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

[CBStew]

This is too good not to share.

http://www.sportingnews.com/photos/4572908-100-years-of-classic-photos-of-wrigley-field/slide/218736

[Quality Start Machine]

This is too good not to share.

http://www.sportingnews.com/photos/4572908-100-years-of-classic-photos-of-wrigley-field/slide/218736

That picture of Robinson and Pafko was just a couple weeks before they became teammates in Brooklyn.

Not sure if saying the first All-Star game was in Wrigley Field instead of Sox Park was a fuckup or a solid trolling. I prefer to believe the latter.

[Saul Goodman]

Jake Johnson, the former Julius Pepperwood, asks Cubs fans to relax and be rational.  Oh Jake.  Classic mistake.

[PenFoe]

Jake Johnson, the former Julius Pepperwood, asks Cubs fans to relax and be rational.  Oh Jake.  Classic mistake.

I vaguely remember him writing something else for Grantland a while back about the Cubs.

And I remember hating it as much as I hate this steaming pile of shit.

[Quality Start Machine]

Jake Johnson, the former Julius Pepperwood, asks Cubs fans to relax and be rational.  Oh Jake.  Classic mistake.

you would have been better off bobbing for french fries instead of reading that tripe.

[Eli]

Jake Johnson, the former Julius Pepperwood, asks Cubs fans to relax and be rational.  Oh Jake.  Classic mistake.

I vaguely remember him writing something else for Grantland a while back about the Cubs.

And I remember hating it as much as I hate this steaming pile of shit.

http://www.desipio.com/messageboard/index.php?topic=8471.msg267251#msg267251

[Saul Goodman]

Jake Johnson, the former Julius Pepperwood, asks Cubs fans to relax and be rational.  Oh Jake.  Classic mistake.

I vaguely remember him writing something else for Grantland a while back about the Cubs.

And I remember hating it as much as I hate this steaming pile of shit.

http://www.desipio.com/messageboard/index.php?topic=8471.msg267251#msg267251

Seems like more work than just typing "That dude sucks" again.  That's dedication.

[PenFoe]

It's early yet, but in Winter Ball in PR, Baez has 6 Ks in 11 ABs.

Baez currently at .409/.462/.773 through 22 ABs. 
2 homers. 

Oh and yeah...9 Ks.

So, the good news is that he's only struck out 3 times in the last 11 ABs. 

And that he's hitting the shit out of the ball.
Against crappy pitching, but still.  Better than struggling.

Bump for a Baez update in PR Winter Ball:

10-43, 2 homers, 5 BB, 21 K. 
.233/.306/.442

Blech.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

It's early yet, but in Winter Ball in PR, Baez has 6 Ks in 11 ABs.

Baez currently at .409/.462/.773 through 22 ABs. 
2 homers. 

Oh and yeah...9 Ks.

So, the good news is that he's only struck out 3 times in the last 11 ABs. 

And that he's hitting the shit out of the ball.
Against crappy pitching, but still.  Better than struggling.

Bump for a Baez update in PR Winter Ball:

10-43, 2 homers, 5 BB, 21 K. 
.233/.306/.442

Blech.

I think it's time we start to re-calibrate our expectations for Baez.

If he's a .230/.310/.450 guy with 200 K but with, say, 28 HR and really solid 2nd base play, I think I can make myself live with that.  At least for now.

[Eli]

I think it's time we start to re-calibrate our expectations for Baez.

If he's a .230/.310/.450 guy with 200 K but with, say, 28 HR and really solid 2nd base play, I think I can make myself live with that.  At least for now.

That's like a 4-5 win player, if you're assuming average defense. You'll probably want to re-calibrate a bit further.

[SKO]

I think it's time we start to re-calibrate our expectations for Baez.

If he's a .230/.310/.450 guy with 200 K but with, say, 28 HR and really solid 2nd base play, I think I can make myself live with that.  At least for now.

That's like a 4-5 win player, if you're assuming average defense. You'll probably want to re-calibrate a bit further.

I'm kind of settling right now for a Mark Trumbo who plays a decent 2B. If it's worse than that I'll go poke out my eyes right now.

[Eli]

I'm kind of settling right now for a Mark Trumbo who plays a decent 2B.

Same thing -- that'd be like a 5-win player.

[Eli]

The plus side to this is Baez has a very low bar for being valuable because he can play middle infield. The league average OPS for 2B last year was like .680 or something. There just isn't much offense to be found there, so even a .220/.260./.410 line is going to make him not be a total black hole. Which is kind of sad.

I miss the steroid era.

[SKO]

I'm kind of settling right now for a Mark Trumbo who plays a decent 2B.

Same thing -- that'd be like a 5-win player.

Yeah but that's mostly a product of him playing 2B. I feel like hoping he can hit .217 with 25+ homers isn't unrealistic, and people seem to think he can stick defensively at 2B. I don't think expecting a shitty average/OBP, a decent amount of homers, and acceptable defense at 2B is woefully unrealistic for Baez. Probably just pretty unrealistic.

[Eli]

I'm kind of settling right now for a Mark Trumbo who plays a decent 2B.

Same thing -- that'd be like a 5-win player.

Yeah but that's mostly a product of him playing 2B. I feel like hoping he can hit .217 with 25+ homers isn't unrealistic, and people seem to think he can stick defensively at 2B. I don't think expecting a shitty average/OBP, a decent amount of homers, and acceptable defense at 2B is woefully unrealistic for Baez. Probably just pretty unrealistic.

I read that Mallee is down there working with him in Winter League, so I don't think we should read too much into his numbers there since he's no doubt trying some new things. He's barely 22 and there's plenty of time for him to figure things out. It's fine that people have tempered expectations (which was probably needed; all those 50-homer dream projections were unrealistic), but I think it's swung a bit too far in the other direction.