Justin Steele Timeline Updated - Still Not Throwing

Well consider me clickbaited

Doubt we see Steele this season.  Looks like a sell off is coming.  Can't mortgage what's left of the farm system on this season.  Sell Happ, Kelly, Suzuki, Boyd, Thielbar.  Find a way to unload Swanson and his boat anchor contract.  We have Rojas,  Ramirez and Shaw.. Swanson isn't really that elite at short stop anymore.  Pray the Dodgers take an injury at short stop and make a trade.  Eat 65% of his contract and get him out of Chicago. 

On 6/7/2026 at 8:29 AM, Windrider said:

Doubt we see Steele this season.  Looks like a sell off is coming.  Can't mortgage what's left of the farm system on this season.  Sell Happ, Kelly, Suzuki, Boyd, Thielbar.  Find a way to unload Swanson and his boat anchor contract.  We have Rojas,  Ramirez and Shaw.. Swanson isn't really that elite at short stop anymore.  Pray the Dodgers take an injury at short stop and make a trade.  Eat 65% of his contract and get him out of Chicago. 

Go ahead and read my Dark Timeline article!

Happ is playing like a guy who wants a new contract.  He can't be traded so maybe they should just sign him?  

I agree it's time for a fire sale; maybe they can talk Happ into agreeing to go to a contender in the last year of his deal.  

Having Steele around was a lot of fun while it lasted.  he was a favorite of mine for sure.

Hope he comes back for us one day and can be who he was.  

Sounds about right

They probably could have squeezed 4 or 5 starts out of him but yeah, probably not worth it at this point.

Good. 

Hope they just set an X amount of pitches or innings for him, then just shut him down the rest of season. 

Have him go through his normal offseason routine and be ready for whenever ST starts up.

He'll be more important for next season rotation then whatever he can give this season. 

That seems...surprising.  Like even with the setbacks something akin to what Matt Boyd did two years ago with Cleveland or what Shane Bieber did last year with Toronto feels like it should be on the table?  So I guess I'm wondering which of these rationales is at play:

1. Steele's arm is still not responding like it should.  We're not quite in "setback" territory yet but rehab is not going great 

2. The team doesn't trust him to produce right off the IL.  I listed off two counterexamples but generally guys are rusty off of TJ and August/September might not be the best time to let him work through rust

3. The team is desperate for quality innings, and they'd rather e.g. get him back in early August as a reliever than wait for late August as a SP.

Fire every single person on this medical staff yesterday. 

This is outrageous. 

Yeesh. That's a real bummer.

1 hour ago, Cubs420psd said:

Fire every single person on this medical staff yesterday. 

 

This is outrageous. 

The medical staff is not responsible for his elbow tendons looking like spaghetti. 

1 hour ago, Cubs420psd said:

Fire every single person on this medical staff yesterday. 

 

This is outrageous. 

What a sane reaction 

I realize every case is different, but does anyone truly expect Cade Horton to contribute in any form next year?

I think we're getting a glimpse of the future here.  We'll be lucky if we just get Horton making some relief appearances toward the end of the 2027 season.

9 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

What a sane reaction 

But an understandable, if not entirely sane, reaction from a fan standpoint.  To call the Cubs a MASH unit would be an understatement.  Is there a point where it’s no longer just random?  I don’t know.  But man it’s so horsefeathers frustrating.

4 minutes ago, Soul said:

But an understandable, if not entirely sane, reaction from a fan standpoint.  To call the Cubs a MASH unit would be an understatement.  Is there a point where it’s no longer just random?  I don’t know.  But man it’s so horsefeathers frustrating.

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/injured/_/year/2026

Once again, 29 other teams exist and this is not a unique problem 

This update is a lot like the OP's update in that it's not a fuckin update

This is jumping the gun a bit, or more than a bit, but at what point does Steele's arbitration status for next year come into question?  Roughly $8 Million is pocket change for a guy with Steele's (potential) upside, but at the same time, is it money well spend if there are still serious questions about how is arm is really going to bounce back?  After two lost seasons, could the Cubs maybe work out a 2 year deal with him, buying out the last arbitration year at a discount and locking him into another team friendly amount for 2028?

39 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/injured/_/year/2026

Once again, 29 other teams exist and this is not a unique problem 

Then let's quit using it as an excuse as to why the Cubs aren't playing up to their potential.  

19 minutes ago, Backtobanks said:

Then let's quit using it as an excuse as to why the Cubs aren't playing up to their potential.  

Two things can be true at the same time.

31 minutes ago, Backtobanks said:

Then let's quit using it as an excuse as to why the Cubs aren't playing up to their potential.  

All I pointed out was the Cubs injury situation is not unique. Of course some of their potential has been hurt because of it. Just like every other team.

4 hours ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/injured/_/year/2026

Once again, 29 other teams exist and this is not a unique problem 

What is an injured cash total?