Cubs! I am very sad at you!

[Gregg]

You let Schwarber go for nothing. You trade Darvish for a laughable return. Were you too lazy to work out a better deal? Or were you too afraid that the Pads would back out and you would get "stuck" with his salary this year?

And now you are trying to trade Contreras! Shame on you!

You better hope that tv is not your only stream of revenue, because you are making this team unwatchable. You just think you lost money last year.

Your cross town rivals are fun and exciting...just sayin.

I am very very sad at you!

[mjl]

yeah, I think I'm a Sox fan now. I don't mind rooting for a bad team, but I'm not going to try to care about an org that isn't trying to be good. I still like individual players on the team, but...

[fuhrdog]

I'd expect Contreras to be dealt followed by Rizzo, Baez and Bryant if they will move him for peanuts.

[Teenwolf]

You only find diamonds in the rough when you acquire them as 17/18 year olds before their true ceiling is known. I like the 4 prospects going to the Cubs. Their system needed a teardown as the core haven't gotten it done, and the cupboards in the farm are bare... thats how you're able to acquire 2 stud SP's with 3 years of control each, one day after the next... by building that farm system to acquire those studs. The Cubs traded their prospects for Jose Quintana, which both emptied the farm stock of future stars and saddled them with mediocrity... so it just wasn't a good enough core tl get there.

Just like when my Jays went all in to deal the prospects for the knuckleballer and Jose Reyes and Tulowitski, those players weren't the right supplemental pieces for Bautista and Encarnacion's prime to win a title, but it was still worth the shot. Also, I'm glad the Jays rebuilt and created the core of young stuff I love today, they just need the right supplemental pieces this time. I hope we get Willson Contreras from the Cubs and he brings us a title while you get whatever exciting Jays prospects bring you your next title. Its the circle of life.

[madducks]

It could be worse. You could be a Pirates fan.

[Sour Masher]

It could be worse. You could be a Pirates fan.

If that isn't a t-shirt already, I think we just found a good way to make some money.

[chancellor]

I'm going to disagree with Teenwolf on the prime cause for the deal(s) that have been and will likely be made - it's about the Benjamins first and a hopefully successful restocking of the minors second. The Cubs ship out a true #1 SP and a serviceable #2 C and $5 mil and don't get a top 100 prospect back? Sure, some of those really young guys may turn out well, but that's very dicey. Add in all the poor mouthing the Ricketts have been doing, and it's not hard to see why this is happening.

The Brewers and Cards have to be happily stunned their two primary rivals have decided to commit seppuku.

[DMT]

They saved $13M this year with this deal, and I won't be surprised if they flip Davies too. What an embarrassment.

[Teenwolf]

After reading more on the prospects heading to Chicago, I'm convinced this is exactly the type of rebuild trade I would be pursuing.

Yeison Santana - plus defense at SS, and has exceeded expectations with the bat playing below his age level so far. I like him, and have a share in my dynasty league.

Reginald Preciado - Called the headliner of the deal, seems to carry the highest offensive ceiling, may shift to 3rd but could be a 1st division bat there.

Wherever he plays, the real value lies in his bat. Preciado has impressive bat control for a switch-hitting teenager and is likely to develop more power as he grows into his lanky frame. He’s a good runner and could have sneaky 10-15 steal speed depending on growth. He’s an extremely raw player but with some generous projection has potential for stardom. I am pretty confident he grows into 20-30 HR power over the next few years, but likely moves to third base in the process.

Owen Caissie - slugging RF with plus arm and speed.

At 6’4″ 190lbs, he has adapted biomechanical aspects from other big framed hitters, specifically mentioning guys like Aaron Judge, Carlos Correa, and Barry Bonds in pre-draft interviews. As with most slugging corner bats, Caissie’s long swing is prone to whiffs, but he should be able to make enough contact to enable the power. He has a good arm (hitting 90 mph from RF) and decent speed for someone his size, which projects him to be a regular corner outfielder. I see a profile trajectory towards someone like Jay Bruce.

Ismael Mena - Plus defensive CF with intriguing bat.

Mena is a wiry athletic CF with good speed and contact skills. Signed for $2.2 million out of the Dominican Republic in 2019, he has the traits of a future top of the order bat. Standing at 6’3″ 185lbs, his lanky build has room for more power, but he has shown good plate coverage with an inside-out approach thus far. Speed is his best present tool, projecting to be a 20-25 SB threat at peak and utilizing it to be an above-average defender in CF.

https://www.pitcherlist.com/analyzin...l-and-darvish/

[TranaGreg]

You only find diamonds in the rough when you acquire them as 17/18 year olds before their true ceiling is known. I like the 4 prospects going to the Cubs. Their system needed a teardown as the core haven't gotten it done, and the cupboards in the farm are bare... thats how you're able to acquire 2 stud SP's with 3 years of control each, one day after the next... by building that farm system to acquire those studs. The Cubs traded their prospects for Jose Quintana, which both emptied the farm stock of future stars and saddled them with mediocrity... so it just wasn't a good enough core tl get there.

Just like when my Jays went all in to deal the prospects for the knuckleballer and Jose Reyes and Tulowitski, those players weren't the right supplemental pieces for Bautista and Encarnacion's prime to win a title, but it was still worth the shot. Also, I'm glad the Jays rebuilt and created the core of young stuff I love today, they just need the right supplemental pieces this time. I hope we get Willson Contreras from the Cubs and he brings us a title while you get whatever exciting Jays prospects bring you your next title. Its the circle of life.

The other key piece was Ben Cherington. I'd love to read something that addresses his impact on the org wrt player development, I don't think it can be overstated.

So Pirates fans, there actually may be some hope after all.

[chancellor]

They saved $13M this year with this deal, and I won't be surprised if they flip Davies too. What an embarrassment.

Steve Mancuso, a writer on the Reds, made a great statement about this - "...billion-dollar baseball teams that act small do so by choice, not destiny. If owners don’t take advantage of their resources, it’s due to small thinking, not a small market."

This is small thinking at its best - the Cubs, prior to starting this teardown, were a team with legitimate WS chances. Yes, the Dodgers and Pads (even without Darvish) would be tough. But the key pieces were there - a strong top 5-6 hitters, a legit #1, strong #2 in Hendricks, decent 3/4 SP in Mills, bullpen pieces, and good depth. With the cost savings moves going on, the Cubs could easily have found another one or two bottom of rotation pitchers relatively inexpensively and signed a quality OF. I could even see letting Schwarber walk - he's essentially a platoon hitter and a defensive liability if there's no NL DH this year - and the Cubs could likely have replaced him with a better overall player at a lower or equal cost.

[DMT]

Steve Mancuso, a writer on the Reds, made a great statement about this - "...billion-dollar baseball teams that act small do so by choice, not destiny. If owners don’t take advantage of their resources, it’s due to small thinking, not a small market."

This is small thinking at its best - the Cubs, prior to starting this teardown, were a team with legitimate WS chances. Yes, the Dodgers and Pads (even without Darvish) would be tough. But the key pieces were there - a strong top 5-6 hitters, a legit #1, strong #2 in Hendricks, decent 3/4 SP in Mills, bullpen pieces, and good depth. With the cost savings moves going on, the Cubs could easily have found another one or two bottom of rotation pitchers relatively inexpensively and signed a quality OF. I could even see letting Schwarber walk - he's essentially a platoon hitter and a defensive liability if there's no NL DH this year - and the Cubs could likely have replaced him with a better overall player at a lower or equal cost.

Exactly, but the Ricketts are more concerned with the bottom line and reversing their "biblical losses" (barf). No wonder Theo abandoned ship.

[Gregg]

You let Schwarber go for nothing. You trade Darvish for a laughable return. Were you too lazy to work out a better deal? Or were you too afraid that the Pads would back out and you would get "stuck" with his salary this year?

And now you are trying to trade Contreras! Shame on you!

You better hope that tv is not your only stream of revenue, because you are making this team unwatchable. You just think you lost money last year.

Your cross town rivals are fun and exciting...just sayin.

I am very very sad at you!

Cubs president Jed Hoyer said Wednesday that the rumors about Willson Contreras being shopped are "fictional."
This could be a game of semantics, as the Cubs have undoubtedly received calls about Contreras -- especially in the wake of the Yu Darvish/Victor Caratini trade -- and would almost certainly move the star catcher this winter given a sizable enough return. Hoyer also told reporters during Wednesday's press conference that he thinks "we're going to have a really competitive team next year," so take it all with a grain of salt.

SOURCE: Jordan Bastian on Twitter
Dec 30, 2020, 11:27 AM ET

Jed, competitive with who?!! Winning a wild card is not competitive for this team! You have done nothing to try to get competitive this year. All of it has been about the money! Your actions do not match up with your words.

[mgwiz22]

Perhaps they will use the savings to re sign their free agents to be.

[Gregg]

Perhaps they will use the savings to re sign their free agents to be.

That is little consolation as re-signing your own free agents is part of baseball. The Cubs are a big market team and they need to act like it.

They should have at least received one of the Pads Top rookie prospects in this deal.