According to Jon Heyman, the Cubs will sign Brandon Morrow for $10-11 million per year, but the length of the contract is not yet known. He's coming off the best year of his career, but it was less than 50 innings and what he's done prior to 2017 leaves a lot to be desired. Depending on how long the deal is, I still like it since the Cubs need bullpen arms. More to come later. Or not.
Morrow will have deal with cubs. Expected to be for 10 or 11M a year.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 10, 2017
Update: It's a two year deal with an option for a third year according to Jeff Passan. The deal is pending a physical.
Update: The deal is for two years and he'll earn $9 million in each of 2018 and 2019 with a vesting option for $12 million for 2020 or a $3 million buyout. I thought Morrow would get quite a bit more than that so I'm pretty happy with this deal even though I know there's a chance that 2017 was a fluke. There might even be a good chance that it's a fluke, but the Cubs didn't break the bank and if Morrow can come close to what he did this past season then the Cubs will come well ahead in this deal.
Comments
I’m actually surprised Morrow didn’t get a longer contract. I was expecting at least three years guaranteed.
dmick89Quote Reply
Good signing.
MylesQuote Reply
dmick89,
I think they set up the option in case he has an injury or poor production but the deal seems about right.
RiceQuote Reply
Napkin math suggests they’ll stay well under the luxury tax even with arb raises and perhaps a signing of Cobb or others.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Trammell ——-> HOF
One step forward, two steps back
Jack Morris ——> HOF
Marvin Miller ———> still no HOF
Berselius is too lazy to log inQuote Reply
HOF———->WFC
SKQuote Reply
Does the Morrow signing rule out the return of Wade Davis?
RynoQuote Reply
RynoQuote Reply
Ryno,
That’s a pretty good contract in my opinion. I thought Morrow would take quite a bit more than that.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
It also seems like a contract for a non-closer, yes?
RynoQuote Reply
Jackie Bradley Jr. for Kyle Schwarber?
RynoQuote Reply
Ryno,
I’d keep Schwarber. I think he has the potential to hit 40 home runs on annual basis. Schwarber somehow managed to be about league average last year. His wRC+ was 102 and he had 1.5 fWAR in not quite a full season of playing time. He definitely had a bad year, but was still average.
dmick89Quote Reply
https://twitter.com/RandallTime/status/940236577112051713
RynoQuote Reply
dmick89,
I’d prefer Schwarber, too, but doesn’t that seem like a move the Cubs would make? Maybe not 1-for-1, but those centerpieces.
RynoQuote Reply
49ers winning their way out of a top-5 draft pick like…
RynoQuote Reply
Colome also may retire and become a ballet instructor. Could happen as soon as right now.
RynoQuote Reply
My favorite bit of Yellonalysis Re: the Morrow deal:
RynoQuote Reply
RynoQuote Reply
It could go either way.
Berselius is too lazy to log inQuote Reply
Ryno,
I know the Yankees are good, but they aren’t the best team in baseball.
dmick89Quote Reply
Berselius is too lazy to log in,
Or it could not.
RynoQuote Reply
dmick89,
I think that means the casinos want fewer people betting the Yankees.
RynoQuote Reply
Stanton just obliterated the Marlins in his press conference.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Two years, $16-17 million for Neshek. The Cubs should have signed him too.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
Sounds like they may want Kintzler. Ground ball guy.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
There’s no way that Donald Trump’s ambassador to the United Kingdom would not be named Woody Johnson.
SKQuote Reply
Apparently Arrieta is looking for $200MM. Someone should let Scott Boras know it isn’t 2015.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
I’ve always thought the number of dollars the player wants is as relevant as the number teams want to pay those players. Arrieta wants $200 million. All 30 teams want to pay him league minimum. Neither will get what they want.
dmick89Quote Reply
Is this something to be concerned about?
SKQuote Reply
Also the login function is flaky.
SKQuote Reply
SK,
The site’s server lacks an SSL, I bet.
RynoQuote Reply
SK,
Is that Google Chrome? I think that just means that there is a password or credit card field on the site. I think there’s a way you can find out which it is and obviously it’s a password field here since this isn’t a pay site. I think in order to be secure it would mean adding an SSL certificate and switching over from HTTP to HTTPS, which is becoming more standard these days. I contacted the host about this, but if it’s something that requires much work on my end I’m not going to bother with it. Switching to HTTPS isn’t going to secure the site any more than it already is, but it would secure login/password info.
SK,
What do you mean? “Flaky” doesn’t give me much to go on.
dmick89Quote Reply
I just logged out and back in a couple times with no issues. No “flaky” behavior on my end (MacBook Pro, latest OSX, Safari).
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
enter login info, but it doesn’t “take”. i think we had this issue before in the past didn’t we?
So on iOS, login didn’t work so I had to use the random troll commenting function for commenting without logging in.
Same thing happened on web/chrome, but after the comment posted I was suddenly logged in.
SKQuote Reply
SK,
Yeah, that’s happened from time to time. I think it’s a cache issue and that’s not on our end. If you login and it shows you aren’t, just refresh the page.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
Also, please let me know if this does not help.
dmick89Quote Reply
Adding an SSL certificate is easy, but it will slow the load time down on the site since encrypting and decrypting info takes some time. I doubt it would be that much, but it would add some to the load time. Since some things in this country are still democratic, we should vote on this. I vote no since I don’t really see much benefit other than encrypting passwords.
dmick89Quote Reply
I just use the HTTPS Everywhere add-on.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
dmick89,
Yeah that’s fine. If the only thing that is vulnerable is my password that doesn’t work half the time anyway because of flaky login cache issues, then it seems pointless.
Also, luckily I don’t use one of my normal passwords for OV.
SKQuote Reply
that’s a typo. it’s supposed to say “Not undiscredited”.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
agreed
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
Scherzer, Strasburg, Arrieta?
RynoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
although so help me god if someone steals my password for this site and starts making fake posts under EnricoPallazzo, i will lose my shit
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
holy shit, strasburg will make $45m in his age 34 season. i realize his contract is structured very non-linearly but that still just seems nuts.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
Brad Hand?
RynoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
also…do you really have fucking 6200 unread messages in your gmail inbox????????
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
wait that was supposed to be directed at SK
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
would you like to read them?
SKQuote Reply
SK,
Must be nice being a fellow educator.
uncle daveQuote Reply
SK,
You should familiarize yourself with the unsubscribe method.
RynoQuote Reply
Ryno,
Well all that shit goes into a spam folder and I never see it unless someone asks me why I have so many unread messages.
The ones that sneak through to my normal inbox get unsubbed and marked spam, which seems to work.
SKQuote Reply
uncle dave,
I have to admit I was tempted by the clickbait about people eating from toilet bowls.
SKQuote Reply
Ryno,
I would have shared this sentiment as recently as the end of 2016, but I’d actually like to see the Nats do this sort of thing, as Arrieta isn’t all that good anymore.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Smokestack Lightning,
RynoQuote Reply
Ryno,
I used to get a ton of those and then spent 8 minutes unsubscribing to a couple dozen different places and I’ve been fine since. SK may not have 8 minutes to spare though.
dmick89Quote Reply
Does that really work? I’ve read those sorts of things don’t actually do anything other than make the user feel safe.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
RynoQuote Reply
yeah man i’d be kinda thrilled to see the nats sign arrieta to a $200m contract…
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
They would apparently lose two draft picks and international slot money too if they did that.
Rice in cognitoQuote Reply
SK,
please forward me the free horoscope offer asap, that sounds like a really good deal
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
Rice in cognito,
even better
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
Sean Sears said 2 hours ago that Cubs/Rays for Archer is “getting serious” and that the package would be for just Archer (and not Colome). He’s at the winter meetings but don’t know if he’s reliable.
Imagine a Baez/Happ/Alzolay package gets you there. That might be an overpay.
MylesQuote Reply
I’d be stunned if the Cubs don’t land Cobb, Darvish, or Archer. One more pitcher and two more relievers and you can be pretty confident.
MylesQuote Reply
dmick89,
I have no idea, honestly. But now that you mention it, I feel a lot less safe. 🙁
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Drew Smyly ——> Cubs
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
This off-season sucks.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
I guess someone has to take over Lackey’s position as the guy who gives up dingers.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Rizzo the Rat,
I don’t really get it. I’d be okay with their two starters they’ve acquired so far if they moved them to the bullpen, but I don’t think either of them are any good as starters. I went into this offseason thinking they needed all the relievers and at least a couple good starters. They still need all the relievers and a couple good starters.
dmick89Quote Reply
I assume Smyly is more about 2019 and maybe a bullpen role in late 2018. Still guessing they sign at least one more starter and one more reliever, and they’re making sure Eddie Butler isn’t getting 11 starts in a season within their window.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perhaps they think they can contend as is and load up on pitching at the trade deadline or something.
SKQuote Reply
Yup.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
So sayeth the Muskrat, so sayeth the flock.
RynoQuote Reply
RynoQuote Reply
I’d be happy to get Salazar.
Rizzo the RatQuote Reply
Zobrist, Lester and Justin Wilson are the only Cubs over the age of 30 (and Grimm is the only other Cub over 28).
SKQuote Reply
Ryno,
Jason Heyward hits left-handed. (dying laughing)
PerkinsQuote Reply
Perkins,
Done deal sealed.
RynoQuote Reply
https://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2017-rule-5-draft-preview-v-1-3/
Seems like some of these guys are the type of guy the Cubs are going after this offseason.
RynoQuote Reply
So ARI seems like they really want to unload Greinke and the 4/$138M remaining on his contract. Today’s thought exercise: Would you trade Heyward for him? If so, under what conditions?
RynoQuote Reply
Ryno,
The only circumstance I’d require is that on Opening Day Zack Greinke is a Cub.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
Interesting. The remaining money is nearly the same (unless Heyward opts out), but Heyward would save ARI $6 million this year and about $13 million per year through 2021.
Could be a decent contingency if ARI can’t find a better trade out there.
RynoQuote Reply
Greinke for Heyward is a wet dream. Would require way more.
MylesQuote Reply
Myles,
Wet dream or pipe dream? If you stand by your original comment, I’m worried about your dreams.
JonKneeVQuote Reply
I’m of the opinion that one of Schwarber, Happ, Baez, or Russell will not be on the Cubs roster in February.
JonKneeVQuote Reply
Myles,
What’s a fair deal for ARI and CHC?
RynoQuote Reply
so i deleted over 7000 emails from my Promotions tab in Gmail and 3675 emails from my Social tab.
i have to admit that felt really good.
Seeing my unread messages total down to 2,064 feels like a real achievement until I select all to find out how many there are total and it’s still fucking 11,427. That must mean I’ve read 9k+ emails and only since I started using Gmail regularly a few years ago. Now I feel like shit again.
SKQuote Reply
It’s hard to come up with a feasible one because Greinke is a little bit of an albatross and Heyward is an extreme albatross. Would probably require multiple pieces on both sides.
MylesQuote Reply
Little of column A, little of column B
MylesQuote Reply
Ozuna isn’t as good as Stanton, but he gives the Cardinals more flexibility so I think they came out ahead in their dealings with Miami.
dmick89Quote Reply
Ok. Heyward and Montgomery for Greinke + some bottom of the top 10 prospect.
MylesQuote Reply
Myles,
RynoQuote Reply
I faxed the paperwork over
MylesQuote Reply
not if you include the blow to the pride of the BFIBs
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
Unless the Diamondbacks can somehow convince Heyward to opt out, there’s no chance that they’re going to take Heyward in any deal for Greinke unless the Cubs send garbage bags of cash in the deal. How many garbage bags? I have no idea how many hundreds fill a bag so it all depends on that.
If the Cubs are serious about Greinke, it’s probably going to cost them at least one of Javier Baez or Addison Russell plus one or two of their top five prospects, which is fine since their top prospects are about the equivalent to 21-30 in most organizations.
Since Yu Darvish is still available I can’t think of a good reason for the Cubs to go after Greinke.
dmick89Quote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
By spring training they’ll somehow have convinced themselves they got the better player and lucked out in not acquiring Stanton. By the all-star break 100% of Cardinals fans will claim they were against the team acquiring Stanton.
dmick89Quote Reply
Cubs –> 2nd in NL Central
RynoQuote Reply
Only if Ozuna is the 142 wRC+ hitter he was last year and not the 113 career mark.
For the short term, Stanton was the much scarier get for them, imo.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Cubs –> 2nd in Chicago
RynoQuote Reply
RynoQuote Reply
Ryno,
I’ve never even heard of that motherfucker, but his “most similar by age” are quite interesting.
Oh, and…
RynoQuote Reply
Cishek is a great get. Dominates righties. Probably the closer if we don’t sign anyone else.
Cubs need one more reliever and one more starter to wrap the offseason up.
MylesQuote Reply
Relievers are:
Morrow
Cishek
Edwards
Grimm
Maples
Wilson
—-
Zastryzny?
Tseng?
Mills?
Smyly at the end of the year?
Dario Alvarez??
Cory Mazzoni???
MylesQuote Reply
Seems more and more like Montgomery won’t be on this team Opening Day if he really wants to start. You could easily trade him for a solid reliever at this point if a team thinks he can start. Something like Mychal Givens (Baltimore’s setup man) could easily work. You might have to throw a lotto chip in.
MylesQuote Reply
Myles,
Strop
dmick89Quote Reply
Brad Brach on that same team might not even require a lotto ticket.
MylesQuote Reply
Much better bullpen, but still not great.
dmick89Quote Reply
Yeah, but I’ll take average over turd blossom.
MylesQuote Reply
(dying laughing) forgot about him
MylesQuote Reply
RynoQuote Reply
If that’s the case, I think another reliever is a luxury and not a necessity. Not saying the Cubs shouldn’t (Wilson and Maples, obviously, along with injuries) but I wouldn’t be too angry if that’s the squad the came into Opening Day with.
MylesQuote Reply
Cubs didn’t lose any one in the major-league portion of the Rule 5. Nice. Corey Black could end up making this bullpen at some point next season.
MylesQuote Reply
Myles,
If the Cubs are counting on anything from Wilson and Maples to complete this bullpen, they need more arms. I think anything you get from them is a bonus.
dmick89Quote Reply
Understandable.
MylesQuote Reply
That said, spending $6 million to fix the 6th man out of the pen doesn’t seem right.
MylesQuote Reply
Darvish and Cain and I’d be really happy.
dmick89Quote Reply
Thought you meant Matt Can at first. Maybe as a bullpen coach?
MylesQuote Reply
Myles,
They lost Pedro Araujo but that was it. Pretty lucky.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I’m pretty optimistic that Wilson will bounce back to at least being an okay RP. He’s been solid the last few years until falling off a cliff after coming to CHC. Reading between the lines it sounds like how Bosio handled him was a big reason that he was let go. Maybe he’ll do better with a fresh start.
BerseliusQuote Reply
Berselius,
I tend to think Wilson will be fine too, but he looked spectacularly awful after that trade. So much so that I’m at least a little concerned. I have no faith in Maples. I think it’s unlikely he’ll figure out how to walk fewer than 6 per 9 at the MLB level.
dmick89Quote Reply
I’m going to be honest; that name barely even rings a bell.
MylesQuote Reply
The Cubs’ Annual Garage Sale Bullpen Rebuild is fine, but what really stings in my mind is the fact that the Cubs did not pursue Stanton.
The Cubs were one in four landing spots. The Cubs had a 25% chance to land an MVP OF. Those odds are better than winning the lottery or the World Series.
And the cost for Stanton is nominal. Three years at $77 million before he opts out.
And the trade cost would have been nominal and roster beneficial. One middle infielder starter (Russell) and two Class A minor leagues for a superstar?
Stanton would have solved the line up issues as he would bat clean up to protect Rizzo.
It would have opened up valuable playing time for Happ, Almora and Zobrist. Stanton in RF, Heyward/Almora platoon in CF, Schwarber/Happ in LF, Zobrist/Happ at 2B.
I have not read why the Cubs did not make a major effort to get Stanton. Was the front office so distracted by trying to land the longshot Ohtani to miss a golden opportunity? Or is the front office too infatuated with their own players (Jim Hendry Disease) to stop thinking about trading guys off the 25 man roster? Or does Theo-Jed really believe that everyone is going to have a better year offensively and defensively?
thestealthgmQuote Reply
This, but I’m not as disappointed that the Cubs didn’t pursue Stanton. There’s a good chance he opts out in a few years, but there’s also a reasonable chance something happens in those few years that would stop him from doing so. I wouldn’t put the odds of him opting out a few years down the road any higher than 50-60% so I think the reason they didn’t go after him is a mixture of them thinking everyone is going to do better and not wanting to take the chance that they get stuck with another outfielder making way too much money for way too many years.
dmick89Quote Reply
People also thought that Heyward had a great shot at opting out, and Stanton is more injury-prone than Heyward ever was.
MylesQuote Reply
The Cubs can go ahead and sign Yu Darvish today, thanks.
MylesQuote Reply
Myles,
Darvish could be signing a contract with the Cubs right now. Stay tuned.
RynoQuote Reply
Feel like you’re setting me up for a “big if true,” so I’m going to take a wait-and-see approach.
MylesQuote Reply
It could go either way.
PerkinsQuote Reply
Pedro Araujo was taken by the Orioles in the rule 5 draft, but they took 2 OTHER PITCHERS in the same draft. That’s going to be a fun bullpen competition.
MylesQuote Reply
Ian Happ and Oscar De La Cruz for Danny Salazar, now that Carlos Santana has signed elsewhere.
MylesQuote Reply
Then, sign Lorenzo Cain.
MylesQuote Reply
Then, re-sign Wade Davis.
MylesQuote Reply
Offseason: complete.
MylesQuote Reply
Ryno,
The news out of Japan seems to be fanning those flames.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
Or not. It could still go either way.
dmick89Quote Reply
This would be my concern. Getting stuck with aged/bad Heyward and Stanton is a pretty big dent in your cap room when you throw in Bryant and Rizzo’s contracts in 3 years.
sharpchicityQuote Reply
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2017/12/16/cubs-pursuing-yu-darvish-free-agency/
dmick89Quote Reply
I finished my shopping a week early. It’s a Xmas miracle!
berseliusQuote Reply
New shit
http://obstructedview.net/the-scrap-heap-winter-meetings/
berseliusQuote Reply