The Happ Arb figures, Big-Arm Cubs Prospect and other Cubs Bullets

The Happ Arb figures, Big-Arm Cubs Prospect and other Cubs Bullets

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I really need to learn a lesson: just because a fine cookie sounds like it’s going to be really good, does not mean you should buy a dozen of them right away. Try one first. Otherwise, you’ll get stuck with 11 more of those cookies, and try to convince yourself that, no, actually I really like them! so you do not waste the money …

Among the Cubs’ arbitration players, it’s least surprising that Ian Happ, the team’s union representative, and a first player eligible for arbitration, remains strong. Without a settlement yesterday, the parties exchanged their proposed salary figures, one of which will be chosen by an arbitrator next month:

• Should he win his case, it means the most for both his future earnings years (because they build on previous years) and for the future earnings of other players at arbitration level. His is admittedly a difficult matter, given his outburst in the shortened season, his solid overall numbers before last season, and then also his decline in 2019. My greatest hope is that the parties can create a one-off situation and to a agreement before the trial (or better yet, an extension!), but this is no longer expected in these situations. It tends to be dossier-and-trial, and yesterday is the cut-off for negotiations. Fortunately, the spread there is not TOO large, so the sting of losing his case will hopefully not cause too much damage to Happ, and / or the uncertain possibility of losing the case for the Cubs will not affect their ability to to plan down here does not affect. There are still a lot of free agencies left to unfold, and it’s time for the Cubs to move on.

To that end, the Cubs now actually have internal security for 2021. Apart from the relatively small distribution there with Happ, all other contracts are decided upon, and we get a better degree of possible attendance from fans as the weeks go by. The Cubs will probably be able to set a baseball budget at this point and start targeting the buying agents free agents for the starting rotation, for the second base and for the outfield. There are so many opportunities there, and as we discussed, even if the Cubs start again, there are still good players who are cheap.

• Also yes: if arbitration deals are finalized for certain players, it could affect rumors (which in turn will have an impact on what the Cubs do in free agency).

• Overall, only 13 players exchanged figures yesterday, which is pretty low, and many of the settlements seemed to have skewed higher than the projections. None of the spreads across the 13 unresolved issues are too large, so everyone has played fairly conservatively this year, given all the risks and uncertainty.

• The prospect of the cubs, Benjamin Rodriguez, has for some time been one of those “projectable” guys who did not appear completely on radars, but if you were a nerd, you were aware of him. He had all the physical qualities you were looking for in a starter pitcher up front, and in his late teens, the IFA signing started adding speed in 2016 (this is quite how it is with 16-year-old IFA pitcher signings – they ‘have a high risk of you drawing a bunch of projectable guys and seeing who’s developing). Now 21, is it possible that he REALLY knocked during the shutdown – does he say that he is now hitting 98 km / h on flat ground?!?!:

• In June, as FanGraphs describes Rodriguez as he ranked 26th in the system: “Rodriguez is still a very young, sloppy, well-framed prospect whose speed slowly climbed when he was physically mature, but went from 88-92 sit to live in. the 90-94 series over the past two seasons. His break ball, which was promising early on, added more power and became more slippery during that time. He is athletic enough to point out and change his command so that he has a realistic chance of finally fitting in a rotation. ”

• Large same:

• The professor is exactly:

• Big promotions this weekend for the NFL playoffs if you like them (thank you for watching as they support BN in the process):

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