Ian Happ?

[SoxSteve]

I’m sure this won’t go over well here after the Kyle Schwarber trade thread, lol but I think Ian Happ would be a perfect  low cost high upside left bat( S/H) player for us in right field. I feel he has 25/90/350 potential for sure and the money we save on him we can pay some badly needed pitching. He still has 4 years left on his rookie deal and has the versatility and defense we can use. I think he can make a Anderson like improvement or maybe close with his bat and his defense could be above average in right imo. The thought of signing  and more importantly paying Calhoun, Dickerson , Moose is sooo unappealing  to me I don’t even want to think about it. Plus he might come cheap especially if they sign Castellonos and keep Schwarber and put Nico  Hoerner at 2nd. I think he can be had for some of minor leaguers outside of the Madrigal, Vaughn, Robert and Dunning. A lot of our minor leaguers will be position blocked so why not trade a few for some talent we can use now. Just a thought and not sure if  it was new thread worthy but what the hell. 

[ron883]

Happ just put up an .898 OPS last year. Given it was in limited at bats. I don't see why the Cubs would "sell low" on him right now. 

 

Plus, plenty of people here think he is dogshit (I am not one of them). The Cubs aren't trading him at a discount. Don't think what we would have to give up for him would be worth it. 

Edited November 2, 2019 by ron883

[BackDoorBreach]

I've brought him up here before.  He would be a nice super sub, he plays every position and bats LH with power and young enough to improve.  No idea what they would want though.

[Balta1701]

Great.

What do we have to give up to get this player? Seriously suggest something as I have no idea how to make this match. Bummer + Colome + Dunning/Adolfo?

[Eminor3rd]

I like the dude; I dont think he’d come cheap

[Balta1701]

1 minute ago, Eminor3rd said:

I like the dude; I dont think he’d come cheap

Exactly. What do the Cubs want? Good (maybe not even great, just solid) players that can help them now, with a little bit of control/cost limit. What do the White Sox have precious few of? Guys that can help a big league roster right now, under control, aside from their elite guys.

Happ falls right in the Hahn development failure Gap.

[Jack Parkman]

Let's stop talking about Cub players. The Sox and Cubs have only made 2 trades in the last 15 years, m'kay. After getting bent over in the Q trade, I doubt Theo is going to call Hahn or answer his calls anytime soon. 

Edited November 3, 2019 by Jack Parkman

[SoxSteve]

5 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

Let's stop talking about Cub players. The Sox and Cubs have only made 2 trades in the last 15 years, m'kay. After getting bent over in the Q trade, I doubt Theo is going to call Hahn or answer his calls anytime soon. 

I brought it up instead of talking about things that won’t happen( cole) it makes sense. He might not fit the Cubs plans especially if they  like Hoerner and resign castellnos who seems to love being a Cub. The thought of having 8 right handed hitters in the lineup bums me out as much as talking about Calhoun, moutakas, Dickerson or Reddick. Most of them old with bad OBP. Again just talking about what should happen against what won’t or shouldn’t happen.  That’s what 3 way trades work because some teams might want young talent and some teams are in win mode now. Not sure what mode the Cubs are in with Ross and Theo but it’s realistic to think if we wanted a young left handed bat with potential he might be attainable. That was it. 

[Jack Parkman]

2 hours ago, Tony said:

 Theo is going to accept any deal that makes his team better and accomplishes whatever organizational goals they are looking to achieve. 
 

If the Sox offer a package the Cubs they believe is good value for a player they are willing to move, you’re telling me he’s hanging up the phone because of Eloy and Cease? You’re out of your mind. 

Not only that, but what do the Sox have that would help them, that Hahn would be willing to trade? 

Something like Lopez/Stiever for Schwarber/Happ is interesting. That's about all I can think of and I don't like it from the Sox perspective. 

 

Edited November 3, 2019 by Jack Parkman

[SoxSteve]

You mean to tell me you wouldn’t trade Lopez/ Stiever for Happ/ Schwarber? Are you fu%$#ing crazy? WOW is all I can say. That would solve  our DH and right field and lack of left handed hitters in one trade. And cost us no money. We could then sign all the pitching we want. Wow 

[caulfield12]

Bummer, Dunning and Lopez would be the ask, but it still doesn’t make sense for the Cubs going into Marquee Network.

With Zobrist gone and Russell on his very last legs...they need Happ and Schwarber more than ever.

That doesn’t count the regression from Almora (a good hedge there would be JBJr) and covering predictable Bryant/Rizzo/Contreras injuries in terms of offensive impact.

Finally, Bote took a step back as well.

They can just go out and buy most of their needs with financial capital.   Unless Hahn was dumb enough to take on Heyward’s contract to get one of those players included, but not both.  Then they could keep Castellanos, sign JBJ and supplement their bullpen that was decimated by injuries and non-performance at the back end.

 

So Bummer and Lopez for Heyward and Happ...OR just Bummer for Heyward and Schwarber, which would give the Cubs the flexibility to fix their most pressing issues/financial inflexibility with Castellanos, JBJ and 2-3 pitchers.

 

"In Chicago, it’s just a mess. Chicago area Cable TV fans of the Bulls, Blackhawks and the Laundry (White Sox) are already paying NBC Sports Chicago a line item fee of nearly $9 for the service in their cable bill which used to include the Cubs. Do you know that small increase in your bill? Hmmmmm. Marquee wants to charge the same amount, $9, for dare I say, just the Chicago Cubs channel and it’s going to happen! "

Feel like the Cubs will come in around $4.50-$6 if they’re smart, don’t see NBC Sports Chicago discounting their 3 team package by much, if anything.   Unfortunately, the Bulls and Blackhawks are both down, so that removes their leverage...but so are the Cubs.  It’s yet another argument for the White Sox not making incremental changes but spending $45-60 million instead of the expected/predicted $30 million (not including Abreu and raises/escalators.)  We’ll find out soon enough who’s right.

Old rumors. The Cubs are going to be charging $4 a month to cable companies and the NBC Sports price will come down as they have to negotiate all new cable deals without having the Cubs.

 

 

Edited November 3, 2019 by caulfield12

[BackDoorBreach]

1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:

Bummer, Dunning and Lopez would be the ask, but it still doesn’t make sense for the Cubs.

Lol, how fucking high are you? 

[Chicago White Sox]

4 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Bummer, Dunning and Lopez would be the ask, but it still doesn’t make sense for the Cubs going into Marquee Network.

With Zobrist gone and Russell on his very last legs...they need Happ and Schwarber more than ever.

That doesn’t count the regression from Almora (a good hedge there would be JBJr) and covering predictable Bryant/Rizzo/Contreras injuries in terms of offensive impact.

Finally, Bote took a step back as well.

They can just go out and buy most of their needs with financial capital.   Unless Hahn was dumb enough to take on Heyward’s contract to get one of those players included, but not both.  Then they could keep Castellanos, sign JBJ and supplement their bullpen that was decimated by injuries and non-performance at the back end.

 

So Bummer and Lopez for Heyward and Happ...OR just Bummer for Heyward and Schwarber, which would give the Cubs the flexibility to fix their most pressing issues/financial inflexibility with Castellanos, JBJ and 2-3 pitchers.

 

"In Chicago, it’s just a mess. Chicago area Cable TV fans of the Bulls, Blackhawks and the Laundry (White Sox) are already paying NBC Sports Chicago a line item fee of nearly $9 for the service in their cable bill which used to include the Cubs. Do you know that small increase in your bill? Hmmmmm. Marquee wants to charge the same amount, $9, for dare I say, just the Chicago Cubs channel and it’s going to happen! "

Feel like the Cubs will come in around $4.50-$6 if they’re smart, don’t see NBC Sports Chicago discounting their 3 team package by much, if anything.   Unfortunately, the Bulls and Blackhawks are both down, so that removes their leverage...but so are the Cubs.  It’s yet another argument for the White Sox not making incremental changes but spending $45-60 million instead of the expected/predicted $30 million (not including Abreu and raises/escalators.)  We’ll find out soon enough who’s right.

Old rumors. The Cubs are going to be charging $4 a month to cable companies and the NBC Sports price will come down as they have to negotiate all new cable deals without having the Cubs.

 

 

My brain hurts from reading this post.  My god Caulfield, you need an editor or something to help you stay on point for the length of an entire post and to help with your formatting so it’s clear what’s your opinion vs what you’re including from uncited articles.  You know a ton about baseball but any insights you have got lost in the clutter.

[caulfield12]

1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said:

My brain hurts from reading this post.  My god Caulfield, you need an editor or something to help you stay on point for the length of an entire post and to help with your formatting so it’s clear what’s your opinion vs what you’re including from uncited articles.  You know a ton about baseball but any insights you have got lost in the clutter.

To summarize:  Cubs aren’t going to give away two suddenly important positional players, especially when they’re debuting a new t.v. network and coming off two massively disappointing seasons.

Point 2, unless Hahn is willing to eat Heyward’s entire contract, they’re not getting Happ.  Stiever’s value is being oversold, and it’s not worth much to a team in “must win now” mode, especially if they were to somehow lose the Bryant grievance.

Point 3, we probably need Lopez  ore than the Cubs do, unless they have the secret to turning him into high leverage reliever without a propensity to give up as many walks as Strop, Edwards Jr., and Kimbrel did.

The comments were not from an article but a typical Cubs’ fan on one of their message boards.  
 

Edited November 3, 2019 by caulfield12

[Jack Parkman]

While Schwarber and Happ make a ton of sense from the Sox perspective, what do the Sox have that helps the Cubs and doesn't hurt the Sox for 2020? 

[Chicago White Sox]

1 hour ago, Jack Parkman said:

While Schwarber and Happ make a ton of sense from the Sox perspective, what do the Sox have that helps the Cubs and doesn't hurt the Sox for 2020? 

Reynaldo Lopez.

[Sarava]

Something along the lines or Lopez for Schwarber might interest me. Especially if it means the Sox would unload the money truck on starting pitching.

[GreenSox]

He was demoted to AAA for 2/3+ of the season; he  had a .750 OPS until the last 5 games of the season.  Nope - no top dollar for 5 games.
He also has extreme splits; teams can work with that, but I'm not sure that this team is that deft.

I suggested Fry for Happ this time last year; maybe Bummer for Happ this time, but I'm not sure I'd do it.

Edited November 3, 2019 by GreenSox

[oldsox]

26 minutes ago, GreenSox said:

He was demoted to AAA for 2/3+ of the season; he  had a .750 OPS until the last 5 games of the season.  Nope - no top dollar for 5 games.
He also has extreme splits; teams can work with that, but I'm not sure that this team is that deft.

I suggested Fry for Happ this time last year; maybe Bummer for Happ this time, but I'm not sure I'd do it.

Cubs would.

[caulfield12]

1 hour ago, oldsox said:

Cubs would.

95% of the time trading trading non-elite relievers for position players backfires.

Of course, every decade or so, we get a trade like Thornton for Borchard, except the Cubs aren’t going to take Fulmer in this case.

Trading Bummer makes us shakier from the LH side, Colome ended on a downturn and we still need another solid RH reliever.  The last thing you want to do with “almost there” young pitchers is blow all their leads with a poor bullpen and substandard defense.  We saw that act enough the last 2-3 seasons.

[credezcrew24]

23 hours ago, Jack Parkman said:

Let's stop talking about Cub players. The Sox and Cubs have only made 2 trades in the last 15 years, m'kay. After getting bent over in the Q trade, I doubt Theo is going to call Hahn or answer his calls anytime soon. 

That doesn't mean anything Jack.

By my count the Mets, Phillies, Brewers, Cardinals, Giants, Indians, Tigers, Twins, Astros, and Mariners (a 3rd of the league) have traded with the Sox 3 times or less in the same time span.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Absolutely not.