Padres Spending Ain’t Stopping, Losing Suzuki, WBC Cubs, and Other Cubs Bullets

Mar 09, 2023

Drives me crazy when perforations don’t tear. THAT IS THE ONLY REASON YOU EXIST!

Just for posterity and interest and speculation about how much more they might spend in the future: Ken Rosenthal reports that the San Diego Padres’ final offer to Aaron Judge was in the range of 12 years (or more) and $415 million (or more). He wound up taking nine years and $360 million from the Yankees, as you know. The Padres, meanwhile, wound up signing Xander Bogaerts instead to an 11-year, $280 million deal, plus extending Manny Machado on a massive deal, and now presumably still having a war chest available to try to extend Juan Soto and or pursue Shohei Ohtani (which San Diego writers are already indicating the Padres will try to do). The Padres aren’t going anywhere as a major spending team, at least not any time soon.

Sometimes I stupidly think about how bad it is that Seiya Suzuki suffered his oblique injury. Nothing new came up to make me think about it. Just popped into my head. Probably the WBC getting underway. It’s just bad. That the Cubs need his bat at a baseline level just to help them have a passable offense. That he has the potential to have a huge breakout offensive upside, which is something the Cubs need if they’re going to surprise and compete. That you worry about any lingering impact on his offense even after he returns. That losing any starter means you’ve taken a hit to your depth.

All we can do is hope that Suzuki misses the realistic minimum (let’s call it a month of the regular season), that someone(s) fill(s) in very well in his absence, and that Suzuki is no worse for the wear when he returns – maybe is even well-rested or something. Bummer still that he’s missing the World Baseball Classic, where Team Japan is beating up on Team China as I type.

Seiya Suzuki is ready for Team Japan in the WBC! pic.twitter.com/Tv67NP4mqr
— Cubs Zone ™️ (@CubsZone) March 8, 2023

Cubs lefty Roenis Elias pitched earlier this morning for Team Cuba, and held Team Italy (including Miles Mastrobuoni, who doubled) scoreless over five innings of work:

Notable apertura de Roenis Elías 🇨🇺 vs. Italia que termina con 67 pitcheos y 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R y 3 SO. #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/wTTftS4J0y— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) March 9, 2023

Elias, 34, was a successful reliever in the big leagues for a while before undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2021. After his rehab, he pulled the very rare zag of going back to being a starting pitcher after TJS. He’s been successful in that role so far, mostly in his Dominican Winter League run, but it’s hard to know whether it would translate to the big leagues. For the Cubs, he is currently high-quality starting depth in on a minor league deal, but he’s also competing for a long-man job in the bullpen.

It’s pretty special that Elias is getting to pitch for Cuba:

Cuba opens up WBC play in a bit.

For lefty Roenis Elías, it’ll mean a lifetime dream becoming a reality. He dreamt of playing for the island, but because of political reasons, never thought that was possible when he defected. https://t.co/xV1xDGIAXy— Andy Martínez (@amartinez_11) March 8, 2023

Elsewhere in WBC-Cubs stuff, Team Puerto Rico is ramping up for its opener on March 11 (Marcus Stroman to start), and they got thumped by the Red Sox. But Nelson Velazquez started in right field, taking a walk, and hitting a rocket homer in the 9th:

Nelson Velazquez – Puerto Rico (1)* pic.twitter.com/gzgi8UmKBz
— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) March 9, 2023

If Velazquez does ball out in the WBC for PR, you do wonder if it’ll help his case to make the big league roster and grab some of those right field starts while Seiya Suzuki is out.

Meanwhile, the vaunted Team USA lineup – which really is bonkers – got held to just one run by the Giants yesterday.

Wade Miley, now back with the Brewers, was in such a bad place after last season – dealing with shoulder issues and managing just 37 innings with the Cubs – that he thought about retirement. “I was so unsure at the end of the year for what was next,” Miley told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I wanted to get my shoulder healthy. I did a little program right after the season was over and it didn’t feel good at all. I did it for four weeks and it was awful. That’s when I went into – I wouldn’t call it depressed mode, but I was like it’s not worth it. At that moment, I was like, ‘I think we’re done.’ Me and my wife talked, and I said, ‘I think this might be it.’ ”

But teams were calling in mid-December, so he thought things over again and decided to make a go of it. So far, he’s been feeling OK this spring (recall, last spring with the Cubs he immediately had elbow discomfort that slowed him down). The 36-year-old lefty can still be effective when he’s healthy, so although I’m not rooting for him to be dominant with the Brewers or anything, I do think there’s the potential there for him to still be an impactful guy in the NL Central.

Jason Kipnis is doing a chat over at MLBTR at 11:30am CT, and you can pre-submit questions for the former Cub if you want. Yes, I pre-submitted a question about the foul ball in Game 7. How could I not?

It’s Spring Training so really who cares, but this is a pretty EXTREME outcome for a guy like Dylan Cease (or anyone, actually):

Dylan Cease tonight against the Royals.

0.2 IP | 7 H | 11 ER | 4 BB | 1 HR
— Baseball GIFs (@gifs_baseball) March 9, 2023

Cease on tonight's rough start: pic.twitter.com/SX51rTG8iU
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) March 9, 2023

I hopped on the Domestic Draft podcast to talk all things Cubs and baseball:

🚨NEW EPISODE🚨

On today's episode, we welcome @Brett_A_Taylor! Brett fills us in on his journey from law to baseball before highlighting the MLB rule changes set to take effect this season. Do the revised rules give the young Cubs an advantage?

Spotify:https://t.co/0atzYrfBV2 pic.twitter.com/ARHWzv5sbk— Domestic Draft (@DomesticDraft) March 8, 2023

Want to go there, want to stay there:

A look at the "Yu Darvish & Shohei Ohtani Suite" inside Japan's new Hokkaido Ballpark — featuring signed jerseys from the Japanese legends on the walls. pic.twitter.com/5ZCQ9tdqyZ— Front Office Sports (@FOS) March 9, 2023

written by

Brett Taylor

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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Padres Spending Ain’t Stopping, Losing Suzuki, WBC Cubs, and Other Cubs Bullets

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