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Chicago Cubs Thread - Playoff Push Pending

4 games back from second wild card spot? After losing six straight at home? Not gonna happen.
 
Six games left for the Cubs. Looks like they need to win them all and get some help to earn the Wildcard.

Still not out of reach.
 
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Such a bizarre season- offense was so all-or-nothing- not sure how to correct that. Brewers get in with a run differential of 0 (!) while the Cubs are +104.
 
First and foremost, congratulations to the Cardinals and the Brewers for securing an opportunity to play in the post season. They represent the Central Division of the National League and I wish both teams success. They are better teams than the Cubs this year.

I just finished reading the brief initial reactions of some players, Maddon and Epstein. All are disappointed, frustrated and somewhat mystified by this years performance. The most glaring problem was never mentioned. The team fielding percentage of .981 was the lowest number since 2011. The team defensive efficiency ratio of .688 was the lowest since 2014. The previous four years the Cubs had a DER of .695 (2015), .731 (2016), .700 (2017) and .702 (2018). Defense is not the only problem, but it is certainly a primary problem.
 
BlackjackMc said:
First and foremost, congratulations to the Cardinals and the Brewers for securing an opportunity to play in the post season. They represent the Central Division of the National League and I wish both teams success. They are better teams than the Cubs this year.

I just finished reading the brief initial reactions of some players, Maddon and Epstein. All are disappointed, frustrated and somewhat mystified by this years performance. The most glaring problem was never mentioned. The team fielding percentage of .981 was the lowest number since 2011. The team defensive efficiency ratio of .688 was the lowest since 2014. The previous four years the Cubs had a DER of .695 (2015), .731 (2016), .700 (2017) and .702 (2018). Defense is not the only problem, but it is certainly a primary problem.
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True but our main concern has to be rectifying this pitching situation. Injuries are what they are and everybody makes errors but throughout the year our pitching was consistently meh at best and horrible at worst.
 
There isn't a lot that needs to be corrected for Cubs to contend next year. Fixing defense is tough, but keeping Castellanos would lead to a worse OF defense - which is why I'm seeing a lot of articles saying they arent going to go after him, which stinks. Rizzo and Baez are solid defenders, Nico is my guess for starting 2B next year, should be ok. Bryant is getting worse at third, but we dont have room for an upgrade there unless we move him to Center or Right.

Gonna be interesting to see what happens- Cubs should have $30 or so million to spend and will have to get creative with two years of Lester left. Need 1-2 more starters and a full on overhaul of our pen.
 
DaDeacs said:
There isn't a lot that needs to be corrected for Cubs to contend next year. Fixing defense is tough, but keeping Castellanos would lead to a worse OF defense - which is why I'm seeing a lot of articles saying they arent going to go after him, which stinks. Rizzo and Baez are solid defenders, Nico is my guess for starting 2B next year, should be ok. Bryant is getting worse at third, but we dont have room for an upgrade there unless we move him to Center or Right.

Gonna be interesting to see what happens- Cubs should have $30 or so million to spend and will have to get creative with two years of Lester left. Need 1-2 more starters and a full on overhaul of our pen.
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Send the farm for Whit Merrifield
Sign Castellanos
Sign Gerrit Cole
Sign Will Smith

Go 162-0 with $300MM payroll
 
HoosierDeac said:
Send the farm for Whit Merrifield
Sign Castellanos
Sign Gerrit Cole
Sign Will Smith

Go 162-0 with $300MM payroll
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Send the farm for a 30 year old with 3 full big league seasons, only one of which was elite, who relies pretty heavily on contact and speed? His fWAR fell from 5.2 last year to 2.6 this year, and his stolen base totals fell from 45 to 19. You'd still have to send legit prospects for him, think Hoerner since the Royals somehow still seem to want MLB ready talent so they can avoid tanking/rebuilding (lol), and I think there's a strong argument that it wouldn't be worth it. Regardless of how affordable his contract is, I think he's a likely quick regression candidate within the next 2 years.
 
No desire to get Merrifield, not worth it. Cole would be great, but that is gonna be crazy money, and I cant see the Ricketts shelling out for that with Darvish and Lester on the payroll.

Darvish, Hendricks, Q and Lester are locked in as 4 starters, with Chatwood, Alzolay, Rea, Mills and Graveman as the like 5th unless we upgrade. Lester is done, but with two years left, he has to play. I still think I would rather Rendon than Cole if we are shelling out big bucks, but dont think Cubs will get either without some crazy moving and shaking. Signing Castellanos would mean that Schwarber would most likely be moved, and I'm not sure that's an upgrade. It's going to be interesting to see how much they let Theo run with this
 
DaDeacs, how about a list of all the players on the roster with contacts that expire at the end of this season. Thanks.
 
Fuck that rousing team talk, not worth it. We probably win without that anyway, eternal props to Bryan Shaw for suckin'
 
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