9/30 - Cubs (Wicks) vs Brewers (Lauer): 6:10pm, Marquee

[Brock Beauchamp]

What an ugly way to close out the season, one heartbreaker after another.

[BigbadB]

Too depressing to look at the standings. Is my math correct that the Cubs have to win out and Marlins lose out to be in at this point? 

[Cuzi]

12 minutes ago, BigbadB said:

Too depressing to look at the standings. Is my math correct that the Cubs have to win out and Marlins lose out to be in at this point? 

Yes, but the Marlins are sitting on a game in their back pocket which they have about an 86% chance of winning, should they need to even finish that game.

Edited September 30, 2023 by Cuzi

[Derwood]

Magic number for Cubs to be eliminated is 1

[soccer10k]

[PackLandVA]

[UMFan83]

enjoy Belli while you can?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

oh hey it's finally a must-win

[17 Seconds]

50 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

enjoy Belli while you can?

i think i'd be okay with it if i knew they werer going to spend and get at least 1 other good bat

[17 Seconds]

yamamoto/soto/hader

do it

[WhyCantWeWin]

54 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

enjoy Belli while you can?

I'm OK with that, he's had a great year but he has his flaws and will be paid big time. Soto is the guy to get but I doubt Hoyer will want to give up prospects and then sign him to 400 mil. 

[Rcal10]

58 minutes ago, WhyCantWeWin said:

I'm OK with that, he's had a great year but he has his flaws and will be paid big time. Soto is the guy to get but I doubt Hoyer will want to give up prospects and then sign him to 400 mil. 

Ohtani makes the most sense. If Stroman comes back and if the Cubs restructure Hendricks they would be passing on a pitcher. So they can spend bigger on a bat. And then when Stroman is gone and probably Hendricks, they have Ohtani healthy to go with Horton. I doubt they spend for Ohtani, but if they don’t sign Bellinger they need to use that money somewhere. They have enough to spend and still not go into rhe LT limit.

I would rather they just let Hendricks go and see about signing one of the Japanese pitcher or someone like Jordon Montgomery.

[Cuzi]

1 hour ago, WhyCantWeWin said:

I'm OK with that, he's had a great year but he has his flaws and will be paid big time. Soto is the guy to get but I doubt Hoyer will want to give up prospects and then sign him to 400 mil. 

So fire Hoyer and find someone who will.

[Rcal10]

7 minutes ago, Cuzi said:

So fire Hoyer and find someone who will.

I would be fine with that. But I doubt Hoyer’s boss would sign off on that move anyway. Hoyer is there because he follows ownerships wishes. 

[Dfan25]

27 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Ohtani makes the most sense. If Stroman comes back and if the Cubs restructure Hendricks they would be passing on a pitcher. So they can spend bigger on a bat. And then when Stroman is gone and probably Hendricks, they have Ohtani healthy to go with Horton. I doubt they spend for Ohtani, but if they don’t sign Bellinger they need to use that money somewhere. They have enough to spend and still not go into rhe LT limit.

I would rather they just let Hendricks go and see about signing one of the Japanese pitcher or someone like Jordon Montgomery.

They are not spending on Ohtani . Fangraphs has them at 158 million with the LT not counting the 6 arbi elegible guys . The 1st tier of the luxury tax will be 237 next year but I would imagine they separate 5-10 for in season moves .  Not as much money available compared to what we thought they would have when the 23 season started. They will need to make several trades IMO.

 

Thats assuming Rickets will allow them to go near the LT  which is far from a guarantee. Not too long ago Rosenthal said next years budget would be determined by how they finish the year . After this epic collapse , Ricketts May decide to cut payroll 

 

 

 

[Dfan25]

I love for them to target Skubal , but I doubt the Tigers move him 

[Chicago Al]

1 hour ago, WhyCantWeWin said:

I'm OK with that, he's had a great year but he has his flaws and will be paid big time. Soto is the guy to get but I doubt Hoyer will want to give up prospects and then sign him to 400 mil. 

The Padres have 1 more year of Soto left, if they fall off again at the trade deadline next year I think that’s when they’ll move him for top prospects. I’m not sure a trade for him will happen before next season begins. 

[17 Seconds]

10 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

Not too long ago Rosenthal said next years budget would be determined by how they finish the year . After this epic collapse , Ricketts May decide to cut payroll 

 

 

 

no chance. despite the collapse, this season was positive for our future. they are right there, they just need to be pushed over the edge.

[CubinNY]

8 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

They are not spending on Ohtani . Fangraphs has them at 158 million with the LT not counting the 6 arbi elegible guys . The 1st tier of the luxury tax will be 237 next year but I would imagine they separate 5-10 for in season moves .  Not as much money available compared to what we thought they would have when the 23 season started. They will need to make several trades IMO.

 

Thats assuming Rickets will allow them to go near the LT  which is far from a guarantee. Not too long ago Rosenthal said next years budget would be determined by how they finish the year . After this epic collapse , Ricketts May decide to cut payroll 

 

 

 

Not necessarily disagreeing with you as a expect they will NEVER go above the LT that they personally pushed through the last CBA. 
 

But if anything, with the talent coming up in the next year or two, I’d expect they get close. 
 

Jed and the Ricketts don’t want to get purse high dollar FA because they are business oriented first and winning second. 

[PackLandVA]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

Ohtani makes the most sense. If .........

[UMFan83]

Canario in the lineup tonight. Kind of hope the Cubs get eliminated tonight so PCA gets a start tomorrow. I mean obviously I’d rather they make the playoffs but that’s not happening

[itisallpartoftheplan]

7 hours ago, BigbadB said:

Too depressing to look at the standings. Is my math correct that the Cubs have to win out and Marlins lose out to be in at this point? 

Need a Reds loss too.

Sad thing is if we would’ve won last night we could’ve been in with a sweep and Dbacks swept. Houston will need to play all these games to win.

Edited September 30, 2023 by itisallpartoftheplan

[gocubs218]

1 hour ago, Dfan25 said:

They are not spending on Ohtani . Fangraphs has them at 158 million with the LT not counting the 6 arbi elegible guys . The 1st tier of the luxury tax will be 237 next year but I would imagine they separate 5-10 for in season moves .  Not as much money available compared to what we thought they would have when the 23 season started. They will need to make several trades IMO.

 

Thats assuming Rickets will allow them to go near the LT  which is far from a guarantee. Not too long ago Rosenthal said next years budget would be determined by how they finish the year . After this epic collapse , Ricketts May decide to cut payroll 

 

 

 

This is extremely dramatic. They aren’t slashing payroll, come on. Many were saying they didn’t want to go over the luxury tax at the deadline because they are planning on going over it next year. I guess time will tell but it would be ugly PR for them to even have a similar off-season to last year. They have to go big name hunting, probably through trades.

[gflore34]

I see Wisdom as well in the lineup why?  I know LHP but, I sincerely doubts he puts the ball in play, rather go with PCA in CF and Bellinger at first.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

2 hours ago, CubinNY said:

Not necessarily disagreeing with you as a expect they will NEVER go above the LT that they personally pushed through the last CBA. 
 

But if anything, with the talent coming up in the next year or two, I’d expect they get close. 
 

Jed and the Ricketts don’t want to get purse high dollar FA because they are business oriented first and winning second. 

They have gone above the luxury tax before, they are very close to it now in a year where playoff competitiveness was not expected/certain, and they've spent on high dollar free agents throughout the Ricketts' ownership.  The weird circumstances of 2020 has created this fan fiction in some people's minds where the Ricketts not being Yankee/Dodger/Cohen spenders means that they are misers constantly looking to hold down payroll when there are numerous counterexamples.  I get where the sentiment comes from but framing like this (and other posts talking about payroll being decreased) is pessimism for pessimism's sake.