Previously, we talked about the remaining arbitration-eligible Cubs and the impending deadline:
Cubs (10)
- Ian Happ (5.036): $10.6MM
- Nico Hoerner (3.014): $2.2MM
- Codi Heuer (3.000): $800K
- Nick Madrigal (2.164): $1.1MM
That deadline has since passed, and you can see every arbitration case has been settled before they have to bring in the agents and front office bad-mouthers:
Cubs (6)
Via MLBTR
- Ian Happ (5.036): $10.85MM agreement
- Rowan Wick (3.114): $1.55MM agreement in November
- Nico Hoerner (3.014): $2.525MM agreement
- Codi Heuer (3.000): $785K agreement
- Nick Madrigal (2.164): $1.225MM agreement
- Adrian Sampson (2.117): $1.9MM agreement in November
Checking the Cots Contracts tracker, it would appear the Cubs are about $22MM below the first luxury tax threshold, and as has been implied at the Convention, Tom Ricketts seems willing to spend more but not necessarily exceed that threshold at this time. As usual, the MLBTR projections were pretty spot-on, and while Ian Happ’s report came kind of late in the evening of the deadline, the fact that he got above his projection probably bodes well for any potential extension talks, which I would not object to given how sparse next year’s free agency appears to be.
The folks at Bleacher Nation are covering the Cubs Convention and have also suggested that the Cubs may still be pursuing Trey Mancini, which I surmise won’t take a huge contract and would safely keep them under the luxury tax. I still don’t think they necessarily need to add more to the bullpen with the in-house pitching, but former reliever Andrew Chafin is available and I guess they could use a lefthander to help out Brandon Hughes. I low key wanted them to make an offer to Andrew McCutchen, who just seems like a fun guy and can still provide solid production if not anywhere near his former MVP level, but he’s back with the Pirates, and the Cubs have too many outfielder/DH types anyway, so I get it. Then again, since the Pirates are happy perpetually sucking, he might get traded midseason and become a Cub after all (dying laughing)
The Cubs.com beat reporter, Jordan Bastian, wrote up the opening ceremony at the convention, which I’m bummed to have missed even if this team isn’t the ideal super-juggernaut we had hoped for at the start of this offseason. Nevertheless, I am only about 75% joking when I say that the Cubs will play 162 1-0 games and hopefully win 90 of them, as games where you don’t get blown out are games where you have a shot at flipping the script. With the pitching and defense in place, I think the Cubs can do that, but it sucks that they’re punting the “destroy everything in our path” lineup construction to the next seasons. The rah-rah mantra remains that they’re trying to win this season, and I guess we will see if they can hold the .500 line and add at the deadline.
Comments
In news that may surprise only in the knowledge of who runs the Cubs, they will not be interested in signing He Who Must Not Be Named/Voldemort/Trolldemort/Whatever we decide to call the assbag
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Trolldemort is a good name
PerkinsQuote Reply
Mancini, huh? Ok. Kinda surprised.
andcountingQuote Reply
Those crazy sons of bitches, they did it
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Yay, they Did Something!
berseliusQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
Life finds a way.
berseliusQuote Reply
Also finding a way:
berseliusQuote Reply
Word is the Cubs might also sign Chafin, which I’m all for.
andcountingQuote Reply
andcounting,
Probably need lotion for that
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I did miss a bunch as I was engrossed in Everything Everywhere All At Once with the family, fucking good movie and quite a metaphor
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Probably will get some news of signings tomorrow, Cubs have about $5MM to spend on international amateurs that they’re supposed to report, wink wink nudge nudge
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/bonus-pools-for-2023-international-signing-market.html
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
Loved that movie. Second favorite of 2022 just barely behind Banshees of Inisherin. Big drop after those two IMO.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
It was way better of a Multiverse tale than the most recent MCU Spider-Man and Doctor Strange movies and I enjoyed those too. Power of great acting to boost great storytelling
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Here’s the Cubs signings pending confirmation and any shenanigans that alert MLB
https://twitter.com/JesseSanchezMLB/status/1614633982200803341?t=grRB4cfwS5e4bOEiMrkGnQ&s=19
Rice CubeQuote Reply
The Mancini deal is supposed to be 2 years with an opt out after this season if he can get 350 PA, the total is $14MM or $7MM per year with some incentives as well, but I guess there’s no buyout since it’s an opt out?
Rice CubeQuote Reply
The Cubs international draft picks are 16, 17, and 17. I can’t wrap my mind around this.
andcountingQuote Reply
I really hope this turns out to be true.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/01/kris-bryant-expected-to-be-healthy-for-spring-training.html
Bryant’s health struggles were massively frustrating, but he is one dude that absolutely does not deserve it. KB is pretty much (as far as I know) the ideal MLB citizen, and it’s a downright shame the trajectory of his career is looking like Mark Prior (but with a championship as a player).
andcountingQuote Reply
andcounting,
Yeah he probably deserved to be better taken care of and not forced to play through all those nagging injuries, not to mention I would’ve just made him a Cub for life, but that’s probably why I don’t run the team because I’m too attached to good guys.
Anyway, here’s some new shit about lineups now that Trey Mancini reportedly is on board, could’ve probably used KB at 3B y’know –> http://www.obstructedview.net/cubs-lineup-readjustment/
Rice CubeQuote Reply