Just how bad is this team?

[manbearcub]

Kneejerk reaction, how many wins?

 

 

edit: the last option should be >81 wins. mod can edit?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I had them at 75ish, so starting 0-2 knocks one off of that.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

Bad enough to have their pick of Austin Wilson or Dominic Fiociello next year.

[Soul]

70 is where I had them in the beginning. I'll stick with that bucket.

[Guest]

Bad enough to have their pick of Austin Wilson or Dominic Fiociello next year.

 

I don't think Fiociello is a top 15 pick next year, as of now.

[bukie]

Bad enough to have their pick of Austin Wilson or Dominic Fiociello next year.

 

I don't think Fiociello is a top 15 pick next year, as of now.

So he's predicting the Cubs will make the playoffs.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

Bad enough to have their pick of Austin Wilson or Dominic Fiociello next year.

 

I don't think Fiociello is a top 15 pick next year, as of now.

 

Depends on what they think of his ability to play 3B, which some say he has the athleticism to do.

 

OTOH, how awesome can Wilson be? That's the prize for sucking IMO...Whinston the pitcher is alright, but Wilson is going to be a stud. For fun, ideally over the next two drafts I'm hoping for Gausman this year and Wilson next year...That's the point of sucking, right?

[pitchcs]

75

[jersey cubs fan]

I was going to say 82 wins but since that is not an option I will say 66

[Guest]

Bad enough to have their pick of Austin Wilson or Dominic Fiociello next year.

 

I don't think Fiociello is a top 15 pick next year, as of now.

 

Depends on what they think of his ability to play 3B, which some say he has the athleticism to do.

 

OTOH, how awesome can Wilson be? That's the prize for sucking IMO...Whinston the pitcher is alright, but Wilson is going to be a stud. For fun, ideally over the next two drafts I'm hoping for Gausman this year and Wilson next year...That's the point of sucking, right?

 

Ryne Stanek has to be the odds-on favorite amongst collegians to be the #1 pick - I'd rather have him than any of the top college arms in this year's draft. He has more electric stuff than Whitson, plus hasn't had the injury problems that Whitson has had this season. I like Wilson a lot despite the contact problems.

 

Fiociello plays an awful lot of 1B at age 19/20 to be able to play 3B in the big leagues.

 

ETA: I think Jonathan Crawford is a better sophomore pitcher than Karsten Whitson right now in Florida's rotation.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

Oh man forgot about Stanek. Yeah I expect someone in that kind of class of talent. I do think Wilson is in that class too. If the team is going to suck it better lead to elite draft talent.

 

Never seen Crawford but will check him out in due time.

[rawaction]

Won't be 100 loss bad if they keep even part of their pitching to or past the trade deadline. But I don't see them winning more than 75. I picked 66-69.

[Exile on Waveland]

I think they'll be right around 70. If I had to guess I'd go a couple wins short of that.

[jersey cubs fan]

Won't be 100 loss bad if they keep even part of their pitching to or past the trade deadline.

 

I think there have been 2 themes people have kept going back to when discussing how this team might not be that bad. One, is that the pitching should be pretty solid even if they don't get Cy Young caliber performances, due primarily to the depth of starting pitching. Two, is that even if the offense isn't impressive, all offense is down in general and it won't take much to at least flirt with average production. But that second point also means that while the threshold for being a good offense is lower, the threshold for being a really good pitching staff is higher. As solid as they have been in general, and as often as they've had "quality starts" at the outset of the season, the Cubs are still pretty low on the list of total ERA in the NL while the starting rotation is just 8th, .3 runs behind 7th and 2 full runs behind 1st. Obviously all this stuff is quite early and subject to massive fluctuation going forward, but the point remains that if you are counting on quality pitching depth to keep the Cubs respectable this season, quality pitching depth isn't necessarily a unique thing in the NL these days. It all still relates back to how you compare with the competition. If all you are is average at pitching and below average at hitting, you are going to rack up the losses at a substantial rate.

[wvcbxl]

Who was the lone genius that got this right?

[pitchcs]

Who was the lone genius that got this right?

 

PriortoTheoWoodsomethingsomething

 

or maybe...

 

WSR? Gotta be one of em.

 

LMAO at my pick, 3 more bright blue kool-aids please sir.

[Cubswin11]

I picked 62-65

[jersey cubs fan]

I was 66-69 and as I sit here today I have no idea how many they have.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

My big thought going into the season was that they had acquired enough depth that they couldn't be too terrible even if they weren't good.

 

Then they managed to somehow employ 30 separate below-replacement players this season.

 

I underestimated how awful the bullpen could be, I didn't realize they'd be keeping some of their best players at AAA for service-time issues, I didn't plan on a massive deadline dump, and I didn't see the total collapse of CF coming.

[jersey cubs fan]

My big thought going into the season was that they had acquired enough depth that they couldn't be too terrible even if they weren't good.

 

Then they managed to somehow employ 30 separate below-replacement players this season.

 

I underestimated how awful the bullpen could be, I didn't realize they'd be keeping some of their best players at AAA for service-time issues, I didn't plan on a massive deadline dump, and I didn't see the total collapse of CF coming.

 

You didn't realize Rizzo would spend all that time at AAA? That was like the most obvious thing in the history of obvious roster moves dating back to the day they said LaHair was their starting 1B.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Clevenger/Castillo and Sappelt/Mather are the ones that particularly irk me, and of course Travis Wood at the time.

[Sammy Sofa]

I have no idea what I actually picked. I just remember saying I wouldn't be surprised if they won 10 more games than last year or if they lost 10 more games than last year.

[jersey cubs fan]

I have no idea what I actually picked.

 

Look for the mark next to one of the numbers.

[Sammy Sofa]

Oh, dur; 66-69.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I was 66-69 and as I sit here today I have no idea how many they have.

I hope 82 so we were all wrong.