Passan: Many teams looking for catching help believe Willson Contreras will be available

[tdawg87]

[Second Base]

2 hours ago, totdprods said:

Cubs will have plenty of interest in moving Quintana or Chatwood, or even Darvish or Hendricks too. They need to clear payroll. Honestly even Lester could emerge as an option if he’s particularly fond of Maddon. Heyward does not need to be involved. Kimbrel could even be on the table.

Due to the fact they need help relieving salary, the Angels can work a lot of different frameworks here. Yes, the cost will be high, but there is a lot of win-win here for both clubs. 

I would be giddy like the teenage girls I teach all day if the Angels acquired Contreras and Darvish without having to give up Adell, Marsh, Adams, Canning, Ohtani or Trout. 

I just don't picture that being an option the Cubs would even consider.  As you said, they plan on being competitive in 2020, which I fully agree with.  I think if they trade any catcher, it will likely be Caratini, and despite the costs of the roster, I think they'll keep them together and make another run at the World Series.  There's certainly enough talent to do it. 

And if I'm reading the Cubs boards right, now that senile Joe Maddon is out and their hero David Ross is in, they'll no longer be burdened with anything bad......ever again. 

[UndertheHalo]

Can’t afford him.  

[Inside Pitch]

5 hours ago, mymerlincat said:

I want nothing to do with Heyward, but that’s BS.  Heyward has been worth 5 fWAR over the last 3 years compared to Myers 3 fWAR, and was worth 1.9 last season compared to Myers 0.5 despite Myers playing in more games.

Heyward also made 79 Mil over those three years... Myers 15 Mil ...   I get that you're focusing on the fWAR, but he's been the interior hitter over that span.  93 OPS+ to Myers 105.

That's a shit ton paid and still owed to a glove first player at a traditionally offensive minded position...

[ukyah]

5 hours ago, mymerlincat said:

I want nothing to do with Heyward, but that’s BS.  Heyward has been worth 5 fWAR over the last 3 years compared to Myers 3 fWAR, and was worth 1.9 last season compared to Myers 0.5 despite Myers playing in more games.

the WAR arguments are what got the cubs into the hell hole that is heyward's contract in the first place. 

[Inside Pitch]

16 hours ago, ukyah said:

the WAR arguments are what got the cubs into the hell hole that is heyward's contract in the first place. 

98 Mil paid for 7.1 bWAR, 6.0 fWAR.   Theo's been a hell of GM for most of his career but he missed hard on both Carl Crawford and Jason Heyward.

[tdawg87]

29 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

98 Mil paid for 7.1 bWAR, 6.0 fWAR.   Theo's been a hell of GM for most of his career but he missed hard on both Carl Crawford and Jason Heyward.

I'm glad I missed hard on both of them too.

[Stradling]

26 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

I'm glad I missed hard on both of them too.

Same

[Brandon]

Man, I remember when this board was beyond hard for Crawford. It was a done deal to many here.

Instead we had another dud named Vernon Wells.

Edited November 10, 2019 by Brandon

[totdprods]

Another update on Contreras and why the Cubs might be open to moving him...
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/11/nl-notes-contreras-banks-hefner.html

A Willson Contreras trade won’t do the Cubs any favors in 2020, but it’s more preferable than moving any of the team’s other star players, opines Sahadev Sharma of the Athletic. Some rival organizations believe Chicago will indeed make that move this offseason, and there would surely be ample interest in the 27-year-old catcher if the Cubs put him on the market. Contreras is one of baseball’s best offensive catchers, and the Cubs maintain that he’ll improve as a pitch framer, although as Sharma notes, he continues to rate near the bottom of the league in that category. Parting ways with a franchise catcher isn’t ideal, but the Cubs do at least have a strong internal replacement available in Víctor Caratini. The same can’t be said for shortstop, third base, or first base, so a trade of Javier Báez, Kris Bryant, or Anthony Rizzo is tougher to envision. The Cubs don’t have to trade any of those players, Sharma points out, although ownership seems unlikely to green-light a major payroll increase and the MLB pitching staff and minor-league system both need augmenting.