2014 Free Agent Possibles per mlbtraderumors.com

[http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/
02/2014-mlb-free-agents.html]

Notables:

Catcher:
Brain McCann
Jarrod Saltalamacchia

2B:
Robinson Cano
Ben Zobrist - Born in Illinois

OF:
Jacoby Ellsbury
Curtis Granderson -From Chicago
Chris Young - 11M Club Option
Shin-Soo Choo
Corey Hart
Hunter Pence

SP:
Matt Garza
Roy Halladay
Dan Haren
Ubaldo Jimenez - 8M Mutual Option
Josh Johnson
Jeff Karstens
Tim Lincecum
Ricky Nolasco
Johan Santana - 25M Club Option
Edinson Volquez
Adam Wainright

RP:
Matt Capps
Joe Smith
Edward Mujica
Jesse Litsch - Low risk high reward.
Craig Breslow - LHP
Eric O'Flaherty - LHP

The players in BOLD are one's I would like to see the Cubs focus on.

Ben Zobrist could be the new Mark DeRosa for the Cubs.

Ben Zobrist

Like his production.

 
Ubaldo Jimenez- depends on what direction they go with the rotation this year.

Curtis Granderson- Doubtful with 60 Mil per being alocated to the park.  That will be equal to 2 mega deals for 5 years running.



Here is what I believe they will do:

City will ok some funds as long as the Cubs do not use that savings to buy high ticket players.  Ths has been brought up already by the city. 

IE the City is not going to flip the bill so you can spend on the the team when it is a private owned land.


So with that in view:


Best corse of action is retention and development.

City can't say squat about re-upping.

So extend both Baker and Garza and give shark a extention.  Tie them all up over the re-hab.

Over the corse of the the reconstruction keep filtering up youth while spending on cheep filler....ie what they are doing right now. 


Now before the unvaleing of the new plan on the park I would have hated this team direction but as long as there is a bigger piture of a over haul of the park and when that loadstone is lifted the youth will have matured some and they can spend on legit answers.

That is fine.

What they were showing before was cost cut with no plan of action.  

That was unacceptable. 

Alot will depend on performances this year by the pitchers that were brought in. As far as free agents, look for the Cubs to spend on at least two notables such as a Josh Johnson/Jocoby Elsbury combo for instance since Dejesus will be off the books, Soriano will be in the last year of his contract, as well as a pitcher or two will likely be gone. You have to convince the fans that progression is visible year after year in my opinion. 

Dumping DeJesus and Feldman for instance and bringing in the aforementioned tandem or someone like that at least shows that.

I see once again that no 3rd basemen are available of substance. Looks like the Cubs are going to have to trade Garza or Soriano to acquire one.   

Good list, just some notes;

Rays have a 2014 club option for 2.5 million on Ben Zobrist.  Same for 2015.  He would be a great guy to have.....but with an abysmal middle IF; cant see the rays letting the "jack of all trades" guy like him just walk away.  Dealt is more likely.

If Paul Konerko does in fact retire--I can see the White Sox splashing on Bobi Cano to replace production.

Cory Hart is better than DeJesus in right field......Hunter Pence too.

No to Ubaldo--since getting dealt from Colorado he has declined. 

I'd love Doc Halladay.  One of the classiest guys ever.  Gotta think he probably goes back to Toronto.

When Josh Johnson is on and healthy--hes a Cy Young candidate.

Adam Wainwright is a cards lifer.

We already have Curtis Granderson, his name is Alphonso Soriano.   

Jarod Saltalamachia?  No thank you.

I'm with CFS--re-up Garza, Shark, and Baker for starters.   

Lets look at the FA
1. Cano - Yankees or Dodgers for Pujols/Hamilton money
2. Ellsbury - Red Sox's or Nationals  for 18 to 20 million
3. Zorbist - D-Rays
4. Curtis Granderson - To old pass
5. Shin Soo Choo (Have that already in DeJesus)
6. Corey Hart - Brewers or west coast team
7. Garza - will be traded in July then signed to an extention
8. Halladay - Washed up pass
9. Haren - injury prone pass
10. Jimenez - pass
11. J.Johnson - Jay's or Yankees
12. Lincecum - SF
13. Santana - pass
14. Wainwright - retire a Cardinal
The Cubs won't be signing any of these FA's,unless the Rickett's figure out some way to pull millions out of their asses.

Alot will depend on performances this year by the pitchers that were brought in.

Agree.

As far as free agents, look for the Cubs to spend on at least two notables such as a Josh Johnson/Jocoby Elsbury combo for instance

Don't see it.

since Dejesus will be off the books, Soriano will be in the last year of his contract, as well as a pitcher or two will likely be gone. You have to convince the fans that progression is visible year after year in my opinion. 

Can't depend on Sori off the books until he is off the books.  Dejesus is not a burden on any payroll.

Dumping DeJesus and Feldman for instance and bringing in the aforementioned tandem or someone like that at least shows that.

No it doesn't.   They have low return values and both are not major hits against payroll.

I see once again that no 3rd basemen are available of substance. Looks like the Cubs are going to have to trade Garza or Soriano to acquire one.   

Sori would get minamal returns.  If he has not been traded to this point comming off last year he won't be later on.  Garza is a maybe.


Right approach:

You have to convince the fans that progression is visible year after year in my opinion. 

Looking at it logically:

Dejesus in MLB.  Jackson at AAA.

If Jackson busts out then they have to find a CF until Almora is ready.

That is the logical approach. 

SP:

They have:

Garza team control til the end of the year.
Shark in arb 1.  2 more years of control at that point.
Jackson post first year of control.

Then Wood going into arb1

Feldman and Baker F/A. 

Adding a SP is debateable here.  They could just extend Garza and Baker and net the same results.

If Shark takes the next step and becomes a league ace the rest fall in line nicely.  They wouldn't need to ink a top of the rotation.


Sori I would just let him retire a Cub.  If he blows up they have some filler AAA types that could fill in at LF until his hit to payroll is gone.

Regardless that is the Cubs problem.  Even if they traded him they would still have that payroll hit. 

The 2013/2014 off season will be a time of more salary dumping and making additions to the farm system.

The Cubs won't be signing any of these FA's,unless the Rickett's figure out some way to pull millions out of their asses.

Smartest thing u said for a while.


If they sign any F/a's it will be more of the same.  If they spend big it will be on Garza to extend him. 

Woah woah woah, lets shoot for some more realistic signings like maybe a Kosuke Fukudome, some young Cuban pitcher nobody heard about, and some Little Leaguer thats really tearing it up in 3rd grade that has a ton of potential. 


Thats way more Theo.  

Agree with Crzy Jo.  Thin out FA signings by getting rid of the best producing players on it.  They cost too much for Theo.  Then, anyone under 30 goes.  He likes the "veterans".  Look for someone having a down year, *cough* career, and now you are in Theo's range.  Right around a career .240 hitter is good.  Maybe a pitcher with an career ERA over 4.50.  Has to be in their 30's.  Or, a foreign player nobody has heard of.  He likes them too!  Ahhh...don't you just love the new "Cub's Way"?!  At least Hendry was winning divisions.  This guy is shooting for the worst team in Baseball!  And with Houston still around, that is tough to compete with!

I'm scratching my head trying to remember how many years Theo has been running the Cubs, and how many seasons he's been responsible for.

I keep coming up with, approximately ... one.

Definitely a trend there.     

Well, I dont know what all the fussing is over. The Cubs have another terrible year then Theo is going to feel big time pressure to do more in FA. The cubs have a so so year then that means some young kids have stepped up. This year is going to be a telling sign for where the Cubs go in the future. Anything approaching another 100 loss season, you are going to see a lot of the fan base turn on Theo.

Dejesus in MLB.  Jackson at AAA.

Aren't we talking about 2014 and the potential free agents?  If we are, why would they bring DeJesus back? They have already worked on the pitching and somewhat netted depth for this year. Are they going to drop payroll once again next year and not add any offense? I hardly doubt it.

This year was about the pitching staff. Next year will be about pitching AND position players. The Cubs are not going to show progression with DeJesus in the everyday line-up and Soriano retiring a Cub just for the sake of Soriano retiring a Cub.

I would hardly doubt that they would bring Dejesus back for 6.5 million when they could buy him out at 1.5 million for 2014. I would rather have the Cubs actually go for a quality outfielder instead of this patchwork offense they are trying to assemble.

It is a piece-by-piece project. You can't expect the Cubs to keep getting better simply by sticking the same team out there year in and year out.

If you agree that progression needs to be made, then you better have players better than DeJesus, Stewart, Valbuena, Schierholz, and Hairston. Curtis Granderson has more offensive production than all 5 combined. 

Progression is not simply measured by the farm system being one year older in the maturation process.

BTW, Soriano has a lot of value, it just depends on how much the Cubs want to eat as to what kind of prospects they would get in return. He is better than 80% of the outfielders in the league, and a contending team that could get him for good prospects and/or only having to pay him 10 million for two years would be getting a good return on investment in my opinion.    

  

Aren't we talking about 2014 and the potential free agents?  If we are, why would they bring DeJesus back? They have already worked on the pitching and somewhat netted depth for this year. Are they going to drop payroll once again next year and not add any offense? I hardly doubt it. 

I think you are expecting something out of Theo/Jed/Tommy that goes against their trends and right at the start of a park over haul.

They didn't go after Bourn...why would they change their tune all of a sudden with a 60 mil per debt starting.


Some one needs a reality check. 


Fact is if the fans buy into this rebuild of the park and preping the team for after the park is done and still go to Cubs games to watch the work in progress they will not spend on big tickets player.

Just cross your fingers and hope they re-sign Garza and Baker vs taking the cheap route and resigning Feldman and having Carlos V. as the answer in 2014.


Also I expect them to give Jackson a shot at playing every day until Almora is ready then he maybe moved into a corner OF spot.


When they signed Jackson it went against their phlispohy but looking at it he would cost less then Garza going foward.  


keep crossing your fingers they re-up.


 

Just cross your fingers and hope they re-sign Garza and Baker

Same team. 

versus taking the cheap route and resigning Feldman and having Carlos V. as the answer in 2014.

Worse team. 

Also I expect them to give Jackson a shot at playing every day until Almora is ready then he maybe moved into a corner OF spot.

Even worse considering that Soriano could be gone too.  


Where's the progression that Jed and Theo adamantly have stated they want every year? This is a downward spiral. Forget about the park if you're going to have a lousy product to put in it because fans aren't going to pay top dollar to see them play. Would you? 

You are talking about three years into a rebuild and potentially having Feldman and Villanueva in the rotation? If that's the case, there won't be any need for this board any more because there won't be any fans left, Even Wrigs might jump ship.        

    


    

BTW, Soriano has a lot of value, it just depends on how much the Cubs want to eat as to what kind of prospects they would get in return. He is better than 80% of the outfielders in the league, and a contending team that could get him for good prospects and/or only having to pay him 10 million for two years would be getting a good return on investment in my opinion.    

He is 37 and old knees.

2 years ago no one would have even said what you said.

So after 1 solid year he has value?

I would call it he was healthy for a year and accepted his limitations and adjusted finally.

He is still a knee injury away form the 60 day DL.

He is a risk and teams do not want to spend the quality type talent theat Theo went and demanded in return. 


They best spot for Sori is in LF with the Cubs.  Bottom line.

If the Cubs took a filler type talent in return Theo should be fired. 

Where's the progression that Jed and Theo adamantly have stated they want every year? This is a downward spiral. Forget about the park if you're going to have a lousy product to put in it because fans aren't going to pay top dollar to see them play. Would you? 

You are talking about three years into a rebuild and potentially having Feldman and Villanueva in the rotation? If that's the case, there won't be any need for this board any more because there won't be any fans left, Even Wrigs might jump ship. 

lol,  that lifer surived the 70's.   This is nothing.


Talking about progression that comes in many forms.  Farm development and park rehab are all part of progression.

I still do not believe the goal is winning games.  They would rather win 65 and get a top 5 vs win 75 and get a unprotected 15 pick.

They have been pretty foward about building from with in.

      

Theo should be fired. 

Theo should have been fired during or at the end of last season, along with Dale and his group of pillow fighters.

But it takes a true genius to intentionally tank a season and call it a rebuild. So my mistake.

2013 will be another EPIC FAIL.

Oh my Lord !!!!! But look how the farm has turned around in just one season.  LOL !!!!!!













Pathetic.

Maybe we should wait until after the 2013 season before we start talking about free agents for the 2014 season seeing as many of them will be resigned by their teams before even hitting free agency.

Cause there was a lot of talk last year from czexpert on how the Cubs would have their choice between Greinke, Cain and Hamels as there was no way any of them would be resigned by their current teams.

Whoops.

A couple years ago it was Matt Kemp and Adrian Gonzalez and again neither of them hit free agency.

Talking about potential free agents for 2014 right now only accomplishes two things.

1.  Illustrating exactly how bad this team is right now and that 2013 is another throw away season.

2.  Wastes time.