We now know that pitchers and catchers are due to report to Spring Training on time, and whatever else changes between the league and the players in subsequent negotiations, the season schedule is not changing.
That leaves us doing a check in: two weeks from the official start of Spring Training, what is left for the Cubs to do this offseason?
Well, answering that question necessarily depends on what you think the Cubs have been trying to accomplish with the 2021 season. Full-on compete? Soft reboot? Heavy restart?
Let’s start with the competing side of things. The NL Central – yes, even with the addition of Nolan Arenado – still looks like a place where the Cubs could easily compete in 2021. And, since trying to win a bit in 2021 out of the gate is not incompatible with various levels of stocking the organization up for the future, it has always been plausible that the Cubs really do want to try to win in 2021 while also making moves that build for the future. So let’s fo
February 1, 2021
Joc Pederson has had a strange career so far. In his six-plus seasons in the majors, he’s put together four solid seasons, with WAR totals ranging between 2.7 and 3.5. He’s done it with his bat his career .230/.336/.470 slash line works out to a 118 wRC+. Because he’s done it on the Dodgers, however, he’s been no more than a platoon bat most years, and so in our heads, he’s mostly just a part-time player.
Over these six years, he’s been roughly as valuable as Mike Moustakas, Whit Merrifield, or AJ Pollock, all of whom have felt like stars at one point or another. He’s only 1 WAR shy of Michael Brantley, 2 WAR shy of new teammate Javier Báez. It’s hard to fight the lingering sense that he’s never gotten a full opportunity, though. At least, he hasn’t until now on Friday, the Cubs signed Pederson to a one-year, $7 million deal, as first reported by Ken Rosenthal.
Cubs sign outfielder Joc Pederson
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Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images
Entering Friday, the Cubs had just three outfielders on their 40-man roster: Jason Heyward, Ian Happ and Phillip Ervin.
Now, they have four:
Free-agent outfielder Joc Pederson in agreement with Cubs, pending physical, sources tell @TheAthletic. Ken Rosenthal (@Ken Rosenthal) January 29, 2021
Joc Pederson has had two recent years very similar to Kyle Schwarber’s. In 2019, Pederson hit .249/.339/.538 with 36 home runs. That was good for 3.2 bWAR. In 2019, Schwarber hit .250/.339/.531 with 38 home runs and 2.1 bWAR.
In the shortened 2020 season, both players declined. Pederson hit .190/.285/.397 with seven home runs in 138 plate appearances. Schwarber hit .188/.308/.393 with 11 home runs in 224 plate appearances. Pederson had -0.3 bWAR; Schwarber, 0.1 bWAR.
• Again, the big transaction news this morning is that the Cubs are getting Joc Pederson (read all about that here). To take a step back and give some context: this feels like a “don’t overthink it” situation. Pederson is being swapped out for Kyle Schwarber, a very similar profile, but who came with a lot less contact and worse defense. So the Cubs probably feel like this is a pretty simple one-for-one upgrade, and if the deal winds up being for less money (it’s now a little unclear with the mutual option), then it makes even more sense. That’s probably MOST of what this is. Just a simple deal where there was a glut of talent available on the market, and a clear need on the roster.
Royals Rumblings - News for January 29, 2021
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Well, no new Royals news yesterday.
Fastest pitch: Josh Staumont, 102.2 mph Staumont didn’t touch 100 mph once in 2019, but in ‘20, the 27-year-old reliever hit triple digits 36 times. None were faster than his 102.2 mph pitch on Aug. 19, 2020 the fastest pitch in Royals’ Statcast history and tied with Jacob deGrom as the fastest pitch in baseball that season. The pitch was a four-seam fastball that landed inside for a ball against the Reds’ Phillip Ervin, but keep reading to find out what Staumont’s next pitch to Ervin that day did.
Keith Law with his top 100 prospects (sub required):