Cubs Offseason 2014: So, what did your team do this offseason? Isn't that cute.

[SKO]

It's weird - in this case it wasn't a case of not having the money. They clearly didn't want to go that many years and I'm not upset about it.

I think that's fine in principle, but if they draw a hard line in the sand on every free agent, it's going to be really difficult for them to ever sign anyone good.

Yeah. I don't disagree that they need to do something. I'm not saying people wanting them to DO SOMETHING are stupid. I just think the main something is clearly acquiring a Lester or Hamels caliber starting pitcher. If they walk out of this offseason without one of those I riot. I understand not wanting to commit to a terrible contract to Martin given that they probably feel confident in their offense going forward. I just will reserve the butthurt until they walk into a season where they hope to contend with Kyle Hendricks as their #2 starter.

[PenFoe]

It's weird - in this case it wasn't a case of not having the money. They clearly didn't want to go that many years and I'm not upset about it.

I think that's fine in principle, but if they draw a hard line in the sand on every free agent, it's going to be really difficult for them to ever sign anyone good.

Yeah. I don't disagree that they need to do something. I'm not saying people wanting them to DO SOMETHING are stupid. I just think the main something is clearly acquiring a Lester or Hamels caliber starting pitcher. If they walk out of this offseason without one of those I riot. I understand not wanting to commit to a terrible contract to Martin given that they probably feel confident in their offense going forward. I just will reserve the butthurt until they walk into a season where they hope to contend with Kyle Hendricks as their #2 starter.

I'm with you here. I really don't care about Russell Martin, but without Lester, Scherzer, Hamels, Zimmerman, etc this offseason will feel like a failure. 

Shields and Brett Anderson/Jason Hammel/Masterson is a letdown.

[R-V]

It's weird - in this case it wasn't a case of not having the money. They clearly didn't want to go that many years and I'm not upset about it.

I think that's fine in principle, but if they draw a hard line in the sand on every free agent, it's going to be really difficult for them to ever sign anyone good.

Stated much more succinctly than I could. I like having #smrt guys in charge as much as the next guy, but at some point I'd like to debate whether or not a big contract free agent signing was the right move for the Cubs, instead of consoling ourselves by congratulating the smart guys for being smart and adhering to said line in the sand.

[InternetApex]

It's weird - in this case it wasn't a case of not having the money. They clearly didn't want to go that many years and I'm not upset about it.

I think that's fine in principle, but if they draw a hard line in the sand on every free agent, it's going to be really difficult for them to ever sign anyone good.

Every free agent hopefully won't be a 33-year-old catcher.

What 33-year-old catcher are you talking about?

My bad Martin will only be 32 on Opening Day.

[ChuckD]

It's weird - in this case it wasn't a case of not having the money. They clearly didn't want to go that many years and I'm not upset about it.

I think that's fine in principle, but if they draw a hard line in the sand on every free agent, it's going to be really difficult for them to ever sign anyone good.

Every free agent hopefully won't be a 33-year-old catcher.

What 33-year-old catcher are you talking about?

My bad Martin will only be 32 on Opening Day.

We can still hope that every free agent won't be a 33-year-old catcher. There's nothing wrong with hoping against that.

[Quality Start Machine]

So Martin to the Blue Jays? Am I hearing this correctly?

What now, Theo? How many more tears?

I liked Martin well enough but I'm fine with not getting him for that contract. He can DH some for the Blue Jays in the later years of the deal, so it may be a bit easier to absorb for them.

Is anyone that upset about the Cubs "missing" out on Martin for 5/$82? 

Probably not Martin specifically, but it was a position of semi-need and they had the money to spend. And it's another good player who ended up not on the Cubs, so it's probably just general angst more than anything else.

Stupid Garpax.

Yeah. I think there's a lot of people waiting on the edge of their seats for Theo and Jed to DO SOMETHING that will let them quiet the voice in their heads that says Ricketts will never spend. I don't even think those people care who it is at this point. Just throw a bunch of cash at someone to prove you can. Cub fans are smart.

It's weird - in this case it wasn't a case of not having the money. They clearly didn't want to go that many years and I'm not upset about it.

I do wonder if they had any conversations with Atlanta about Heyward before saying hey let's get that Italian guy instead.

Probably. But anyone who talks to the Cubs is going to try prying one of the gems away (nobody's calling the Cubs looking for Mike Olt), and for cost/benefit, I don't know how much of an upgrade in RF Heyward would be over Soler over the next couple years anyway.

[SKO]

So Martin to the Blue Jays? Am I hearing this correctly?

What now, Theo? How many more tears?

I liked Martin well enough but I'm fine with not getting him for that contract. He can DH some for the Blue Jays in the later years of the deal, so it may be a bit easier to absorb for them.

Is anyone that upset about the Cubs "missing" out on Martin for 5/$82? 

Probably not Martin specifically, but it was a position of semi-need and they had the money to spend. And it's another good player who ended up not on the Cubs, so it's probably just general angst more than anything else.

Stupid Garpax.

Yeah. I think there's a lot of people waiting on the edge of their seats for Theo and Jed to DO SOMETHING that will let them quiet the voice in their heads that says Ricketts will never spend. I don't even think those people care who it is at this point. Just throw a bunch of cash at someone to prove you can. Cub fans are smart.

It's weird - in this case it wasn't a case of not having the money. They clearly didn't want to go that many years and I'm not upset about it.

I do wonder if they had any conversations with Atlanta about Heyward before saying hey let's get that Italian guy instead.

Probably. But anyone who talks to the Cubs is going to try prying one of the gems away (nobody's calling the Cubs looking for Mike Olt), and for cost/benefit, I don't know how much of an upgrade in RF Heyward would be over Soler over the next couple years anyway.

I don't see how the Cubs having a bunch of really good prospects would have deterred Atlanta from taking a similar package from the Cubs for Heyward that they got from St. Louis. You don't think the Cubs could have thrown some decent relief prospects their way? I doubt they were like "well they won't give us Bryant/Soler/Russell/Baez so fuck them, lets make a deal with St. Louis that doesn't involve players of that caliber either".

[PenFoe]

So Martin to the Blue Jays? Am I hearing this correctly?

What now, Theo? How many more tears?

I liked Martin well enough but I'm fine with not getting him for that contract. He can DH some for the Blue Jays in the later years of the deal, so it may be a bit easier to absorb for them.

Is anyone that upset about the Cubs "missing" out on Martin for 5/$82? 

Probably not Martin specifically, but it was a position of semi-need and they had the money to spend. And it's another good player who ended up not on the Cubs, so it's probably just general angst more than anything else.

Stupid Garpax.

Yeah. I think there's a lot of people waiting on the edge of their seats for Theo and Jed to DO SOMETHING that will let them quiet the voice in their heads that says Ricketts will never spend. I don't even think those people care who it is at this point. Just throw a bunch of cash at someone to prove you can. Cub fans are smart.

It's weird - in this case it wasn't a case of not having the money. They clearly didn't want to go that many years and I'm not upset about it.

I do wonder if they had any conversations with Atlanta about Heyward before saying hey let's get that Italian guy instead.

Probably. But anyone who talks to the Cubs is going to try prying one of the gems away (nobody's calling the Cubs looking for Mike Olt), and for cost/benefit, I don't know how much of an upgrade in RF Heyward would be over Soler over the next couple years anyway.

I don't see how the Cubs having a bunch of really good prospects would have deterred Atlanta from taking a similar package from the Cubs for Heyward that they got from St. Louis. You don't think the Cubs could have thrown some decent relief prospects their way? I doubt they were like "well they won't give us Bryant/Soler/Russell/Baez so fuck them, lets make a deal with St. Louis that doesn't involve players of that caliber either".

I'm not sure the Cubs had a similar package to put together, assuming the Braves were looking for mlb-ready pitching prospects.   Hendricks is really the only one who fits that bill and I doubt that would have been enough.

[SKO]

So Martin to the Blue Jays? Am I hearing this correctly?

What now, Theo? How many more tears?

I liked Martin well enough but I'm fine with not getting him for that contract. He can DH some for the Blue Jays in the later years of the deal, so it may be a bit easier to absorb for them.

Is anyone that upset about the Cubs "missing" out on Martin for 5/$82? 

Probably not Martin specifically, but it was a position of semi-need and they had the money to spend. And it's another good player who ended up not on the Cubs, so it's probably just general angst more than anything else.

Stupid Garpax.

Yeah. I think there's a lot of people waiting on the edge of their seats for Theo and Jed to DO SOMETHING that will let them quiet the voice in their heads that says Ricketts will never spend. I don't even think those people care who it is at this point. Just throw a bunch of cash at someone to prove you can. Cub fans are smart.

It's weird - in this case it wasn't a case of not having the money. They clearly didn't want to go that many years and I'm not upset about it.

I do wonder if they had any conversations with Atlanta about Heyward before saying hey let's get that Italian guy instead.

Probably. But anyone who talks to the Cubs is going to try prying one of the gems away (nobody's calling the Cubs looking for Mike Olt), and for cost/benefit, I don't know how much of an upgrade in RF Heyward would be over Soler over the next couple years anyway.

I don't see how the Cubs having a bunch of really good prospects would have deterred Atlanta from taking a similar package from the Cubs for Heyward that they got from St. Louis. You don't think the Cubs could have thrown some decent relief prospects their way? I doubt they were like "well they won't give us Bryant/Soler/Russell/Baez so fuck them, lets make a deal with St. Louis that doesn't involve players of that caliber either".

I'm not sure the Cubs had a similar package to put together, assuming the Braves were looking for mlb-ready pitching prospects.   Hendricks is really the only one who fits that bill and I doubt that would have been enough.

I guess I don't really know who the other guy St. Louis gave up is. Miller's just a reliever I thought?

[SKO]

So Martin to the Blue Jays? Am I hearing this correctly?

What now, Theo? How many more tears?

I liked Martin well enough but I'm fine with not getting him for that contract. He can DH some for the Blue Jays in the later years of the deal, so it may be a bit easier to absorb for them.

Is anyone that upset about the Cubs "missing" out on Martin for 5/$82?  

Probably not Martin specifically, but it was a position of semi-need and they had the money to spend. And it's another good player who ended up not on the Cubs, so it's probably just general angst more than anything else.

Stupid Garpax.

Yeah. I think there's a lot of people waiting on the edge of their seats for Theo and Jed to DO SOMETHING that will let them quiet the voice in their heads that says Ricketts will never spend. I don't even think those people care who it is at this point. Just throw a bunch of cash at someone to prove you can. Cub fans are smart.

It's weird - in this case it wasn't a case of not having the money. They clearly didn't want to go that many years and I'm not upset about it.

I do wonder if they had any conversations with Atlanta about Heyward before saying hey let's get that Italian guy instead.

Probably. But anyone who talks to the Cubs is going to try prying one of the gems away (nobody's calling the Cubs looking for Mike Olt), and for cost/benefit, I don't know how much of an upgrade in RF Heyward would be over Soler over the next couple years anyway.

I don't see how the Cubs having a bunch of really good prospects would have deterred Atlanta from taking a similar package from the Cubs for Heyward that they got from St. Louis. You don't think the Cubs could have thrown some decent relief prospects their way? I doubt they were like "well they won't give us Bryant/Soler/Russell/Baez so fuck them, lets make a deal with St. Louis that doesn't involve players of that caliber either".

I'm not sure the Cubs had a similar package to put together, assuming the Braves were looking for mlb-ready pitching prospects.   Hendricks is really the only one who fits that bill and I doubt that would have been enough.

Anyway, my point wasn't "what could the Cubs have offered for Heyward" my point was to point out how bizarre Fork's "no one would trade with the Cubs unless they were trying to acquire one of the Big Five (or whatever the hell we're calling them)" stance was, when that wasn't even close to similar to what the Braves got.

[PenFoe]

So Martin to the Blue Jays? Am I hearing this correctly?

What now, Theo? How many more tears?

I liked Martin well enough but I'm fine with not getting him for that contract. He can DH some for the Blue Jays in the later years of the deal, so it may be a bit easier to absorb for them.

Is anyone that upset about the Cubs "missing" out on Martin for 5/$82?  

Probably not Martin specifically, but it was a position of semi-need and they had the money to spend. And it's another good player who ended up not on the Cubs, so it's probably just general angst more than anything else.

Stupid Garpax.

Yeah. I think there's a lot of people waiting on the edge of their seats for Theo and Jed to DO SOMETHING that will let them quiet the voice in their heads that says Ricketts will never spend. I don't even think those people care who it is at this point. Just throw a bunch of cash at someone to prove you can. Cub fans are smart.

It's weird - in this case it wasn't a case of not having the money. They clearly didn't want to go that many years and I'm not upset about it.

I do wonder if they had any conversations with Atlanta about Heyward before saying hey let's get that Italian guy instead.

Probably. But anyone who talks to the Cubs is going to try prying one of the gems away (nobody's calling the Cubs looking for Mike Olt), and for cost/benefit, I don't know how much of an upgrade in RF Heyward would be over Soler over the next couple years anyway.

I don't see how the Cubs having a bunch of really good prospects would have deterred Atlanta from taking a similar package from the Cubs for Heyward that they got from St. Louis. You don't think the Cubs could have thrown some decent relief prospects their way? I doubt they were like "well they won't give us Bryant/Soler/Russell/Baez so fuck them, lets make a deal with St. Louis that doesn't involve players of that caliber either".

I'm not sure the Cubs had a similar package to put together, assuming the Braves were looking for mlb-ready pitching prospects.   Hendricks is really the only one who fits that bill and I doubt that would have been enough.

Anyway, my point wasn't "what could the Cubs have offered for Heyward" my point was to point out how bizarre Fork's "no one would trade with the Cubs unless they were trying to acquire one of the Big Five (or whatever the hell we're calling them)" stance was, when that wasn't even close to similar to what the Braves got.

Well yeah...I mean, Fork.

But no, Miller is not a reliever.  He pitched some in relief for the Cardinals, but that's not the plan.

[Eli]

Someone mentioned this on Twitter, but given how elite FA contracts are always larger than expected, would you guys rather give up prospects to have Hamels for 4/$96 mil or sign Lester outright for 7/$185 mil?

[SKO]

Someone mentioned this on Twitter, but given how elite FA contracts are always larger than expected, would you guys rather give up prospects to have Hamels for 4/$96 mil or sign Lester outright for 7/$185 mil?

Think it depends on the prospects.

[PenFoe]

Someone mentioned this on Twitter, but given how elite FA contracts are always larger than expected, would you guys rather give up prospects to have Hamels for 4/$96 mil or sign Lester outright for 7/$185 mil?

Think it depends on the prospects.

Baez, Almora and Edwards, for sake of discussion.

[SKO]

Someone mentioned this on Twitter, but given how elite FA contracts are always larger than expected, would you guys rather give up prospects to have Hamels for 4/$96 mil or sign Lester outright for 7/$185 mil?

Think it depends on the prospects.

Baez, Almora and Edwards, for sake of discussion.

I'd probably pull that trigger. I just don't know why exactly Hamels would be worth that given what Price and Lester moved for. I guess he's under contract long term and they aren't and winter deals tend to be bigger. I don't know. I'd probably pay that price tho.