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       #Post#: 480811--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Cubs in ‘24
       By: CurtOne Date: October 3, 2023, 8:12 pm
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       I don't like any of that.
       #Post#: 480814--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Cubs in ‘24
       By: ben Date: October 3, 2023, 9:36 pm
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       David Stearns is now in charge of the Mets...NO WAY he lets
       Alonso go without starting a bidding war and fleecing his
       trading partner!
       #Post#: 480830--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Cubs in ‘24
       By: CUBluejays Date: October 4, 2023, 9:25 am
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       Depressing comments from Hoyer in the Athletic.
       “Tom and Crane were really aggressive with the payroll this
       year,” Hoyer said  (They stayed below the luxury tax, I wouldn't
       call that aggressive)
       The Cubs’ $179 million Opening Day payroll ranked 14th out of 30
       major-league clubs, according to the Associated Press, though
       that roster calculation did not include the final year of Jason
       Heyward’s $184 million contract and other expenses that count
       against the competitive balance tax. (Not aggressive)
       “I don’t weigh it alone,” Hoyer said. “That will be a lot of
       conversations with Tom and the family, and with Crane and the
       business side. There’s been a willingness to go over in the
       past. We were over a number of times as the previous core got
       more expensive. And as we needed to supplement the roster, we
       did go over. Philosophically, we’ve shown a willingness to do
       it. It’s a budgetary question, but we also want to make sure
       that strategically you do it at the right time. We’ll have those
       discussions, but there’s no organizational mandate against it.”
       (Depressing, not aggressive)
       #Post#: 480833--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Cubs in ‘24
       By: CurtOne Date: October 4, 2023, 10:02 am
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       CBJ, I think he was saying they were aggressive in keeping it
       below.
       #Post#: 480836--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Cubs in ‘24
       By: craig Date: October 4, 2023, 10:29 am
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       [quote author=Dave23 link=topic=628.msg480775#msg480775
       date=1696337715]
       And yeah…let’s start with this…
  HTML https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs/2023/10/02/pete-alonso-interest-cubs-1/
       What’s your best offer for 1 year (and potentially more) of Pete
       Alonso?[/quote]
       Curious what the scoop was with Alonso's 2023 season.  HR's were
       up to 46, best since juiced-ball ROY.  But his average dropped
       to .217, after .271, .262 his previous seasons.  Bad-luck BABIP?
       Hurt?  Some hole that pitchers have finally locked into?
       This year's .318 OBP, .217 BA, .821 OPS isn't.  Patrick Wisdom
       had .205 BA with .789 OPS.
       So not sure how to factor this season, or how to project
       forward.  If you project forward the 2021-22 guy, hitting >.260,
       OBP >.344, OPS >.860, that's pretty good.  Or will future Alonso
       be little more than every-day Wisdom?  Wisdom might also hit 40
       HR's if he got 150 starts.
       #Post#: 480838--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Cubs in ‘24
       By: CUBluejays Date: October 4, 2023, 10:54 am
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       He definitely had some bad BABIP luck last year.  He's had that
       in 2020 as well.  His xBA with statcast was .241.
       Alonso is fine on offense.  He's better than Wisdom, because he
       doesn't strike out as much.  He's bad to below average on
       defense and has been a 3-4 fWAR.  If you are adding him to
       Bellinger, he improves the Cubs offense.  If Alonso replaces
       Bellinger it is a big downgrade.
       1B- Alsonso/Bellinger
       2B- Hoerner
       SS- Swanson
       3B- Chapman or Candelario
       LF- Happ
       CF- Bellinger/PCA
       RF- Suzuki
       DH- Morel/Alonso
       That isn't the Braves on offense, but it is pretty good.  It
       will put you well over the luxury tax and you still have the
       rotation and bullpen to fix.  That is probably the best case for
       the Cubs in the off-season and you should expect something that
       is going to be a lot less than that.
       #Post#: 480842--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Cubs in ‘24
       By: chgojhawk Date: October 4, 2023, 12:52 pm
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       I have been told by a very reliable source that the plan is to
       play PCA in CF.  If the Cubs are pursuing Alonso it means that
       Bellinger is gone.  My source says Belly wants to stay and the
       team wants him, but they aren't very confident due to Boras.  I
       think being afraid of Boras is a copout.  They have the money.
       Pay it for Belly.
       #Post#: 480846--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Cubs in ‘24
       By: Reb Date: October 4, 2023, 2:17 pm
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       I doubt that PCA has much of anything to do with acquiring
       Alonso or re-signing Bellinger.
       Plain as day that Cubs like PCA in CF and also that he needs
       considerable AAA time offensively. This is not news.
       If Alonso/Bellinger actually is an either/or proposition, it’s
       because of payroll considerations….and not because of PCA.
       Payroll reasons would be very unfortunate and sucky but let’s
       see.
       Alonso probably will be a DH before too long—not right away—but
       he easily can slip into that role. For that reason, I’d consider
       including Morel in an Alonso deal. Think Morel has five years of
       control and that would likely interest Mets, among other things.
       #Post#: 480848--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Cubs in ‘24
       By: Playtwo Date: October 4, 2023, 2:38 pm
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       Have we ruled out the possibility that Morel could be adequate
       defensively as a regular third baseman?
       #Post#: 480849--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Cubs in ‘24
       By: Reb Date: October 4, 2023, 2:51 pm
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       [quote author=Playtwo link=topic=628.msg480848#msg480848
       date=1696448304]
       Have we ruled out the possibility that Morel could be adequate
       defensively as a regular third baseman?
       [/quote]
       Yes. Forget it. Not a 3B.
       Morel played mostly 3B first couple of weeks of the Iowa season
       this year. Cubs saw enough and moved him off the position….to OF
       mostly.
       Morel is a DH/OF and maybe emergency fill-in at 2B. Don’t think
       he’s really a capable utility player. On the right team, he
       might be a regular RF as a position player rather than DH.
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