5/30/24 - Cubs (Taillon) at Brewers (Rea) 12:10P on Marquee

[KCCub]

May 21st 2021, the 21-23 Brewers make a trade for Willy Adames to fill a glaring hole at SS. The Brewers finish the year 95-67 (74-44 post trade) to win the Central division. I fully understand there are some trades you need to wait until the trade deadline to make, but it irks me to no end when teams, who have playoff intentions, have a glaring hole and refuse to make the team better until the deadline. We came into this season needing another leverage arm and a middle of the order bat. Now, we might have the worst catching combo in the league and there is little to no hope there. If Jed is serious about this year, we need to make a move for a catcher sooner rather than later. We have little margin for error with our current construction (Subpar BP, bad defense, and an offense that is slumping) and then you roll out two catchers who absolutely can't hit, can't throw out any baserunners, and struggle to actually catch the ball, It's a bad recipe for a team already teetering on the edge. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

19 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

At the moment it looks bleak, they're starting show signs of coming out of their collective funk.  I not ready to give up yet, plus, at some point, the Brewers pixie dust (that BS Sanchez HR) is going to dry up and they will come back to the pack.

420 feet. Even if it was on the black and hit to center, that ball was demolished. Smashed with intent. 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

28 minutes ago, 17 Seconds said:

am I being dramatic or is this team horsefeathered going forward? too many expensive guys are completely tanking. I'm not seeing a path forward for even next year

By any reasonable definition of 'tanking', the only player on a multi-year deal that would qualify at the moment is Swanson, and he also has battled injury and has a long track record of consistency while only being 30.  If the team plays like they have for the last several weeks indefinitely, they'll be quite bad and be in an uncomfortable place.  There's no indication that's likely though.  They've earned their full-season record to date, though there's reason to think that's below their true talent level.  At this stage in the season, the difference between a 75 win pace and a 90 win pace is a handful of games that randomness is going to play a large role in influencing.  

I don't want to imply there's zero things to worry about though, while I don't at all believe the team is screwed for the near term, these are the things I'm concerned about:

• The Catching position, today aside I'm not worried about Amaya as a receiver, but the bat and running game control haven't been good enough, especially since he's had to carry Gomes being a large negative everywhere but game calling.  The options on the market aren't ideal, and making a change at that position carries a risk for the pitching staff's success in the way that other positions don't.
• Morel.  He doesn't look like an MLB 3B, and while I'm not concerned about his current batting line, the team is likely to look to upgrade the offense, and if they're adding players who push other good hitters to DH, I'd be concerned about the whole being less than the sum of the parts in terms of how that lineup can be deployed. (or maybe injuries make us appreciate that depth if we get it?)
• The in-house pen options.  Alzolay's arm exploding, along with none of Palencia, Little, Cuas, and Thompson taking a step forward, really puts pressure on the more proven arms.  If Wicks comes back strong maybe Brown helps with that, and supplementing at the trade deadline is among the easier changes you can make, but now is the time for someone already in the org to stake their claim by throwing enough strikes(looking at you: Palencia/Little/Hodge) so we aren't trying to juggle 3 relievers in the circle of trust all year.

[squally1313]

3 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

What starters are left to return?  Just Wicks right?  Our pen is still pretty bad.  It will help to get him back but I don't think in house options alone will make the bullpen decent.

This is almost certainly not updated for today, but there's a current argument for the pen being 'decent' today, and that would be before you send Brown or Assad there.

In May:

• 7th in fWAR
• 1st in K/9
• 10th in BB/9
• 21st in ERA
• 7th in FIP
• 4th in xFIP
• 25th in BABIP, which explains the discrepancy above

Obviously they were brutal in April, and I don't want to talk out of both sides of my mouth when it comes to slicing/dicing sample sizes, but in April they were 5th in innings and May they are 15th, so there's maybe some credence to increased effectiveness coming from working a normal amount of innings

[squally1313]

9 minutes ago, KCCub said:

May 21st 2021, the 21-23 Brewers make a trade for Willy Adames to fill a glaring hole at SS. The Brewers finish the year 95-67 (74-44 post trade) to win the Central division.

I totally get what you're saying about aggressiveness and getting ahead of the market, but it's a little funny to see all the vitriol Swanson has gotten this year and then point to....trading for a shortstop with a history of success who, YTD, had given you negative defensive value and was hitting .197 at the time of the trade.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Elias Diaz is the guy to go after. FA after the year, even if you don't believe in his offense because Coors, he still doesn't K much and has power and defense. 9 CS in 34 attempts is a big upgrade. Trade for him and KB, horsefeathers it. 

[Tryptamine]

10 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Elias Diaz is the guy to go after. FA after the year, even if you don't believe in his offense because Coors, he still doesn't K much and has power and defense. 9 CS in 34 attempts is a big upgrade. Trade for him and KB, horsefeathers it. 

Dear god no.

[Cubs420psd]

Picked a good time to go on Vaca, this team sucks ass lol

[Cubs420psd]

1 hour ago, CubinNY said:

This is on Jed. 

Jed sucks, wake me up when he actually builds a team that makes the playoffs without Theo holding his jock.

[We Got The Whole 9]

6 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

Dear god no.

That was tongue in cheek

[KCCub]

Just now, squally1313 said:

I totally get what you're saying about aggressiveness and getting ahead of the market, but it's a little funny to see all the vitriol Swanson has gotten this year and then point to....trading for a shortstop with a history of success who, YTD, had given you negative defensive value and was hitting .197 at the time of the trade.

I know you're not referring to me specifically, but I've literally not said a negative thing about Swanson (Outside of maybe some of his lackadaisical throws this year). You and I both could see the appeal of trading for Adames, even if he was batting .197 in a little over a 100 PA at that point in 2021. The point remains, I'll praise leadership that actually isn't afraid to make moves like that when there is a glaring hole on your team. Busch was the first time seeing Jed take a leap, but we need more of that at some point. 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

8 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

Elias Diaz is the guy to go after. FA after the year, even if you don't believe in his offense because Coors, he still doesn't K much and has power and defense. 9 CS in 34 attempts is a big upgrade. Trade for him and KB, horsefeathers it. 

I'm still thinking through how I feel about the likely catching options.  Jansen can absolutely hit and seems a decent framer, but would be more of the same in the running game.  Diaz can definitely help with the running game, but his ZiPS ROS is basically the same as Amaya(which admittedly may be optimistic) and his framing has been horrific over his career.  The goldilocks option I'm keeping an eye on is Jake Rogers in Detroit.  Pop times like Diaz, a positive framer, and I'd estimate his bat is the best bet outside Jansen to be league average.  Might not be available, especially if he catches fire with the bat, but he is a 30 year old C in arb and the Tigers have a Top 10 org prospect at AAA so I can hold out a little hope.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

horsefeathers framing, give me dongs.

[Tryptamine]

14 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I'm still thinking through how I feel about the likely catching options.  Jansen can absolutely hit and seems a decent framer, but would be more of the same in the running game.  Diaz can definitely help with the running game, but his ZiPS ROS is basically the same as Amaya(which admittedly may be optimistic) and his framing has been horrific over his career.  The goldilocks option I'm keeping an eye on is Jake Rogers in Detroit.  Pop times like Diaz, a positive framer, and I'd estimate his bat is the best bet outside Jansen to be league average.  Might not be available, especially if he catches fire with the bat, but he is a 30 year old C in arb and the Tigers have a Top 10 org prospect at AAA so I can hold out a little hope.

I'd take Caratini if Houston continues to underperform. 

[LBiittner]

8 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

I'd take Caratini if Houston continues to underperform. 

Can't wait til next offseason. We can talk about all the free agents the Cubs will surely be favorites to sign. 

Not to mention the trades for quality veterans from other teams. 

[ToolDRT]

37 minutes ago, Cubs420psd said:

Jed sucks, wake me up when he actually builds a team that makes the playoffs without Theo holding his jock.

We just have to hope Tom does what he always does, deflects blame and fires that loser. 

[UMFan83]

30 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

I'd take Caratini if Houston continues to underperform. 

speaking of our old friend, he just homered

[LBiittner]

19 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

speaking of our old friend, he just homered

Driving up trade value

[JHBulls]

3 hours ago, chibears55 said:

Poor Morel, plays baseball. Still gets benched for Madrigal 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

 

[NorthsideAvenger]

TIL that the Cubs and White Sox have the same record since May 1.  Not cool Cubs, not cool. 

[Stratos]

12 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

Cubs have to send Amaya down. I don’t care who they have in the minors he has to be better than him. 

Grab one of the nobodies from AAA at this point.

[Stratos]

12 hours ago, chopsx9 said:

Both his hits today were the other way - if he keeps doing that he will.  He doesn't need to pull everything.  He hit an absolute BOMB the other way last year in Philadelphia.  Hopefully he keeps looking that way.

If he lesrns to drive the outside pitches the other way or to CF he'll be quite the hitter.

[LBiittner]

4 hours ago, NorthsideAvenger said:

TIL that the Cubs and White Sox have the same record since May 1.  Not cool Cubs, not cool. 

Cubs play the Sox next week. Interested to watch how the Sox get their first 3 game sweep of the season.

[LBiittner]

Whoa, just saw cardinals leapfrogged the Cubs in the standings. Yay!

[Brock Beauchamp]

Today's game thread candidate is @Bertz. If no game thread is up by 10:30 or so, jump ball.