The guy is a gold glove, All Star big leaguer who is about to make serious bank. Why would he want to change positions, and for that matter, why would we ask him to? Due to his left-handedness, he's probably just a left fielder if not a 1st baseman (very few make late transitions to right field). And he's obviously not playing in left for us. I don't understand why this is even a topic. He's an outstanding defensive player, and even at 1st that has value. Ask Esky and Moose if it matters if Hos is over there instead of a slug.

Zobrist took less money to go to the Cubs. I don't know how many times people are going to have to mention that. Maddon's there, and Zobrist grew up in Illinois. I feel like the next four years we're going to hear this "should've re-signed Zobrist" fantasy over and over and over again.

I would wager the next two. If he regresses people will suddenly forget this argument. Just like when Melky got busted for roids and Wil Myers didn't become Barry Bonds.

I'm already tired of it.

Nobody has the slightest clue what went on in Zobrists (or Cuetos) mind. But supposing it's true, it doesn't change the fact we made bad moves this winter.

Zo (2.9) + Cueto (2.8) = 5.7 war
Soria (0.3) + Gordon (0.1) + Gopher Ball (0.1) + Young (-0.8) = -0.3 war



Yeah, we spent 180M on guys who have been worthless so far. Literally, replacement level.

Very possible. He does have great plate discipline, so he might age okay at the plate, we'll see.

Still, the argument of counting dollars is completely disingenuous because the Cubs didn't offer the most money. He was bent on going to the Cubs.

I think he would make more money in RF. The only reason he isn't good at it is because he doesn't want to be. He has the physical tools to do it. There is really a small difference in a great defensive 1B and a below average one. Compare that to the difference between a great SS and a bad one and it's astronomical.

Really? Zobrist is from Illinois and loved playing for Maddon.

But don't take it from me.

"In the end, our heart wanted to be in Chicago as a family," Zobrist said. "I wanted to play for this team, wanted to play for Joe Maddon again, and I want to win a championship as a Chicago Cub."

"I think in the end, the main thing that we talked about kind of at the beginning of the process that was going to be important is proximity to [Nashville], where we live, proximity to my family. I grew up in Illinois, my wife's family, all those things."

Unless you think he's just a lying sociopath. Him and his wife don't strike me as that, but good luck with that theory.

Zobrist isn't dumb enough to publicly say "Yeah, me and my family have no interest in playing for one particular major league team. **** those assholes." right during contract negotiations.

He's played first base since he was a kid. Suggesting he now move to a new position, after establishing himself as a gold glove first baseman is bizarre. And if you think the difference between Hos at 1st instead of Billy Butler is a small one, then I don't know what to tell you. It's absolutely less valuable than some other positions, but that doesn't mean it doesn't matter.

At the end of the day, performance isn't predictable. Had we re-signed Zobrist and he faltered, and Gordon signed with the Cardinals and he stayed healthy and played well --- this place would have been a zoo. It very well could have happened that way, you just don't know.

As a GM, you hope to get more right than wrong and then catch lightning in a bottle for a stretch. That's exactly what happened.

If we really want to get back to discussing an ongoing problem that can be fixed right now, I see Esky is back in the 2 hole tonight. What's it going to take to move him down? He's all but admitted that he's lost right now with his sacrifice bunting early in games. Put Colon or Fuentes up in the 2 hole.

8 first basemen make more than highest paid right fielder. Hosmer is 12th highest paid first basemen and he is still in arbitration years.

Duh. Nor is he going to say after signing somewhere "Yeah, me and my family has no particular interest in playing for the team I signed with."