Random Cubs Musings

[imb]

What was Baker throwing in his inning?

 

a baseball

[Guest]

http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/id/11293436/deadline-mark-end-era-chicago-cubs

 

Let's hope it's the case. I know we're all thinking it is.

 

While you can argue that the Cubs deserve a little scorn for putting out a purposefully bad product at a big league cost for fans for three seasons -- even team insiders agree it's not a fan-friendly move -- these dark days are almost done.

 

Expect to see Baez, the final prospect of the Hendry era, and Soler, the Cuban slugger who's producing now that he's healthy, later this year. It will be a nice preview for the coming seasons, and a much-needed boost of enthusiasm as the Cubs try to court season-ticket holders to return for more "hope."

 

Epstein and Hoyer have been fairly clear in their plans, and you sense the optimism that next year's team will be truly fun to watch.

 

Remember fun, Cubs fans?

 

"I would hope that it's coming to a point where it shifts in a different direction," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said before Thursday's game. "All of us are hopeful that's going to be the case here in the near future."

 

Next year, hope's not going to cut it. They might not be buyers at this time next season, but the days of the Cubs hawking veterans like a small-market team should be over. I think everyone is ready for a new story.

[Guest]

Smart people on PSD are legitimately debating that we may have gotten as good or better a return for Garza than the Rays got for Price.

 

They're leaning no, but the fact that it's legitimately even something sort of debatable sort of blew my mind.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Smart people on PSD are legitimately debating that we may have gotten as good or better a return for Garza than the Rays got for Price.

 

They're leaning no, but the fact that it's legitimately even something sort of debatable sort of blew my mind.

 

They shouldn't be debating it.

[Guest]

The Cubs didn't get as good or a better haul for Garza than the Rays got for Price.

 

But it could be argued the Rays got a better haul for Shields than Price.

[Guest]

The Cubs didn't get as good or a better haul for Garza than the Rays got for Price.

 

But it could be argued the Rays got a better haul for Shields than Price.

 

I guess I'm not as ready to be down on CJ as everyone else. Too good last year. I'll wait to see how the rest of this year goes (that is not to say that if he returns to/continues his old form that it is a better haul...just that it's something that can be debated if he does).

 

I think they clearly got a better haul for Shields than Price.

[Guest]

If we want to use hindsight instead (which is obviously unfair because it's only available to us on one of the trades), though, then we clearly did better for 2 months of Feldman than they did for 1.3 years of Price. lmao

[SouthSideRyan]

If we want to use hindsight instead (which is obviously unfair because it's only available to us on one of the trades), though, then we clearly did better for 2 months of Feldman than they did for 1.3 years of Price. lmao

 

And much better than Miguel Cabrera returned.

[Guest]

If we want to use hindsight instead (which is obviously unfair because it's only available to us on one of the trades), though, then we clearly did better for 2 months of Feldman than they did for 1.3 years of Price. lmao

 

And much better than Miguel Cabrera returned.

 

lol

 

but that was kind of my point. cj edwards didn't have a bum shoulder, iirc he had pretty spotless health and was having a monster season that resulted in his stock shooting up rapidly from where it was at the start of last year (and i think olt's stock somehow was higher).

 

but neil ramirez wasn't a shut down reliever either so w/e.

[hawkeyecub]

A FanGraphs guy tweeted this saying that Beckett and Jackson have been basically the same with 3 runs of difference in their ERA. Same old [expletive] with Edwin:

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2014&month=0&season1=2014&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=1757,510,1841

[Hairyducked Idiot]

The Cubs didn't get as good or a better haul for Garza than the Rays got for Price.

 

But it could be argued the Rays got a better haul for Shields than Price.

 

I guess I'm not as ready to be down on CJ as everyone else. Too good last year. I'll wait to see how the rest of this year goes (that is not to say that if he returns to/continues his old form that it is a better haul...just that it's something that can be debated if he does).

 

I think they clearly got a better haul for Shields than Price.

 

I'm not down on him. He's a great relief prospect.

[TruffleShuffle]

A FanGraphs guy tweeted this saying that Beckett and Jackson have been basically the same with 3 runs of difference in their ERA. Same old [expletive] with Edwin:

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2014&month=0&season1=2014&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=1757,510,1841

 

that's a pretty poor analysis though. jaxon's line drive rate is the highest in baseball among qualified pitchers (25.6%) while beckett's is 18.1%. plus jackson's LOB% is fairly low over the course of his career; he may just be lousy pitching from the stretch. jaxon has been unlucky this year, but fastball velocity and location have regressed, and he's being battered accordingly.

[Little Slide Rooter]

If we want to use hindsight instead (which is obviously unfair because it's only available to us on one of the trades), though, then we clearly did better for 2 months of Feldman than they did for 1.3 years of Price. lmao

 

And much better than Miguel Cabrera returned.

 

And I could get more for my house now than I could have 2 years ago, but not as much as I could have 8 years ago. And I can probably get even more for it in 6 months. Depending on how many comparable properties are on the market. And of course, how many house hunters their are.

 

My point is that the market is a greater factor than the player itself. Theo simply sold at the right time with Feldman and Shark/Hammel. With Garza, not so much.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

A FanGraphs guy tweeted this saying that Beckett and Jackson have been basically the same with 3 runs of difference in their ERA. Same old [expletive] with Edwin:

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2014&month=0&season1=2014&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=1757,510,1841

 

that's a pretty poor analysis though. jaxon's line drive rate is the highest in baseball among qualified pitchers (25.6%) while beckett's is 18.1%. plus jackson's LOB% is fairly low over the course of his career; he may just be lousy pitching from the stretch. jaxon has been unlucky this year, but fastball velocity and location have regressed, and he's being battered accordingly.

 

Line drives are mostly luck.

[Guest]

A FanGraphs guy tweeted this saying that Beckett and Jackson have been basically the same with 3 runs of difference in their ERA. Same old [expletive] with Edwin:

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=0&type=8&season=2014&month=0&season1=2014&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=1757,510,1841

 

that's a pretty poor analysis though. jaxon's line drive rate is the highest in baseball among qualified pitchers (25.6%) while beckett's is 18.1%. plus jackson's LOB% is fairly low over the course of his career; he may just be lousy pitching from the stretch. jaxon has been unlucky this year, but fastball velocity and location have regressed, and he's being battered accordingly.

 

Line drives are mostly luck.

except in the case of jaxon

[Hairyducked Idiot]

True

[Guest]

http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-starting-think-big-will-make-pitching-no-1-priority

[Guest]

http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-starting-think-big-will-make-pitching-no-1-priority

JonLesterJonLesterJonLester

 

If you say his name three times he'll appear on your roster in the offseason.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-starting-think-big-will-make-pitching-no-1-priority

 

 

“We know we’re not close on pitching,” Hoyer said. “We know we have to add a lot more depth and we have to add a lot more talent. Really, our next 18-to-24 months is going to be largely spent doing just that.”

 

I'm not surprised, but I hate that they are already pre-excusing 2015 failure.

[jersey cubs fan]

http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-starting-think-big-will-make-pitching-no-1-priority

 

 

“We know we’re not close on pitching,” Hoyer said. “We know we have to add a lot more depth and we have to add a lot more talent. Really, our next 18-to-24 months is going to be largely spent doing just that.”

 

I'm not surprised, but I hate that they are already pre-excusing 2015 failure.

They invested heavily in computers for a reason.

http://notalemming.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/pre_crime.jpg

[Vinestal]

http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-starting-think-big-will-make-pitching-no-1-priority

 

 

“We know we’re not close on pitching,” Hoyer said. “We know we have to add a lot more depth and we have to add a lot more talent. Really, our next 18-to-24 months is going to be largely spent doing just that.”

 

I'm not surprised, but I hate that they are already pre-excusing 2015 failure.

They invested heavily in computers for a reason.

http://notalemming.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/pre_crime.jpg

Someone should photoshop Theo's head in place of Tom's there

[weis21]

http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-starting-think-big-will-make-pitching-no-1-priority

 

 

“We know we’re not close on pitching,” Hoyer said. “We know we have to add a lot more depth and we have to add a lot more talent. Really, our next 18-to-24 months is going to be largely spent doing just that.”

 

I'm not surprised, but I hate that they are already pre-excusing 2015 failure.

They can add pitching over the next 18-24 months without starting to add pitching in months 18-24. My guess/hope is they add a "big name" FA pitcher (Lester, Scherzer, etc), a reclamation-type FA (Masterson, McCarthy, etc), and another young, cost-controlled SP via trade, this offseason. But then again I'm an optimist.

 

However, there is simply so much room in the budget to think they won't be bolstering pitching starting this offseason.

[Backtobanks]

http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-starting-think-big-will-make-pitching-no-1-priority

 

 

“We know we’re not close on pitching,” Hoyer said. “We know we have to add a lot more depth and we have to add a lot more talent. Really, our next 18-to-24 months is going to be largely spent doing just that.”

 

I'm not surprised, but I hate that they are already pre-excusing 2015 failure.

They can add pitching over the next 18-24 months without starting to add pitching in months 18-24. My guess/hope is they add a "big name" FA pitcher (Lester, Scherzer, etc), a reclamation-type FA (Masterson, McCarthy, etc), and another young, cost-controlled SP via trade, this offseason. But then again I'm an optimist.

 

However, there is simply so much room in the budget to think they won't be bolstering pitching starting this offseason.

 

Yeah, they have to start filling the holes in the rotation for the future. When the time comes, you can't expect to fill in 2-3 starters all at once.

[Guest]

http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-starting-think-big-will-make-pitching-no-1-priority

 

 

“We know we’re not close on pitching,” Hoyer said. “We know we have to add a lot more depth and we have to add a lot more talent. Really, our next 18-to-24 months is going to be largely spent doing just that.”

 

I'm not surprised, but I hate that they are already pre-excusing 2015 failure.

They can add pitching over the next 18-24 months without starting to add pitching in months 18-24. My guess/hope is they add a "big name" FA pitcher (Lester, Scherzer, etc), a reclamation-type FA (Masterson, McCarthy, etc), and another young, cost-controlled SP via trade, this offseason. But then again I'm an optimist.

 

However, there is simply so much room in the budget to think they won't be bolstering pitching starting this offseason.

 

Yeah, they have to start filling the holes in the rotation for the future. When the time comes, you can't expect to fill in 2-3 starters all at once.

Yes, you really can expect to fill 2-3 starters at once. Teams do it every single year.

 

And let's keep things at the right number. We need two starters that fit in the top half of a rotation. Four and Five roles are filled more than adequately with a combination of Hendricks, Wood, Wada, Edwin, Straily, Doubrant, et al. Arrieta definitely slots in the top half of the rotation. We need two guys. No need to make it more dramatic by saying 2-3. There's a ton of depth guys to pull from.

 

We need one or two of the following (not including trade targets):

 

Maeda

Lester

Scherzer

Shields

Hammel

McCarthy

Brett Anderson (if Rockies do not pick up option)

Harang

Floyd

Masterson

 

I say 1-2 because it depends on if you feel Wood can come back and be an adequate #3 starter or if you feel this is his true talent level.

[Backtobanks]

My point was more about timing. We need to start adding to the rotation, so that when we are at that point of being ready to contend (2016?) it might be easier to acquire the one starter we need rather than two. Waiting until "we're ready" runs into problems with availability, trade partners, and/or outbidding other teams.