If I'm running the Cubs I'm doing the following:

1. Re-sign Contreras
2. At the end of the season press conference say the Cubs are looking to strengthen their infield by adding a middle infielder or a "middle infielder who would be willing to move to 3b" (wink wink)
3. Watch Correa opt out
4. Sign Correa
5. Sign one of the frontline starters: Verlander, Sale, DeGrom
6. Trade the A's a few Rick Vaughns for Ramon Laureano
7. Sign a Carlos Carrasco type back end of the rotation starter

Don't see them signing Contreras. He will hit the open market and tell the Cubs to fuck themselves.

Don't want Correa. Hoerner is fine (actually has a higher WAR than Correa).

Don't want Sale. I would love Verlander or deGrom, though deGrom is a risk.

They need to think BIG free agents or trades: Judge, Ohtani, Trout, etc. Problem is they don't seem to have enough prospects.

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Hoerner is great at SS, that's why Correa is going to play 3b.

They are going to continue the rebuild and cry poor. I will again refuse to watch unless I have money on the game.

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That's what the Ricketts are going to do, but I started off by saying "if I ran the Cubs".

Why would Contreras tell the Cubs to fuck themselves? The Cubs have done right by him.

Because they haven't given him an acceptable contract/extension.

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That's what I'm suggesting they do in the offseason. In fact I'd say they have done right by him this year by not trading him to the White Sox or some other shit team that is masquerading as a contender but have kept Contreras because they view him as a long term part of the team.

i pretty much agree with all.

eddie o told us that you need to know your team and players before your opponents do. the cubs should set positions for morel and hoerner and then base signings off that. the cubs seem to have too many DHs going forward, reyes to happ to contreras to velasquez to wisdom. i say happ due to suzuki and morel, and the cubs have davis on the cusp of MLB and pca might be playing MLB by 2024. outfield glut, if you add velasquez and happ.

contreras with a bad passed ball last night, his defense has been brutal this season. realmuto is on $23 million per year and not sure if the cubs would offer contreras $20 million per year.

cubs need #1 and #2 starting pitchers along with a new bullpen and after 2023 some good pitchers will be available. the cubs will also get a $20+ million per year surplus when j-hey's contract expires. all the more to think the front office has circled 2024 as the year to be a legit division contender.

I agree with this. They didn't accept any unfavorable trade offers for him because they believed in his abilities and clearly want to make an offer to him or they would have traded him for whatever they could get. I don't see how the Cubs disrespected him in any way.

I see it differently. I think Hoyer kept him only because he didn't want a 100-loss season on his record, and he misjudged the trade market for a catcher who might have been perceived by other teams to be a difficult fit with their pitching staffs (though any catcher would be a challenge mid-season). I don't believe they kept him in the hopes of signing him. They've had all this time to do so. Once the season ends, there is no reason for him not to test the market. I suppose he could re-sign if the offers are weak and he realizes he overestimated his value, and all else being equal would prefer to stay where he is familiar.

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Somewhere in the middle....the offers weren't there. It didn't make sense to trade him for nothing of value. At the same time, if he was THE missing piece, a team would have come offering something of value. This will play out during Free Agency...he's not going to get stud catcher offers on the FA market. He's looking at journeyman money...Cubs likely a good fit for that kind of catcher at this stage. They have to rebuild the farm depth and beef up pitching.

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If the Cubs 100% knew they weren't going to sign him they should have just traded him for a 17 year old Venezuelan kid who weighs 155 lbs. They didn't do that, and the logical explanation is that they are going to make an effort to sign him this offseason. How legitimate that offer is will be up for judgement.

The reemergence of the QO after the international draft fell through, that helped the case for keeping Contreras as well. With the draft pick now reattached to free agency, that will depress his market to the point where he may end up accepting the QO.

The following (near-)playoff teams have young promising catchers or established veterans and Contreras will be redundant:. Jays, Orioles, Mariners, Mets, Dodgers, Braves, Phillies, Giants, and maybe the Padres but they are out of salary anyway. Houston and Cleveland emphasize defense, Tampa is cheap and the turf at the Trop will kill him, and he doesn't seem to feel like a fit for whatever the fuck The Cardinals Way is.

That leaves the Yankees, Milwaukee and Minnesota among contenders, and Boston, Anaheim, and the White Sox among disappointments.

I think that 4/75 with a vesting 5th year assuming no injuries and reasonable production would do it.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Every team has a DH spot, if the Cubs really didn't want Contreras they could have traded him for a non-procpect or two and picked up Contreras salary and wouldn't be worse off. Again, I don't know precisely why they didn't trade Contreras, maybe the QO, but if they had no intent to sign him, then trading him for nothing was better than keeping him.

I think your 4/75 + vesting 5th option sounds about right.

saw a rumor today saying the Cardinals were going to go hard after Contreras this offseason.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

sign Verlander

Smart move….he would fit in great.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Do the Cubs have any hot shot prospects that are ready? Seems like they are 4 more years away.

Elvis Andrus may be available.

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The jury's still out on Hoyer. Anyone part of the brain trust who signed Heyward I have to be suspicious. There still isn't a can't miss all-star caliber prospect in the system. Yes they do occur in top organizations. The pitch lab seems to be creating guys who have command, but dubious stamina, and durability.

The current alarming high rate of free agent tanking, and magically becoming injury prone with guaranteed big money is a red flag. Signing guys isn't a slam dunk like it used to be. There almost has to be acceptance now bad money is going to happen with guys you never thought it would. I overall think the organization is showing signs of improvement. But just a bit. Signing Stroman and screwing Contreras was puzzling. Hoyer's got a much harder job than Theo with how soft MLB players are. Its really up for debate if Ricketts even wants to dole out the dough going for a title entails. Right now it's all talk.

So may Starlin Castro, who is younger.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

They will try for one of the big time shortstops in FA and strike out on all of them.

They will pass Morel off as the teams full time third baseman in 2023.

They will platoon Mervis/Wisdom at first base.

They will call up Brennan Davis in May(once they get the extra year) give him the CF job and he will be an absolute bust.

They will sign that Japanese pitcher(no posting fee) and he will be mediocre at best.

One of their highly rated outfielders will actually be a decent major league player(my money is on Crow-Armstrong - why does he have a hyphenated name like a chick btw?)

The rest of their heralded prospects will be busts in the big leagues.

You are our daily ray of sunshine Bob.

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Yet you know I'm right

i think you made all these names up, these aren't real MLB players

Most of them won't be.

We can absolutely agree that the Cubs suck now, and forever.

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with realmuto on $23+ million per, no way team contreras accepts $18.75 million per - especially after a 2022 NL all-star starter and NL silver slugger C. grandal is over $18 million per.

The Cubs already suck, signing one of the key players on a team that also sucks won’t stop the Cubs from sucking.