I think the Cubs need to massively retool this team from the ground up.
When Epstein originally took over the MLB was all about launch angle and 2 outcome at bats. SO the team scouted for and built the team around guys that can destroy fastballs. And it worked for two years 2015-2016. But the MLB had a massive transition to pitchers, particularly relievers, who threw fewer fastballs and when they threw fastballs they were high fastballs that our team just can't hit. This was a death nell for the Cubs lineup as they had very few contact hitters who can generate activity besides a walk or homerun.
I am not sure what information Jed has, but I would hope he sees this same shift in pitching and realizes he needs a combination of power and contact through the lineup, no more one trick ponies.
Which brings me to the next point, that with the tam built this way, we aren't going to win anything in the next few years. So why spend money and why keep players around that won't be here when we are good again. Most of us should see this and know what the process is as we experienced it already and it worked well.
Now as for this trade. On the initial front end, the Padres got a steal and it appears the Cubs got fleeced. But.... The type of prospects the Cubs got in return aren't going to show up in top ten or top 100 lists because of how young they are. It is a high risk high reward type trade. When you get 4 of these players odds are 2 of them will be good in the MLB.
That being said, they Cubs have invested heavily in player development (with facilities and coaching), particularly for players obtained from the international draft. And this makes sense as the ability to 'hit' on these picks are much higher than in the MLB draft.
So let's be real, this is a sell move, but it is not like it was in 2011-2014 as we have a better farm system to get through the 2-3 retooling we need. We also have a stellar 2022 free agent class and a 2021 year that could be effected by the pandemic still so why invest in this year? Might as well free up money to pay big into free agency next year and re-up players like Happ and Contreras or whoever performs consistently this year.
