First Week of Spring Training 2023 (Series Thread)

crunch 12/07/2023 - 12:16 am (view)

it is taking more than a minute for me to get used to craig counsell being the cubs manager.

he's going to take the field on opening day at wrigley and get massively cheered.

that is weird.  that's a thing that's happening, though.

history aside, while i am horrified at the amount of money they're paying him, i welcome his style of management over what d.ross has given the team.  love d.ross and how chill + ready to deliver he kept the team, but he had a serious pitching short-hook problem that exhausted the pen and some very questionable bench/pinch-hitting use.

Arizona Phil 12/07/2023 - 12:04 am (view)

FINWE N: If you go by what Counsell did with the Brewers, he is much more likely to go with younger players than Ross was. I think part of it was that Ross was a "veteran players manager," meaning he was well liked and respected by veteran players because he was inclined to play them over younger unproven guys. 

And that actually might have been OK if the Cubs had been "sellers"at the trade deadline (as they clearly had planned to be before suddenly deciding to go fr it), because Ross would have played the veterans a lot the first four months of the season (which would have maximized their trade value), and then Ross would have had no choice but to play the younger guys the last two months after the veterans were traded. 

But of course it didn't work out that way. 

One thing about Craig Counsell that might have attracted Hoyer to him is that Counsel is very "collaborative" as a manager and welcomes and even demands lots of input from the analytics department. In fact I have heard tell that Counsell knows at least as much as the geeks know and that he routinely goes to them for information rather than waiting for it to be offered. So think of Ross as a Chevy pick-up truck, while Counsell is a Tesla. 

crunch 12/07/2023 - 12:05 am (view)

with candelario off the board to the reds, it looks like it's chapman or trade...or another year of gambling cheap on someone like gio urshela or a meh-D donovan solano.

of course there's also this guy with a rocket arm named morel that could have played a bit more 3rd in 2023 seeing if that could be his thing, but whatever i guess.  i know accuracy isn't a strength with those throws from 3rd, but still, for his cost and a supporting middle-IF that's one of the best in MLB (if not #1) it's not the worst use of a very cheap talent.

Arizona Phil 12/07/2023 - 12:44 am (view)

FINWE N: I believe Jeimer Candelario offers more roster flexibility in 2024 and beyond than players like Matt Chapman and/or Rhys Hoskins would, not to mention costing a lot less $$$$ (and signing Chapman would also cost the Cubs a draft pick because Toronto extended a Qualifying Offer to Chapman).  

Also, I can't help but see visions of Trey Mancini whenever I think about the Cubs signing Rhys Hoskins. 

Arizona Phil 12/07/2023 - 12:46 am (view)

FINWE N: Time will tell.

Certainly the Cubs are not exactly flush with lefty relievers in the system. so Adam Laskey was not redundant. 

As far as Sheldon Reed is concerned, he pitched very well the last month of the season at South Bend and I thought that would have earned him a spot on the Iowa reserve list. 

I presume the Cubs had good reasons for not assigning Laskey and Reed to the AAA reserve list (thus making them available for selection in the AAA Phase of the Rule 5 Draft), but without knowing who was on the AAA reserve list instead of Laskey and Reed, I can't offer an informed opinion. 

BTW, the same thing happened last year when I had LHP Luis Angel Rodriguez on the AAA Iowa roster but the Cubs left him off and then he was selected by the Houston Astros in the AAA Phase. I couldn't figure that one out, either. 

crunch 12/07/2023 - 12:26 am (view)

reds snag candelario...

Finwe Noldaran 12/06/2023 - 12:24 pm (view)

Arizona P:

Would Candelario be someone that is able to take a bench role once some of these younger players are coming up and need playing time and latitude?

So crazy that his career has come full circle like this.......

Finwe Noldaran 12/06/2023 - 12:21 pm (view)

Arizona P:

Do you feel that Counsel will be more apt to play out some of the young guys, rather than mainly sticking with veterans like Dross?

Finwe Noldaran 12/06/2023 - 12:19 pm (view)

Arizona P:

Do you think they weren't protected in the AAA phase because the organization feels they're redundant or at lesser value than other players they protected, or was this just poor managment?

George Altman 12/06/2023 - 12:47 pm (view)

Even more reason that Jed needs to bring back Bellinger and his LH bat.