F it. Trade McCormick for some lotto Dana Brown likes. Give me Smith (3B) and Dezenzo (RF) in the opening day lineup. My fandom is ready. LF Altuve 2B Paredes DH Alvarez C Diaz 1B Walker (Singleton if Walker hurt) 3B Smith RF Dezenzo SS Pena CF Meyers Bench: Dubon, Guillorme, Caratini, Gamel
This spring so far, I think Sousa, Contreras, and VanWey have shown well enough that I’m comfortable with them making the roster. I’m not impressed with Castro or Hernandez. Haven’t seen enough of Okert, Weiman, or Walter to have an opinion. I’m not gonna complain if Montero makes the roster but I haven’t seen enough of him this spring either. But assuming Dubin and Ort are on the shelf, I’m fine with an opening day bullpen of Hader, Abreu, Scott, King, Sousa, Whitley, and VanWey, with a 6 man rotation of Framber, Brown, Blanco, Arrighetti, Wesneski, and Gusto. That would leave Gordon, Blubaugh, Ullola, and Fleury in the AAA rotation (with one lesser arm like Otto or Tamarez) and Contreras, Montero, and Hernandez in the AAA bullpen ready to come up. I think that’s acceptable depth especially if the guys who are hurt (McCullers, Garcia, Ort, Dubin) are all on track to be back by early May.
I like this idea, but if Walker is out why not keep McCormick in RF and let Dezenzo play first. When Walker is back you figure out what to do with Chas.
I’d rather keep McCormick and trade Jake Meyers. McCormick can also play centerfield and has offensive upside that Meyers doesn’t. Both have weak arms.
I don’t want McCormick playing CF ever when Altuve is in LF. Especially early in the season. Meyers’ elite range reduces the number of balls Altuve will have to field.
In his recent interview, Cam said his favorite player growing up was Yasiel Puig. Would be awesome if he has a cannon like that in RF. The way he was stroking those oppo gap line drives and homers reminded me of a young Miggy Cabrera who alternated corner OF/3B his first 2 or 3 years before staying at 3B. Similar size. What a season Miggy had at age 22 and posted .323/.385/.947
I get that argument. However, Chas McCormick graded out as a plus defender in center field in 2023. He’s not as good as Meyers defensively, but he’s no slouch himself. Baseball Savant had him worth +4 OAA in 2023 and +7 OAA in 2022. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/lead...eam=HOU&range=year&min=q&pos=&roles=&viz=hide McCormick was moved to right field last season because they were committed to starting him and Meyers, and Meyers is better defensively (he was worth +9 OAA in 2023). My stance is predicated on Chas showing the offensive ability he did in his first few years with the Astros. If he can get back to being that hitter, he brings more to the table as an overall player than Jake Meyers. I wouldn’t give up on Chas, yet.
I know. We have to stay grounded, but if the Astros get 6-7 years of low pay Larry Walker or even Larry Walker Lite and Paredes at a low salary for three years... imagine Smith at 3rd and Paredes at 2nd possibly at minimal cost. If I were the Cubs GM I would be a little worried.... and it isn't like it would all be luck, Brown specifically wanted Smith.
If the Cubs don’t extend Tucker, trade him for a good haul in August or go deep in the playoffs, their GM will be criticized for parting with Smith for a rental.
Brown definitely saw something. I'm sure other clubs wanted Tucker also. It's hard for me not to be hyped about Cam because he's shown some crazy stuff this spring and I can't seem to find a red flag anywhere. Praise from everyone that has been around him, has been a winner, shows opposite field power with a very smooth and balanced swing, works counts, and has a low strikeout rate. He hasn't whiffed on crazy low and away sliders either. Granted hasn't whiff on anything this spring.
If Smith turns a 800 OPS this season, they are going to be criticized for the trade regardless unless they win the pennant,
Yes. I don’t think he’s faced any studs but he has faced several guys who will make MLB rosters. One of his HR was off Austin Warren who has pitched in parts of 4 big league seasons.
Did he not face Diaz yesterday? I don't remember if he came up to bat (or got a hit) when Diaz was pitching. Of course, it was Diaz's first spring outing so even if he did it doesn't mean a whole lot.
Thanks @Nook as always you go above and beyond with the ask. Great to hear about his defensive potential as well, super excited about this young man!
The most likely scenario is none of these things happening. They will need a miracle to even win the NL much less the WS too. Don’t see them re-signing him. Trading him for what will be a lesser package than they gave us would be insane unless they are completely out of it. Honestly, never understood the move for them. They weren’t “one player away” and the gap between them and the Dodgers still grew this offseason.
