Comments on: Free Agency, Trade, or Both: Nobody Pitches for Free—Assessing the Cubs’ Pitching Situation

By: Zack Moser

Zack Moser — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 20:37:36 +0000

I’ve been beating the drum of positional and lineup flexibility, —if not quite “redundancy”—and I think it’s possible (and preferrable) that, if the FO is to trade for pitching, then they fill the gap on the offensive side with a player who offers plus D and multi-positional possibilities.

I.E. Soler-plus for Carrasco, Zobrist/Heyward to lead off and play OF, etc. Maintains the team’s versatility advantage while adding offense, defense, and pitching, at a similar or lower cost than signing one of the Big Four pitching FAs.

By: Andrew Felper

Andrew Felper — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 03:48:07 +0000

Kennedy has great strikeout numbers, but there’s tough to find much else to like at this point. It’s difficult to imagine the Nationals, w/ a new manager and pitching coach, trading Strausburg. I think Lackey and a young guy under control on a team in need of hitting would be my preference. But again, they can afford Price, and there’s worth things than having him in his ages 30-32 seasons with Arrieta and Lester. It’s going to be so fascinating to watch how this plays out.

By: Andrew Felper

Andrew Felper — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 03:34:33 +0000

Thanks for reading! I think you hit the nail on the head with the ideal offseason plan. I keep thinking of the ’04 Red Sox who brought in Schilling (trade), Arroyo (waivers), and Foulke (free agent) to join Pedro, Lowe, Wakefield, Timlin, and Embree. They used multiple approaches to provide depth. I expect Theo & Jed to be very creative and unsentimental about trading positional depth, as their window with Arrieta & Lester at their peak might never be more open.

By: Andrew Felper

Andrew Felper — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 03:26:46 +0000

I think Hendricks could be a #4 a World Series team, but I don’t want to split hairs. I agree they need two starters this offseason. I think they could do both, let’s say, Price and Lackey, or Price and Ross, or Anderson/Lackey and Ross/Carrassco. I am so eager to see if their abundance of resources means they will go in on Price for those first three years, like the Yankees did with Sabathia. I agree with you on Lackey.

By: hvaughn

hvaughn — Sun, 08 Nov 2015 14:53:50 +0000

On the major league side, I wonder if Wei-Yin Chen might be a reasonable fit at 4/56 or so. I’m also curious whom they they might target to populate the upper minors with some depth – it will be a good challenge for Jason Parks and the rest of a talented scouting staff.

By: drew

drew — Sun, 08 Nov 2015 12:49:25 +0000

I’m glad you pointed out just how strong our pitching was this year–no one wins 97 games with a sub-par pitching effort. That being said, it absolutely was anomalous…It seems to me that Zimmerman is as high as we should go with a contract and I really hope we go with the “depth” approach. A trade is probably necessary too. We may have to compromise the luxury of “positional redundancy” for more pitching redundancy. Soler/Castro/Baez (all players I dread trading) have to be on the table to obtain the services of Ross/kimbrel/tehran/carrasco/etc. I personally really like the idea of carlos carrasco, signing either lackey/leake/gallardo, at least one more strong bullpen arm, and locking down a centerfielder with plus defensive coverage if schwarber is going to be in left

By: allan birmantas

allan birmantas — Sat, 07 Nov 2015 13:39:47 +0000

The problem is the fact that the Cubs have only a #1, a #2 and a #5 on their staff. They need two dependable pitchers to be their #3 and #4. I would suggest that they pass on the “star” types. and concentrate on the second tier, affordable ones which are available. Lackey on a two year contract especially intrigues me.

By: polender

polender — Sat, 07 Nov 2015 04:14:17 +0000

“… up to a quarter million dollars.” I know this is insane, but this should read billion and not million.

By: Michael Mahon

Michael Mahon — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 18:30:23 +0000

This has been easily my biggest fear since the season ended. Dumping over $200 million into over 30 pitchers. I’ve been praying Theo plays it smart and signs a Kennedy or Gallardo and maybe does a similar trade and extension for maybe Strausburg. What are the odds on a move like that?

By: Andrew Felper

Andrew Felper — Fri, 06 Nov 2015 16:53:16 +0000

It would be fascinating if he’s posted. It reminds me a bit of why the Yankees original Sabathia deal made so much sense.