2015 Cubs Positivity Thread

[jumbo]

Not like this matters a lot, but it's still fun: say we win 90+ games this year and make the playoffs but don't win it all. We sign or trade for a pitcher of Zimmermann's or Ross' caliber, if not a Price type, in the offseason. Will we go into next season as a 2015 Nationals-like favorite to win it all?

What do we do in CF?

 

Jason Heyward + Tyson Ross trade (let's say Baez & Castro without much else coming back) + Howie Kendrick at 2B

 

Man, I like the way you think, but there's no way they sign Heyward and Kendrick AND a starting pitcher, sadly. But I like that dream.

 

That's why he said to trade for Ross.

 

Daniel Murphy would be another good option. Very similar to Kendrick stat wise, but can play 1B, 3B, LF, too. Kind of a reverse Coghlan position wise with a little less offensive upside. Murphy and Kendrick are both making $8MM this year, and will likely cost about the same.

[jersey cubs fan]

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[Banedon]

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#4 on ESPN too.

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/powerrankings

[BigSlick]

Dexter Fowler hitting .297/.492/.515 over his last 27 games. This is the guy that the Cubs traded for, and I would like to re-sign to play CF (if no Heyward).

 

Yeah, and I hate Howie Kendrick too.

That OBP is sexy

 

Re: Howie Kendrick, I never really understood the appeal of over-30 middle infielders that are primarily Batting Average driven. People wanted Brian Roberts for half a decade. They don't seem to be all that hard to find, dunno the need to find dudes that are usually in everyone's system but younger and cost-controlled.

[rawaction]

Dexter Fowler hitting .297/.492/.515 over his last 27 games. This is the guy that the Cubs traded for, and I would like to re-sign to play CF (if no Heyward).

 

Yeah, and I hate Howie Kendrick too.

 

That's a very, very different player from the guy the Cubs traded for. The guy the Cubs traded for probably has no shot at a .218 IsoSLG, especially going into his 30s. I assume .392 OBP? I wouldn't expect that from Fowler either.

 

Only because they probably need two OFers am I kinda sorta OK with extending Fowler. I think he's best used to recoup a pick.

 

Actually, I think it's .442 OBP. Still, by the end of the season his numbers will look about how they were expected to look when they signed him (that's what my comment meant).

[rawaction]

His peripherals are pretty much the same as they have been. He's just not hitting for as high of an average (unlucky). And he's actually hit for MORE power this year than he has in most other years (1 away from career high in HRs).

[Guest]

Dexter Fowler hitting .297/.492/.515 over his last 27 games. This is the guy that the Cubs traded for, and I would like to re-sign to play CF (if no Heyward).

 

Yeah, and I hate Howie Kendrick too.

 

That's a very, very different player from the guy the Cubs traded for. The guy the Cubs traded for probably has no shot at a .218 IsoSLG, especially going into his 30s. I assume .392 OBP? I wouldn't expect that from Fowler either.

 

Only because they probably need two OFers am I kinda sorta OK with extending Fowler. I think he's best used to recoup a pick.

 

Actually, I think it's .442 OBP. Still, by the end of the season his numbers will look about how they were expected to look when they signed him (that's what my comment meant).

 

Honestly, he's doing that now. I'd put him for around a .750 OPS. I couldn't expect that career ~.780 OPS from a 29 year old with minimal pop knowing that most of that came from getting to play in Coors.

 

I think you're overstating the Coors effect. Pretty sure it's been shown that a lot of it is mitigated on the road for Rockies hitters.

[Banedon]

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyze4sjrYX1r4gei2o5_400.gif

[Clem Fandango]

I know Fowler has been talked about all over the site, but figured I'd put this here:

 

http://www.bleachernation.com/2015/08/21/dexter-fowler-is-playing-like-a-top-10-player-in-all-of-baseball/

 

Fowler has been the best Cubs player over the last 30 days. His 1.7 fWAR is the eighth highest in baseball during that span. Nelson Cruz, Joey Votto and Chris Davis sit at the top of the top, with each collecting 2.3 fWAR. The only other players ahead of Fowler are Josh Donaldson, A.J. Pollock, David Ortiz and Eric Hosmer. Fowler is in pretty good company with these names.

 

As for Fowler, his slash line during this stretch: .316/.443/.602 with a .440 wOBA, .286(!) ISO and 185 wRC+ to go along with a 18.0 percent walk rate and 21.3 percent strikeout rate.

 

Fowler’s progression seems to have begun since the team returned from the All-Star Break. His slash since then: .316/.453/.556 with a .431 wOBA, 178 wRC+ and more walks (29) than strikeouts (28).

 

Fowler’s 1.9 fWAR is tied for seventh best in all of baseball since the All-Star Break.

[Sammy Sofa]

I know Fowler has been talked about all over the site, but figured I'd put this here:

 

http://www.bleachernation.com/2015/08/21/dexter-fowler-is-playing-like-a-top-10-player-in-all-of-baseball/

 

Fowler has been the best Cubs player over the last 30 days. His 1.7 fWAR is the eighth highest in baseball during that span. Nelson Cruz, Joey Votto and Chris Davis sit at the top of the top, with each collecting 2.3 fWAR. The only other players ahead of Fowler are Josh Donaldson, A.J. Pollock, David Ortiz and Eric Hosmer. Fowler is in pretty good company with these names.

 

As for Fowler, his slash line during this stretch: .316/.443/.602 with a .440 wOBA, .286(!) ISO and 185 wRC+ to go along with a 18.0 percent walk rate and 21.3 percent strikeout rate.

 

Fowler’s progression seems to have begun since the team returned from the All-Star Break. His slash since then: .316/.453/.556 with a .431 wOBA, 178 wRC+ and more walks (29) than strikeouts (28).

 

Fowler’s 1.9 fWAR is tied for seventh best in all of baseball since the All-Star Break.

 

I'm still kinda terrified of the Cubs settling for re-signing Fowler as being all that they should do with the OF for next season. He's countering being REALLY bad for a while by being amazing, which really skews what the hell to expect out of him going forward, plus I'm still wary about how his defense is suddenly rated as being a lot more tolerable this season.

 

I wouldn't mind bringing him back if it went along with, say, signing Heyward (or Cespedes) and trading Soler, but just going forward with Schwarber, him and Soler all but locked in as the OF would make me a little nervous.

[davell]

What? You're immune to Coghlan's charms?

[Sammy Sofa]

What? You're immune to Coghlan's charms?

 

He's still just a platoon player. Obviously you can make that work, but FFS, there's a decent group of OF FA available and it would be nice if they were able to pick up one of them instead of trying to figure out how to Frankenstein Coghlan into the lineup. Yeah, he's been one of their better hitters this season, but that really shouldn't be the case next year. Let him be the awesome super-sub in 2016 and then wave good-bye. Plus who knows what the deal is going to be with 2B.

[davell]

Sorry, that was from the movie Cocktail.

[davell]

I do think Coghlan's versatility helps us a bunch though. We'll obviously add a CF(or keep Dexter). But having Coghlan allows us to look at either another OF or a 2B.

 

Personally, I think Soler rebounds, we keep Fowler, and between Schwarber and Coghlan, we'll be fine with the OF and look more at 2B options in the offseason.

[Gilby]

The assumption right now is probably that we'll keep Montero and that Schwarber will spend most of the time in LF in 2016, right?

 

While I'd like to trade Soler for a young pitcher and sign Heyward for RF, my guess is that the offseason will be re-signing Fowler, signing Zimmermann, and then probably getting a reliever or two and dumping Castro for whatever they can get. Then we'd go into next season with Schwarber, Fowler, Bryant, Russell, Rizzo, and Montero firmly holding down their spots, with a 2Bman and RFer hopefully emerging from a group of Baez/La Stella/Coghlan/Soler.

[Sammy Sofa]

Wha' happened to the whole Schwarber catching thing? It's so much better for the franchise.

 

Would they have him play winter ball to try and get more time back there? He didn't seem to demonstrate much in the minors or his limited time catching in the majors that screamed that they need or should keep him at catcher outside of how dreamy it is to have an offensive monster manning the dish.

[Sammy Sofa]

Wha' happened to the whole Schwarber catching thing? It's so much better for the franchise.

 

Would they have him play winter ball to try and get more time back there? He didn't seem to demonstrate much in the minors or his limited time catching in the majors that screamed that they need or should keep him at catcher outside of how dreamy it is to have an offensive monster manning the dish.

 

JMO but he's probably a crap defender wherever he is, might as well keep screwing the chicken at C.

 

Sure, but it seems like a crap defender in LF is less of a liability than a crappy catcher.

[Sammy Sofa]

Perhaps, though there's also the issue of catching seemingly having a better chance of maybe shortening his career, and it will keep him out of the lineup more.

[Sammy Sofa]

Well I'll be damned.

 

Still, getting him as many AB's as possible is enough of an argument for me to keep him in LF.

[Little Slide Rooter]

The Cubs have the 4th best record in all of baseball. And that's not an ironic statement a week into the season.

[Guest]

I know Fowler has been talked about all over the site, but figured I'd put this here:

 

http://www.bleachernation.com/2015/08/21/dexter-fowler-is-playing-like-a-top-10-player-in-all-of-baseball/

 

Fowler has been the best Cubs player over the last 30 days. His 1.7 fWAR is the eighth highest in baseball during that span. Nelson Cruz, Joey Votto and Chris Davis sit at the top of the top, with each collecting 2.3 fWAR. The only other players ahead of Fowler are Josh Donaldson, A.J. Pollock, David Ortiz and Eric Hosmer. Fowler is in pretty good company with these names.

 

As for Fowler, his slash line during this stretch: .316/.443/.602 with a .440 wOBA, .286(!) ISO and 185 wRC+ to go along with a 18.0 percent walk rate and 21.3 percent strikeout rate.

 

Fowler’s progression seems to have begun since the team returned from the All-Star Break. His slash since then: .316/.453/.556 with a .431 wOBA, 178 wRC+ and more walks (29) than strikeouts (28).

 

Fowler’s 1.9 fWAR is tied for seventh best in all of baseball since the All-Star Break.

 

I'm still kinda terrified of the Cubs settling for re-signing Fowler as being all that they should do with the OF for next season. He's countering being REALLY bad for a while by being amazing, which really skews what the hell to expect out of him going forward, plus I'm still wary about how his defense is suddenly rated as being a lot more tolerable this season.

 

I wouldn't mind bringing him back if it went along with, say, signing Heyward (or Cespedes) and trading Soler, but just going forward with Schwarber, him and Soler all but locked in as the OF would make me a little nervous.

 

Smart people anticipated that his defense could be significantly improved.

[Guest]

Wha' happened to the whole Schwarber catching thing? It's so much better for the franchise.

 

Would they have him play winter ball to try and get more time back there? He didn't seem to demonstrate much in the minors or his limited time catching in the majors that screamed that they need or should keep him at catcher outside of how dreamy it is to have an offensive monster manning the dish.

 

JMO but he's probably a crap defender wherever he is, might as well keep screwing the chicken at C.

 

Sure, but it seems like a crap defender in LF is less of a liability than a crappy catcher.

 

Yeah. I don't even think so much that it's about having that kind of bat at C, I just think it changes aging projections so much for him. A bad defensive COF that basically has an old guy offensive profile (lots of Ks, BBs, and HRs) at 22 can't do well on an age curve.

 

I still think they view him as a C long term. Right now it's just about getting his bat in the lineup and getting the best possible array of bats into the lineup, and that means the lineup that has Montero in it and Castro out of it.

[Sammy Sofa]

I still think they view him as a C long term. Right now it's just about getting his bat in the lineup and getting the best possible array of bats into the lineup

 

That's not just a "right now" scenario; that should be the scenario for as long as they have him, and trying to stick him at catcher ends up pulling his bat out of the lineup more than if he was in LF.

[Sammy Sofa]

I know Fowler has been talked about all over the site, but figured I'd put this here:

 

http://www.bleachernation.com/2015/08/21/dexter-fowler-is-playing-like-a-top-10-player-in-all-of-baseball/

 

Fowler has been the best Cubs player over the last 30 days. His 1.7 fWAR is the eighth highest in baseball during that span. Nelson Cruz, Joey Votto and Chris Davis sit at the top of the top, with each collecting 2.3 fWAR. The only other players ahead of Fowler are Josh Donaldson, A.J. Pollock, David Ortiz and Eric Hosmer. Fowler is in pretty good company with these names.

 

As for Fowler, his slash line during this stretch: .316/.443/.602 with a .440 wOBA, .286(!) ISO and 185 wRC+ to go along with a 18.0 percent walk rate and 21.3 percent strikeout rate.

 

Fowler’s progression seems to have begun since the team returned from the All-Star Break. His slash since then: .316/.453/.556 with a .431 wOBA, 178 wRC+ and more walks (29) than strikeouts (28).

 

Fowler’s 1.9 fWAR is tied for seventh best in all of baseball since the All-Star Break.

 

I'm still kinda terrified of the Cubs settling for re-signing Fowler as being all that they should do with the OF for next season. He's countering being REALLY bad for a while by being amazing, which really skews what the hell to expect out of him going forward, plus I'm still wary about how his defense is suddenly rated as being a lot more tolerable this season.

 

I wouldn't mind bringing him back if it went along with, say, signing Heyward (or Cespedes) and trading Soler, but just going forward with Schwarber, him and Soler all but locked in as the OF would make me a little nervous.

 

Smart people anticipated that his defense could be significantly improved.

 

Still would prefer them spending the money on a better player like Cespedes, or a younger and better player like Heyward.

 

Basically it all comes down to how tied up they are money-wise, and how much of their available payroll re-signing Fowler would eat up.

[Guest]

Still would prefer them spending the money on a better player like Cespedes, or a younger and better player like Heyward.

 

http://media.giphy.com/media/13gQDQyb4JIWic/giphy.gif