Minor League Musings

[Geographyhater8888]

4 minutes ago, Outshined_One said:

I really don't think we can rely on the trade market for a starting pitcher, considering the highest rated SPs traded at the deadline last year were *checks notes* Merrill Kelly and a recovering from injury Shane Bieber.  Remember, the Cubs acquired Michael Soroka and a good chunk of us thought it was a decent deal at the time.

What the Cubs are going to need is for duct tape and chewing gum holding the rotation together to last until Wiggins and Steele are ready to contribute.

I don’t expect Tarik Skubal or anything but even a front line bullpen arm would be very useful. 

[squally1313]

Overpay for a starter. Make the market up yourself. We've got seven offensive spots locked up for the next 4 years, and the offense is elite. The offensive prospects keep popping up, and whatever internal pitching reinforcements we might have keep getting shelved.

A healthy Cabrera/Shota/Boyd as your playoff top 3 is a travesty. We did the responsible thing last year and stayed away from overpaying and then our four starters (all of them currently in our rotation) gave up 32 baserunners in 18 innings against the Brewers and we lost by one game. 

[Jason Ross]

1 minute ago, squally1313 said:

Overpay for a starter. Make the market up yourself. We've got seven offensive spots locked up for the next 4 years, and the offense is elite. The offensive prospects keep popping up, and whatever internal pitching reinforcements we might have keep getting shelved.

A healthy Cabrera/Shota/Boyd as your playoff top 3 is a travesty. We did the responsible thing last year and stayed away from overpaying and then our four starters (all of them currently in our rotation) gave up 32 baserunners in 18 innings against the Brewers and we lost by one game. 

Yeah, I won't defend not paying for a SP. I think it's silly. The Cubs should do it. Sadly, while I've thought for a bit that if the correct player came across in FA the Cubs would make that happen, I've got a lot less faith in the Cubs getting to that point in terms of a trade in July. What Hoyer does best (wait out the market, find value, etc) doesn't work as well in July in terms of being a buyer. 

Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I suspect the Cubs best bet at a playoff rotation will include having either a healthy Wiggins or Steele and as of today that doesn't seem like something you should bank on.

[We Got The Whole 9]

12 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Overpay for a starter. Make the market up yourself. We've got seven offensive spots locked up for the next 4 years, and the offense is elite. The offensive prospects keep popping up, and whatever internal pitching reinforcements we might have keep getting shelved.

A healthy Cabrera/Shota/Boyd as your playoff top 3 is a travesty. We did the responsible thing last year and stayed away from overpaying and then our four starters (all of them currently in our rotation) gave up 32 baserunners in 18 innings against the Brewers and we lost by one game. 

This 100%. I hate saying the offense is "set" but its as close as youre going to get and the farm is brimming with near-ready talent on that side as well. This year we need to be the team that really throws their cards on the table and acquires the best arms on the market. 

 

 

[Bertz]

IMO hard not to feel good with what we currently know running Boyd/Shota/Cabrera out there in a playoff series.  That said we saw last year that there's no guarantee a guy doesn't stumble (Boyd) or go fully down (Horton) at like mile 26.

You definitely go get a SP this summer.  I'd probably lean towards someone with some control as opposed to the guy who's best *right now*.  With Horton ostensibly dead you probably need at least two SPs this winter, maybe even three.  Get some of that shopping done early, especially with all the uncertainty the CBA expiring is going to bring.

[Geographyhater8888]

With Wiggins injury history I wouldn’t at all mind using him as a trade chip while he still has trade value depending on what he’ll fetch. 

Edited 3 hours ago by Geographyhater8888

[mul21]

4 minutes ago, Bertz said:

IMO hard not to feel good with what we currently know running Boyd/Shota/Cabrera out there in a playoff series.  That said we saw last year that there's no guarantee a guy doesn't stumble (Boyd) or go fully down (Horton) at like mile 26.

You definitely go get a SP this summer.  I'd probably lean towards someone with some control as opposed to the guy who's best *right now*.  With Horton ostensibly dead you probably need at least two SPs this winter, maybe even three.  Get some of that shopping done early, especially with all the uncertainty the CBA expiring is going to bring.

There's a non-zero chance you need 4 SPs this offseason.  Cabrera is the only sure thing for 2027.  You already know Horton is probably out until June minimum, Steele and Wiggins essentially haven't thrown a 2026 inning yet, Assad is probably fine to count on as a #5, Wicks is a question mark, Boyd and Shota are FAs, and we have no idea what Ben Brown's future holds in terms of pen vs starter.

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, Jason Ross said:

Boyd remains in the 86th percentile of chase, the 90th in whiff, the 93rd in K% and the 79th in walk rate. His FIP is 1.80 and his xFIP is 2.35. Sure, his fastball velocity is a little down (92.4mph last start) but anyone who thinks "Matthew Boyd is done" right now is ridiculous. Like, I might not expect him to make an All-Star game, but once he kind of gets into a groove and is fully healthy and up to speed, he's probably going to be a fine MLB starter. 

To put it another way, if Boyd is done, so is Jesus Luzardo. 

Thanks Jason. I agree that Boyd can be useful. And isn’t a bad playoff option, as long as they watch his health this year. 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

2 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

Don't expect one yet. Back injury was supposed to keep him out for at least April and considering his injury last year, the Cubs will be extra cautious.. The Complex league is about to kick up tomorrow. What will happen more than likely is someone like Rich Biesterfield will toss up a few photos of Conrad working in Arizona or AZ Phil will see him out on the backfields before we hear anything else official. Those guys are great for those things. And then he'll popup in an ACL game.

I suspect we’ll get him in Myrtle Beach by June with some ACL box scores before then.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

2 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

Don't expect one yet. Back injury was supposed to keep him out for at least April and considering his injury last year, the Cubs will be extra cautious.. The Complex league is about to kick up tomorrow. What will happen more than likely is someone like Rich Biesterfield will toss up a few photos of Conrad working in Arizona or AZ Phil will see him out on the backfields before we hear anything else official. Those guys are great for those things. And then he'll popup in an ACL game.

I suspect we’ll get him in Myrtle Beach by June with some ACL box scores before then.

[Bertz]

12 minutes ago, mul21 said:

There's a non-zero chance you need 4 SPs this offseason.  Cabrera is the only sure thing for 2027.  You already know Horton is probably out until June minimum, Steele and Wiggins essentially haven't thrown a 2026 inning yet, Assad is probably fine to count on as a #5, Wicks is a question mark, Boyd and Shota are FAs, and we have no idea what Ben Brown's future holds in terms of pen vs starter.

Very true, I'm currently writing Steele and Brown into the 2027 rotation in pencil with Rea returning as the #6, but it wouldn't take a crazy set of circumstances for the rotation heading into the winter to be Cabrera, Rea, and the shrug emoji.

I'm realllllly hoping Boyd takes the QO, that would make things a lot cleaner.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

I was really hoping the Rays would make Rasmussen available at the deadline but they're playing really well at the moment. The only other guy that's gonna be available with some juice is Joe Ryan, and I'm not sure how I feel about him anymore.