Wait... I thought Fernando Rodney was pitching poorly?

[bukie]

Ask the Nats how well it worked out since they picked up Papelbon to supplement Storen in the pen.

[Sammy Sofa]

Well, yeah, I'd rather have Mike Trout over Bryant, but hey, sometimes you have to settle for the guy who is just really, really, really good instead of the best.

Why does it have to be an either/or?

 

It's a question of resources. At the end of the day, great as he is, Chapman is still a relief pitcher. That should put him further down the list in terms of areas the Cubs should be spending their trade chips and money on. Since their bullpen has been pretty damn good and isn't a glaring weakness, there's not a real need to go out and trade for a closer who will then be a FA after next season. I'd want them to look to make other moves in regards to the OF and the starting rotation before they start looking at a relief pitcher. At the end of the day, I don't think there's been enough of a difference between Rondon and Chapman to give up what it would take to trade for him.

[Cubbie Swagger]

Well, yeah, I'd rather have Mike Trout over Bryant, but hey, sometimes you have to settle for the guy who is just really, really, really good instead of the best.

Why does it have to be an either/or?

 

It's a question of resources. At the end of the day, great as he is, Chapman is still a relief pitcher. That should put him further down the list in terms of areas the Cubs should be spending their trade chips and money on. Since their bullpen has been pretty damn good and isn't a glaring weakness, there's not a real need to go out and trade for a closer who will then be a FA after next season. I'd want them to look to make other moves in regards to the OF and the starting rotation before they start looking at a relief pitcher. At the end of the day, I don't think there's been enough of a difference between Rondon and Chapman to give up what it would take to trade for him.

I agree with all this. I was speaking more long-term. This year, we definitely need to just roll with what we have.

 

We will find out just how solid our bullpen is very soon, hopefully.

[Sammy Sofa]

Well, yeah, I'd rather have Mike Trout over Bryant, but hey, sometimes you have to settle for the guy who is just really, really, really good instead of the best.

Why does it have to be an either/or?

 

It's a question of resources. At the end of the day, great as he is, Chapman is still a relief pitcher. That should put him further down the list in terms of areas the Cubs should be spending their trade chips and money on. Since their bullpen has been pretty damn good and isn't a glaring weakness, there's not a real need to go out and trade for a closer who will then be a FA after next season. I'd want them to look to make other moves in regards to the OF and the starting rotation before they start looking at a relief pitcher. At the end of the day, I don't think there's been enough of a difference between Rondon and Chapman to give up what it would take to trade for him.

I agree with all this. I was speaking more long-term.

 

So was I.

[weis21]

I mentioned this in another thread, but Rodney is sporting a 351 ERA+ against a 4.45 FIP. That tells me he'd better continue to miss bats.

 

The one HR Rodney has given up is the difference between him having a 4.45 FIP and about a 2.80 FIP. Not that the HR didn't happen, but we want to be careful about being too predictive about less than 8 innings, those numbers can change wildly in a short span.

TT is the best baseball poster ever, I believe. Generally, as i'm scrolling through threads sometimes I teeter between opinions and then - YEP - TT comes through and makes things logical again. I'm really worried about Coughlan getting any playing time in playoffs for this reason.