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Heyward turning into a pumpkin the minute he got to Chicago definitely dragged the team down. Reminded me of the Soriano contract.
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Aug 4, 2021 14:44
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Soriano had some good years in Chicago. The point of being a big market team is that the Heyward contract shouldn't be ruinous, they can just bring in another guy and if Heyward is upset about becoming a 4th outfielder than eat the contract and trade him, the cubs have functionally unlimited money.
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Aug 4, 2021 14:48
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I hated the Quintana trade. For years I made fun of the Sox fans who trumpeted Quintana's advanced stats despite him losing all the time. Yeah yeah, W-L doesn't mean anything, but I doubt any team ever said uh-oh we're going against Quintana today. Amusingly enough he finished with a winning record with the Cubs. For years there were always the murmurs about once the TV deal was up they were really going to rake it in and get that sweet Dodgers TV $. I don't know if Crane Kenny and the business guys actually believed that, as even a dumb fan like me saw the writing on the wall that well would dry up by the time they got to end of the deal. They also bought all that property around the park in a sellers market so I don't doubt that hurt them financially. That being said, it doesn't give them an excuse to be cheap, but I think they made some equally bad financial decision off the field at least equal to the JHey contract.
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Aug 4, 2021 18:17
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Lol https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/cubs-jed-hoyer-regrets-blaming-core-players-failed-extensions
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Aug 4, 2021 18:54
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R.D. Mangles posted:Soriano had some good years in Chicago. The point of being a big market team is that the Heyward contract shouldn't be ruinous, they can just bring in another guy and if Heyward is upset about becoming a 4th outfielder than eat the contract and trade him, the cubs have functionally unlimited money. Soriano hit a lot of leadoff dingers and that was fun.
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Aug 4, 2021 18:59
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I didn’t mean to say that Soriano was as bad as Heyward, but it was definitely a huge contract for not nearly enough production.
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Aug 4, 2021 19:14
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So some perspective: Alfonso Soriano - 7 years, 8.2 bWAR. Contract was 8 years, 136 million. In 2013 he was traded back to the Yankees for basically free. Jason Heyward - 6 years, 9.7 bWAR. Contract is 8 years, 184 million and runs through 2023. I think they're both awful contracts but I'd argue the Heyward one is worse due to the money being significantly higher and happening during the peak of Cubs contention. The Cubs weren't great during the Soriano contract and didn't hurt them too much, while the Heyward contract clearly hamstrung them (Note: Really shouldn't have, Cubs are a rich franchise luxury tax is a joke blah blah blah) and prevented them from making some critical changes elsewhere. The Quintana trade obviously was a very poor one in hindsight but at least is somewhat defensible. The Heyward signing, in my opinion, is the worst thing the Cubs did during their window.
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Aug 4, 2021 19:23
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Kirios posted:So some perspective: This guy is forgetting about The Speech.
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Aug 4, 2021 19:45
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Look man I only focus on facts and logic. There's no conclusive data on sWAR out there. Edit: Fun article from 2019: https://www.cubshq.com/cubs-baseball/update/espn-ranks-jason-heywards-contract-the-worst-on-cubs-25892 ""I know Cubs fans would put this No. 1." ESPN.com. "It's not. Heyward isn't as useless as some of the players listed here, but the length of the deal and the remaining dollars certainly are an issue. He eats up a large chunk of the payroll, and that could have ramifications down the road -- say in 2022 when Kris Bryant and Javier Baez become free agents."
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Aug 4, 2021 19:47
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Quintana was valuable at the time of the deal based mostly on his contract- 200ish innings of 3.50 fip for 8-10 million is an absolute steal, and costs accordingly. Prospect hugging wasn’t as fierce as it is now and most people making GBS threads on the deal are enjoying the benefit of hindsight. He just turned into a pumpkin like Hayward and fell off a loving cliff. Soriano was coming off a monster outlier year, and while the hops were fun a smarter front office would have known what they were buying. 6 of those WAR came in his first two seasons then splat. When the Red Sox won the World Series by blowing past the “don’t call it a salary cap“ luxury tax their total bill was all of $12 million. That’s the price you pay for not developing enough cheap stars, it’s not much of a price, but it is abundantly clear the Ricketts will not pay it. Depending on circumstances, I can buy the arguments about avoiding losing your draft position for overages, but the penalties in reality are tiny, even for multiple offenses unless you’re just gonna Steinbrenner it up.
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Aug 4, 2021 19:48
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Kirios posted:It really goes to show just how awful that Heyward contract is. Imagine the Cubs if that money was given for a reliable solid starter instead. Yeah, I don't like making GBS threads on Heyward (or athletes in general, they're humans too and they're trying their best - except there are some outliers like Bauer that deserve all the hate they get) but that contract definitely hurts the team, and I wouldn't blame any front office for shying away from similar deals in the immediate aftermath of getting burned by one like that. And there are plenty of other examples (e.g. Chris Davis) of guys having a monster season or two and then cashing in only to fall off a cliff for the rest of their careers. KDdidit posted:For years there were always the murmurs about once the TV deal was up they were really going to rake it in and get that sweet Dodgers TV $. I don't know if Crane Kenny and the business guys actually believed that, as even a dumb fan like me saw the writing on the wall that well would dry up by the time they got to end of the deal. They also bought all that property around the park in a sellers market so I don't doubt that hurt them financially. That being said, it doesn't give them an excuse to be cheap, but I think they made some equally bad financial decision off the field at least equal to the JHey contract. The fact that they tried to deploy Marquee in 2020, The Year That Shall Be Forgotten, didn't help things. R.D. Mangles posted:Lol https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/cubs-jed-hoyer-regrets-blaming-core-players-failed-extensions It does genuinely seem like the guys were/are interested in continuing to play for the Cubs, but intended to pursue free agency because why not? I do think it's weird that, even if they felt like they received low-ball offers, they wouldn't at least offer intentionally high-ball counter-offers, though.  GoatSeeGuy posted:Quintana was valuable at the time of the deal based mostly on his contract- 200ish innings of 3.50 fip for 8-10 million is an absolute steal, and costs accordingly. Prospect hugging wasn’t as fierce as it is now and most people making GBS threads on the deal are enjoying the benefit of hindsight. He just turned into a pumpkin like Hayward and fell off a loving cliff. We really have to reiterate that Quintana was an MLB-ready starter that the team [at least thought they] needed then, in exchange for prospects who weren't going to be ready to help the team in their contention window. GoatSeeGuy posted:When the Red Sox won the World Series by blowing past the “don’t call it a salary cap“ luxury tax their total bill was all of $12 million. That’s the price you pay for not developing enough cheap stars, it’s not much of a price, but it is abundantly clear the Ricketts will not pay it. Depending on circumstances, I can buy the arguments about avoiding losing your draft position for overages, but the penalties in reality are tiny, even for multiple offenses unless you’re just gonna Steinbrenner it up. I didn't want to say it because I prefer not to poo poo on teams that aren't the Cardinals, but we don't really want to be like the Yankees (or Dodgers,) do we? I mean if you're fine with buying championships (or worse, spending the money and failing to do so) then so be it....
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Aug 5, 2021 10:33
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It’s MLB, it’s drat hard to win a World Series without spending a good chunk of money in free agency. Playing moneyball like the Athletics or other small market teams is just the owners being cheap.
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Aug 5, 2021 11:56
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Troy Queef posted:They don’t even have to look too far to see a team that is by and large successful with that strategy: the Cardinals have made “win 85-90 games, maybe make the playoffs as a WC, and have 3 million fans+boffo business at Ballpark Village” into an art form over the past 4-5 years I agree with your sentiment that the thread should be about the cardinals. This season has been a real bummer. Especially with how good wainwright has been. It’s absurd watching everyone else in the rotation struggle to make it through four innings while wainos thrown multiple complete games haha
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Aug 5, 2021 13:58
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Atomizer posted:Yeah, I don't like making GBS threads on Heyward (or athletes in general, they're humans too and they're trying their best - except there are some outliers like Bauer that deserve all the hate they get) but that contract definitely hurts the team, and I wouldn't blame any front office for shying away from similar deals in the immediate aftermath of getting burned by one like that. And there are plenty of other examples (e.g. Chris Davis) of guys having a monster season or two and then cashing in only to fall off a cliff for the rest of their careers. Yeah, I don't understand what the issue with "buying championships" is. I'd rather have the billionaire owners of my favorite team pay very good players what their services are worth and field a contending team all the time. What I don't like about the Yankees doesn't have anything to do with them spending money. I don't know what the Dodger's secret sauce is, but player development has a lot to do with it, along with a willingness to spend on good players in the free agent market.
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Aug 6, 2021 00:24
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Atomizer posted:I didn't want to say it because I prefer not to poo poo on teams that aren't the Cardinals, but we don't really want to be like the Yankees (or Dodgers,) do we? I mean if you're fine with buying championships (or worse, spending the money and failing to do so) then so be it.... I lived through the 80's and 90's, the Ricketts could spend 500 million a year in salaries and their great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren would still be set for life. Good news though, all our financial dreams are about to come true! Welcome to the next generation of MLB revenue streams everyone! Welcome to the Wrigley OTB! https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-cubs-wrigley-field-draftkings-sportsbook-20210805-hzqnmwzetjcexhjnpzemkvx6g4-story.html
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Aug 6, 2021 00:39
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Can't wait for them to claim they can't sign any players to big contracts because they're taking biblical losses in sports betting.
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Aug 6, 2021 08:10
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Going to see the best baseball team in Chicagoland tonight. That’s right, I’m seeing the Dogs.
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Aug 7, 2021 15:35
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Bird in a Blender posted:Going to see the best baseball team in Chicagoland tonight. That’s right, I’m seeing the Dogs. Oaf it up for the rest of us
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Aug 7, 2021 16:52
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Dogs should have acquired Baez.
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Aug 7, 2021 18:18
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Did the Cubs make any more money in 2017 than they did in 2013? They're still going to rake in cash no matter what. Wrigleyville is a theme park for suburbanites now, the actual team is superfluous to profits. Rosemont has as much charm. Go Dogs.
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Aug 7, 2021 22:09
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Their attendance in 2017 was like 600k more than 2013, so I assume they made more money. The real “problem” is that even their worst years, they’ll get over 2 million people into Wrigley. So there’s a pretty high floor compared to other teams. The Cubs had a payroll of just $68 million in 13 vs. $178 million in 17. It definitely pays better for the Cubs to be cheap and lose. Bird in a Blender fucked around with this message at 23:29 on Aug 7, 2021 |
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Aug 7, 2021 23:24
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Trip report, the Dogs won, and they let a kid who got over cancer run the bases after the 3rd. God I love independent ball.
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Aug 8, 2021 23:34
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Bird in a Blender posted:Trip report, the Dogs won, and they let a kid who got over cancer run the bases after the 3rd. God I love independent ball. Did they beat up the ketchup mascot though
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Aug 8, 2021 23:55
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I don’t think so. It was Squeeze the Mustard’s birthday, so maybe he was being kind.
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Aug 9, 2021 00:26
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