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Chicago Cubs Thread - Playoff Push Pending

Also, MLB just released their new top 30 prospects. Surprising top 5 from them - after Davis and Hernandez, which are the top 2 in almost every prospect report - they have Triantos 3rd, Kilian 4th and Wicks 5th.

Triantos is a 2nd round pick from last years draft, blew up rookie ball as a 18 year old, but most reports I read had him as an upward mover, but not expected to be ahead of some of the other guys on the list. He is likely to end up as a 3B and has a great hit tool. Either way, its awesome to see. Kilian is a SP and came over in the KB trade, he's an older prospect, will be 25 in June, but looked great in AA last year. He has a nice 4 seamer and solid sinker, but his secondary pitches weren't great, the Cubs are having him work on a new changeup that they are excited about. Wicks is the 1st round pick from last year, 3 year college starter at K-State - he was the best lefty in the 2021 draft. Has a plus-plus change-up and can hit mid to high 90s on his fastball, but it's more about setting up the change. Would expect him to start out in AA this year - needs at least a full season in the minors to get his arsenal in order.

6-10 is PCA, Alcantara, Cassie, Marquez and DJ Herz - the Cubs Minor League pitcher of the year last year. That's a pretty solid top 10.
 
DaDeacs said:
Not really sure why they are nickel and diming him - but this at least means they are very unlikely to sign him to an extension at this point.

Have to think, with the short spring, Catcher is a tough position to trade for, especially if you want him to be a starter - because he will need to time to get to know the pitchers. Since he hasn't been moved yet, would assume they wait until closer to the deadline to see if they can get something bigger from a team that is in desperate need. Yankees have a glaring hole at the C right now and the Cubs likely have some strong scouting reports on their prospects after the Riz trade last year. Would love to see a deal like the one the Marlins got for Realmuto (hasn't really worked out for them, but was a good haul) if the Cubs do trade willy.

I know it's likely a dumb comment, but with the Ricketts about to blow a shit ton of money on Chelsea, maybe they are not interested in signing any more big deals this year and want to wait until 2023 to shell out big bucks. Willy will be 30 when 2023 starts, so he has one chance for a big contract, but would imagine a 5/$100 would get it done, which is basically what Realmuto got from the Phils after the arb year buyout. Thats not a lot for a stud catcher, but what does he look like at 35? And you have Amaya waiting behind him, now he has had a lot of issues, had a down 2021 and is on the shelf for all of 2022 and he is more a defensive catcher, so that may never pan out.
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The Ricketts have TONS of $ but are cheap bastards spending it on quality Cubs players. Very frustrating. The whole Chelsea thing makes it even worse.
 
Ricketts are reportedly part of a group seeking to buy the Chelsea football club from the current Russian owner, IIRC.
 
Buttermaker said:
Ricketts are reportedly part of a group seeking to buy the Chelsea football club from the current Russian owner, IIRC.
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Who are the good players on Chelsea that the Ricketts can trade away for little return?
 
English fans actually aren't pathetic bootlickers so they may be able to put up enough of a fight to keep the Ricketts out. Chelsea fans certainly are trying
 
Saw some report yesterday that the Cubs are worth $3.8 billion and they made $68 million in revenue last year. So much for the "biblical losses" we heard stopped the Cubs from spending the last two years.
 
DaDeacs said:
Saw some report yesterday that the Cubs are worth $3.8 billion and they made $68 million in revenue last year. So much for the "biblical losses" we heard stopped the Cubs from spending the last two years.
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Is that just from baseball or does it include tv and licensing?

$68M isn't enough to cover payroll, is it?
 
bym051d said:
Is that just from baseball or does it include tv and licensing?

$68M isn't enough to cover payroll, is it?
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I copied the info and wasn't thinking - Im assuming they meant $68 million in profit - revenue was much higher.
 
I just checked yesterdays box score and the DH leading off made me throw up in my mouth

RIP Baseball
 
BillBrasky said:
I just checked yesterdays box score and the DH leading off made me throw up in my mouth

RIP Baseball
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Im ok with the DH leadoff, not super pumped about Ortega being the Cubs DH.

Nico with the first HR of the season of Burnes and the Cubs going 1-0 was awesome and unexpected.
 
Cubs take advantage of walks, 3 hit batters and shaky Brewer defense for a 9-0 win. Steele and Thompson looked sharp.

I enjoyed watching Thompson plunk McCutcheon in retaliation for hittting Contreras and Happ. Thompson missed with his first try but succeeded on the next pitch. The Brewers have hit Contreras 15 times in the past two years and targeted Happ for his bat this series. IIRC, Thompson sent a message to the Brewers last year in a similar situation.
 
BlackjackMc said:
Cubs take advantage of walks, 3 hit batters and shaky Brewer defense for a 9-0 win. Steele and Thompson looked sharp.

I enjoyed watching Thompson plunk McCutcheon in retaliation for hittting Contreras and Happ. Thompson missed with his first try but succeeded on the next pitch. The Brewers have hit Contreras 15 times in the past two years and targeted Happ for his bat this series. IIRC, Thompson sent a message to the Brewers last year in a similar situation.
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Agree. Plus, it’s the Brewers. Nice to take 2/3. The Cubes have had about two true leadoff men during my lifetime. Maybe 3 including Bob Dernier
 
Thompson claims he wasn't trying to hit Cutch - but Cutch coming out with that garbage about trying to hurt people after what the Brewers have done over the past couple of years is insane.

Cubs were 1 blown call away from sweeping the Brewcrew, too - Villar was pretty clearly safe, granted he should just run through the base, sliding into first is dumb.

I think this See Ya guy is pretty good - 2 more dingers today. On pace for 121.5 HRs this year, not too shabby.
 
A 21-0 victory is worth a comment. Everyone with a hit and a run scored. The bats overshadowed Hendricks pitching seven scoreless innings with the wind blowing out to center.

Suzuki with an impressive start to the season. Villar looks to be a solid pick up.

Thompson and Steele are building on their efforts of last season.

Alfonso Rivas just hits. He could earn an extended look. He reminds me of Mark Grace.

The roster cut to 26 will be interesting.
 
Nice extra innings win in ATL after blowing a 3 run lead late. Contreras and Wisdom with 10th inning RBIs. Sukuzi continues to rake.

Bullpen went 9 innings. Not sure what the issue was with the starter - hopefully not an injury.
 
It's been two weeks since my last post and the 21-0 win. The Cubs have won just two of ten games in that span. They have scored 19 runs in ten games. Lucky to win two.

Nothing remarkable about the roster cut to 26. Frazier had an appendectomy to cut the position players to 13.

Ross has used 18 different pitchers so far, but 12 have been on the active roster all season. Seven relievers have pitched well. The four starters have not pitched well.

The lineup changes day to day. I guess it doesn't matter if the team is not scoring runs. Maybe that's a reason why they aren't scoring runs.
 
DeacWatcher said:
Cubs fans should be appalled at Rickett’s cheapness.
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I don't think that's going to remain the case. They're just trying to balance the big spend with when the next wave of guys starts to arrive. And the farm is actually more stacked across multiple years than it has been in a long time.

A few things of note as we enter May from the farm -

Brennen Davis is struggling with the strikeout big time. Need a month or two of sustained success before they will be prone to make the call I suspect.

Kilian looks like he's prone for a call up.

DJ Herz should already be in AA. Nothing left to prove in A ball. Wonder if they will move him to the pen to accelerate his rise to the bigs.

Ed Howard continues not to impress. Kevin Made is back and hitting down at A- ball and he's Ed's equal in the field.

Caissie is really struggling with breaking balls.

PCA could end the year in AA if he keeps this up.

Triantos and Alcantara are starting to show signs of life. Preciado less so. I think patience remains in order on all of them bc the jump from RKL to A- ball is very significant.

Bryce Ball is performing quite well at AA. Nice to see improvement.
 
I'm skeptical they're going to spend big again. But regardless, the concept of a full-on tank rebuild is something that no other big market franchises really engage in
 
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