Cubs at Pirates

Chicagosports89

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Na they will come out and say weak sauce Pirates. Got lucky vs birds. Sox smacked them around.

Or some other moronic attempt to piss on the Cubs current run.
I still think they should sell. Less to do with anything this season and more to do with the historical performance of this core
 

TL1961

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OK we all know it’s just the Pirates but dammit a W is a W. Fly that motherfucker and keep them coming.
 

CSF77

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I still think they should sell. Less to do with anything this season and more to do with the historical performance of this core

Maybe.

I was thinking it over a bit.

Looking at the starters.

Month of may

Davies 1.71 ERA
Hendricks 2.36
Alzolay 3.91
Arreta 4.50
Williams 8.78

That is why I don't make a big deal about today's result. One good game in that month of Trainwreck means little.

But this shows that the improvement has come from Davies and Hendricks not pushing a 7 ERA like April was.

But milling it over I was thinking on Blackmon. What would it take? Amaya, Abbott and Little?

Then Jon Gray? Add in 2 from the Darvish deal.

I'm pretty sure that Contreras gets locked up. Amaya holds more value as a chip.

Happ they have Control. Davis is at A+. But he is wrecking that league. So a promotion is expected soon. He is 2 years out after Joc hits F/A.

But working it out:

Blackmon RF
Bryant 3B
Peterson LF
Contreras C
Rizzo 1B
Happ CF
Baez SS
Nico 2B

Alzolay they cut back for Aug after picking up Gray. Gray would become the #2 starter. That way they can start up Alzolay in the last 2 weeks for the play offs.

On the over all losses. I doubt any of the players in the Pads deal will amount to much. Abbott is replaceable. Easily. Little is trending up but W/E.

Col can finish up with their development.

Now looking into 2022. OF would be set.
Rotation would be losing Daves and Gray. Marquez might be close so I could see a offer made to Gray.

Rizzo and Baez IDK honestly. Part of me would want Bryant at 1B. And retain Duffy at 3B. Duffy is a solid contact hitter and a respected vet in the dugout. Baez on the fence. It would for his glove vs his bat. I wouldn't over pay for him.
 

Bust

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OK we all know it’s just the Pirates but dammit a W is a W. Fly that motherfucker and keep them coming.

They showed up vs Cardinals. They are the real deal!
 

CSF77

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They showed up vs Cardinals. They are the real deal!

I would rank them #5 in the NL right now. Good enough to push for a WC slot or the Cards.

Going deeper they need more. Padres and the Dodgers are the bench mark.
 

beckdawg

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14-7 in May. All losses by 1 run. I say thats some pretty good ball to watch. Cant wait for the blow up guys when they lose a series again.
I'm not in favor of blowing it up but at the same time I think if they don't perform significantly better they are going to be in an odd position. At a current .542 winning percent they are a fringe playoff team who's buoyed by a weak division. And it turns into one of those things where yeah they can probably make the playoffs but are they really going to do anything in them?

If this were last year i'd say just ride it out and don't sell. But this year is a bit different with so many 1 year pieces left. With the current state of things I think you either have to re-sign Bryant(unlikely) or at least entertain offers for him. Rizzo I believe they eventually will find common ground on. Baez is tough because he's such a weird player. Kimbrel however i sorta feel like is gone if you look to move Bryant.

I'd sorta love to see the cubs move Bryant for a package centered around CJ Abrams and then move Abrams to CF. SD isn't getting a ton out of their corner outfielders right now and with Tatis Grisham and Kim/Cronenworth they are pretty deep at anywhere they would otherwise need Abrams. Hell maybe you make the trade a true block buster and throw in Kimbrel and maybe take on Myers to make the money work for a huge haul.
 

Bust

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I would rank them #5 in the NL right now. Good enough to push for a WC slot or the Cards.

Going deeper they need more. Padres and the Dodgers are the bench mark.


Dodgers and Padres are top 5 in payroll. Cubs are sitting 12th with dollars to spend when the time is right!
 

CSF77

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I'm not in favor of blowing it up but at the same time I think if they don't perform significantly better they are going to be in an odd position. At a current .542 winning percent they are a fringe playoff team who's buoyed by a weak division. And it turns into one of those things where yeah they can probably make the playoffs but are they really going to do anything in them?

If this were last year i'd say just ride it out and don't sell. But this year is a bit different with so many 1 year pieces left. With the current state of things I think you either have to re-sign Bryant(unlikely) or at least entertain offers for him. Rizzo I believe they eventually will find common ground on. Baez is tough because he's such a weird player. Kimbrel however i sorta feel like is gone if you look to move Bryant.

I'd sorta love to see the cubs move Bryant for a package centered around CJ Abrams and then move Abrams to CF. SD isn't getting a ton out of their corner outfielders right now and with Tatis Grisham and Kim/Cronenworth they are pretty deep at anywhere they would otherwise need Abrams. Hell maybe you make the trade a true block buster and throw in Kimbrel and maybe take on Myers to make the money work for a huge haul.

Meyers: 22M in 2022 with a 20M team option in 2023. To offset some cash it would be fine. But I see this move in another light for the Cubs.

CJ Abrams SS AA playing on San Antonio. Hitting .303/.387/.470

I would call that dominating a league and needing a challenge. Pad's are holding him back right now.

So if the Cubs sent Kimbrel and Bryant over for Meyers and Abrams.

Abrams would go to Iowa and most likely be the starting SS in 2022.
Meyers would become the starting 1B in 2022.

At this point I would sell my glut of depth in SS in the system to build a team. SS/2B would be set going forward in CJ and Nico. I would push up Davis' time line. I would promote him to Tenn in June. He is toying with A+ and it would be better to challenge him at AA for the Summer vs wrecking lesser pitching.

Marquez was delayed by Covid and has been in a throwing program to build arm strength. I could see them putting both Marquez and Davis at AA at the same time.


So with Meyers and CJ Baez and Rizzo are gone. Heyward most likely cut after Davis promotes. Guys like Howard and the Pad infield prospects traded for SP with Control.

We could see Hendricks, Alzolay, Thompson, Steel, incoming pitcher via trade.

This team would be far worse than this year but with Davis and Marquez pending and a larger payroll to add and lock up players early. Well it hastens the time line.


I would be fine with it as it is heading in the right direction and if done right like other teams are doing. Lock up their young stars in 13 year deals so we don't have to see a trainwreck in 7 pending.
 

CSF77

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He had a solid take. Spin rates are up. Most think the Astros were doing that also with Cole and Verlander all of a sudden spiking their spin rates and going from under performers to cy young talent. After that it caught on and is getting to the point that MLB has to curb it in.

Mike is telling it strait and is risking getting fined for letting out to the public a dirt story that MLB is trying to sweep under the rug.

Hats off to him. No pun intended. And it was a good thing that Joe West did to keep Gio from getting fined. That hat switch was to protect the player because after his first pitch with substance on his hat then he could get a fine.

I don't doubt that many pitchers are using a grip adder to increase spin rates and to get more bite on their breaking pitches. Even Bryant kinda alluded to it when he said these guys now a days are throwing stuff that is near impossible to track.
 

zack54attack

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My favorite teams
  1. Chicago Cubs
  1. Chicago Fire
  1. Chicago Bulls
  1. Chicago Bears
  1. Chicago Blackhawks
  1. North Carolina Tar Heels
KB!
 

Diehardfan

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This is smart by Baez. Dumb by the first baseman.

That's the thing about baseball. It can be exciting, it can be really boring at times....but it is the one sport where you think that you've seen everything and a play like that happens. I've watched this game for many, many years and I've never seen that before.

And of course, it's Baez right in the middle of it. LOL
 

CSF77

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Jed would assassinate his tenure if he sold now.

He would have to justify it. Hoovering .500 yep. On a roll fighting for the division lead no.

I believe that Jed will end up having to buy. This will not be about return value. It is about 2021 and playing to win.

Sure Bryant and Kimbrel are great trade chips. But right now they are on a team in the thick of it.
 

Dragon Slayer

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Jed would assassinate his tenure if he sold now.

He would have to justify it. Hoovering .500 yep. On a roll fighting for the division lead no.

I believe that Jed will end up having to buy. This will not be about return value. It is about 2021 and playing to win.

Sure Bryant and Kimbrel are great trade chips. But right now they are on a team in the thick of it.
Re-evaluate in the middle of June. Cubs has some tough series coming up - SD twice, SF and St Louis. The cubs are hot though!
 

CSF77

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But how to make it work?

Baez 20M AAV
Rizzo 20M AAV
Bryant 30M AAV

2022 on the books: 58M

We forget that they will be 142M under 200M. And they can afford 200M.

Those 3 will cost 1/2 of that. Then you use the system as cost savings and trade assets.

This is not rocket science. Jed just needs to put his big boy pants on and act like a major market President of team operations vs a little market sniveling Scrooge.

Now if those 3 are more concerned about pay day the QO and move on.

To me is if you make a fair offer like that and all 3 are good go for it. Be Cubs til retirement. They have earned that pay. If they play the pay me game. Well that is their priority. If Jed wants to play the cheapskate then fuck him.
 
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