Bob Sacamano

Not every team needs a DH.

I've already sworn to buy the jersey of whoever they land. But if they get both, then I'm 100% buying both.

If he signs for a similar amount as Maeda, I'd absolutely take a chance on him.

Yeah I think it could be Kikuchi. We know the Sox want to add another arm, there isn't anyone else really out there to add, and last reported (if I can remember correctly), there wasn't much reported interest at the time.

Lol did he forget that we kind of have enough bats who can hit there?

https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2018/11/5/18058498/cubs-2019-payroll-luxury-tax-update?fbclid=IwAR1DQhmmvTeEgLNmybc7gAJWEL2ZIxKsmTQitVPJJBPCtFczr_Igsb_m6WE

Re-tooling. They'll get a piece or 2 in a trade that can help this year at the earliest.

They can wait as long as possible. Not like they'll turn their attention to another OF to try to compete. It's pretty much Harper/Machado or bust.

I think he's likely to stay based on the reasons you listed. Former top pick, multiple years of control, didn't have a good year (low value), beginning of the rebuild, space in the rotation, etc. Those are the type of guys rebuilding teams gamble on. Now if he was on a good team and the team was trying to improve over him, that's when you would be able to get him.

Yeah it's easier said than done for sure. I don't know where the upgrade from free agency comes in to play because it's pretty awful right now in free agency (I don't want Dallas Keuchel at all on a 4+ year deal).

No. I think I posted something in that thread that day about how I would text my friend to ask her if she knew anything but I never got any sort of answer (that was over 2 weeks ago).

I hung out with my buddy on Sunday and his cousin met us up. She works in merchandising for the team and is a buyer for the shops in the stadium. She seems really confident as well.

And Cease should be up at some point (hopefully sooner rather than later since if he comes up between mid-April and during September, the control is the same either way).

Where?

And not once in this paragraph is there mention of the pitching. The pitching has to take some major strides to be a good team.

He's not implying that Boras is his agent. He's saying what Boras does when he becomes an "unofficial GM" is nothing compared to how this is playing out.

Right. It's not like he's the first player ever to sign with a new team after spending his entire career with one team. It happens all the time. Players get over it.

I'm good with Jones being brought in as a "leader" type guy off the bench to platoon with Palka in RF (Palka would get a big chunk of the PT being a lefty). You would just need a guy like Leury on the bench who can cover CF. Of course, that assumes no upgrade in CF nor a Harper signing.

Yeah he's got a week left and the last update I read, it seemed like there wasn't a ton of interest.

Yeah, it's definitely fair to feel skeptical.

Minor league deal, sure.

Could be. I expect it to be a reliever like Ottavino. If I recall, it didn't seem like a lot of teams were in on Kikuchi. Maybe a team can get him on a deal similar to Maeda (he signed for 8 years, $25m which is a steal).

This might be the only shot for them to play together. Assuming Bryant signs a huge deal, both Harper and Bryant's deals won't come from the same team.

I don't know. I kinda take the "won't sign until 2019" as "won't sign until after holidays." I bet he signs in the first couple weeks. Just my 2 cents.

Same.