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#Post#: 462302--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs in ‘23
DIR By: JeffH
Date: October 24, 2022, 2:14 pm
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Craig, in any other offseason, I wouldn't give Hill much of a
shot. But I think they need a replacement for Ortega. The FA
list is a wasteland.
And I wonder if Perlaza is a little bit different case because
he's a six year minor league free agent and wouldn't be subject
to the Rule 5 stipulations.
I'd be happy adding those two guys and spending all of the
position player free agent dollars on the infield.
#Post#: 462303--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs in ‘23
DIR By: craig
Date: October 24, 2022, 2:24 pm
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--- Quote from: CurtOne link ---
>
> If the Cubs know that Wick has an issue that needs time to
heal or something, they should keep him. If not, he was BAD
Wick more often than GOOD Wick this last season.
>
--- End Quote ---
I agree not only with Dave, I agree with you, Curt! Wick's been
around long enough, and he's been inconsistent. I wouldn't mind
moving on. I don't see the stuff being exceptional, or any
reason to assume he's going to consistently have better control
future than he's had over the last several years, as his control
has seemed to be drifting worse, not getting better.
Heh heh, I'm ManRod's only fan (and even there I'm just kinda
interested, with no conviction that he'll become better than
he's been.). But personally, I'd kinda think that *IF* the Cubs
got a full season of healthy Rodriguez, that *IF* healthy his
breaking ball might settle in. If his slider is working, I
think his upside is higher than Wick. And since Wick's already
had a bunch of years to confirm that he's OK but isn't likely to
ever be consistently good, I'd kinda be interested in taking
another shot on Manny. He's got higher breakout possibility, I
think? Again, I'm not saying probable; just possible, and
perhaps with higher possibility than for Wick.
#Post#: 462304--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs in ‘23
DIR By: Dave23
Date: October 24, 2022, 3:13 pm
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I was wondering to myself last night who would say no in a Rowan
Wick for Nick Maton trade…
#Post#: 462305--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs in ‘23
DIR By: Reb
Date: October 24, 2022, 3:23 pm
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Before this season, Wick gave up only 3 homers in 72 career
innings, accompanied by a good K rate.
So, I think Wck has shown something that could return.
Watching Rafael Montero in post-season, a guy with a good arm
who is now lights out after a series of poor years. Sometimes
takes patince.
#Post#: 462306--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs in ‘23
DIR By: CurtOne
Date: October 24, 2022, 4:36 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Craig, agreeing with both Davep and means your rep has taken a
huge hit today.
#Post#: 462307--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs in ‘23
DIR By: craig
Date: October 24, 2022, 4:49 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: Reb link ---
>
> Before this season, Wick gave up only 3 homers in 72 career
innings, accompanied by a good K rate.
>
> So, I think Wck has shown something that could return.
>
> Watching Rafael Montero in post-season, a guy with a good arm
who is now lights out after a series of poor years. Sometimes
takes patince.
>
--- End Quote ---
Yeah, patience for a pitcher to click can indeed take patience,
absolutely. Two thoughts:
1. I think that's way more true for pitchers than hitters.
Pitchers can add something or fix something, well into their
career, and things can click at unexpected times. I don't think
that happens very often for hitters, or at least not nearly as
much.
2. Patience is kind of a scouting thing. Sometimes it takes
patience, but there are only so many 40-man spots! Who should I
be patient with? Marquez, Roberts, Rodriguez, Rucker, Vizcaino,
Wick? *Any* of them might, hypothetically, someday later
emerge. ManRod, Marquez, and Vizcaino all, if healthy, might
throw harder than Wick, and be more nasty. But at this point in
time, I have no idea which if any is going to click and when.
#Post#: 462313--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs in ‘23
DIR By: davep
Date: October 24, 2022, 7:58 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: CurtOne link ---
>
> "Oops, Dave just posted this. Are Dave and I wrong? "
>
> A reasonable concern when Dave agrees with you.
>
--- End Quote ---
Actually, it was Craig that agreed with ME. That shows that
even college professors can have good judgement.
#Post#: 462314--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs in ‘23
DIR By: davep
Date: October 24, 2022, 8:08 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Rodriguez and Wick are both on the 40 man roster. If I did not
have room on the roster for both, I would take off Wick, for two
reasons. First, I think that Rodriguez has a higher ceiling
(although a lower likelihood of reaching that ceiling) and
second, we probably could get a little more in trade for Wick
than for Rodriguez.
#Post#: 462319--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs in ‘23
DIR By: Deeg
Date: October 24, 2022, 11:11 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: JeffH link ---
>
> Craig, in any other offseason, I wouldn't give Hill much of a
shot. But I think they need a replacement for Ortega. The FA
list is a wasteland.
>
> And I wonder if Perlaza is a little bit different case because
he's a six year minor league free agent and wouldn't be subject
to the Rule 5 stipulations.
>
> I'd be happy adding those two guys and spending all of the
position player free agent dollars on the infield.
>
--- End Quote ---
If you want to seriously try and compete in 2023, I don’t see
any way you can ignore the OF in the FA market.
Ultimately, baseball games are won by scoring more runs than the
other team. Simples. How you go about it is why VPBOs and GMs
get big money - it’s complicated. But for the Cubs, they need
to improve all over. They only had three qualified players with
an OPS over .700. Everyone says they’re going to go for
defense/game management at catcher. So where does the massive
improvement that’s needed come from?
I certainly admit that there will be stronger FA OF classes than
this one. But OF remains the easiest place to find offense,
generally speaking. You can hang everything on signing one of
the big SS to a $300 million contract - but what if you don’t?
At that, the two top guys (Correa and Bogaerts) were 19th in
baseball in OPS among qualified hitters. They’re not Judge or
even Harper.
#Post#: 462349--------------------------------------------------
Re: Cubs in ‘23
DIR By: craig
Date: October 25, 2022, 12:24 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Blue, I think you've mentioned that Hoyer had said he wanted to
get more dominant and have fewer close games.
Today's Sharma article includes some of that:
HTML https://theathletic.com/3726347/2022/10/25/cubs-postseason-astros-phililes/?source=dailyemail&campaign=601983
--- Quote ---
> “We have to be a little quicker-strike offense than we were,”
Hoyer said. “I like the fact that we’re making more contact. I
did think there were times we grinded our at-bats. But we lacked
the ability to pull away in different games and that’s something
we have to get better about. We played so many close games
throughout the year because we couldn’t stretch games out and
that really taxes the bullpen and it leads to more randomness.
The best teams in baseball blow people out.”
>
> The Cubs were 18th in ISO (.148) and 17th in home runs (159)
last season and will likely lose Willson Contreras, who was
first and second on the team in those respective categories.
Hoyer will have his work cut out for him in upgrading that area
in 2023, but with internal development and external additions,
it shouldn’t be impossible. Power is a huge part of building a
great team. The top four teams in ISO (Atlanta, the Dodgers,
Yankees and Astros) won 101, 111, 99 and 106 games,
respectively. Eight of the top nine teams in that category made
the postseason.
--- End Quote ---
Different ways to win, of course. But if you start Hoerner and
Madrigal most of the time, team ISO isn't going to thrive. That
the Cubs were even top-20 is almost surprising. Jeff, you
mentioned the possibility of Hill perhaps getting some CF
action, given the poverty of OF options. He's not going to be
an ISO guy.
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