Regular Season Rumors

[jersey cubs fan]

Pretty sure he's going on a rehab assignment soon.

That was Bryant and he already relapsed.

 

 

He's done 1, if not 2, sim games in the last weekish.

There was a July 15 article claiming he hoped to do a minor league rehab starting in one week (which would have been a week ago).

 

He did a sim game a week after that article, July 22 and was supposedly set to do another July 26. But 6 days later this article game out.

https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/cubs-no-hurry-get-drew-smyly-back-mound

 

“He threw on the side the other day,” Joe Maddon said. “I didn't get anything negative. I didn't get to watch it because I was kind of busy, but nobody said anything bad about it. It ended up not being a sim game, that's all I know. But there was nothing, not like he's hurting, I didn't get any of that.”

........

 

“His next step will be a sim game, it sounds like,” Theo Epstein said. “Trying to pick the right day as we figure out his timing and go off how he's feeling too.”

 

The natural progression after a sim game would be sending him out on a rehab start, but the Cubs aren't pushing it. They're going to let Smyly take his time to get back to the mound.

 

“I mean, it'll depend on how he's feeling and how it goes,” said Epstein. “We don't want to rush into a rehab assignment because then you start the clock, and there's no rush. We'll make sure he's really good and ready.”

 

So he's not close.

[Cubswin11]

 

I'll take that bet that Smyly is even remotely passable in his first couple months back from TJ.

 

Reminder: he hasn't pitched in 1 2/3 seasons. Is there even any real indication he's going to throw an inning for us this year?

Pretty sure he's going on a rehab assignment soon. He's done 1, if not 2, sim games in the last weekish.

 

Again, he hasn't pitched since 2016. Even if he goes on the rehab assignment in a week, you don't miss almost two full seasons, go throw 20 innings in A ball and then come up in a pennant race and help/make a playoff roster.

 

The smyly signing was good, but for reasons beyond 2018.

If he can be pitching by middle of August in the minors or MLB he absolutely could make the roster if he's throwing well and they've said so much as that when he signed and as he's progressed lately.

[imb]

The Brewers using league-best defensive efficiency to take a rotation full of 5th starters to the top of the NL and then lighting it on fire to add a couple mediocre bats to their lineup sure is something.

 

You and Duke are hilarious.

 

Shaw is plus at 3B, obv too soon to tell at 2B but the Brewers value defense and appear to not be a dumb FO so there's at least some faith he can pass there. Moustakas has been a plus 3B this year and every year except last. Schoop is going to be not good at SS but the bat is heating up and if the point is to improve as a whole, the Brewers did that.

 

Hopefully as a small market team they pull a Pirates and they have a brief window that snaps shut very suddenly, but the nonstop jokes at their expense is hilariously transparent from both of you.

No these moves are pretty dumb

 

it gets the same "ahahah wow galaxy brain" jokes that all their other moves do, but nothing substantive. Everything the brewers have done since what, last trade deadline, get a bunch of "this won't work" jokes that everyone pretends counts as analysis.

 

"Travis Shaw can't play second base he's 240 pounds! Wow Moustakas at third? Guess their pitching won't be good anymore." That's not analysis, it's wish-casting.

[Cubswin11]

 

You and Duke are hilarious.

 

Shaw is plus at 3B, obv too soon to tell at 2B but the Brewers value defense and appear to not be a dumb FO so there's at least some faith he can pass there. Moustakas has been a plus 3B this year and every year except last. Schoop is going to be not good at SS but the bat is heating up and if the point is to improve as a whole, the Brewers did that.

 

Hopefully as a small market team they pull a Pirates and they have a brief window that snaps shut very suddenly, but the nonstop jokes at their expense is hilariously transparent from both of you.

No these moves are pretty dumb

 

it gets the same "ahahah wow galaxy brain" jokes that all their other moves do, but nothing substantive. Everything the brewers have done since what, last trade deadline, get a bunch of "this won't work" jokes that everyone pretends counts as analysis.

 

"Travis Shaw can't play second base he's 240 pounds! Wow Moustakas at third? Guess their pitching won't be good anymore." That's not analysis, it's wish-casting.

Well it didn't work last deadline when they missed the playoffs. A lot of the things they have done with the information we have are at best odd moves and at worst really dumb moves.

[David]

 

You and Duke are hilarious.

 

Shaw is plus at 3B, obv too soon to tell at 2B but the Brewers value defense and appear to not be a dumb FO so there's at least some faith he can pass there. Moustakas has been a plus 3B this year and every year except last. Schoop is going to be not good at SS but the bat is heating up and if the point is to improve as a whole, the Brewers did that.

 

Hopefully as a small market team they pull a Pirates and they have a brief window that snaps shut very suddenly, but the nonstop jokes at their expense is hilariously transparent from both of you.

No these moves are pretty dumb

 

it gets the same "ahahah wow galaxy brain" jokes that all their other moves do, but nothing substantive. Everything the brewers have done since what, last trade deadline, get a bunch of "this won't work" jokes that everyone pretends counts as analysis.

 

"Travis Shaw can't play second base he's 240 pounds! Wow Moustakas at third? Guess their pitching won't be good anymore." That's not analysis, it's wish-casting.

 

are you just mad that they're the ones making fun of stuff without posting anything of substance and not you this time?

[David]

No these moves are pretty dumb

 

it gets the same "ahahah wow galaxy brain" jokes that all their other moves do, but nothing substantive. Everything the brewers have done since what, last trade deadline, get a bunch of "this won't work" jokes that everyone pretends counts as analysis.

 

"Travis Shaw can't play second base he's 240 pounds! Wow Moustakas at third? Guess their pitching won't be good anymore." That's not analysis, it's wish-casting.

Well it didn't work last deadline when they missed the playoffs. A lot of the things they have done with the information we have are at best odd moves and at worst really dumb moves.

 

you mean blowing like a 7 game lead and missing the playoffs wasn't their goal last year?

[imb]

No these moves are pretty dumb

 

it gets the same "ahahah wow galaxy brain" jokes that all their other moves do, but nothing substantive. Everything the brewers have done since what, last trade deadline, get a bunch of "this won't work" jokes that everyone pretends counts as analysis.

 

"Travis Shaw can't play second base he's 240 pounds! Wow Moustakas at third? Guess their pitching won't be good anymore." That's not analysis, it's wish-casting.

 

are you just mad that they're the ones making fun of stuff without posting anything of substance and not you this time?

 

[imb]

 

it gets the same "ahahah wow galaxy brain" jokes that all their other moves do, but nothing substantive. Everything the brewers have done since what, last trade deadline, get a bunch of "this won't work" jokes that everyone pretends counts as analysis.

 

"Travis Shaw can't play second base he's 240 pounds! Wow Moustakas at third? Guess their pitching won't be good anymore." That's not analysis, it's wish-casting.

Well it didn't work last deadline when they missed the playoffs. A lot of the things they have done with the information we have are at best odd moves and at worst really dumb moves.

 

you mean blowing like a 7 game lead and missing the playoffs wasn't their goal last year?

 

which moves made by the brewers do you disagree with and why?

[Aaron_Kennelly]

it gets the same "ahahah wow galaxy brain" jokes that all their other moves do, but nothing substantive. Everything the brewers have done since what, last trade deadline, get a bunch of "this won't work" jokes that everyone pretends counts as analysis.

 

"Travis Shaw can't play second base he's 240 pounds! Wow Moustakas at third? Guess their pitching won't be good anymore." That's not analysis, it's wish-casting.

 

I haven't really done that. I'm sure I made fun of them for not doing anything of substance at the deadline last year -- which might have been smart since they finished one game out of the Wild Card. But I thought the Yelich move was a great move. I praised them for it.

 

I thought the Cain move was odd, since I thought they should have focused more on pitching. That move is working great for them now. But it remains to be seen how it will look long-term.

 

Mainly I've been critical of him taking half measures. The galaxy brain stuff is normally reserved for their fans. But he's went full brewerfan.net poster this deadline.

[David]

by the way i think the galaxy brain/4d chess/etc. jokes are more at the expense of the brewerfan posters than the actual brewers FO

[Cubswin11]

Well it didn't work last deadline when they missed the playoffs. A lot of the things they have done with the information we have are at best odd moves and at worst really dumb moves.

 

you mean blowing like a 7 game lead and missing the playoffs wasn't their goal last year?

 

which moves made by the brewers do you disagree with and why?

They basically did nothing at the deadline last year except Swarzak (I think), if they added Q or another SP or another bat they could've held us off or made the WC. They went in to the year planning on guys like Sogard, Arcia, Villar, their catchers, Santana and a whole rotation that had questions all over them and all those bats died (luckily Aguilar hit like Trout in the first half to make up for it) and the defense helps shield shitty starting pitching and now they are doing something likely hurt why the SP was doing good enough while also barely improving on offense.

[Cubswin11]

by the way i think the galaxy brain/4d chess/etc. jokes are more at the expense of the brewerfan posters than the actual brewers FO

They are, from me at least, they started this offseason when that board was going nuts about every move/non move

[Cubswin11]

it gets the same "ahahah wow galaxy brain" jokes that all their other moves do, but nothing substantive. Everything the brewers have done since what, last trade deadline, get a bunch of "this won't work" jokes that everyone pretends counts as analysis.

 

"Travis Shaw can't play second base he's 240 pounds! Wow Moustakas at third? Guess their pitching won't be good anymore." That's not analysis, it's wish-casting.

 

I haven't really done that. I'm sure I made fun of them for not doing anything of substance at the deadline last year -- which might have been smart since they finished one game out of the Wild Card. But I thought the Yelich move was a great move. I praised them for it.

 

I thought the Cain move was odd, since I thought they should have focused more on pitching. That move is working great for them now. But it remains to be seen how it will look long-term.

 

Mainly I've been critical of him taking half measures. The galaxy brain stuff is normally reserved for their fans. But he's went full brewerfan.net poster this deadline.

Yup

[imb]

it gets the same "ahahah wow galaxy brain" jokes that all their other moves do, but nothing substantive. Everything the brewers have done since what, last trade deadline, get a bunch of "this won't work" jokes that everyone pretends counts as analysis.

 

"Travis Shaw can't play second base he's 240 pounds! Wow Moustakas at third? Guess their pitching won't be good anymore." That's not analysis, it's wish-casting.

 

I haven't really done that. I'm sure I made fun of them for not doing anything of substance at the deadline last year -- which might have been smart since they finished one game out of the Wild Card. But I thought the Yelich move was a great move. I praised them for it.

 

I thought the Cain move was odd, since I thought they should have focused more on pitching. That move is working great for them now. But it remains to be seen how it will look long-term.

 

Mainly I've been critical of him taking half measures. The galaxy brain stuff is normally reserved for their fans. But he's went full brewerfan.net poster this deadline.

 

They went from Shaw/Arcia/VillarPerez to Moustakas/Schoop/Shaw. That's an upgrade no matter how much Shaw weighs. Put Shaw in the OF and Schoop at 2B when you have a GB pitcher on the mound if you're that worried about defense.

[David]

Well it didn't work last deadline when they missed the playoffs. A lot of the things they have done with the information we have are at best odd moves and at worst really dumb moves.

 

you mean blowing like a 7 game lead and missing the playoffs wasn't their goal last year?

 

which moves made by the brewers do you disagree with and why?

 

cain signing was weird as horsefeathers

 

not trading for a starter today and instead getting trash bag jonathan schoop is strange too, even with the recent hot streak

 

anything beyond that is expecting way too much out of me. i haven't put that sort of effort into posting here since i was a much younger and bigger nerd.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

by the way i think the galaxy brain/4d chess/etc. jokes are more at the expense of the brewerfan posters than the actual brewers FO

 

Definitely. Stearns must have hired away Keith Stone in the last month.

[imb]

 

you mean blowing like a 7 game lead and missing the playoffs wasn't their goal last year?

 

which moves made by the brewers do you disagree with and why?

They basically did nothing at the deadline last year except Swarzak (I think), if they added Q or another SP or another bat they could've held us off or made the WC. They went in to the year planning on guys like Sogard, Arcia, Villar, their catchers, Santana and a whole rotation that had questions all over them and all those bats died (luckily Aguilar hit like Trout in the first half to make up for it) and the defense helps shield horsefeathers starting pitching and now they are doing something likely hurt why the SP was doing good enough while also barely improving on offense.

 

I don't think I need to point out why this doesn't count as analysis as much as its just handwaving away the possibility that the brewers are good and have done well since last offseason.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

it gets the same "ahahah wow galaxy brain" jokes that all their other moves do, but nothing substantive. Everything the brewers have done since what, last trade deadline, get a bunch of "this won't work" jokes that everyone pretends counts as analysis.

 

"Travis Shaw can't play second base he's 240 pounds! Wow Moustakas at third? Guess their pitching won't be good anymore." That's not analysis, it's wish-casting.

 

The Brewer rotation is Jhoulys Chacin, Junior Guerra, Chase Anderson, Freddy Peralta, and Zach Davies.

 

Those 5 have beat their FIP by .45, .70, 1.31, -.18, and .07 respectively.

 

The Brewer infield UZR this year:

 

1B: 2.1 - no deadline change

2B: -0.9 - going from Sogard/Villar/Perez to Shaw

SS: 3.6 - going from Villar/Saladino to Schoop(a career -1 UZR 2B)

3B: 5.0 - going from Shaw to Moustakas

 

They're making themselves actively worse defensively in the middle infield to get Schoop(.306 wOBA, .320 career) and Moustakas(.325 woBA, .316 career) into the lineup. If you want to call it wish-casting to be baffled that they're doing this when their rotation offers only hope for regression instead of improvement even before the defensive changes, that's okay. These are just objectively baffling moves though. Stearns has made some real bright moves, and his aggressiveness has helped stave off the regression that was coming from Santana, Thames, and Braun, but just like you literally said Theo has had a bad year of making moves and still probably think he's pretty good, Stearns squandered this trade deadline.

[Cubswin11]

it gets the same "ahahah wow galaxy brain" jokes that all their other moves do, but nothing substantive. Everything the brewers have done since what, last trade deadline, get a bunch of "this won't work" jokes that everyone pretends counts as analysis.

 

"Travis Shaw can't play second base he's 240 pounds! Wow Moustakas at third? Guess their pitching won't be good anymore." That's not analysis, it's wish-casting.

 

I haven't really done that. I'm sure I made fun of them for not doing anything of substance at the deadline last year -- which might have been smart since they finished one game out of the Wild Card. But I thought the Yelich move was a great move. I praised them for it.

 

I thought the Cain move was odd, since I thought they should have focused more on pitching. That move is working great for them now. But it remains to be seen how it will look long-term.

 

Mainly I've been critical of him taking half measures. The galaxy brain stuff is normally reserved for their fans. But he's went full brewerfan.net poster this deadline.

 

They went from Shaw/Arcia/VillarPerez to Moustakas/Schoop/Shaw. That's an upgrade no matter how much Shaw weighs. Put Shaw in the OF and Schoop at 2B when you have a GB pitcher on the mound if you're that worried about defense.

Villar had a better bWAR and same fWAR as Schoop this year

Edited July 31, 2018 by Cubswin11

[imb]

it gets the same "ahahah wow galaxy brain" jokes that all their other moves do, but nothing substantive. Everything the brewers have done since what, last trade deadline, get a bunch of "this won't work" jokes that everyone pretends counts as analysis.

 

"Travis Shaw can't play second base he's 240 pounds! Wow Moustakas at third? Guess their pitching won't be good anymore." That's not analysis, it's wish-casting.

 

The Brewer rotation is Jhoulys Chacin, Junior Guerra, Chase Anderson, Freddy Peralta, and Zach Davies.

 

Those 5 have beat their FIP by .45, .70, 1.31, -.18, and .07 respectively.

 

The Brewer infield UZR this year:

 

1B: 2.1 - no deadline change

2B: -0.9 - going from Sogard/Villar/Perez to Shaw

SS: 3.6 - going from Villar/Saladino to Schoop(a career -1 UZR 2B)

3B: 5.0 - going from Shaw to Moustakas

 

They're making themselves actively worse defensively in the middle infield to get Schoop(.306 wOBA, .320 career) and Moustakas(.325 woBA, .316 career) into the lineup. If you want to call it wish-casting to be baffled that they're doing this when their rotation offers only hope for regression instead of improvement even before the defensive changes, that's okay. These are just objectively baffling moves though. Stearns has made some real bright moves, and his aggressiveness has helped stave off the regression that was coming from Santana, Thames, and Braun, but just like you literally said Theo has had a bad year of making moves and still probably think he's pretty good, Stearns squandered this trade deadline.

 

"They potentially got worse defensively at 2 IF spots" does not equal "they got worse as a team."

 

Luckily for us, our head start on our roster+ our market size means that their moves are likely not enough. But a lot of the "oh hoh hoh it's cute how the brewers are trying" stuff is falling real flat as it appears that they actually have a good team and a good GM.

[imb]

 

I haven't really done that. I'm sure I made fun of them for not doing anything of substance at the deadline last year -- which might have been smart since they finished one game out of the Wild Card. But I thought the Yelich move was a great move. I praised them for it.

 

I thought the Cain move was odd, since I thought they should have focused more on pitching. That move is working great for them now. But it remains to be seen how it will look long-term.

 

Mainly I've been critical of him taking half measures. The galaxy brain stuff is normally reserved for their fans. But he's went full brewerfan.net poster this deadline.

 

They went from Shaw/Arcia/VillarPerez to Moustakas/Schoop/Shaw. That's an upgrade no matter how much Shaw weighs. Put Shaw in the OF and Schoop at 2B when you have a GB pitcher on the mound if you're that worried about defense.

Villar had a batter bWAR and same fWAR as Schoop this year

 

You think Villar is a better player than Schoop?

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Also, upgrading from Arcia and Villar or whoever was possible without moving guys all over the field. They could have traded for actual middle infielders. They also could have still added a starting pitcher.

 

Even if they got better, it is a strange and inefficient route to get there.

[imb]

Also, upgrading from Arcia and Villar or whoever was possible without moving guys all over the field. They could have traded for actual middle infielders. They also could have still added a starting pitcher.

 

Even if they got better, it is a strange and inefficient route to get there.

 

horsefeathers now they're going to lose the efficiency olympics too?

[Cubswin11]

 

They went from Shaw/Arcia/VillarPerez to Moustakas/Schoop/Shaw. That's an upgrade no matter how much Shaw weighs. Put Shaw in the OF and Schoop at 2B when you have a GB pitcher on the mound if you're that worried about defense.

Villar had a batter bWAR and same fWAR as Schoop this year

 

You think Villar is a better player than Schoop?

I think they are similar, they get their value differently but are close. Especially if the comp is going to be Villar the 2B vs Schoop the SS.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Also, upgrading from Arcia and Villar or whoever was possible without moving guys all over the field. They could have traded for actual middle infielders. They also could have still added a starting pitcher.

 

Even if they got better, it is a strange and inefficient route to get there.

 

horsefeathers now they're going to lose the efficiency olympics too?

 

That's kinda what people judge at the deadline. It is pretty obvious they were going to be buyers and improve their team like nearly every contender did. I think they did the worst job at it this year.