Impressive.

And fuck STL.

I understand all the things that Heyward has to offer as an all-around ballplayer. but to pay 168 Million to someone who has been absolutely mediocre as a hitter baffles me. His power numbers ....13 homers and just 60 RBI in 2015 were awful. If he hit for a high average and stole 40 bases a year, it might make more sense. But he only has a .268 career average and is not a big stolen base guy either. I respectfully disagree with Theo on this decision.

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Go Cubs!!!!

You seem to be stuck in measuring players by steroid era standards. Who are all the outfielders out there who are putting up giant numbers? Sure, you'd like your corner outfielders to hit with more power than this guy, but you're acting like a guy who hits .270 and gets on at a .360 clip is mediocre, and that just isn't the case. The bigger issue is that if you play him in center he's going to lose a lot of that defensive "value" that makes him a darling of the modern statistics. But he figures to be hitting his peak. His best three seasons are quite likely to be his next three and then he can opt out and the Cubs can let somebody else sign him to a bad contract when he's 30.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Since it was brought up, and probably will be brought up more.

https://twitter.com/jaysonst/status/675034989893918721
Was seeking $24 million a year for 8 or 9 years.

Got $23 million a year. So he took $1 million less than what he was seeking but that is fairly common.

However, it means that the offer of $200 million almost certainly was for more years. That's why it wasn't even reported how many years it was.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

That also doesn't contemplate the value of the opt-outs which likely weren't part of the other deals.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Or the Cubs re-sign him

I enjoy the hockey comparisons you frequently make.

No, he's top 10 in WAR. That was true last week before he signed.


I feel like you guys are trying less

I'm trying to figure out what's so objectionable about pointing out that the Leafs have blown goats in free agency and the Cubs haven't done a hell of a lot better until all the fanfare this winter, and that the pressure of drought-busting in a major media market isn't as appealing to the players themselves as we want it to be.

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It's not even that

Its the resistance to OBP. I iknow people love and are used to average but the fact is OBP is more important

He'll probably hit 20 homeruns this year, too

Right. But that would be really dumb and anti-Theo's repeatedly professed philosophy, as you will undoubtedly be paying for past performance rather than future performance at that point.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Yea, he's never going to be able to stick to that. Its just a nice thing to say and try and ascribe to as much as possible.

That is already the case with Zobrist and Lackey.

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Lackey has a two year deal, so no. They're paying him to be a #3 and that's what he should be going forward even though he was a #2 for a great team last year.

Zobrist is kinda true.


You're really mailing it in lately, Frank

But he is smart enough to know that in the event Heyward opts out in three years, re-signing him can only be a disaster. The first opt out is favorable for both sides.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

I don't care if its a two year deal, they are paying $30 million to a pitcher who is almost 40.

He was a #2 last year because (arguably) the Cardinals best pitcher went down with an injury.

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They're not paying for the past. Any projection of the next two years would have Lackey as a 3ish pitcher and that's about how much they cost in free agency.

I agree entirely about the CF rather than RF issue. If they were to still get a good CF and keep Heyward in RF and traded Soler for another starter, I would understand that. While Soler has a high ceiling as a hitter, he gets injured a lot, doesn't hit in cold and plays a lousy RF. he's got a great arm, but takes awful routes on balls hit to the outfield and is not fond of trying to catch anything hit to or near the wall. if they had a guy like Span in CF and Heyward in RF....wow! That outfield defense would be amazing. The pitching staff would probably throw a little party if they managed to do that. I assume they will only keep Heyward in CF till Almora is ready and then he will take over CF with Heyward moving to RF. In a dream world, Soler would move to LF and Schwarber would have developed his catching skills enough to move behind the plate. But I don't see that happening, as Schwarber's skills behind the dish are sorely lacking and I doubt he will ever catch full time.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Some dope called B&b on Friday and suggested that the Cubs send Schwarber to Iowa for the first three months of the season to work on catching because the Cubs are so good they don't need his bat at the beginning anyway. That wasn't you, was it?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

He had a 2.77 ERA and was 9th in Cy Young voting. He had an exceptional season and he may well win more games with the Cubs next season, as they will score more runs for him than the Cardinals did for him last year. His velocity remained consistent and there is no reason to think he won't be a solid #3. He was the only pitcher to beat the Cubs in the NLDS for the Cardinals.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Span has been a negative defender the last two years when he's managed to not be on the DL

No it was not. His bat is too valuable to do that. In addition, his career will last longer if he's not catching. But most of all, I'm not sure he would ever become good enough behind the plate to make that make sense. I do believe he can become a decent LF.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Bullshit on the negative defender crap. Show me any defensive grading of him as negative. The injury concern is the only issue. But if the hip is 100% he would be my #1 choice of free agent CF candidates.

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Go Cubs!!!!

He is 37 and has had Tommy John surgery. Not saying he is only going to start 8 games for the Cub, but that is absolutely a reason for concern.

And I am sure 'arps is in the process of pasting a link here of Span's defensive metrics as I type.

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Defensive WAR in 2015: -1.0
Defensive WAR in 2014: -0.1

He's been a negative defender in 4 of his 8 seasons. His best year was a 2.4 in 2012 when he was 28 years old. He's now 32 and trending down.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/spande01.shtml

Maybe Span has a bit of a lighter skin shade than Heyward does, which is why Steve has such a boner for him.

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If by 3ish, you mean a 3-4, you are correct. He isn't in the group of rag tags that make up the fifth spot for the overwhelming majority of the league

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I would guess that was because of the problems with his hip that he had the surgery on. If that hip is good now, he will be a plus defender in CF. Better than Fowler easily and then Heyward stays in RF where he is best. Plus, Span is a very good leadoff hitter.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Having had Tommy John is probably one reason he has maintained excellent velocity at his age. Many pitchers after the procedure increase their velocity. He threw over 200 innings and was still excellent in the playoffs, so there were no signs he was wearing down. I'll bet you right now that he wins more than the 13 games he won in 2015.

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Go Cubs!!!!