"not worthy of its own thread" offseason thread

[Jocephus]

Jay Cohen of The Associated Press reports that the Cubs are having "active talks" with Yu Darvish.
Cohen cites a source "with direct knowledge of the discussions" but cautions that there is "no agreement in place" at this point. The report comes on the heels of one earlier Monday from ESPN's Jerry Crasnick stating that Darvish had at least one five-year offer in hand. It's also worth pointing out that the Cubs on Monday agreed to a minor league contract with Chris Gimenez, who was Darvish's personal catcher for a time when they were with the Rangers. The Twins, Brewers, Dodgers, Yankees and Rangers are also thought to be in the mix for Darvish.
Related: Cubs
Source: Associated Press
Jan 23 - 12:03 AM

[MinorLeagueGuy]

This would certainly change some landscape relative to our plight.. But we all knew the Cubs weren't done this offseason. Shoot, they've barely done anything.

[Fat Strat]

Jay Cohen of The Associated Press reports that the Cubs are having "active talks" with Yu Darvish.
Cohen cites a source "with direct knowledge of the discussions" but cautions that there is "no agreement in place" at this point. The report comes on the heels of one earlier Monday from ESPN's Jerry Crasnick stating that Darvish had at least one five-year offer in hand. It's also worth pointing out that the Cubs on Monday agreed to a minor league contract with Chris Gimenez, who was Darvish's personal catcher for a time when they were with the Rangers. The Twins, Brewers, Dodgers, Yankees and Rangers are also thought to be in the mix for Darvish.
Related: Cubs
Source: Associated Press
Jan 23 - 12:03 AM

You gotta give the Cubs a ton of credit. They have gone after and acquired more top end talent than anyone over the last 3-4 years. It's what makes me scoff when Mo and the org talk about how hard it is to acquire players of that caliber. I'm probably missing a few players, but compare high-end acquisitions over the last, say, five years.

Cubs - Lester, Chapman, Heyward, Zobrist, Davis, Quintana. Their smaller adds were guys like Fowler and Lackey.
Cards - Peralta, Heyward, Fowler, Ozuna. Smaller adds were Leake, Jedd Gyorko, Lackey.

Pretty impressive work from the Cubs. Which is why as long as Bryant and Rizzo are around, there's no reason to think we'll be able to have any shot at the division in our normal 88-92 win strategy.

[ZigZagCardsFan]

It appears they're more than fine with that which is incredibly frustrating as a fan.

Hopefully variance is the new Cardinals MVP.

[MinorLeagueGuy]

Some might not consider Quintana a #1 starter. I would, and if they get Yu the division is locked up. If Hendricks improves they could have a rotation of mid to upper end arms without really having a guy who would be considered a #4 or #5. Just a #1, a couple #2's, and a couple #3's.

[heyzeus]

Interesting MLB.com article on Jose Martinez and advanced stats showing his breakout is real.

https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/news/jose ... -264948180

[Fat Strat]

Some might not consider Quintana a #1 starter. I would, and if they get Yu the division is locked up. If Hendricks improves they could have a rotation of mid to upper end arms without really having a guy who would be considered a #4 or #5. Just a #1, a couple #2's, and a couple #3's.

If they add Darvish, then I think you could make an argument that they have four pitchers as good as or better than any one of ours. Martinez really hasn't developed as well as we would have hoped -- not yet topping 3.4 WAR. Lester had a down year, but he was a consistent 4-5 WAR pitcher before that. Martinez and Hendricks could be a push if Hendricks rises back to the 190 ip range. They're surprisingly comparable. Darvish is close, but his history is better than Martinez's.

That's not a good situation for us to be in.

[Hoot45]

You gotta give the Cubs a ton of credit. They have gone after and acquired more top end talent than anyone over the last 3-4 years. It's what makes me scoff when Mo and the org talk about how hard it is to acquire players of that caliber. I'm probably missing a few players, but compare high-end acquisitions over the last, say, five years.

Cubs - Lester, Chapman, Heyward, Zobrist, Davis, Quintana. Their smaller adds were guys like Fowler and Lackey.
Cards - Peralta, Heyward, Fowler, Ozuna. Smaller adds were Leake, Jedd Gyorko, Lackey.

Pretty impressive work from the Cubs. Which is why as long as Bryant and Rizzo are around, there's no reason to think we'll be able to have any shot at the division in our normal 88-92 win strategy.

Giving the Cubs a ton of credit might be going too far. They have the advantage of being an elite team featuring a lot of low cost talent, plus the attraction of playing alongside guys like Rizzo and Bryant. The Cardinals were pretty good at recruiting and locking down high caliber players too when they could promise playing alongside prime Pujols and regular dominance of the division. The Quintana trade sticks out to me as a well executed move, but other than that, I think its more circumstance than brilliance powering the Cubs' acquisitions. I do think because of the Cubs it is harder for Mo right now. Although, that also can't be an excuse because you're obviously not going to be the 2000's Cardinals forever.

[tlombard]

It's amazing how much easier it is to get players to sign with you or be agree to a trade to your team when they are predicted to be dominant and win championships in the near term. It almost makes it looks like you're a genius when you have money to spend and players willing to take it from you!

[Michael]

Chicago is also a good place to play for endorsements.

Regardless, the Cubs are an impressive organization right now.