Yu Darvish to the Cubs

[tark the shark]

Sounds about right he’s a better John Lackey now except gets almost a million per start.

 

John Anthony, you are spot on as usual on your takes. I’ve always liked your contributions to BGP. There are several BGP veterans that I don’t hear much anymore, keep bringing it strong my friend.

[coldweatherfan]

Sounds about right he’s a better John Lackey now except gets almost a million per start.

 

Can't help that. The money is what it is.

 

He was however a big reason all the Cubs have a ring, so, money well spent.

[AverageJoesGym]

Can't help that. The money is what it is.

 

He was however a big reason all the Cubs have a ring, so, money well spent.

 

Just like I caught heck back when the Red Sox spent all that money on J.D. Drew. If he doesn't hit that grand slam there is no 2007 championship. Money well spent.

[John Anthony]

John Anthony, you are spot on as usual on your takes. I’ve always liked your contributions to BGP. There are several BGP veterans that I don’t hear much anymore, keep bringing it strong my friend.

 

All comes down to velocity. He went from 93 to 91 last year, that’s the difference between good to batting practice velocity. Appreciate the feedback, the Cubs were still brilliant to bring Darvish in recognizing Lester is older now and didn’t get stuck with Arrieta on a Lester deal.

 

If he gets his fastball back he will be good. Justin Verlander is a 35 year old who got his fastball back (93 to 95 from 2014-2017) and is front line starter again.

[John Anthony]

Can't help that. The money is what it is.

 

He was however a big reason all the Cubs have a ring, so, money well spent.

 

Yeah and it’s the Cubs, deep...deep pockets. Lester did his Job and helped with the ring. The next few years will be a bonus for him and possibly one more deep playoff run.

[John Anthony]

The guy who truly shocks me is still Heyward. 28 years old, should be the best stretch of his career and is projected to hit .268, 13 HR and 7 steals for 23 million dollars this year. If he does that I’d DFA him and play Happ.

[00Rocket28]

The guy who truly shocks me is still Heyward. 28 years old, should be the best stretch of his career and is projected to hit .268, 13 HR and 7 steals for 23 million dollars this year. If he does that I’d DFA him and play Happ.

 

Happ is already gonna play. He’s gonna be the most used CF. He’ll also play some of the corner spots against certain pitching when Almora plays and 2nd when Baez needs a break. I’m not ready to give up on Heyward just yet. I trust Theo and Jed Hoyer to run the team. They’ve won more games than any other team the last 3 years. I trust they know what they’re doing with this team. Most teams have a weak player or two and a bad contract contract. Could be worse. We could be the Reds...

[00Rocket28]

Yeah and it’s the Cubs, deep...deep pockets. Lester did his Job and helped with the ring. The next few years will be a bonus for him and possibly one more deep playoff run.

 

No “possibly” to it. The team is basically just hitting it’s prime and will almost entirely stay intact for the next 4 years. They’ll make it to at least 2 more NLCS and another World Series or 2.

[John Anthony]

Happ is already gonna play. He’s gonna be the most used CF. He’ll also play some of the corner spots against certain pitching when Almora plays and 2nd when Baez needs a break. I’m not ready to give up on Heyward just yet. I trust Theo and Jed Hoyer to run the team. They’ve won more games than any other team the last 3 years. I trust they know what they’re doing with this team. Most teams have a weak player or two and a bad contract contract. Could be worse. We could be the Reds...

 

I would think the Heyward deal is amongst the worst in baseball since Carl Crawford is out of the league. Theo is brilliant but appears to be human after all. I just don’t get it, Heyward should be a beast.

[00Rocket28]

I would think the Heyward deal is amongst the worst in baseball since Carl Crawford is out of the league. Theo is brilliant but appears to be human after all. I just don’t get it, Heyward should be a beast.

 

Most teams have bad contracts on the books. Some guys with their 2018 salary and their 2017 stats. Several that I’d take Heyward over. At least he can provide Gold Glove D. Some guys like Homer Bailey I think are far worse contracts considering how little the team will spend and how much they make. I heard a guy on sports radio few months ago say if your worried if your team is spending too much, then you’re watching sports wrong.

 

Dodgers-Matt Kemp $21.5 Million

D-Backs-Yosmany Thomas $13.5 Million (47 games and .241 avg, while having no position)

Rockies- Ian Desmond $22 Million (95 games, 40 RBI’s)

Giants- Mark Melancon $20 Million (11 saves, 4.50 ERA)

Cards- Adam Wainwright $19.5 Million (5.11 ERA, 12 Wins)

Reds- Homer Bailey $21 Million (6-9, 6.43 ERA)

Braves- Adrian Gonzalez $22.5 Million (.242 AVG, 30 RBI’s)

Mets- David Wright $20 Million (.226 Avg, 14 RBI’s)

Angels -Albert Pujols $27 Million (.241 avg, although he did have 101 RBI’s but no position)

Mariners- Felix Hernandez $26.9 Million (6-5, 4.35 ERA, played in 16 games)

Royals- Alex Gordon $20 Million (.208 Avg, 41 RBI’s)

Tigers - Miguel Cabrera $30 Million (.249 avg, 60 RBI’s), Jordan Zimmerman $24 Million (8-13, 6.08)

Red Sox- Pablo Sandoval $18.5 Million (Not even on the team anymore), Hanley Ramirez $22.7 Million (.242 Avg, 62 RBI and now no longer a starter)

Yankees- Jacoby Ellsbury $21.1 Million (.264 Avg, 39 RBI’s)

Blue Jays- Troy Tulowitzki $20 Million (.249 Avg, 26 RBI’s)

[Voice of Reason]

Most teams have bad contracts on the books. Some guys with their 2018 salary and their 2017 stats. Several that I’d take Heyward over. At least he can provide Gold Glove D. Some guys like Homer Bailey I think are far worse contracts considering how little the team will spend and how much they make. I heard a guy on sports radio few months ago say if your worried if your team is spending too much, then you’re watching sports wrong.

 

Dodgers-Matt Kemp $21.5 Million

D-Backs-Yosmany Thomas $13.5 Million (47 games and .241 avg, while having no position)

Rockies- Ian Desmond $22 Million (95 games, 40 RBI’s)

Giants- Mark Melancon $20 Million (11 saves, 4.50 ERA)

Cards- Adam Wainwright $19.5 Million (5.11 ERA, 12 Wins)

Reds- Homer Bailey $21 Million (6-9, 6.43 ERA)

Braves- Adrian Gonzalez $22.5 Million (.242 AVG, 30 RBI’s)

Mets- David Wright $20 Million (.226 Avg, 14 RBI’s)

Angels -Albert Pujols $27 Million (.241 avg, although he did have 101 RBI’s but no position)

Mariners- Felix Hernandez $26.9 Million (6-5, 4.35 ERA, played in 16 games)

Royals- Alex Gordon $20 Million (.208 Avg, 41 RBI’s)

Tigers - Miguel Cabrera $30 Million (.249 avg, 60 RBI’s), Jordan Zimmerman $24 Million (8-13, 6.08)

Red Sox- Pablo Sandoval $18.5 Million (Not even on the team anymore), Hanley Ramirez $22.7 Million (.242 Avg, 62 RBI and now no longer a starter)

Yankees- Jacoby Ellsbury $21.1 Million (.264 Avg, 39 RBI’s)

Blue Jays- Troy Tulowitzki $20 Million (.249 Avg, 26 RBI’s)

 

I look at that list and then think about some people questioning the Votto contract.

 

:no:

[00Rocket28]

I look at that list and then think about some people questioning the Votto contract.

 

:no:

 

I think he’s definitely worth his pay. I think the Reds have to decide if they’re a small market team who play the money ball game more. Or do they want one superstar and a lot of guys who’d struggle to make other big league rosters.

[The Scribe]

Almora is the better CF than Happ. I think Happ ends up in right and Heyward is the overpaid, lefty PH off the bench until they can unload him. I can see them unloading him in a bad contract for bad contract trade that nets them a pitcher, like Matt Harvey, Scott Kazmir, or Edinson Volquez.

 

As far as Darvish goes, they overpaid but that's the market. He has more left in the tank than Arrieta does. Arrieta is a quad or hamstring injury away from making a steep slide.

 

I still wouldn't be surprised to see Russell or Baez traded in spring training for a top tier closer or #2 or #3 starter

[John Anthony]

Most teams have bad contracts on the books. Some guys with their 2018 salary and their 2017 stats. Several that I’d take Heyward over. At least he can provide Gold Glove D. Some guys like Homer Bailey I think are far worse contracts considering how little the team will spend and how much they make. I heard a guy on sports radio few months ago say if your worried if your team is spending too much, then you’re watching sports wrong.

 

Dodgers-Matt Kemp $21.5 Million

D-Backs-Yosmany Thomas $13.5 Million (47 games and .241 avg, while having no position)

Rockies- Ian Desmond $22 Million (95 games, 40 RBI’s)

Giants- Mark Melancon $20 Million (11 saves, 4.50 ERA)

Cards- Adam Wainwright $19.5 Million (5.11 ERA, 12 Wins)

Reds- Homer Bailey $21 Million (6-9, 6.43 ERA)

Braves- Adrian Gonzalez $22.5 Million (.242 AVG, 30 RBI’s)

Mets- David Wright $20 Million (.226 Avg, 14 RBI’s)

Angels -Albert Pujols $27 Million (.241 avg, although he did have 101 RBI’s but no position)

Mariners- Felix Hernandez $26.9 Million (6-5, 4.35 ERA, played in 16 games)

Royals- Alex Gordon $20 Million (.208 Avg, 41 RBI’s)

Tigers - Miguel Cabrera $30 Million (.249 avg, 60 RBI’s), Jordan Zimmerman $24 Million (8-13, 6.08)

Red Sox- Pablo Sandoval $18.5 Million (Not even on the team anymore), Hanley Ramirez $22.7 Million (.242 Avg, 62 RBI and now no longer a starter)

Yankees- Jacoby Ellsbury $21.1 Million (.264 Avg, 39 RBI’s)

Blue Jays- Troy Tulowitzki $20 Million (.249 Avg, 26 RBI’s)

 

180 million for gold glove D... and people wonder why the free agent market is ice cold this year.

 

At least those other guys can somewhat hit, eat innings or sell jerseys.

 

Heyward has 18 total homers since joining the Cubs in 2016 in a juiced ball era. Putting an optimist hat on, he can only get better and has the raw skills.

[00Rocket28]

180 million for gold glove D... and people wonder why the free agent market is ice cold this year.

 

At least those other guys can somewhat hit, eat innings or sell jerseys.

 

Heyward has 18 total homers since joining the Cubs in 2016 in a juiced ball era. Putting an optimist hat on, he can only get better and has the raw skills.

 

Some of those guys can hit. Some can’t hit. Some can’t hit or pitch.

 

Heyward hit .259 with 59 RBI’s. That’s better than several guys on that list and he’s the best of them as far a defense goes. Like I said. Far from the worst contract in baseball.