So when do they have to be under the threshold? Opening day?

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

I believe its opening day. They are not going to dump Schwarber to get under the tax threshold. I also believe they have to be under by more than the 4 mil when you account for bonuses. Chatwood and his expiring 13 mil contract would be ideal to remove from the payroll but they are going to have to pay someone in prospects to take him away. Quintana is another option at 11 mil but in turn that opens up a rotation spot that needs to be filled. Lots of time and options. I doubt it will be anything significant.

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

Quintana and Bryant are the perfect guys to move.

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no it's end of 2020....a little strange.

Parkins kept rolling on this yesterday. I just don't agree with him. I do agree the Red Sox return was light, but the "haves" trading star players is not bad for the game. Parity is good. Draft better. Don't sign so many stupid contracts.

The market value contracts Betts and Bryant will receive are going to become crippling. Lesters contract right now is crippling. Heyward's contract is crippling. Darvish contract is crippling. They may have been market value, but there's a price at the end of those deals that make it impossible to retain a good roster via free agency.

That doesn't mean I'd celebrate Kris Bryant being traded....but I certainly understand why it would be done. I do agree that winning right now only happens if they keep Bryant. Trading Schwarber and Contreras is a much less destructive trade idea. The return will be drastically less, but it's a better option for the immediate future. I still think they'll have pitching issues. Starting rotation is just not that strong. Funny....had they passed on Kimbrel, they'd be under the luxury tax threshold.

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I am so pissed at the Cubs and their lack of direction. Fuck em. If they are not on xfinity I really don't care. I am not moving all my services that work damn well for a fucked up baseball team.

Lester earned his dough, no reason to bitch about that.. darvish has a reasonable contract, he's a #2 starter with # 1 potential.. heyward is in a different league, that contract is horrendous, has been from day one. Just absolutely brutal.

The Cubs two biggest Fuckups are heyward and Quintana. If they never traded Cease n Eloy for a #4 starter..nobody is bitching and the window is wide open.

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I'm not B!itching about Lester's contract. You can't say Lester earned his contract and Heyward did not. Both contracts resulted in the same world series result. My point is players age and there's clearly a point where you are paying for PAST performance and that hurts. Lester is $27.5 Million against the luxury tax this year....he's nowhere near that good, but yes they don't win the world series 4 season ago without him. That doesn't change the fact that NOW you have a salary problem and the Cubs will miss the playoffs again. it's not good.

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Don't be a clown, Heyward was benched most of that post season. He hit .150 and was a defensive replacement. Heyward hasn't come close to earning half of his money.. Lester was 19-5 with a 2.40 ERA in 16'. He was our Ace.

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No argument. Heyward's contract was / is worse. It's still a problem. 2019-2020 you're paying for past performance of Lester....it's a problem, but much lower in the list. Darvish may prove to be worth it, but man....it's not been worth it the first 2 seasons...woof. Add all these up you and you have a lot of dead weight holding up the Cubs ability to compete. Heyward, Kimbrel, and Chatwood combine for almost $50 million of bad money.

Bad Cubs contracts on the current roster.
1. Heyward ($23 Million....stuck through the 2023 season)
2. Kimbrel ($13 Million....stuck through 2022 season)
3. Chatwood ($13 Million 2020 final season)
4. Darvish ($21 Million...stuck through the 2023 season)
5. Lester ($25.8 Million....2020 final season with buyout for 2021)

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/chicago-cubs/payroll/

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Elections have consequences.

You can definitely live with Lester this year even if he is equal to a fourth starter. Also as you mentioned, paying for past performance. Also, if Darvish does what he did last year then his deal is fine as well.

The issue is the other four albatross deals you listed, on top of the fact that the only other even halfway decent pitcher that the Cubs have developed under Theo, now pitches for the White Sox.

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Not impressed with Hendricks? Or Arrietta?

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I wouldn't necessarily say the Cubs developed either. I'm talking a guy working his way thru the Cubs system and coming up to eat MLB innings.

Hendricks possibly. Arrieta found a good batch of Flintstone vitamins once he came to Chicago. Total lottery ticket that hit bigtime. And even if you wanted to use those two guys, who has come up thru the Cubs system since 2015 and been even a viable MLB starter for more than 1/3-1/2 of a season?

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In fairness, Frank, Theo's MO was never to draft and develop pitching. He's all about position players in the draft. You do have to give him some credit on Hendricks. Not drafted, but they won that trade and he's been a very good pitcher.

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They have spent so MANY draft picks on pitching the last 3 years.

It’s just not being developed, or the scouts have completely failed.

Or both.

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If you look at their top 30 prospects, they do actually have some arms that now show real promise. Marquez is the only one cracking the top 100 but they do seem to have turned the corner finally on developing pitching. And this Pitch Lab helped Wick, Weick and Ryan who are now part of ML roster so as a Cubs fan, there does appear to be hope in the next 2-3 years that we will get some actual home grown real +WAR starting pitchers. Finally.

That’s actually reassuring.

Now they just need to get the Bryant trade done, and lock up Baez.

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I looked at their top prospect list on MLB.com a few weeks back. Hardly recognized anyone. And in reading through the recaps of each player and their stats, I didn't see anything impressive.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Here's the Bleacher Nation link to their prospects. At the bottom are other links for prospects 11-30, etc. Pitchers with promise besides Marquez include Jensen, Abbott, Alzolay, Franklin, Miller, McAvene, Steele, Gallardo, Thompson, Cruz, Patterson, Thompson and more.

Quantity means nothing but if you reads the reports on these guys, there are some quality arms here and if this Pitch Lab and their overhaul of the developmental staff is real then this front office's drought of developing pitching should end.

https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs/202 ... prospects/

I had a dream last night that it was my job to inform the free agents that the Cubs had signed them. I was walking toward Brian Dozier and someone called me back and said, "No, not him. Go get Lucas Duda, Martin Prado and Clayton Richards!"

I threw up the white flag and said, fuck it! This season is over...

Theo ahead of the market again.

https://twitter.com/HotStoveintel/statu ... 47681?s=20

All those players suck.

That's a known Theo Epstein burner account.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

I mentioned this a few weeks ago, but I have shockingly advanced to the front of the season ticket waiting list, and the Cubs invited me to an open house tomorrow. They said food and drink will be served and I can bring three guests to walk around the park to see which seats are available.

I might show up for the heck of it...anyone gone through this? Should I expect a hard sell? What are the odds of recouping most of the cost from selling unused tickets on StubHub?

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The answer to your last question is not a very good chance this year. Even last year Stubhub ticket costs were plummeting.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

So AL fans, does Jason Kipnis have anything left or is he done?

This is a "Jim Edmonds" hail mary.

He's better than whatever stiff the Sox start while waiting for Nicky to come up.

The mileage has not been kind. He's pretty creaky.

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Wattabout Kodak Black?

From what I've read, Kipnis' defense is still good and in a straight platoon, he is decent with the bat. Given it's a minor league deal and only 1M if he makes the team (plus incentives) he's worth a look.