⚾ MLB Official Baseball Thread

[Bru]

I went to the parade. I'm not a Cubs fan by any means, but I'm definitely a fan of their parades. I was wearing mostly black of course, cause go Sox.

Anyway I think I see myself in this shot, middle of the pack on the right side. Hey, [MENTION=12]Bru[/MENTION] . What was your favorite part of Jackson? Getting shoved every thirty seconds, cheering on those kids trying to climb the tree, or trying to cross that bridge? All of those were worth it, even if I couldn't see anything.

Ha! It was amusing. We had a pretty good group of people around us so there wasn't too much pushing and shoving. Annoying, drunken, Cubs fans, but my wife lived in Wrigleyville while we dated so it's par for the course.

 

[dberz94]

So....what do we now?

 

[guspech750]

So....what do we now?

Thumb our butts until spring training. And us Sox fans will continue to thumb our butts as it will be much more entertaining than watching another crappy season.

 

[Marko]

White sox made a good move by getting rid of Ventura and promoting Renteria. He managed the Cubs a few years ago.

 

[VenomousDSG]

Renteria is a horrible manager.... Good luck with that.

 

[Jeffs FRC]

So....what do we now?

Watch hockey

White sox made a good move by getting rid of Ventura and promoting Renteria. He managed the Cubs a few years ago.

Sox NEED to shitcan Kenny. He's an arrogant prick that obviously has no clue.

 

[Fish]

Renteria is a horrible manager.... Good luck with that.

From what I read he isnt bad. He wasnt given the team Maddon had.

Is it me or was anyone else thinking the Chicago River actually looked kinda clean. They should keep the blue dye going.

 

[dberz94]

From what I read he isnt bad. He wasnt given the team Maddon had.

Is it me or was anyone else thinking the Chicago River actually looked kinda clean. They should keep the blue dye going.

Maybe it'll kill the Asian carp

 

[Lead Pipe]

Sox NEED to shitcan Kenny. He's an arrogant prick that obviously has no clue.

YES YES YES YES YES!!!! At least with Hahn getting a little bit of authority the drafting has been better. The trend of drafting athletic, black outfielders with no talent has stopped. After 3 post season appearances in 16 years (1 of which was the team inherited from Ron Scheuler, as were most of the homegrown guys on the 05 team) none in the last 8 years, it's time he goes. We were close last year buy Jerry cares more about his friends than winning. We're stuck with Kenny till Jerry kicks the bucket. It will be another offseason of 1 good move (Maybe Fowler, maybe Wilson Ramos) then a bunch of guys that used to be good but suck now and there's hope we can get one more good year of them. Like Latos, Rollins, Shields, Jackson, etc...... God they get me so fired up.

 

[Chet Donnelly]

19 year old cubs fan in my neighborhood (lives on my street a couple hundred yards down), was arrested for shooting his AR15 into the ground in his front yard. I didn't see it, but apparently they sent in the SWAT team to arrest him.

Mount Prospect man charged with firing AR-15 into ground | Chicago Sun-Times

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20161103/news/161109513/

 

[Primalzer]

From what I read he isnt bad. He wasnt given the team Maddon had.

This. Not many teams do though. Ricketts gave Theo basically a blank check and said "Win me a World Series." The Cubs have made some bad moves (Heyward) but some great moves for cheap (Arrieta and Rizzo.) Plus they've had a good amount of their draft picks turn out well (Baez, Bryant, Schwarber) and their farm system has turned into one of the best in the MLB. Theo worked it the ground up, and the team has trade bait and great young talent for years to come. Plus Maddon seems to work well, and is able to hone the young talent better than most managers...for whatever reason.

 

[Dan00Hawk]

This. Not many teams do though. Ricketts gave Theo basically a blank check and said "Win me a World Series." The Cubs have made some bad moves (Heyward) but some great moves for cheap (Arrieta and Rizzo.) Plus they've had a good amount of their draft picks turn out well (Baez, Bryant, Schwarber) and their farm system has turned into one of the best in the MLB. Theo worked it the ground up, and the team has trade bait and great young talent for years to come. Plus Maddon seems to work well, and is able to hone the young talent better than most managers...for whatever reason.

I'll give Heyward a chance to rebound offensively for the 2017 season. His defense, attitude, and leadership in the playoffs helped the team, even though his bat was a big negative.

 

[Primalzer]

I'll give Heyward a chance to rebound offensively for the 2017 season. His defense, attitude, and leadership in the playoffs helped the team, even though his bat was a big negative.

It's hard to put a price on attitude and leadership...plus his defense was fantastic, as it should have been. But at the plate, he just seemed so blah. I don't know what the Cubs did to turn a career .268 hitter into a .230 hitter (at a hitter friendly ball park)...but they've got to figure out his swing...His WAR is usually huge; 5+, but was down at 1.6 for the year (lowest of his career)...just shows how bad his bat was...that 1.6 WAR is all his defense. But he's had down years before...hopefully he rebounds like he's done in the past.

 

[rz79]

Saying that Ricketts wrote Theo a blank check is literally hilarious.... you make it sound like they went out and bought the WS like a classic late 90's early 2k Yankees team.

 

[Chet Donnelly]

Saying that Ricketts wrote Theo a blank check is literally hilarious.... you make it sound like they went out and bought the WS like a classic late 90's early 2k Yankees team.

Ummm...they kind of did, and I think that is what they're going to continue to do. Lester and Heyword (even though Heyword sucks) were gigantic acquisitions. Then add Chapman getting over $4M from the Cubs for a couple months. Cubs built a decent team, but wouldn't have won a WS without the big dollar acquisitions. I think Ricketts will continue to pay huge contracts to the top pitchers in the league, and I don't blame him.

 

[Primalzer]

Saying that Ricketts wrote Theo a blank check is literally hilarious.... you make it sound like they went out and bought the WS like a classic late 90's early 2k Yankees team.

Exactly what Ryan said. You can look at the just the main payroll...but you have acquisition of Maddon that doesn't count towards that. Plus you have the complete revamp of the minor league/farm system. That takes a ton of money too...I know it's not Theo's focus, but all the money spent around the Wrigleyville area PLUS to Wrigley itself has to be considered. Wrigley has had upgrades to its infrastructure and training facility, which also has to be considered into everything.

The original comment was a bit of an exaggeration, but the Rickett family was MUCH more willing to put money into this team than the Trib ever was.

 

[Lead Pipe]

Ummm...they kind of did, and I think that is what they're going to continue to do. Lester and Heyword (even though Heyword sucks) were gigantic acquisitions. Then add Chapman getting over $4M from the Cubs for a couple months. Cubs built a decent team, but wouldn't have won a WS without the big dollar acquisitions. I think Ricketts will continue to pay huge contracts to the top pitchers in the league, and I don't blame him.

Lol @ Cleveland Indians at 98 mil.

 

[Primalzer]

Lol @ Cleveland Indians at 98 mil.

1 Mike Napoli 16,000,000
2 Coco Crisp 11,000,000
3 Andrew Miller 9,000,000
4 Carlos Santana 6,200,000
5 Rajai Davis 5,000,000
6 Jason Kipnis 4,166,666
7 Lonnie Chisenhall 2,250,000
8 Trevor Bauer 1,940,000
9 Bryan Shaw 1,550,000
10 Josh Tomlin 1,500,000
11 Yan Gomes 1,083,000
12 Corey Kluber 1,000,000
13 Cody Allen 547,100
14 Zach McAllister 520,400
15 Brandon Guyer 515,800
16 Dan Otero 512,500
17 Jose Ramirez 511,300
18 Roberto Perez 508,600

 

[Primalzer]

Cubs...the Montero contract doesn't look so great...considering he barely played in the WS

1 Jon Lester 20,000,000
2 Miguel Montero 12,000,000
3 Dexter Fowler 9,500,000
4 Jason Heyward 8,800,000
5 Aroldis Chapman 8,050,000
6 Ben Zobrist 7,750,000
7 Travis Wood 5,685,000
8 Anthony Rizzo 5,285,714
9 Jake Arrieta 3,630,000
10 Jorge Soler 2,666,667
11 Pedro Strop 2,525,000
12 Chris Coghlan 2,505,000
13 David Ross 2,500,000
14 Hector Rondon 544,000
15 Justin Grimm 531,500
16 Kyle Hendricks 510,000
17 John Lackey 507,500

 

[Lead Pipe]

Kluber being paid less than Baur and Tomlin is insane and Lindor didn't even make the top 10.

 

[Primalzer]

Kluber being paid less than Baur and Tomlin is insane and Lindor didn't even make the top 10.

Doesn't look like rookie contracts make that list....

Here's the Cubs from a different site...hopefully the formatting works...

Jon Lester 32 SP Vet $20,000,000 $5,000,000 - $25,000,000 $25,000,000
Jason Heyward 27 RF Vet $15,000,000 $6,666,666 - $21,666,666 $21,666,666
John Lackey 38 SP Vet $16,000,000 - - $16,000,000 $16,000,000
Miguel Montero 33 C Vet $14,000,000 - - $14,000,000 $14,000,000
Jake Arrieta 30 SP Arb 2 $10,700,000 - - $10,700,000 $10,700,000
Ben Zobrist 35 2B Vet $10,000,000 $500,000 - $10,500,000 $10,500,000
Jason Hammel 34 SP Vet $9,000,000 - - $9,000,000 $9,000,000
Dexter Fowler 30 CF Vet $8,000,000 - - $8,000,000 $8,000,000
Travis Wood 29 RP Arb 3 $6,170,000 - - $6,170,000 $6,170,000
Anthony Rizzo 27 1B Vet $5,000,000 $285,714 - $5,285,714 $5,285,714
Pedro Strop 31 RP Arb 3 $4,400,000 - - $4,400,000 $4,400,000
Aroldis Chapman 28 RP/CL Arb 3 $11,325,000 - - $11,325,000 $4,331,967
Trevor Cahill 28 RP Vet $4,250,000 - - $4,250,000 $4,250,000
Hector Rondon 28 RP Arb 1 $4,200,000 - - $4,200,000 $4,200,000
Jorge Soler 24 LF Vet $3,000,000 $666,667 - $3,666,667 $3,666,667
Chris Coghlan 31 LF Arb 3 $4,800,000 - - $4,800,000 $3,042,680
David Ross 39 C Vet $2,250,000 $250,000 - $2,500,000 $2,500,000
Joe Smith 32 RP Vet $5,250,000 - - $5,250,000 $1,807,377
Justin Grimm 28 RP Arb 1 $1,275,000 - - $1,275,000 $1,275,000
Kris Bryant 24 3B Pre-Arb $652,000 - - $652,000 $652,000
Kyle Hendricks 26 SP Pre-Arb $541,000 - - $541,000 $541,000
Addison Russell 22 SS Pre-Arb $527,000 - - $527,000 $527,000
Kyle Schwarber 23 LF Pre-Arb $522,000 - - $522,000 $522,000
Javier Baez 23 2B Pre-Arb $521,000 - - $521,000 $521,000
Matt Szczur 27 CF Pre-Arb $511,500 - - $511,500 $511,500
Tommy La Stella 27 2B Pre-Arb $532,000 - - $532,000 $438,957
Willson Contreras 24 C Pre-Arb $507,500 - - $507,500 $299,484
C.J. Edwards 25 RP Pre-Arb $507,500 - - $507,500 $293,938
Tim Federowicz 29 C Pre-Arb $507,500 - - $507,500 $213,521
Mike Montgomery 27 SP Pre-Arb $515,000 - - $515,000 $211,050
Spencer Patton 28 RP Pre-Arb $507,500 - - $507,500 $210,748
Albert Almora 22 CF Pre-Arb $507,500 - - $507,500 $202,429
Felix Pena 26 P Pre-Arb $507,500 - - $507,500 $124,785
Rob Zastryzny 24 P Pre-Arb $507,500 - - $507,500 $124,785
Munenori Kawasaki 35 SS Arb 1 $507,500 - - $507,500 $99,828
Jake Buchanan 27 RP Pre-Arb $507,500 - - $507,500 $88,736

Indians

Carlos Santana 30 DH Arb 3 $8,250,000 $200,000 - $8,450,000 $8,450,000
Mike Napoli 35 1B Vet $7,000,000 - - $7,000,000 $7,000,000
Jason Kipnis 29 2B Arb 2 $6,000,000 $166,666 - $6,166,666 $6,166,666
Rajai Davis 36 CF Vet $5,250,000 - $700,000 $5,950,000 $5,950,000
Corey Kluber 30 SP Arb 1 $4,500,000 $200,000 - $4,700,000 $4,700,000
Cody Allen 27 RP/CL Arb 1 $4,150,000 - - $4,150,000 $4,150,000
Andrew Miller 31 RP Vet $9,000,000 - - $9,000,000 $3,147,520
Josh Tomlin 32 SP Arb 3 $2,250,000 - $750,000 $3,000,000 $3,000,000
Bryan Shaw 28 RP Arb 2 $2,750,000 - - $2,750,000 $2,750,000
Lonnie Chisenhall 28 RF Arb 1 $2,725,000 - - $2,725,000 $2,725,000
Yan Gomes 29 C Arb 1 $2,500,000 $83,333 - $2,583,333 $2,583,333
Trevor Bauer 25 SP Pre-Arb $1,697,500 - - $1,697,500 $1,697,500
Zach McAllister 28 RP Arb 1 $1,300,000 - - $1,300,000 $1,300,000
Chris Gimenez 33 C Arb 3 $975,000 - - $975,000 $809,856
Jeff Manship 31 RP Arb 1 $760,000 - - $760,000 $760,000
Francisco Lindor 22 SS Pre-Arb $540,300 - - $540,300 $540,300
Danny Salazar 26 SP Pre-Arb $536,200 - - $536,200 $536,200
Dan Otero 31 RP Pre-Arb $520,000 - - $520,000 $520,000
Jose Ramirez 24 3B Pre-Arb $518,200 - - $518,200 $518,200
Roberto Perez 27 C Pre-Arb $515,800 - - $515,800 $515,800
Coco Crisp 37 CF Vet $11,000,000 - - $11,000,000 $500,000
Tyler Naquin 25 CF Vet $507,500 - - $507,500 $451,999
Brandon Guyer 30 LF Arb 1 $1,185,000 - - $1,185,000 $407,950
Abraham Almonte 27 CF Pre-Arb $507,500 - - $507,500 $255,116
Kyle Crockett 24 RP Pre-Arb $507,500 - - $507,500 $238,478
Cody Anderson 26 RP Pre-Arb $511,400 - - $511,400 $229,190
Mike Clevinger 25 SP Pre-Arb $507,500 - - $507,500 $216,294
Joseph Colon 26 RP Pre-Arb $507,500 - - $507,500 $199,656
Austin Adams 30 RP Pre-Arb $507,500 - - $507,500 $185,791
Michael Martinez 34 2B Arb 1 $507,500 - - $507,500 $163,607
Erik Gonzalez 25 3B Arb 1 $507,500 - - $507,500 $146,969
Adam Moore 32 C Arb 4 $507,500 - - $507,500 $97,055
Perci Garner 27 RP Arb 4 $507,500 - - $507,500 $94,282
Shawn Armstrong 26 RP Pre-Arb $507,500 - - $507,500 $88,736
Ryan Merritt 24 RP Pre-Arb $507,500 - - $507,500 $88,736
Jesus Aguilar 26 1B Pre-Arb $507,500 - - $507,500 $63,779
Adam Plutko 25 P Pre-Arb $507,500 - - $507,500 $36,049

 

[Lead Pipe]

Doesn't look like rookie contracts make that list....

Here's the Cubs from a different site...hopefully the formatting works...



Indians

I was gonna say, I thought Lackey signed a 32M deal

 

[Primalzer]

I was gonna say, I thought Lackey signed a 32M deal

Never trust ESPN

 

[rz79]

Yes they have spent more than some and less than others... but from that chart they seem to be on par with about 30-35% of the league..
Your original comment was irresponsible that's why I piped up. I felt as though you likened it to the giant accusation days of the Yankees buying multiple series with pockets deep enough to cover the pentanties which came with buying the crown. (No rebuilding/ no down time in competitiveness/buying not raising your star position players)
Now, when it comes time to restructure or resign the youth that are locked down yes, that number is bound to get crazy.
Until then I feel Crane and the office have been rather responsible while keeping competitiveness at the apex of goals.

ps- holy shit, LA!

 

[FESTER665]

Meh, as long as they're not at the 200million mark, they're good....

Going to be a lot of cleaning out of the bullpen I'm guessing, Let Chapman walk and go for Jansen, I'm guessing they won't be paying Fowler and will put Schwarber in left, then try moving Heyward to center and putting Zobrist in right. Or just put Almora in Center, and use Zobrist to give guys days off since he can basically play any position...

I don't know if they'd put money out for someone like Cespedes over Fowler, likely I would say pay Fowler and keep the chemistry, but then do you cycle guys youre paying a ton of money in and out of the lineup?