Today is the open of the International Free Agent period for 2017-18. This is the second period the Cubs are in the penalty box for their signing blowout in 2015-16, which means they’ll be unleashed on the open market again next year at this time. The groundwork for those signings is actually already very much underway, and we’ll also have to keep tabs on any surprise prospects who become available in the coming year.
Meanwhile, note that today often opens up a bit of trade activity, as teams maneuver their tradable IFA bonus slots.
For example, four years ago today, this deal also involved a little IFA bonus money:
The Orioles have acquired RHP Scott Feldman & CA Steve Clevenger from the Cubs in exchange for RHPs Jake Arrieta & Pedro Strop.
And then Feldman dominated the Cubs on Friday, while Arrieta has struggled in 2017, so I’d say the Orioles actually won the trade.
We’ve reached the halfway mark of the season, and, unthinkably as of March, the Cubs are under .500. They’ve fallen three games back of the Brewers in the Central, and, perhaps more alarmingly, are now a mere 0.5 games ahead of the Cardinals. The tight NL Central race remains a thing, and unless the Cubs completely break out offensively when everyone returns healthy (and Kyle Schwarber comes back) while also adding a consistent starting pitcher, they will not be pulling away any time soon.
(Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
It’s still not time to think about selling, though, so you can put that in a bag for now. In on-paper talent, the Cubs remain the best team in the NL Central, which is not a meaningless thing when you’re trying to project performance in August and September (something you must do in order to make wise buy/sell decisions). Moreover, so long as the Cubs are within striking distance of a young, beatable Brewers team (and a flawed Cardinals and/or Pirates team), they will buy, not sell. The value of a return to the playoffs, where anything can happen, is sufficiently great that it’s not worth throwing away the rest of this season just to pick up another prospect or two. It would take a much more significant collapse over the next few weeks for the Cubs to seriously consider selling.
(There is also the reality that, aside from Wade Davis, the Cubs don’t really have many short-term-contract sale pieces that would return much of anything in trade. Sad to think, but, as we sit here today, it’s true.)
Speaking of getting healthy, Kris Bryant and Ben Zobrist are back, and Jason Heyward looks to be on the way. He’s heading to South Bend to begin a rehab assignment (Rogers), where it’s plausible he’ll play tonight and tomorrow night (when the big league Cubs are off) before rejoining the Cubs in Chicago on Tuesday for their final six games before the All-Star break.
Position players forever and ever at the top of the draft. End of the first round? Multiple picks? Draft thin on positional talent at the top? OK, you can take pitchers.
Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here.
Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.
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