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Chicago Cubs Thread - Playoff Push Pending

WokeandBroke said:
A: A strong tradition of being wrong. That video rules. Biff can act like a tree and get out of here.

Who do the Cub fans pull for in this post season? Schwarbo trying to punch a hole through the Petco upper deck was pretty cool. Even though he's with the Evil Empire I can't quit Anthony Rizzo.

I was thinking about the 2016ers that were cut loose at the deadline in 2021. While I understood the moves at the time (and wish we'd dealt Willson and Happ this year for the same reasons), I wonder what those guys think now in hindsight. Is Kris Bryant happier in Colorado? Really? I know he's richer, but when you're already a decamillionaire in your 20s how much does the money on the margins matter? WGAS about Rockies baseball and their 94 losses this year (cf. Cubs @ 88)? Same with Baez. He was in Queens long enough to make the fans made and now he's nowhere that matters: Detroit lost 96 games.

Rizzo and Schwarber clearly landed on their feet, but are we 100% that the 2021 Cubs as-constructed wouldn't have made the playoffs in 2022?
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Cubs or no, baseball fans cheer for the NL. The Astros are
cheaters and the Yankees are the Yankees.
 
Dusting this thread off for the off-season.

Cubs get Belli on a proove it deal at 1/$17.5 and Jameson Taillon on a 4/$68. Like both of these - cody should see an immediate bump with the new shift rules, still needs to recover his HR stroke, but great deal. Taillon is fringe 3rd or high end 4th starter, this seems to be the going price and he might get the NL bump too.

Contreras goes to the Cards on a 5/$87.5 deal. That's a shame, really not sure why Jed didn't pony up for him, that's a great deal for the offense willy can produce at that position. My guess, and clearly they know more than me, is that he isn't or can't be a full time catcher anymore, so why pay the premium for the bat. Dunno, seems really, really dumb - that's a great club friendly deal. I've been wrong before, though.

Cubs still in on a big time SS with Correa, Bogaerts and Swanson still out there. Rumors that the Cubs are betting odds to get at least 1 - there was an early rumor about getting 2 and putting Xander at 3rd, but I think that time has passed - the Trea deal makes the financial chances of getting a whole new left side of the infield moot. Would prefer Correa to Swanson, as I'm still not sold on dansbys bat for the long term. Cubs also need another top of the rotation SP to go with Stro, Steele, Taillon and Hendricks/Wesneski/Thompson.
 
Bellinger and Taillon are good additions. Hate losing Contreras, especially to the Cardinals and at that price.

I like what I saw from the young starters in the second half of the season. A key to generating a flow of good pitching from the minors is to use them at the major league level. A top of the rotation starter would likely require enough money to acquire an elite position player or two good position players. Roll the dice with the kids on the mound and fill the holes on the field.

Bogaerts seems the targeted shortstop.
 
DaDeacs said:
Dusting this thread off for the off-season.

Cubs get Belli on a proove it deal at 1/$17.5 and Jameson Taillon on a 4/$68. Like both of these - cody should see an immediate bump with the new shift rules, still needs to recover his HR stroke, but great deal. Taillon is fringe 3rd or high end 4th starter, this seems to be the going price and he might get the NL bump too.

Contreras goes to the Cards on a 5/$87.5 deal. That's a shame, really not sure why Jed didn't pony up for him, that's a great deal for the offense willy can produce at that position. My guess, and clearly they know more than me, is that he isn't or can't be a full time catcher anymore, so why pay the premium for the bat. Dunno, seems really, really dumb - that's a great club friendly deal. I've been wrong before, though.

Cubs still in on a big time SS with Correa, Bogaerts and Swanson still out there. Rumors that the Cubs are betting odds to get at least 1 - there was an early rumor about getting 2 and putting Xander at 3rd, but I think that time has passed - the Trea deal makes the financial chances of getting a whole new left side of the infield moot. Would prefer Correa to Swanson, as I'm still not sold on dansbys bat for the long term. Cubs also need another top of the rotation SP to go with Stro, Steele, Taillon and Hendricks/Wesneski/Thompson.
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Interesting the perceived Cubs knock on him was defense (poor framing as he has a great arm), yet the team who signs him to a big $ 5 year deal is replacing its hall of fame defensive catcher. Meanwhile the Cubs still need a catcher.

Meanwhile, after Turner signs with Philly - which has been very aggressive this off-season following its WS appearance - Bogaerts signs with Padres. With Judge staying in NY, Giants now have a TON of $ to throw at Correa. Hello Dansby!? And still no top 1-2 level starting pitcher signed. Tick tock Jed…
 
BlackjackMc said:
Bellinger and Taillon are good additions. Hate losing Contreras, especially to the Cardinals and at that price.

I like what I saw from the young starters in the second half of the season. A key to generating a flow of good pitching from the minors is to use them at the major league level. A top of the rotation starter would likely require enough money to acquire an elite position player or two good position players. Roll the dice with the kids on the mound and fill the holes on the field.

Bogaerts seems the targeted shortstop.
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I like both Bellinger and Taillon as complimentary moves.
 
I took last season off (a silent protest) so forgive me for not remembering but don't the Cubs have a talented catcher in the minors, and if so, what's the time table for him making the jump?
 
BTB said:
I took last season off (a silent protest) so forgive me for not remembering but don't the Cubs have a talented catcher in the minors, and if so, what's the time table for him making the jump?
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Miguel Amaya had TJ surgery in Nov 2021 and did not catch last season.
 
Amaya got to DH a bit, his bat is still behind his defense, but who knows what that will look like this year. Expecting him to start in Iowa, but he might make it up later in the year if he can come back to what he was. I am assuming Cubs are going into this year with Yan Gomes and PJ Higgins as the catchers, which is not great if they truly want to compete, but oh well.

Correa deep into talks with the Giants and Yanks too. Whatever the Cubs offered appears to not be enough. Dansby still out there, I saw a few rumors saying the Braves offered him 6/$100 or something and that wasn't close to what he wanted, not sure dropping big money on him is the right move, but Cubs are still supposedly in talks with him. Cubs are also being one of the many teams tied to the Japanese pitcher who was posted, Senga. He isn't being viewed as an ace, but still would likely be an upgrade over whatever the Cubs would throw out after Stro, Steele and Taillon.
 
All the eggs are in the Dansby Swanson bucket now. Twins, Braves and maybe Yanks and Red Sox still need a SS too, so he ain't gonna be cheap.

Cubs continue to fumble the bag this offseason as they underestimated what other teams were going to spend. Cubs are a top 3 franchise, but continue to spend like a middle tier team. They have a couple more glaring holes they need to fill, not sure Swanson+ is going to make them competitive unless they somehow strike gold with a crazy good defensive team and some pitcher steps up (Wesneski, Killian, Assad or even Hendricks). They still need a 1B (rumors around Mancini, but he's barely league average at this point, great story, great guy, but average), still need a catcher (Narvaez is the best on the market and its questionable if he is better than Gomes, which says a lot), still need a big time SP (Rodon likely too expensive for this front office, Eovaldi will cost a 2nd round pick and the rest of the starter options are large bag of meh).

At this point, maybe just pivot to all in for Shohei next year - follow the last couple of years process, sign some low risk RPs and bats that you can flip at the deadline, call this year a wash, lose Stro in the offseason and see what happens next year. I mean, a trade for Shohei would solve a lot of the issues with the team, but not sure they want to give up what it would take - guessing it would take 2 of Davis, PCA, Alcantara, Caissie, Hernandez, Canario, Triantos plus more and probably one of the MLB ready big arms in Wesneski or Thompson.
 
The contracts for Turner, Correa etc. make the terms Baez signed for look affordable. I don't see Swanson as a big upgrade, but he should benefit from the numbers Turner and Correa received.

The Cubs should have invested in Happ and Contreras. Happ is still possible.

Agree with your last paragraph DaDeacs. I want the team to put an emphasis on the young starters in the system. Alzolay, Assad, Sampson, Steele, Thompson and Wesneski have shown they may be ready. Use this season to develop them into a solid core.
 
The Cubs fucked up with Correa last year in retrospect. They need an anchor. He would have been a great one to invest in. Swanson would be nice but not at some huge premium. Fear they'll be treading water this year. At least some of the young studs will start to come up and get acclimated.
 
BlackjackMc said:
The contracts for Turner, Correa etc. make the terms Baez signed for look affordable. I don't see Swanson as a big upgrade, but he should benefit from the numbers Turner and Correa received.

The Cubs should have invested in Happ and Contreras. Happ is still possible.

Agree with your last paragraph DaDeacs. I want the team to put an emphasis on the young starters in the system. Alzolay, Assad, Sampson, Steele, Thompson and Wesneski have shown they may be ready. Use this season to develop them into a solid core.
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Amen brother re: Contreras and Happ. And Swanson. Jed could still pull a rabbit out of his hat ( really needs to pull rabbits plural), but so far it appears he has completely mismanaged this roster the past 3 years. I’d love to know what $ limitations have been placed on him. Wouldn’t we all.
 
DeacMan said:
The Cubs fucked up with Correa last year in retrospect. They need an anchor. He would have been a great one to invest in. Swanson would be nice but not at some huge premium. Fear they'll be treading water this year. At least some of the young studs will start to come up and get acclimated.
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More like drowning.
 
Buttermaker said:
More like drowning.
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Nah. They have a lot more depth to come up and help now from the minors. So treading water is probably a bit harsh on my part bc depth means a lot over the course of an MLB season. NVM the fact they lost more games to injury than all but one or two teams last year. But this still was the year to make a nice splash in free agency. Swanson would help but Correa was the guy. 13 years. Good lord.
 
7/$177 for Dansby. Up the middle defense should be pretty insane with dansby/nico and belly in CF. Still need a 1B, or 3B, I guess if you want to move wisdom to 1st. Maybe grab JD Martinez if he is cheap for the DH role, would definitely pick up the offense. Still need a pitcher and catcher too, but at least some hope here - even if I'm not a full on dansby believer.
 
Justin turner being thrown around all over for 3B. Not sure how much he has left, but hit ok last year at 37.
 
Good luck to Dansby! Cubs fans, get used to counting to 3 because dude strikes out A LOT.
 
deacdixieboy said:
Good luck to Dansby! Cubs fans, get used to counting to 3 because dude strikes out A LOT.
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He'll fit right in with the Cubs of yesteryear then. Definitely a defensive upgrade for the middle infield overall. And not having him for an extra 6 years (I cannot believe the Giants want to pay Correa when he is 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41) is ok. But overall this is not enough. It needs to be coupled with another good, solid signing or two.
 
DeacMan said:
He'll fit right in with the Cubs of yesteryear then. Definitely a defensive upgrade for the middle infield overall. And not having him for an extra 6 years (I cannot believe the Giants want to pay Correa when he is 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41) is ok. But overall this is not enough. It needs to be coupled with another good, solid signing or two.
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Yeah. I truly wonder how he’ll be without the protection around him in the Braves lineup.
 
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