IST: Cubs at Brewers

beckdawg

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Alzolay I think will be a bright spot for the cubs this year. I think he'll finally be a building block pitcher for them. Probably will need all of 2021 as seasoning but from the data I see on him I am really intrigued at him being a part of the rotation going forward.
 

knoxville7

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If you are going to blow it up I actually wouldn't trade Rizzo unless you got a very good trade offer. If you are going full on rebuild I personally would bring in as many good defenders as I could get and then buy middling starters in FA. Then you use the good defense to inflate their performance and sell them the following july for prospects. Keep in mind that's essentially the strategy that netted them Hendricks and Arrieta.

Additionally, the cubs farm system isn't *that* far away with their better prospects. Having a vet like Rizzo around assuming they re-sign him would be helpful rather than a case where you have 26 or so 24 year olds with no leadership.

You can find a defensive first baseman pretty cheap in FA. If rizzo will get you a prospect or two, you do it. By the time the cubs are competing again, rizzo won’t be a factor anymore. It would be dumb to sell off and keep rizzo. Not to mention it’d be nice to send rizzo to a competitor for him in his last few years
 

CSF77

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You can find a defensive first baseman pretty cheap in FA. If rizzo will get you a prospect or two, you do it. By the time the cubs are competing again, rizzo won’t be a factor anymore. It would be dumb to sell off and keep rizzo. Not to mention it’d be nice to send rizzo to a competitor for him in his last few years

It would make more sense to trade Rizzo and extend Contreras. Amaya is in AA at the start of the season. That way they can have Amaya caddy a pitcher or 2 then have him play 1B on Contreras' catching days. As Contreras ages the catching work load shifts to the younger Amaya.
 

zack54attack

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The biggest storylines for the Cubs so far is:

- Not being able to hit
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- Kaycee Sogard.
 

CSF77

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Alzolay I think will be a bright spot for the cubs this year. I think he'll finally be a building block pitcher for them. Probably will need all of 2021 as seasoning but from the data I see on him I am really intrigued at him being a part of the rotation going forward.

Alozay should get better with time. He has the tools and needs to learn.

Kyle is the safe bet as staff ace. His blips are few. Jake is on the down side but knows how to pitch when his stuff is off.

Albert is going to throw duds. That is to be expected. Growing pains.
 

knoxville7

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It would make more sense to trade Rizzo and extend Contreras. Amaya is in AA at the start of the season. That way they can have Amaya caddy a pitcher or 2 then have him play 1B on Contreras' catching days. As Contreras ages the catching work load shifts to the younger Amaya.

ehh Contreras should get traded as well IMO. He will actually net some good prospects, and in a rebuild you don’t hang on to catchers approaching 30. If Contreras can get you a couple good pitching prospects...you pull that trigger. And you let Amaya take over the full time gig. Catcher seems to be the strength in the farm system right now. No sense keeping Contreras when he will yield you the most return and you have some real potential coming up behind him
 

beckdawg

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You can find a defensive first baseman pretty cheap in FA. If rizzo will get you a prospect or two, you do it. By the time the cubs are competing again, rizzo won’t be a factor anymore. It would be dumb to sell off and keep rizzo. Not to mention it’d be nice to send rizzo to a competitor for him in his last few years
I mean maybe... like i said it would depend on the return. Giving rizzo like $20 mil a year isn't really much of a concern if you are blowing it up because you're not gonna run huge salaries the next few years. But I honestly don't think teams are going to pay anything more than low ceiling prospects for rizzo headed into FA and the cubs have enough prospect depth that it isn't an issue. The issue is the cubs lack higher ceiling guys who can break out if the ball bounces right.

People also undervalue what leadership brings. If you're rebuilding you are bringing in players to flip. Having a captain who can help squeeze the most out of minimally talented players is a case where the whole is more than the sum of the parts. I recently was watching a documentary about Dave Parker. They were interviewing Barry Larkin and talking about what Parker meant to his development. At the time he wasn't really as focused as he should be and Parker basically told him fix it or he was going to beat the shit out of him. Larkin praised Parker so much so that he is one of the people Larkin mentioned in his HOF speech.

As such, Rizzo is the type of player I want on the team when these younger guys come up especially if the cubs are in a rebuild mode because Rizzo was a prospect in that very environment. Being able to guide young guys will be important
 

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Don't think you can blame the front office unless you mean ownership. It's fairly clear that it's not Jed's choice to keep a low budget. Dude is just working in the constraints of his job.
I think the word "cheapass" is a pretty good indicator of who I was referring to.
 

knoxville7

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I mean maybe... like i said it would depend on the return. Giving rizzo like $20 mil a year isn't really much of a concern if you are blowing it up because you're not gonna run huge salaries the next few years. But I honestly don't think teams are going to pay anything more than low ceiling prospects for rizzo headed into FA and the cubs have enough prospect depth that it isn't an issue. The issue is the cubs lack higher ceiling guys who can break out if the ball bounces right.

People also undervalue what leadership brings. If you're rebuilding you are bringing in players to flip. Having a captain who can help squeeze the most out of minimally talented players is a case where the whole is more than the sum of the parts. I recently was watching a documentary about Dave Parker. They were interviewing Barry Larkin and talking about what Parker meant to his development. At the time he wasn't really as focused as he should be and Parker basically told him fix it or he was going to beat the shit out of him. Larkin praised Parker so much so that he is one of the people Larkin mentioned in his HOF speech.

As such, Rizzo is the type of player I want on the team when these younger guys come up especially if the cubs are in a rebuild mode because Rizzo was a prospect in that very environment. Being able to guide young guys will be important

you can sign veteran guys in FA on the cheap that can provide leadership...I.e. David Ross. Cheap and provided mostly leadership and defense. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. You can trade rizzo for prospects and still provide leadership to the future
 

CSF77

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1 years deals

C.J. Cron (32) 1B
Andrelton Simmons (32) SS
Eduardo Escobar (33) 3B

Far cheaper for a team looking to lose.
 

zack54attack

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Brewers up 2-0.

That should about do it.
 

zack54attack

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Cubs throwing at Woodruff lol. Worry about hitting the damn ball.
 

zack54attack

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Willson Contreras absolutely crushed that. Holy hell.
 

wonky73

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THREE RUNS THREE RUNS!! Super Cubs Super World Series
 

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