The Hot Stove is beginning to heat up during the first day of the 2016 MLB Winter Meetings, and before most of us were done digesting our breakfast the market for closers this offseason had been set. Mark Melancon was the first domino to go in the trinity of sharp closing talent that is on […]
Tag: 2016 Offseason
Player Profile: Kris Bryant
Position: Third base…or wherever 2016 Stats: .292/.385/.554, .350 TAv, 9.1 WARP Year in Review: Kris Bryant has made a habit of landing on short lists. So short, in fact, they only include his name. He did it on June 27 in Cincinnati, becoming the first player in history to hit three home runs and two […]
Player Profile: John Lackey
Position: Starting Pitcher 2016 Stats: 188 IP, 24.1 K%, 7.1 BB%, 3.35 ERA, 3.99 DRA, 3.0 WARP Year in Review: One year ago this upcoming weekend, in a shocking move before a pitching heavy market took its annual roadshow to Nashville for the Winter Meetings, Epstein and Co. silenced the whispers about one of the […]
Player Profile: Hector Rondon
2016 Stats: 3.53 ERA/3.54 FIP/2.71 DRA, 1.3 WARP Year in Review: One of the stories that circulated during the Cubs’ World Series run was that before every game, Hector Rondon and Pedro Strop would dunk themselves in cologne and then take the field. On the surface, it sounded like a whimsical and eccentric superstition from […]
Travis Wood: Potential Offseason Target
Position: Left-Handed Reliever 2016 Stats: 61 IP, 18.7 K%, 9.5 BB%, 2.95 ERA, 5.75 DRA, -0.5 WARP How He Fits: Travis Wood was the longest-tenured Cub on the 2016 championship team, and he was arguably one of the leaders in establishing the team-first culture of flexibility that Joe Maddon instilled in Chicago upon arriving in […]
Player Profile: Miguel Montero
Position: Catcher 2016 Stats: .216/.327/.357, .257 TAv, 2.1 WARP Year in Review: Recency bias would have been kind to Miguel Montero if not for some surprising off-the-cuff remarks on the day of the World Series victory parade and rally a few weeks ago. What made them surprising was not so much that Montero had spoken so […]
Player Profile: Ben Zobrist
Ben Zobrist Position: Second base, occasional corner outfield 2016 Stats: .272/.386/.446, .306 TAv, 18 HR, 96 BB, 82 K, 631 PA, -9.4 FRAA, 4.1 WARP Year in Review: The Cubs front office had made it vehemently clear that in 2016 they desired a lineup with a strong, patient plate approach. It was almost hidden between the lines in […]
Chris Coghlan: Potential Offseason Target
Position: OF 2016 Stats: .188/.290/.310, .222 TAv, -.7 WAR Why he fits: On the surface, Chris Coghlan looks like he had a horrible 2016 season, but really it was a tale of two seasons for him. Heading into the year, Coghlan became a last minute roster casualty to make room for the signing of Dexter […]
Player Profile: Javier Baez
Position: 2B, 3B, SS, 1B, C, CF, SP 2016 Stats: .273/.314/.423, .275 TAv, 2.5 WARP Year in Review: Some people think that a little intoxication reveals your true personality. It isn’t that drinking turns you into a jerk per se, you just become more of who you really are. If that theory is true, then we’re all […]
Aroldis Chapman: Potential Offseason Target
Aroldis Chapman’s time as a member of the New York Yankees will likely not be what’s remembered about his 2016 season. His chief highlight from his tenure in the Bronx was the 105.1 mph fastball he chucked in July, just a few weeks before coming to the Friendly Confines. But for as remarkable as that is, […]