Cubs Sign Motte
The Cubs have signed reliever Jason Motte to a one-year deal for $4.5M with a games finished incentive. Motte hasn't pitched a full season since 2012, but did have a helluva nice run out of the Cardinals bullpen from 2010-2012, including being their closer in 2012 where he knocked out 42 saves with a 2.75 ERA thanks to a 10.1 K/9 rate, 2.1 BB/9 rate and 0.917 WHIP that season.. He underwent Tommy John surgery in May of 2013 and returned briefly in 2014, before going back on the disabled list with a back issue in August that ended his season. Motte will turn 33 in June of next season.
While we all like the young Cubs bullpen that is built, it doesn't take much for them to go from good to bad or injuries to hit, so adding some depth shouldn't be a problem and Joe Maddon is keen on mixing and matching until someone earns their roles. We'll see if he's back from his pre-surgery days though, as his average fastball velocity on fangraphs was just 93.9 mph in 2014 versus the 96 area in 2010-2012.
BONUS ROSTER MOVE: The Cubs send INF Marco Hernandez to the Boston Red Sox as the player to be named later that brought the Cubs Felix Doubront. Hernandez did get a bit of Rule 5 buzz, although ultimately not selected. The Cubs still await a player from the A's to complete the Samardzija deal.
Recent comments
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crunch 16 hours 19 min ago (view)
marvin miller and ted simmons are part of the next HOF class.
long time coming for miller.
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crunch 20 hours 57 min ago (view)
things that are important to good on-field play like buying up all the property around wrigley field, from rooftops to acerage, isn't going to monetize itself.
i know some people would love to have a top tier pitcher, but i'm looking forward to more control of rooftop advertising and an open air beer garden near the team owned hotel and resturant complexes.
i know some people want a solid leadoff man, but i'm looking forward to seeing 10-20 concerts on off-days destroying the playing field so that extra revenue can help a polician in Nebraska or Iowa get some ad buys.
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Hagsag 22 hours 3 min ago (view)
Their friend Donald will come through for them.
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crunch 22 hours 26 min ago (view)
remember when the billionaire owners got a huge double digit tax cut?
maybe the city should do them a favor and give them more tax savings help to let them buy and build another 2-3 revenue projects outside of the park. that might help these struggling heroes find some extra loot.
i know this rant isn't fair, but my "dan winkler got a MLB contract fever" is dying down a bit.
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crunch 22 hours 32 min ago (view)
f'real. i don't even know why they're going to bother playing games. i'm over here printing Cubs 2020 World Series Champs banners while others are sleeping on reality.
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Dolorous Jon Lester 23 hours 39 min ago (view)
Just saw a fun report that the Cubs are telling even budget type free agents they can't currently negotiate until they clear some payroll. So that's a fun start to the winter meetings.
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Dolorous Jon Lester 23 hours 43 min ago (view)
I'm with you 100% on that. Minor league retreads are fine and all but we don't need to be paying premiums for middle relief.
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JustSayin' 1 day 1 hour ago (view)
The Cubs have 15-20 extra pitchers in their minor league system due to unbalanced drafting over the last few years. I am ready to see them err on the side of giving the internal guys too many chances as compared to signing AAA players who had short stints in the big leagues which didn't go too well. We don't know it the Cubs organization is just that bad at developing pitching, or has too many guys trying to prove themselves in a fixed number of minor league innings. Bad scouting/development or self-inflicted bottleneck?
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Dolorous Jon Lester 1 day 5 hours ago (view)
Dan Winkler and Jharel Cotton wasn't enough for you? Tough crowd.
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Hagsag 1 day 19 hours ago (view)
I think we all are ready for some action.
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crunch 1 day 20 hours ago (view)
winter meetings start tomorrow...guys got into town friday/today.
the cubs are supposedly looking to tap the trade market for their major moves. this is the place where it gets done or seeds get planted.
also, the modern day HOF class will be announced. marvin miller will most likely get in. lou whitaker and ted simmons should have some heat, too.
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crunch 2 days 9 hours ago (view)
semi-interesting winter league note...
trey mcnutt (yes, that guy) is having a hell of a winter league in mexico (one of the less talented winter leagues) so far as a closer. 15.2ip 8h 4bb 24k, 0.57 era.
giants signed him to a minor league deal a couple weeks ago. he never went anywhere. he's been consistently playing ball in the minors and indie league ball since he was last a noteworthy player. last season he played in the OAK minor league system. 30 years old now...
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jdrnym 2 days 16 hours ago (view)
Brad Brach signs with the Mets for $850K but the Cubs are paying $500K, per Ken Rosenthal. Wasn't his 2020 club only supposed to be on the hook for league minimum?
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crunch 2 days 17 hours ago (view)
when he got to the mets he suddenly learned how to throw with control (small sample size etc). last year was not a fun bullpen year...
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crunch 2 days 19 hours ago (view)
Yeah, I've made myself familiar with a lot of the changes, but AZP's posts have both added more information and cleared up stuff I didn't fully grasp. I appreciate the hell out of it. Thanks Phil, thanks TCR.
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bradsbeard 2 days 21 hours ago (view)
Looks like Savant has his breaking pitch classified as a curve while Fangraphs calls it a slider. Suppose by ST he could have made everything over in the pitching lab, so who knows!
Comments
i'm not worried about his
I'm sure a lot of teams saw
yeah, totally...i just saw a
not Cub related but kinda
Jason Motte got almost
Jason Motte got almost exactly what the Cubs would have paid Kyuji Fujikawa if they had picked up Fujikawa's $5M option for 2015.
up to $2.5M in incentives for
up to $2.5M in incentives for Motte per Levine
The Cubs have 20 days to file
The Cubs have 20 days to file Jason Motte's contract with the MLB office, and the Cubs do not have to add Motte to their MLB 40-man roster until the contract is filed. Therefore the Cubs do not have to make a 40-man roster move to accomodate Motte until January 5th (they will probably DFA Donn Roach and then try to get him through Outright Assignment Waivers), although of course they could make the move anytime prior to 1/5.
Also Motte (and Jon Lester and Jason Hammel, too) have automatric "no trade" rights through June 15th. The player can waive this right, but if he does he can be traded only for player contracts and/or cash with a maximum aggregate value of $50,000. Although he had post-2014 Article XX-B player status (as do all ex-NPB players not subject to ISBP restrictions), Tsuyoshi Wada does not receive the automatic "no trade" right that the other three get because Wada re-signed with the Cubs prior to midnight on the 5th day following the conclusion of the World Series.
A. Rios to Royals for 1/11M.
A. Rios to Royals for 1/11M.
Whoops.
Whoops.
"Yeah, I think so,'' said Lester when asked if the trade made it easier for him to leave Boston for good. "I think there's always that unknown when you're traded, going to a whole different coast, a whole different organization, a whole different philosophy. I think going [to Oakland] prepared us for this time.
"I think if we finish out the year in Boston and you get down to this decision, I think it would be a lot harder. That's not to say it wasn't hard as it was, but I feel like that broke that barrier of 'I wonder if I could play for another team.' And I think we answered those questions.'
http://www.csnne.com/boston-red-sox/lester-ju...
if it wasn't for this place
What do Theo and Jed know
What do Theo and Jed know about football?
/asking for a friend
Halftime QB rating...
video interview with Jon
He also said he always like
Nightengale column on the
2014 Bears
Bears with zero points
I realize Harbaugh has had a
Boy, it's gonna be a fun week
Harbaugh has s dysfunctional
They need a Cub's-style
The Cubs received cash
So much for it being a
So much for it being a significant piece
Boring.
I honestly almost commented
They said in the beginning
my bad if I read it wrong,
my bad if I read it wrong, thought there was something that it would be a significant player...obviously not the case though.
Well, there was lots of
Well, there was lots of discussion around the time of what it would be. Some reporters said it would be significant, so you didn't hear that wrong. Some said there was a list that the Cubs were picking from and they were just evaluating them more. Others said they had someone in mind but wanted to wait until after the Rule 5. Etc. And Hoyer said publicly that the player "wouldn't change the balance of the deal" - but that's vague and pretty obvious given the other parts of the deal already. So I think most assumed it would be a player and maybe somebody we at least heard of (remember Neil Ramirez was the PTBNL in the Garza deal), but I suppose all along "cash" was a possibilty in lieu of a player. Perhaps they could never agree, or perhaps the guys they were following didn't perform well over the season and they didn't want any of them in the end. Or perhaps it was tacitly agreed that the return of this piece would be based in part on the outcome of the trade, and that this might be a gentleman's way of saying "we already came out ahead on this one and I want to keep you as a potential trade partner." I don't know. Was hoping for another minor piece just to throw into the system, but it is what it is.
Kaplan on twitter: "Ray Lewis
Cutler for Orton really
It was Orton and three draft
The tale of two Romos: Romo
Romo has always been much
Interesting that statistics,
Interesting note on Motte
Interesting note on Motte from the STL article in the sidebar:
"Although sidelined by the elbow injury, Motte remained active around the ballpark and championed more awareness for pediatric cancer treatment and research around the Cardinals and throughout baseball. He organized with the help of the union a day this past season where every player in Major League Baseball wore "Strikeout Cancer" (K cancer) t-shirts to the ballpark and during workouts to raise money for charities focused on pediatric cancer."
They are going to win a World
But "lovable winners" isn't
But "wuvable winners" is.
I'm all for a journeyman for
I'm all for a journeyman for the back end of the bullpen, but I hope he isn't another Jose Veras.
M. Morse on a 2-year deal to
M. Morse on a 2-year deal to Marlins
C. Capuano on 1-year deal to Yankees
M. Joyce traded to Angels for RP K. Jepsen
B. Penny on minor league deal to White Sox.
B. Wilson DFA'd
D. Descalso on 2-year deal to Rockies.
M. Scherzer and J. Shields in witness protection program.
j.lowrie 3/23 to HOU...nice
maybe Trestman was just
maybe Trestman was just trolling last night and realizes the draft pick means more now :)
if you look at the game logs, that was just the 2nd bad Cutler game all season and the first was really just a bad 2nd half vs Packers which didn't fucking matter when they gave up 55 pts anyway.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_/id/95...
No one is arguing that he's elite anymore, the question is can Bears do better? QB's are not an easy thing to find if you're not the Packers.
Regardless, they're in the 7-9 draft pick slot now, losing is for the better.
I thought Trestman would survive until next season, but they do look woefully unprepared week to week and clearly he can't match up with the bright coaches. They certainly should explore if they can trade Cutler and not take the cap hit, but I doubt it. I'd look to trade Marshall too and try to get a 3rd round pick back as well. Teams a mess at this point , but especially defensively.
I think they could still get it done on offense, but I couldn't think of one defensive player worth keeping, and obviously you'd have to overhaul the entire scheme.
To fire all the coach's and
Maybe the stats say it was
sure, the turnovers are a
sure, the turnovers are a huge problem...and again, happy if they go in another direction, but that could mean Geno Smith quality as well. There's usually about 10 good QB's in a league at any given time, 10 okay ones which is where Cutler falls imo and then 10 terribles ones. Getting an okay one is a 50/50 shot at best, getting a good one is pretty unlikely.
I'll never find it now, but believe Cutler had one of the best 4th quarter ratings the last few seasons before this year's mess.
Here's Cutler's ranking by Football Outsiders the last few years in reverse order since 2014 (going backwards):
2014: 14th, 18th (McCown was 13th), 28th, 21st, 30th, 36th// Broncos years 4th, 8th
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/qb
clearly the scheme makes a big difference, but yeah, very middle of the pack to not good. No doubt overpaid and no worries if they move past him.
Stats are more difficult to
Stats are more difficult to
Stats are more difficult to make a case for anything in football than they are in baseball unless the stats are just stupid good. The stats don't show that Cutler can't make second and third reads, for example.
agree to disagree I suppose, don't think that's been a criticism of Cutler's at all. Forte doesn't rack up those kind of numbers as the primary option with Marshall and Jeffery and Bennett. Those INT's are him throwing off his back foot and thinking he can make any play work because of his strong arm.
Regardless, defending Cutler is not a business I wish to be in, so I'll bow out. I think he's perfectly average with occasional signs of being good and too many occasions of being really bad. The contract was obviously a mistake, but since they went all in without drafting a QB the last 2 years, there's not a real FA option. Best bet is try and trade up for the Oregon QB this year, but since Oakland, Jackonsville, Tennesse and Tampa could all use a QB, good 'effin luck.
Cutler's interceptions are
I'd look to trade Marshall
is he untradeable? Still
is he untradeable? Still putting up numbers, but don't know about his contract or how worried teams will be about how his season ended and his age of course.
Not a big fan of a complete rebuilding in football unless you know a #1 pick is coming and a franchise player is available (the Andrew Luck scenario). I think as long as you have a decent QB (and I realize I'm in the minority here in thinking Cutler is that), you can do enough in one offseason to fix things. So I'd probably prefer to trade the old guys versus the young guys, but if they can get a mid 1st round and another decent draft pick for Jeffery, then sure.
But I'd prefer to trade Forte and Marshall and Cutler first, but I have no idea on the market on those. I'm fine with cutting Cutler too to avoid the cap hit, but I have no idea what Plan B would be there. The Oregon QB is gonna be gone and the FSU guy is someone they need to stay far away from.
Marshall is 31, his contract
I'm sure the Jets would take
I'm sure the Jets would take all of them :)
My feeling, once again, is the Bears should put all their efforts in turning around their defense. I think the offense can still easily be middle of the pack to top 10, there's plenty of talent there and if they can't get rid of any of those players as it seems a few of you believe, then try to win with them.
heh, the Score but worth
heh, the Score but worth mentioning
@wpbc Score is reporting Trestman will be fired at end of season.
If Andy Fran's were still
some Rays, Padres trade
some Rays, Padres trade rumors involving Wil Myers
also some Mariners rumors about them trading for a good bat
buzz growing on Myers to
buzz growing on Myers to Padres...death to Myers fantasy value, but fun for baseball.
All the Padres need now is Luis Valbuena and Travis Wood!!!! Maybe TheJedi can get their old pals Casey Kelly and Rymer Liriano back...although not even sure if Casey Kelly's arm is still attached.
latest buzz is Myers to
latest buzz is Myers to Seattle, T. Walker to Padres and something to Rays of significance...obviously.
Samardziga already paying
missed the B. Morrow to
missed the B. Morrow to Padres for 1/2.5M deal...fantasy sleeper!!!
http://www.astroscounty.com
http://www.astroscounty.com/2014/12/astros-an...
Astros settle with Jacob Nix from last year's draft drama, allegedly he gets the whole $1.5M he was expected and is eligible to be drafted again.
@keithlaw If MLB let the Astros give Nix the full amount, they just tacitly admitted that the entire draft pool system won't survive a challenge.
Lester contract breakdown
Lester contract breakdown from Heyman and ABC News story
http://abc7chicago.com/sports/jon-lester-hope...
$30M bonus, $15M due on 4/1/15, $2.5 million each by Dec. 31 in 2018 and 2019, and a final $10 million installment by Sept. 15, 2020.
The other $125M
15M ('15), 20M ('16 and '17), 22.5 M ('18 and '19), 15M ('20) with a $10M buyout on '21 option which is worth $25M
Their new TV deal must be expected in 2018 or 2019 I'm guessing.
Ok..how do you really
GEORGE A: I would do it like
GEORGE A: I would do it like this:
ESTIMATED 2015 CUBS MLB PLAYER PAYROLL:
SIGNED:
Jon Lester - $15M (see NOTE)
Miguel Montero - $12M
Edwin Jackson - $11M
Jason Hammel - $9M
Starlin Castro - $6M
Anthony Rizzo - $5M
Jason Motte - $4.5M (plus $2.5M performance incentives based on GF)
Tsuyoshi Wada - $4M (plus $2M performance incentives)
Jorge Soler - $2M
Ryan Sweeney - $1.5M
Jacob Turner - $1M
OTHER: Gerardo Concepcion ($500K), Kyuji Fujikawa ($500K), and Jose Veras ($150K)
SUB-TOTAL: $71.15M (plus $4.5M in performance incentives)
NOTE: $15M of Lester signing bonus payable by 4/1/2014 from 2014 payroll?
ARBITRATION-ELIGIBLE:
Jake Arrieta - $4.25M?
Welington Castillo - $2.25M?
Chris Coghlan - $1.75M?
Felix Doubront - $1.5M?
Justin Ruggiano - $2.75M?
Pedro Strop - $2.75M?
Luis Valbuena - $3.25M?
Travis Wood - $5.75M?
PROJECTED ESTIMATED SUB-TOTAL: $24.25M
NOTE: Projected arbitration salaries rounded-off to nearest $250K
AUTO-RENEWAL (PRE-ARBITRATION) (split contract - MLB/minor)
Arismendy Alcantara – $525K/$175K
Javy Baez - $525K/$80K
Dallas Beeler - $500K/$80K
C. J. Edwards - $500K/$40K
Justin Grimm - $525K/$300K
Kyle Hendricks - $525K/$150K
Eric Jokisch - $500K/$80K
Junior Lake - $550K/$300K
Tommy LaStella - $525K/$200
Rafael Lopez - $500K/$80K
Mike Olt - $525K/$200K
Joe Ortiz - $525K/$175K
Blake Parker - $525K/$150K
Neil Ramirez - $525K/$300K
Donn Roach - $525K/$125K
Hector Rondon - $550K/$300K
Zac Rosscup - $525K/150K
Brian Schlitter - $550K/$300K
Dan Straily - $525K/$225K
Matt Szczur - $500K/$80K
Christian Villanueva - $500K/$80K
Logan Watkins - $525K/$100K
PROJECTED ESTIMATED SUB-TOTAL: $6.75M
NOTE: Projected pre-arbitration split-contract salaries rounded off to nearest $25K
PROJECTED ESTIMATED TOTAL: $102.15M (plus $4.5M in performance bonuses)
So if they sign Scherzer at
-if +when
Lulz. They can't get
Thanks, Phil. I don't
Wesley Wright joins Oriole
AA 3-4 with a HR, 2 rbi and a
How does Yorvit Torrealba
Ruggiano traded to M's
Johnny Gomes time...sigh.
Johnny Gomes time...sigh.
Because of the Ruggiano trade
seems to be where that is
seems to be where that is headed...
Pretty much how I feel about