General Cubs Chit-Chat

[chopsx9]

Ernie Banks Biography

Came across tis going down an Andy Garcia Rabbit Hole on IMDB - hadn't heard of it - seems to have a fairly decent cast.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Statcast leaderboards added some pace stats and a 'timer equivalent' to give a sense of who may need to adjust the most with a pitch clock: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderbo ... eam_only=1

No current Cubs need to make huge adjustments to accommodate, a couple guys(Sampson, Wick, Uelmen) will probably feel the pressure a bit though. Of potential offseason targets, Ohtani will be constantly flirting with the limits at his current pace, and a few FA like Thor and Clevinger are in a similar space as the aforementioned Cubs that they'll need to be mindful. At the other end of the spectrum there's several guys whose names have been mentioned as targets that move very quickly: Smyly, Rodon, Marquez, Brad Keller.

[TomtheBombadil]

Hit .228/.310/.413for Iowa this year, started 5 games at 2B and 38 at 3B, 16 HRs as a LHH

[CubinNY]

Would you look at the Cubs!

[Transmogrified Tiger]

A few interesting nuggets in this mailbag column: https://theathletic.com/3632284/2022/09 ... ign=601983

- The Cubs are holding a prospect 'mini-camp' to introduce a few prospects to the major league staff and what to expect at that level. The names are maybe indicative of some 40 man decisions.

The players expected to attend include six pitchers — Ben Brown, Ryan Jensen, DJ Herz, Jordan Wicks, Ben Leeper and Daniel Palencia — as well as eight hitters from a farm system that showed signs of significant growth this year: Brennen Davis, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Owen Caissie, Matt Mervis, Chase Strumpf, Darius Hill, Yonathan Perlaza and Yohendrick Pinango.

- In answering a question about the 40 man crunch, Sharma doesn't say much that's concrete, but the one thing that stood out is that he grouped McKinstry with Quiroz and Hermosillo, which is not what I would've guessed about how highly he might be viewed.

- Sharma also used the strongest language I've seen yet that the Cubs are looking for more of a game manager profile at catcher, and Contreras isn't going to be pursued unless it was as a bat with a catching afterthought. He also says he doubts Willson will take the QO because of that dynamic and his desire for long term security.

[Bertz]

A few interesting nuggets in this mailbag column: https://theathletic.com/3632284/2022/09 ... ign=601983

- The Cubs are holding a prospect 'mini-camp' to introduce a few prospects to the major league staff and what to expect at that level. The names are maybe indicative of some 40 man decisions.

The players expected to attend include six pitchers — Ben Brown, Ryan Jensen, DJ Herz, Jordan Wicks, Ben Leeper and Daniel Palencia — as well as eight hitters from a farm system that showed signs of significant growth this year: Brennen Davis, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Owen Caissie, Matt Mervis, Chase Strumpf, Darius Hill, Yonathan Perlaza and Yohendrick Pinango.

- In answering a question about the 40 man crunch, Sharma doesn't say much that's concrete, but the one thing that stood out is that he grouped McKinstry with Quiroz and Hermosillo, which is not what I would've guessed about how highly he might be viewed.

- Sharma also used the strongest language I've seen yet that the Cubs are looking for more of a game manager profile at catcher, and Contreras isn't going to be pursued unless it was as a bat with a catching afterthought. He also says he doubts Willson will take the QO because of that dynamic and his desire for long term security.

Jensen, Hill, and Perlaza being included in that mini camp seems notable with the 40 man situation. I assume they're all under consideration for protection and this is an opportunity to make the final call.

And yeah the Contreras stuff seems way stronger and more definitive than I expected. I guess the question at catcher this winter is more about whether they add a Omar Narvaez or Christian Vazquez to replace Higgins rather whether they allocate big resources to the position with a Contreras re-signing or a Sean Murphy trade.

[CubinNY]

Heyward is meeting with the media this morning. I admire that he's doing it. I don't know if I could do something like that.

[champaignchris]

Adrian Sampson…

Something there or the Frank Schwindel of pitchers?

It’s tough to put too much faith in what he’s doing when the Cubs themselves DFA’d him earlier in the season while Leiter and Swarmer were getting lit up as starters.

But at some point, you are what your stats say you are and he has a 3.12 ERA over 130 innings and two seasons as a Cub. From a guy with a 5.40 ERA in Korea in 2020.

[TomtheBombadil]

That stuff about Contreras made me nervous but then I read it and HIS contention is that Contreras shouldn’t be their #1 priority (which…sure?):

Will the Cubs be a juggernaut on offense just by adding one big bat and then subsequently losing Contreras? I think they’ll be above average, but the really good years probably don’t come until 2024 and beyond, as long as the kids click and Hoyer continues to add via free agency and trades. Although, I could see them making a trade to upgrade that area at the deadline as well, if needed and if in contention.

The point made above that bringing back Contreras should be their No. 1 priority just doesn’t resonate with me. The No. 1 priority should be adding a really good bat who is a strong all-around player as well. It doesn’t have to be about retaining their own players. There are a lot of good free agents who could upgrade this roster, including multiple shortstops who make a ton of sense.

Edit: Also the bold!

[Bertz]

Adrian Sampson…

Something there or the Frank Schwindel of pitchers?

It’s tough to put too much faith in what he’s doing when the Cubs themselves DFA’d him earlier in the season while Leiter and Swarmer were getting lit up as starters.

But at some point, you are what your stats say you are and he has a 3.12 ERA over 130 innings and two seasons as a Cub. From a guy with a 5.40 ERA in Korea in 2020.

I think for me a lot of it depends on his minor league option status. Fangraphs says he'll still have one next year, but service time and stuff can get a bit weird with the guys who go over to Asia and come back, so I wouldn't 100% count on that. But broadly, I think if he has options you keep him at Iowa if he doesn't you trade him.

The sparkling ERA seems almost surely to be a fluke. The peripherals say he should have a mid 4's ERA, and Statcast agrees. He likely isn't some magic soft- contact guy that outperforms his peripherals.

But a mid 4's ERA is not bad! In fact from a 5th/6th starter it's pretty good. There are teams out there, I would specifically circle the Rangers, who will look to add like 3 or 4 SPs this winter, and would be happy to have Sampson as one of the latter ones. If Sampson doesn't have options and can't be stashed at Iowa, I would trade him rather than awkwardly stashing him in the bullpen. Baseball Trade Values isn't gospel but thinks he's worth a prospect or two in the back half of our top 30, that's nothing to sneeze at.

[soccer10k]

Heyward is meeting with the media this morning. I admire that he's doing it. I don't know if I could do something like that.

I could if my employer was paying me $22M that year.

[cl smooth]

say what you want about the product on the field but this video is outstanding. editing is top notch.

[CubinNY]

https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1575858132227702785

say what you want about the product on the field but this video is outstanding. editing is top notch.

I'm going to have to politely disagree. They made the video without very many fans. The same shots 30 minutes before 1st pitch on a sold-out day, it's a different video.

[UMFan83]

https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1575858132227702785

say what you want about the product on the field but this video is outstanding. editing is top notch.

I have said many many bad things about the ownership and I will continue to do so but one positive is that they really modernized the franchise. It felt like a mom and pop shop under Trib Co. Little things like having a top notch content creation team are awesome.

[cl smooth]

https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1575858132227702785

say what you want about the product on the field but this video is outstanding. editing is top notch.

I'm going to have to politely disagree. They made the video without very many fans. The same shots 30 minutes before 1st pitch on a sold-out day, it's a different video.

that's a fair assessment. to have everything lined up correctly for the drone to do its thing sounds like a producer's nightmare. can't imagine how difficult this would be to pull off with a packed house.

[Derwood]

https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1575858132227702785

say what you want about the product on the field but this video is outstanding. editing is top notch.

That was cool as hell.

I'm going to have to politely disagree. They made the video without very many fans. The same shots 30 minutes before 1st pitch on a sold-out day, it's a different video.

oh FFS

[Ding Dong Johnson]

My brain can't comprehend what it took to pull that off.

[CubinNY]

https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1575858132227702785

say what you want about the product on the field but this video is outstanding. editing is top notch.

That was cool as hell.

I'm going to have to politely disagree. They made the video without very many fans. The same shots 30 minutes before 1st pitch on a sold-out day, it's a different video.

oh FFS

You have bad takes on everything no matter what direction of the compass you want to point toward, so I'll take that as a compliment.

How do you make a tribute to the fans that come to Wrigley by showing an empty Wrigley Field?

The video was neat, the same way the bowling alley one that was done, what 4 years ago?

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

I haven't been to Wrigley since 2007. Mildly surprising how different the area looks, now.

[mul21]

https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1575858132227702785

say what you want about the product on the field but this video is outstanding. editing is top notch.

That was cool as hell.

I'm going to have to politely disagree. They made the video without very many fans. The same shots 30 minutes before 1st pitch on a sold-out day, it's a different video.

oh FFS

You have bad takes on everything no matter what direction of the compass you want to point toward, so I'll take that as a compliment.

How do you make a tribute to the fans that come to Wrigley by showing an empty Wrigley Field?

The video was neat, the same way the bowling alley one that was done, what 4 years ago?

The logistics of doing what they did were probably ridiculous in the first place and it likely would have been even more difficult and probably unsafe to try to pull it off with fans in the stands because people are morons. You're dead wrong here.

That was cool af too. Well executed.

[UMFan83]

I haven't been to Wrigley since 2007. Mildly surprising how different the area looks, now.

Wait until you actually see Corporate Wrigleyville in person

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

I haven't been to Wrigley since 2007. Mildly surprising how different the area looks, now.

Wait until you actually see Corporate Wrigleyville in person

That's going to be a long-a$$ wait.

[TruffleShuffle]

effross needs tommy john surgery, making that wesneski trade look even better. Bad luck for effross though, hope he comes back and pitches well in 2024.

[Derwood]

RIP Bruce Sutter

[Elon Musk]

https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1575858132227702785

say what you want about the product on the field but this video is outstanding. editing is top notch.

damn i love wrigley field