caulfield12

Yes, the bullpen has to be Priority A, B and C for the Cubs right now.

Especially because of Lester's decline (albeit not HUGE) and Quintana's inconsistency last year...and the overwhelming uncertainty about Darvish's status from week to week, month to month, year to year.

The Cubs can't trade Russell now, and that leaves them with Almora/Schwarber/Happ that have various degrees of value. Another factor is they will eventually lose Zobrist, or he'll fall off a cliff, and Happ's the only one who can replicate what Zobrist does, other than Baez (who'll they obviously try to extend.) Their ability to add Harper and keep Rizzo (50/50), Bryant, Baez AND Contreras (although odds are he won't be worth a long-term extension because of the wear and tear on catchers) are pretty much non-existent. That's not even considering Hendricks or Q, if he can rebound. Unless the Cubs are going to get $200 million per year from their t.v. deal, then it's still at least POSSIBLE. Not wise, given all the issues with Darvish/Chatwood/Heyward and their bullpen.

Great, the fact they have their own t.v. show dedicated to his visit makes a pretty compelling case for the Yankees, if the financials are even close to being in the same neighborhood. Hard to resist being part of that Red Sox/Yankees rivalry that seemingly always results in 4 1/2 hour broadcasts, right?

I thought originally it was about Cuban companies buying signs/advertising behind the plate that would be visible during broadcasts...but most international broadcasts are already selling that space and juxtaposing local ads over what you actually see in the US or on t.v. So NOW we don’t need Machado or Harper anymore, just sign ALL the Cubans. Joking. But I’m sure we will hear that out of the front office if they fail to come through.

3. Chicago White Sox They're the other team that got the private tour of the SS Machado, and for the same reasons they'd be a great fit for Harper, they make a ton of sense for Machado. There has been much talk of the White Sox trading for Yonder Alonso, Machado's brother-in-law, being an enticement for Machado, but I don't know, you tell me: After last Thanksgiving, did you think, "Hey, I'd like to spend all year with those people?" Machado could be the veteran presence for all those young White Sox hitters -- which is a positive or a negative, depending on your perspective -- and they could essentially grow up around him as their centerpiece. The White Sox might not be as high profile as Machado might like, but they were more than good enough for Michael freaking Jordan, for crying out loud. The White Sox are the most fascinating team to be in on both Machado and Harper, and with all that talent in the system, they could be primed to dominate that division for the next five years … with or without Machado https://www.mlb.com/news/ranking-manny-machados-best-suitors/c-301982248 Has NYY and Philly ahead of Sox, of course...

Their partner is Sinclair and the channel will be called Marquee, according to the Sun-Times. Levine reported no Cubs-Sinclair deal is in place but said industry sources indicated Sinclair was a leading candidate to team with the ballclub. Sinclair is a partner in Stadium, Reinsdorf’s multi-platform sports outlet based at the United Center. Its holdings also include Tennis Channel. While Sinclair owns and/or operates 193 TV stations around the country, it’s probably best known in Chicago for its proposed $3.9 billion merger with WGN-9 and WGN-AM 720 parent Tribune Media. (It’s worth noting Tribune Publishing, not Tribune Media, is this newspaper’s owner.) The Tribune Media deal fell apart earlier this year in the face of federal regulatory hurdles, despite Sinclair’s strong support of the Trump administration and its policies. But that shouldn’t be a problem for the Cubs or their owners. The challenge faced by the Cubs — and to a degree the Sox, Bulls and Hawks — will be to sell the public on their channel because it’s consumers who are needed to make the add-on a must-buy commodity for cable systems as well as advertisers. No matter how energized and undyingly loyal a fan base is, people aren’t necessarily eager to spend more for TV or streaming than they already are. https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-spt-cubs-sinclair-broadcast-group-nbc-sports-chicago-20181219-story.html

On business...love how you provided that additional explanation.

$200 million per season would be nuts for the Cubs. That would be nearly double or triple even some of the top teams in baseball. What was the Dodgers, something like $7-8 billion for 25 years? At any rate, they could definitely (and easily) sign Harper and have lots of money left to spare.

The other option is just to sign up for MLB.TV through your laptop/tablet/Ipad, but then you could still be blocked depending on your geographic location? VPN maybe?

There is no collusion with Vinny's Beverage Depot, oops...wrong thread. Btw, where's Natasha?

If you look at the return for guys like Swarzak, MiGo, Albers, etc., unless he's the kind of reliever who can pitch effectively at any point in the game (see Jordan Hicks) and is bringing 97+ heat, the market for serviceable innings eaters is just not what it used to be. Of course, there is value, look at the contract that Ivan Nova has, although he wasn't originally signed with the idea he was a 4/5 back-end guy. We have a ton of minor league relievers with upside spread out from High A to AAA, this swing man role is probably one that we should look at all the internal options (guys like Covey and Fulmer) and exhaust those before looking outside the organization. I wanted Joe Kelly, but that was turning him back into a starter...and putting him back in the pen if that failed.

Now that I can agree with...unless Castillo gives the Sox a better shot at Harper/Machado than Ramos, which is all just conjecture at this point, and would be over analyzing by quite a bit to argue that Hahn had the foresight to sign Castillo a year early, largely to influence Machado's free agency process/selection.

That's one way to increase the White Sox winning percentage. Have you seen his minor league numbers? Career 606 OPS in the minors. He's also 27 years old already.

That's pretty interesting...as it appears that the likely HIGHER rights fees are directly correlated with the fact that the White Sox are expected to have a very competitive ballclub for at least 4 of those 5 years. Essentially, they weren't willing to commit to 10, 15 or 20 years at those levels without knowing the White Sox rebuild was going to turn out to be a success, and actually generate profits in terms of advertising and ratings. This actually is good for fans, because it continues to exert pressure on the ownership group to follow through. If the rebuild, for whatever reason, busts...then there's going to be a big price to pay in 5 years. Of course, the Cubs will also be out of their "competitive window" at that time as well, so the White Sox SHOULD be in a more dominant market position if everything goes as planned.

Isn't Sinclair a "super conservative/tied to the evangelicals" network? Just curious...as it would make sense for the Ricketts family to align with their political interests, although some fans of the Cubs are obviously not going to like that element of it. Wonder when we actually find out the financial terms of the new deal...? It has to be made public, eventually. Was expecting it to be somehow more exciting after all the discussion the last 2-3 years. This reminds me of the reaction of most tourists when they come to see The Great Wall of China. A bit of a letdown.

You mean he’s leaving Chicago Wednesday morning? The Phillies (seemingly) aren’t getting as much time with him. Then NYC Thurs?

You answered your own question. Not unlike their motivation to acquire Gerrit Cole, the Astros probably perceive Realmuto as a real difference maker, as opposed to the oft-injured Ramos.

Pujols? Miggy?

We’ll see. Like the Cubs and Heyward/Darvish, it might not turn out like initially expected. While the A-Rod deal actually worked out fine from a cost/benefit standpoint, he was pretty much the consensus best player in baseball at the time. From a baseball standpoint, it still didn’t ‘save’ the Rangers, either, as it hamstrung them from making other needed improvements on the roster.

It doesn't, it's just the overall coordination of moves/financial savings....unless you can guarantee that Lindor won't sign a $300 million extension before testing free agency, they're still a viable threat. If that's NOT the case, they're going to have to do everything possible to win this year and next before blowing things up and starting the rebuild. The one player they're not going to be able to dump is Kipnis, so they're just going to have to hope he has a huge rebound free agent season (likely club buyout for next year).

Selling off Madrigal before we see his REAL value on the baseball field (but accepting a lesser value because intangibles aren't measure by WAR) seems quite foolish. He's the kind of player whose style of play will have a positive effect on the rest of his teammates, and that's impossible to measure, but it has a real value to this organization. The White Sox HAVE to get stronger up the middle (C, middle infield, CF)...we've gone for ages without a REALLY good catcher who was a team leader like a Molina/Posey/Perez, and we've also lacked a really good CFer as well. Shore up those two positions and get a consistent 3-4 WAR 3B with some pop and at least an average or slightly above average defender and we're golden.

Are you sure the Yankees would accept that deal? If they project Anderson as a 3+ WAR guy going forward instead of 1.5-2.5, it makes sense. But they still have Torres and Gregorious (eventually) that are capable of playing SS as well. Logically, if they're not going to go with Void/Bird at 1B, they'd move Andujar over there and shore up 3B defensively.

No fear of the Cubbies anymore. It's just the fear that we're STILL not good enough, despite all the best efforts to get Machado/Harper...and that, somehow, Cleveland will take advantage of this to actually extend their competitive window into 2020-2022 instead of throwing in the towel and surrendering.

https://sports.yahoo.com/wooing-manny-machado-begun-three-city-tour-thats-exactly-baseball-needs-224211516.html The wooing of Manny Machado has begun with a three-city tour and that's exactly what baseball needs (sorry if I missed it earlier in threads)