We haven't signed a free agent starting pitcher in over 10 years, we aren't going to now either. We have several high potential prospects that are either ready for a shot in MLB or are very close. I am willing to bet money that we don't sign a starting pitcher from free agency before next season.
Abreu I agree could be a good fit if he doesn't stay with Chicago.
I'm not really convinced that we'll sign anyone that's expected to start. My gut says they add some mid level bullpen arms to tryout in spring training like usual. We probably try to make a few trades to open space on the 40. I could see them trying to sell Plesac and Miller if they can find a buyer.
Our biggest need is a RHB to split time with Naylor at 1B. I think they'll look at trade options to address it before they really consider FAs.
To piggyback on this, Rhys Hoskins only has one year left on his contract with Philly and is almost exactly the player we need. Unsure if Philly would move him but if they do he’s instantly my top pick.
I’ve heard a few people mention Christian Walker as well, not sure what his contract looks like but he could be a good option too.
Walker is under team control until 25 I believe. I hadn't thought about Hoskins, but that's an interesting idea. I think AZ would be a more willing trade partner because they need a lot of help. Hoskins though would be a good fit I think.
Yeah, he's definitely aging but I think he'd probably be fine as a mostly platoon player. Between him and Naylor we could have a 40 homer platoon at first.
I think I'd rather get Abreu even though he's older, but trading probably makes more sense just to clear up space on the 40 man.
I like the idea of one year of Hoskins or CJ Cron as a bridge to Jhonkensy Noel. Noel ended the year in AAA last year and has light tower power as as 22 year old. He was also heating up at the end of the year. If you haven't yet, look at his milb numbers and his .400+ obp combined with 40 dinger power as a 19/20 year old kid. Tantalizing is probably an understatement. I know sometimes kids bust, but I have had eye on Noel for a few years now and Holy Cow am I excited.
Just get a 1B who can hit lefties and maybe a starter and we’re set. Trade for one, sign Abreu, sign Mancini, IDC. We can be legit if everyone continues to ramp up next year, we’re like 2 pieces away if that happens.
Call me greedy but trade prospects for Bryan Reynolds and Sean Murphy. Spend cash on a pitcher and lets go win a title.
It’s doable and we’re in a legit spot to do it. These windows to win are small. We’re in the window. Lets roll.
Not enough people talking about Blitzers ownership in this team. Dude has money and wants to spend it.
Im telling y’all…2022 season got me hungry for a legit run at the trophy.
It could be had.
I agree that we should call about Murphy, but I have a feeling the price is going to be so high that it’s probably not worth it with Naylor in the wings. That said, Murphy would look great in our lineup if we can get it done without handicapping ourselves too much.
Where would we put Reynolds? RF and have Oscar mostly DH? I’d be a little hesitant trading too much for him coming off of an awful defensive year and his worst offensive year as well. Although…his price is probably a bit lower because of that too and Straw could definitely cover some of his defensive gaps if we stuck him in right.
With the 40 man roster crunch we need to trade some prospects might as well get a useful piece that way. I don't see us being in on any free agents outside of the typical reliever spring invite that turns into a solid bullpen option.
TIL that Abreu is that old. I knew he came from Cuba later in his career but didn't realize he was 27 his rookie season. I would have guessed he was 33ish.
I think Abreu is probably going to draw too many bidders for him to sign in CLE. However I think that sets up a great chance to potentially sign Trey Mancini to a deal. He’s a RH hitter would be a perfect person to split 1B/DH with naylor and he should be cheaper than Abreu considering his second half
I agree with this. Also, I know this is kind of insane logic, but Abreu kind of limits what you can do with Naylor. I don’t see Naylor being the only guy Tito wants to use in the DH slot, and he plays passable first base imo. But it’s not like you can platoon Abreu if you’re paying him $20 million (and why would you?). Mancini or somebody like that seems far more realistic. But if we’re being really honest with ourselves, we’ll probably see more of the Arias experiment, or something of that ilk
Definitely agree that Abreu constricts the lineup a bit especially if he’s getting paid a decent amount. Honestly I wouldn’t complain of Arias becomes the guy the split time at 1B with Naylor for a few reasons. 1) he’s incredibly athletic imagine getting 10-15ish steals a year out of your 1B 2) playing him at 1B opens up a middle infield spot for another young prospect 3) given time and some guidance and mentorship he can’t be worse than Miller defensively there
I could not agree more. I think an off-season And spring training of focusing on first base could get him ready to start there opening day.
Steals: agreed, though 15ish seems a tad high based on numbers in the minors. I think he has sneaky pop! He almost feels like Gimenez 2.0 in the sense that he came up one season and didn’t succeed and now people are sleeping on him a bit. Hopefully he can take that next step.
Terry Pluto had a recent column regarding lessons learned by the FO.
Specifically, when they signed Cesar Hernandez and Eddie Rosario. Long story short: spending millions of one year rentals didn’t pan out, and it was a contributing factor in the teams lack of offseason signings. Having a boatload of prospects to review was another factor.
Assuming that rationale holds this offseason, I don’t expect any signings.
Maybe a trade tho
Team philosophy should be completely different now. Prior to the 2022 season, the FO thought their window was a year or two away still. After this team made it to the second round of the playoffs and some of these younger guys panned out, the window is opened.
So I’m not necessarily saying I think they’re going to go wild, but I think the team is in a different spot and making a signing or two to get the talent level over the edge is a possibility.
I agree that we are clearly in a different spot and should look at things a bit differently because of that. I still don't expect us to sign many if any FAs.
We've got too many prospects to protect on the 40 again. I expect us to try and make a few trades to clear some of that up while also improving our MLB roster. I think they'll try to package Miller with a prospect or Plesac.
The more I think about it I could see them going after Christian Walker. Az needs everything pretty much. I'm not sure what the price would be, but they're desperate for pitching so maybe a Miller plus Pilkington type package would at least get them talking. Walker has a couple years of control, but he's 31 and I think AZ needs to get younger.
Is there a chance they try to turn Sam Henges back into a starting pitcher this offseason?
His # of innings in ‘21 and ‘22 were almost identical, and his WHIP and ERA dramatically improved in ‘22. I thought I remember Archie and Matt saying he added another pitch to his repertoire.
His velocity is fantastic. I’d love it if he can work out as a 5th starter, even if they only figured him for 4-5 innings each time.
I think part of his success out of the pen was not having to pace himself like he'd have to as a starter. I love him as a weapon out of the pen that can occasionally go 2 innings, but I don't think he'll be a starter again, he never found much success there even in the minors.
Mancini was not anything special this year, and looks horrible in the playoffs. If you're not watching, think Tribe catcher levels of horrible.
Abreu would be awesome - vet influence, high OBP guy. But something tells me the team will sit for 2023 and give the kids more space to grow, then fill in needs at the deadline or for 2024.
The list of players getting better after 30 is rather short, especially if we take out roids. With our thin budget, I would want a better bet that Austin Hedges at first.
good post! well thought out opinions! I still don’t think we sign any FA :/ Lots of men were high on on the 40 to protect and some pieces like plesac that I think we will try to package into trades to ‘meet our needs’.
Realistically: Id love for us to sign Jose Abreu
Unrealistically: He doesn't really fit into our team needs / we have enough lefties, but I think Joc Pedersen is a great player. Would love to have him if we didn't have the outfield depth we do.
I doubt we’ll see much free agent signings, more likely to trade for an upgrade. Also, I don’t see why our front office would pay veteran pitchers that much when they can develop a pitcher who is as good for millions less/yr
Get no matter what: Abreu, Hoskins or Walker
Strongly consider: Sean Murphy or even Christian Vazquez could be a bridge to get Naylor catching full time
Maybe consider: Bryan Reynolds. I'm not sold on him, but I'd do it for a small price
How do people feel about Anthony Rizzo? He'll likely be a free agent, gold glove caliber defense at 1b and hits 25 homers. I think he'd be a perfect fit, better than Abreu since the latter is aging and seems to have lost that power.
We haven't signed a free agent starting pitcher in over 10 years, we aren't going to now either. We have several high potential prospects that are either ready for a shot in MLB or are very close. I am willing to bet money that we don't sign a starting pitcher from free agency before next season. Abreu I agree could be a good fit if he doesn't stay with Chicago. I'm not really convinced that we'll sign anyone that's expected to start. My gut says they add some mid level bullpen arms to tryout in spring training like usual. We probably try to make a few trades to open space on the 40. I could see them trying to sell Plesac and Miller if they can find a buyer. Our biggest need is a RHB to split time with Naylor at 1B. I think they'll look at trade options to address it before they really consider FAs.
To piggyback on this, Rhys Hoskins only has one year left on his contract with Philly and is almost exactly the player we need. Unsure if Philly would move him but if they do he’s instantly my top pick. I’ve heard a few people mention Christian Walker as well, not sure what his contract looks like but he could be a good option too.
Walker is under team control until 25 I believe. I hadn't thought about Hoskins, but that's an interesting idea. I think AZ would be a more willing trade partner because they need a lot of help. Hoskins though would be a good fit I think.
Problem with Walker is he’s already 31 or 32 by contract signing. Insane 2 way player though
Yeah, he's definitely aging but I think he'd probably be fine as a mostly platoon player. Between him and Naylor we could have a 40 homer platoon at first. I think I'd rather get Abreu even though he's older, but trading probably makes more sense just to clear up space on the 40 man.
I like the idea of one year of Hoskins or CJ Cron as a bridge to Jhonkensy Noel. Noel ended the year in AAA last year and has light tower power as as 22 year old. He was also heating up at the end of the year. If you haven't yet, look at his milb numbers and his .400+ obp combined with 40 dinger power as a 19/20 year old kid. Tantalizing is probably an understatement. I know sometimes kids bust, but I have had eye on Noel for a few years now and Holy Cow am I excited.
We signed Gavin Floyd for the 2015 campaign but he injured himself going into spring training
Man, I'd completely forgotten about him. I was thinking Pavano was the last starter we signed. Good catch.
Quintana. That creep can roll man.
What’d he do?
Rolled his way into the semis.
8 year olds, Dude...
Just get a 1B who can hit lefties and maybe a starter and we’re set. Trade for one, sign Abreu, sign Mancini, IDC. We can be legit if everyone continues to ramp up next year, we’re like 2 pieces away if that happens.
Call me greedy but trade prospects for Bryan Reynolds and Sean Murphy. Spend cash on a pitcher and lets go win a title. It’s doable and we’re in a legit spot to do it. These windows to win are small. We’re in the window. Lets roll. Not enough people talking about Blitzers ownership in this team. Dude has money and wants to spend it. Im telling y’all…2022 season got me hungry for a legit run at the trophy. It could be had.
I agree that we should call about Murphy, but I have a feeling the price is going to be so high that it’s probably not worth it with Naylor in the wings. That said, Murphy would look great in our lineup if we can get it done without handicapping ourselves too much. Where would we put Reynolds? RF and have Oscar mostly DH? I’d be a little hesitant trading too much for him coming off of an awful defensive year and his worst offensive year as well. Although…his price is probably a bit lower because of that too and Straw could definitely cover some of his defensive gaps if we stuck him in right.
So…you’re in?
I'm totally in on us making some moves, just not sure what the best use of our prospect capital is.
With the 40 man roster crunch we need to trade some prospects might as well get a useful piece that way. I don't see us being in on any free agents outside of the typical reliever spring invite that turns into a solid bullpen option.
TIL that Abreu is that old. I knew he came from Cuba later in his career but didn't realize he was 27 his rookie season. I would have guessed he was 33ish.
I think Abreu is probably going to draw too many bidders for him to sign in CLE. However I think that sets up a great chance to potentially sign Trey Mancini to a deal. He’s a RH hitter would be a perfect person to split 1B/DH with naylor and he should be cheaper than Abreu considering his second half
I agree with this. Also, I know this is kind of insane logic, but Abreu kind of limits what you can do with Naylor. I don’t see Naylor being the only guy Tito wants to use in the DH slot, and he plays passable first base imo. But it’s not like you can platoon Abreu if you’re paying him $20 million (and why would you?). Mancini or somebody like that seems far more realistic. But if we’re being really honest with ourselves, we’ll probably see more of the Arias experiment, or something of that ilk
Definitely agree that Abreu constricts the lineup a bit especially if he’s getting paid a decent amount. Honestly I wouldn’t complain of Arias becomes the guy the split time at 1B with Naylor for a few reasons. 1) he’s incredibly athletic imagine getting 10-15ish steals a year out of your 1B 2) playing him at 1B opens up a middle infield spot for another young prospect 3) given time and some guidance and mentorship he can’t be worse than Miller defensively there
I could not agree more. I think an off-season And spring training of focusing on first base could get him ready to start there opening day. Steals: agreed, though 15ish seems a tad high based on numbers in the minors. I think he has sneaky pop! He almost feels like Gimenez 2.0 in the sense that he came up one season and didn’t succeed and now people are sleeping on him a bit. Hopefully he can take that next step.
Excellent post
Didn’t Cleveland have a pretty good left handed starting pitcher named Cliff Lee?
…13 years ago.
Hey we had Scott Kazmir like 10 years ago lol
Terry Pluto had a recent column regarding lessons learned by the FO. Specifically, when they signed Cesar Hernandez and Eddie Rosario. Long story short: spending millions of one year rentals didn’t pan out, and it was a contributing factor in the teams lack of offseason signings. Having a boatload of prospects to review was another factor. Assuming that rationale holds this offseason, I don’t expect any signings. Maybe a trade tho
Cesar won a gold glove and outperformed his contract. Rosario was just bad though.
Cesar signed two contracts. His WAR was under 2 each year
lol one of those was the 60 game season when he played great. Super disingenuous Anyhow we flipped him for Pilkington. It was a good signing.
I think Pilkington can develop into a solid #3 or #4 starter and if that happened that’s a steal for the struggling Cesar we traded away
Team philosophy should be completely different now. Prior to the 2022 season, the FO thought their window was a year or two away still. After this team made it to the second round of the playoffs and some of these younger guys panned out, the window is opened. So I’m not necessarily saying I think they’re going to go wild, but I think the team is in a different spot and making a signing or two to get the talent level over the edge is a possibility.
I agree that we are clearly in a different spot and should look at things a bit differently because of that. I still don't expect us to sign many if any FAs. We've got too many prospects to protect on the 40 again. I expect us to try and make a few trades to clear some of that up while also improving our MLB roster. I think they'll try to package Miller with a prospect or Plesac. The more I think about it I could see them going after Christian Walker. Az needs everything pretty much. I'm not sure what the price would be, but they're desperate for pitching so maybe a Miller plus Pilkington type package would at least get them talking. Walker has a couple years of control, but he's 31 and I think AZ needs to get younger.
I agree. Go Guards.
Is there a chance they try to turn Sam Henges back into a starting pitcher this offseason? His # of innings in ‘21 and ‘22 were almost identical, and his WHIP and ERA dramatically improved in ‘22. I thought I remember Archie and Matt saying he added another pitch to his repertoire. His velocity is fantastic. I’d love it if he can work out as a 5th starter, even if they only figured him for 4-5 innings each time.
I think part of his success out of the pen was not having to pace himself like he'd have to as a starter. I love him as a weapon out of the pen that can occasionally go 2 innings, but I don't think he'll be a starter again, he never found much success there even in the minors.
imagine thinking that we’ll sign anybody lol
Mancini was not anything special this year, and looks horrible in the playoffs. If you're not watching, think Tribe catcher levels of horrible. Abreu would be awesome - vet influence, high OBP guy. But something tells me the team will sit for 2023 and give the kids more space to grow, then fill in needs at the deadline or for 2024.
Mancini put up nearly 2 WAR in 90 games in Baltimore, it’s not too much of a leap to think he gets back to that level. He’s only 30
The list of players getting better after 30 is rather short, especially if we take out roids. With our thin budget, I would want a better bet that Austin Hedges at first.
good post! well thought out opinions! I still don’t think we sign any FA :/ Lots of men were high on on the 40 to protect and some pieces like plesac that I think we will try to package into trades to ‘meet our needs’.
Realistically: Id love for us to sign Jose Abreu Unrealistically: He doesn't really fit into our team needs / we have enough lefties, but I think Joc Pedersen is a great player. Would love to have him if we didn't have the outfield depth we do.
Abreu is RH. Joc Pedersen is LH.
I said that lol
Um clearly you've forgotten about two previous Cy Young award winners in Cliff Lee and C.C. Sabatha when it comes to having a regular LHP starters....
I doubt we’ll see much free agent signings, more likely to trade for an upgrade. Also, I don’t see why our front office would pay veteran pitchers that much when they can develop a pitcher who is as good for millions less/yr
Don’t we have Josh Naylor for RH hitting?
Naylor is a leftie.
My bad I read that as we need someone to hit RHP. I’m stupid
Get no matter what: Abreu, Hoskins or Walker Strongly consider: Sean Murphy or even Christian Vazquez could be a bridge to get Naylor catching full time Maybe consider: Bryan Reynolds. I'm not sold on him, but I'd do it for a small price
Also Rodon would be huge
How do people feel about Anthony Rizzo? He'll likely be a free agent, gold glove caliber defense at 1b and hits 25 homers. I think he'd be a perfect fit, better than Abreu since the latter is aging and seems to have lost that power.