers on a Dansby Swanson-Chicago Cubs deal should be done sometime soon, as @thekapman first said, but the upshot is: The Cubs are going to have a new shortstop and the best defensive middle infield in baseball with Swanson at short and Nico Hoerner moving to second.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 17, 2022
Maybe I’m a tough grader but I don’t consider Donovan to be a particularly adept fielder, Gold Glove or no Gold Glove. So it’s plausible that the Chicago northsiders will have the better defensive middle infield.
Anyway, it’s not all puppies and rainbows for Chicago. It’s almost axiomatic that the cubs lost some of Nico Hoerner’s overall value with his move to second base. That’s how it works. Moving the wrong way on the defensive spectrum decreases the defensive contribution 90-95% of the time, and the hitting demands at the keystone are a bit higher.
But hey, I’m sure the Swanson signing will work out about as well as the Soriano and Heyward deals did for the cubs. A player with a well-established level of talent goes out and has a Big Season and people overreact and think he’s reached a brand new level of profoundly better ability. Suckers. You know who learns from the past? Nobody.
The Chicago team looks like .500 to me, and that’s well behind the Birds & Brewers.
When the Cubs are good it always makes for better Redbird baseball and I think the Cubs will supplant the Brewers as the primary threat to a consecutive NLC title for the Cardinals. I’m looking forward to a beautiful Saturday afternoon Cardinals/Cubs battle at Wrigley Field for a spot atop the division. Nothing better in Big League baseball.
Free-agent pitcher Drew Smyly and the Chicago Cubs are in agreement on a two-year, $19 million contract that includes a $10 million mutual option ($2.5 million buyout) for 2025, according to a source familiar with the deal. Smyly gets $8 million in 2023 and $8.5 million in 2024.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) December 23, 2022
Cubs Closing In On Deal With Tucker Barnhart https://t.co/0nozfXyvNI pic.twitter.com/2bZWBlGn8q
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) December 22, 2022
Robert Murray
@ByRobertMurrayFree-agent pitcher Drew Smyly and the Chicago Cubs are in agreement on a two-year, $19 million contract that includes a $10 million mutual option ($2.5 million buyout) for 2025, according to a source familiar with the deal. Smyly gets $8 million in 2023 and $8.5 million in 2024.
That’s a solid rotation for them now. Hendrciks, Stroman, Taillon, Smyly, then either Thompson or Steele. I could see them making it to .500 this year.
Cubs would basically get Hosmer for free since the Padres have to pay his salary the next three years.
Cubs Close To Deal With Eric Hosmer https://t.co/SR327PA6OV pic.twitter.com/XDPj0cV95y
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) January 3, 2023
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