OT cards dealt Leake to the M's

I guess this means they are either A) getting Verlander or B) are throwing in the towel

C) he sucks
D) they are broke and need to cut payroll

It would be foolish to take on V's deal. Sure the central is winable but the ticket ends with the Nats. No team is steamrolling them unless a major injury hits or a total collapse.

And even if that upset happens then you have to face Goliath. And this is just like other teams looking at last year's Cubs but with a Cy-young and a top 5 #2 headlining. I believe last year the Cubs got past them due to the Cubs being 3 deep with cy-young quality starters. This year they have to deal with Wood and that tips the balance.

Even with Q making it 4 deep they don't have counter punches to Shaw and Wood.

So no. Trading to take on V is plain dumb. Sure the Cubs could use a arm like that to try to match up Wood and Shaw but Cards would be Special person going there.

CSF77 said:

C) he sucks
D) they are broke and need to cut payroll

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Strongly doubt it's D. They just got a big new TV deal a year or so ago. Word out of their GM is essentially they are punting and going younger and I guess getting out from under Leake's deal.

The youth movement makes the most sense

CSF77 said:

It would be foolish to take on V's deal. Sure the central is winable but the ticket ends with the Nats. No team is steamrolling them unless a major injury hits or a total collapse.

And even if that upset happens then you have to face Goliath. And this is just like other teams looking at last year's Cubs but with a Cy-young and a top 5 #2 headlining. I believe last year the Cubs got past them due to the Cubs being 3 deep with cy-young quality starters. This year they have to deal with Wood and that tips the balance.

Even with Q making it 4 deep they don't have counter punches to Shaw and Wood.

So no. Trading to take on V is plain dumb. Sure the Cubs could use a arm like that to try to match up Wood and Shaw but Cards would be Special person going there.

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The playoffs are a crapshoot and teams that win as many as the Dodgers will are at risk for a letdown. The Cubs were the first team to win the WS with over a 100 wins in a while, and how often did we hear about that? I would not be shocked if Arizona pulls off the upset in a 5 game series. I think the Nats are beatable too, in fact I think the Cubs will beat them. The Dodgers, well let's just I'm not calling that one but I'm not throwing in the towel either. The Cards on the other hand are a bad team, with a bad mix. I'm shocked they didn't trade Lance Lynn before the deadline to be honest. The other thing is that they're legitimately interested in Stanton if Jeter's group decides to trade him which they should. Of course that scares the shit out of me but we'll cross that line when we cross it. They have a lot of work to do no matter what they do.

TC in Mississippi said:

The playoffs are a crapshoot and teams that win as many as the Dodgers will are at risk for a letdown. The Cubs were the first team to win the WS with over a 100 wins in a while, and how often did we hear about that? I would not be shocked if Arizona pulls off the upset in a 5 game series. I think the Nats are beatable too, in fact I think the Cubs will beat them. The Dodgers, well let's just I'm not calling that one but I'm not throwing in the towel either. The Cards on the other hand are a bad team, with a bad mix. I'm shocked they didn't trade Lance Lynn before the deadline to be honest. The other thing is that they're legitimately interested in Stanton if Jeter's group decides to trade him which they should. Of course that scares the shit out of me but we'll cross that line when we cross it. They have a lot of work to do no matter what they do.

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Why would Stanton scare you? He hasn't made Miami into a champ. 1 guy doesn't make a team.
Not even in the NBA.

Nats are 2 deep in starting. That is their weakness. Cubs are the underdog here.

Now looking at a series. Jake is red hot. I wouldn't bet against him. Kyle is refreshed. Q's numbers are honestly good. .236 BAA is 2nd best in the rotation. 3rd including Monty.

But the main issue is Lester. He has looked his age this year. ERA in the 4's. His regression is a big part of last year to this year. Jake and John got back on the horse after getting bucked around in the first half.

Maybe the lay-off will get him peaking again when it matters. But he is honestly a core factor on any success.

Out of the 3-5. Kyle has factored in less than 1/2 his decisions. John is avg over 1 HR per start. Q HR's are avg 1 per start. Rest of his numbers are honestly decent. That is the only thing that stands out. Still a 4.5 ERA those big hits have dogged him.

So at the end of the day a 70 win team is a underdog to a 80 win team. Their records are a reflection of their performance.

I hope leake wins every start from here on out.

CSF77 said:

It would be foolish to take on V's deal. Sure the central is winable but the ticket ends with the Nats. No team is steamrolling them unless a major injury hits or a total collapse.

And even if that upset happens then you have to face Goliath. And this is just like other teams looking at last year's Cubs but with a Cy-young and a top 5 #2 headlining. I believe last year the Cubs got past them due to the Cubs being 3 deep with cy-young quality starters. This year they have to deal with Wood and that tips the balance.

Even with Q making it 4 deep they don't have counter punches to Shaw and Wood.

So no. Trading to take on V is plain dumb. Sure the Cubs could use a arm like that to try to match up Wood and Shaw but Cards would be Special person going there.

Click to expand...

Obviously the Cubs use their own models but FWIW the Dodgers are 35% to win the NL and 17.8% to win the WS according to Fangraphs. Cubs are 30% and 14.5% where as the Nationals are 21% and 8.8%.

Also, if saying the Cubs can't matchup with Alex freaking Wood isn't being a victim of the moment, I don't know what is.