Money hasn't been a factor, the Cubs have spent plenty of money.

The problem has been, largely, who they spent the money on.

That only saves about $7M annually. I imagine Schwarber is gone.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

I'd say Schwarber but he would only be attractive to an AL team and is he really all that enticing (especially as he begins arbitration)?

My guess is that the Cubs would let you pick between him, Happ and Almora. I think out of those three Happ would be the choice for age, cost and versatility reasons

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

Almora's probably got the single best skill of the group in his defense though.

Apparently over on ESPN Jesse Rogers reported that Jim Hickey is unlikely to return next year.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

Glorious

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Heard that.. Great news

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Hickey was pretty good with the bullpen guys

According to Cot's, the Cubs are already projected to be over the luxury tax threshold by $16.4M (see right columns).

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VJ9nVwD1eUJabnL9tuQuxJa1K2oM2HXyqJS8Od0pMIo/pubhtml

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Hawaii (fuck) You

The Cubs pitching numbers, ERA, ERA+, runs allowed, were all great last year, FIP didn't bear it out, but the Cubs pitching was really good for the most part.

Now that might or might not be a result of Hickey.

It appears the only ones to not take heat are the players.

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Elections have consequences.

they have certainly spent a lot of money in recent years hiring away best in class type coaches from other teams with whom they quickly fall out of love

Also, I know the public face is that Joe's job is safe but they are certainly doing everything they can to isolate him. My guess is the old back stabber will be looking for new employment next year. Maybe he can interview for a job on Ricky's staff.

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

Joe lost me in Game 6 of their World Series run. I am ungrateful like that. See my Coach Q comments yesterday.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

This is disingenuous at best.

Both Hickey and Chili Davis were unemployed involuntarily at the time the Cubs hired them. This isn't to say that other organizations wouldn't have been interested, but the only paychecks that Davis and Hickey were getting when the Cubs hired them were issued by state unemployment agencies.

Also, why would Maddon, a successful MLB manager, want to be on the staff of some guy managing a AAA team?

I think that Hoyer's comments today about communicating better with players about their roles on a day to day basis with regards to matchups and sitting/starting decisions has to do with both the coaching staff, the advance scouts and numbercrunchers, and the "mental skills" coaches. It's going to get even more important as pitching staffs evolve based on ongoing research about the third time through the lineup, the idea of the "opener," the impact of the 10-day DL vs the 15-day, etc.

All these changes mean that having a Jose Macias or a Mike Freeman at the end of your 4-man bench is suicidal. So everybody is an investment, almost everybody has to play every day, practicing position flexibility during the season is important for the post-season (I still think that not being able to use Schwarber as a 3rd catcher hurts this team), etc.

That said, Brandon Hyde as the GM's-imposed analytics bench coach is a terrible idea. There needs to be somebody with the major league playing experience to tell Joe "you need to PR Gore for Happ if he gets on for the pitcher, even though it's early." I think that a guy like Raul Ibanez or Omar Vizquel would have been perfect in that role, with a secondary role of mentoring the Spanish-speaking ballplayers.

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

Contreras is the coach killer

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

Finally someone gets it. I am still hoping the Contreras, Heyward and Almora for Realmutto trade gets done. The pitcher hate pitching to him. He gives them a terrible target, can't frame and has pissed off every umpire. He was also the millennial hitter Chilli was talking about.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Mulli presented some evidence that he also had a problem with Hickey.

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

Counterpoint: Contreras is 26 years old and good at baseball.

Maybe the Cubs should keep him and try to work on some of the issues.

He sucked for half the season.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

He is 26 with exceptional physical tools and a 10 cent head. I don't think you are fixing that. He will be rewarded financially each year with massive pay raise until he is a FA. No one is throwing him under the bus right now but I guarantee you when he is gone this is going to be a Sosa boombox situation. Did anyone notice how the pitching got increasingly better when he caught increasingly less towards the end of the season?

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Contreras had the 5th lowest ERA of any catcher that caught more than 600 innings.

Try again.

Being a cement head and being a good baseball player are not mutually exclusive.

I just think that in today’s game, if you have a 26 year old catcher that is good at baseball, I want that guy on the Cubs.

Now that you missed out on Harper who are you going for?

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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!

Andrew Miller

That is why I want them to create a package that will bring back Realmutto and dump some salary and Contreras. I would also entertain a deal for Salvidor Perez. Ive already laid out my Marlins offer but lets say Whit and Perez for Contreras.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

I dont have access to baseball prospectus but im pretty sure they have Contreras ranked DEAD LAST in runs saved from pitch framing. Realmuto is 2nd best in the league over that time. Perez isn't great but he is not nearly as bad as big wily.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Rizzo was the millennial, Jesse Rogers confirmed that a month ago. But that's not to say Contreas wasn't another one.

I'll won't give up on Willie just yet. The whole team was dead w/ the bats last 2nd half of the season. And that last month.

I do get tired of his antics at times but I'm willing to give him another shot.

Why is Harper to the Cubs dead? I think Theo will still try.

Oh, well then just cut him outright. He's terrible.

Absolutely. People are overthinking this.

Now if he has another full year like his second half, that changes, but overall he's been very good.

Source?