Is Jed really safe?

[We Got The Whole 9]

Can we get a Tom filter for every time he starts going on about The Man and the working class, etc.? Like, every horsefeathers post, it has to be shoehorned in there.

[CubinNY]

4 minutes ago, sneakypower said:

this point is especially amusing to me because the only ways we could try to objectively gauge this phenomenon (higher BB rate, lower in-zone rate) clearly favor Busch as the 'scarier' matchup this season

One is nicknamed The Polar Bear and one is nicknamed Busch Light.

 

Case closed. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

4 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

One is nicknamed The Polar Bear and one is nicknamed Busch Light.

 

Case closed. 

Ain't nobody scared of a Polar Bear unless they live in the Arctic. Busch Light OTOH...

[squally1313]

To be fair, I did forget about that one home run derby, which was pretty cool. 

[LBiittner]

2 hours ago, CubinNY said:

That never happened. What color is the sky in your world?

For whatever reason? We have a conglomerate of NSBB and former PSD now joined together. 

PSD members were salivating over the AROD comparisons with Chritian Hernandez. It was a hot feel-good topic. Most were pinpointing him in future lineups and it was only a matter of a few seasons before we'd reap his talents.

I'm guessing most here were not as easily fooled by the media.

[Irrelevant Dude]

1 minute ago, squally1313 said:

To be fair, I did forget about that one home run derby, which was pretty cool. 

Don't pay for past home run derby performance.  Isn't that Theo's motto?

[LBiittner]

Just now, Irrelevant Dude said:

Don't pay for past home run derby performance.  Isn't that Theo's motto?

Theos mottos have not aged well for the jed-led cubs

[Chicago Al]

If the Cubs did fire Jed or if they let him finish ‘25 who do they replace/hire after him? Hawkins? 

[CubinNY]

19 minutes ago, Chicago Al said:

If the Cubs did fire Jed or if they let him finish ‘25 who do they replace/hire after him? Hawkins? 

It would be someone from outside and I would imagine Hawkins and the rest of the underlings would go too. I have no idea who is an up and comer in baseball. 

Ricketts is likely to get another guy with a similar approach as Jed because that's how he wants the organization to operate. Probably another reason why he is unlikely to fire Jed. 

Honestly, I think the only way Jed gets fired is if it starts hurting their bank account. 

Edited June 19, 2024 by CubinNY

[imb]

1 hour ago, CubinNY said:

One is nicknamed The Polar Bear and one is nicknamed Busch Light.

 

Case closed. 

women are literally picking the bear because they dont fear them as much as they fear a man! Another point in busch's favor

[Stratos]

Jed's replacement will be Tom's computer algorithm that makes stock picks for him.

Eventually players will be AI robots too, more profitable and exciting (180 mph fastballs, 900ft moon-shots.  Innings in a game changed from 9 to 7 for the tiktok generation.  Boog replaced with a Harry Caray voicebot.  The future looks bright!

Edited June 20, 2024 by Stratos

[muntjack]

I think that was a Super Nintendo game. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

3 hours ago, muntjack said:

I think that was a Super Nintendo game. 

Can we start implanting Hyper Shoulder's in Cubs hitters immediately?

[Tryptamine]

Bored at work and I know Jed wasn't officially President until November of 2020, but good god so many terrible drafts.

2019- The only guys who are still relevant from this draft that are still Cubs are Hunter Bigge and Porter Hodge

2020- Luke Little, that's it

2021- Jordan Wicks, James Triantos, BJ Murray and arguable Drew Gray/Zac Leigh

2022- It's a bit too early to judge but realistically the only interesting guys are Cade Horton, Brandon Birdsell and Nazier Mule

 

They haven't drafted an everyday position player since Nico in 2018

[Bertz]

37 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

Bored at work and I know Jed wasn't officially President until November of 2020, but good god so many terrible drafts.

2019- The only guys who are still relevant from this draft that are still Cubs are Hunter Bigge and Porter Hodge

2020- Luke Little, that's it

2021- Jordan Wicks, James Triantos, BJ Murray and arguable Drew Gray/Zac Leigh

2022- It's a bit too early to judge but realistically the only interesting guys are Cade Horton, Brandon Birdsell and Nazier Mule

 

They haven't drafted an everyday position player since Nico in 2018

If you think 21 and 22 look like bad drafts you clearly do not understand this stuff.

[Tryptamine]

11 minutes ago, Bertz said:

If you think 21 and 22 look like bad drafts you clearly do not understand this stuff.

I noticed you missed the, it's bit too early in regards to 2022. With that said, that's also somewhat true of 2021. Wicks looks like he he's a solid bet for a #4/5 with a chance at being a solid mid rotation starter. BJ Murray has kind of tanked this year and you're probably looking at bench player upside at this point. Triantos is the wild card. He's going to hit, but his inability to play defense pretty much anywhere is a severe issue and will his bat be good enough to compensate for that. Is it anywhere near as bad as '19 or '20? Nope, but as of right now it's more just OK than anything. 

[CubinNY]

Keith Law is calling the entire 2020 draft cursed. 

[Tryptamine]

12 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

Keith Law is calling the entire 2020 draft cursed. 

It was bad, like really bad.  A few teams did well.

The Cardinals destroyed the draft with Jordan Walker, Masyn Winn, Tink Hence and Nate Burleson.

The Braves got Strider which is a huge win on its own

The Orioles also destroyed the draft with Kjerstad, Westburg and Mayo

 

 

[Bertz]

8 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

I noticed you missed the, it's bit too early in regards to 2022. With that said, that's also somewhat true of 2021. Wicks looks like he he's a solid bet for a #4/5 with a chance at being a solid mid rotation starter. BJ Murray has kind of tanked this year and you're probably looking at bench player upside at this point. Triantos is the wild card. He's going to hit, but his inability to play defense pretty much anywhere is a severe issue and will his bat be good enough to compensate for that. Is it anywhere near as bad as '19 or '20? Nope, but as of right now it's more just OK than anything. 

Again, I don't think you get this stuff.  It's really hard and any team drafting outside of the top 5ish range in any draft (or wherever the top tier with the slam dunk blue chippers ends in a given year) would kill for a draft like '21.  A mid rotation SP, a fringe top 100 bat, and a second division bat is a haul.  That's how low the bar is.  The MLB draft is TOUGH.

And then in 22, you've got Cade Horton, who now that Skenes has graduated is in the discussion for best pitching prospects in baseball?  Plus Jackson Ferris who netted us Busch.  Plus a handful of 40 grade pitching prospects.  With how pitching-heavy it is it can very easily go bust still, but right now?  If you think it looks bad right now that's absolute crazy talk.

'20 was awful for sure.  No one would dispute that.  Kantrovitz did have to deal with this little pandemic thing 2 months into his job starting, but even setting that context aside he looks 3/4 in strong drafts.  Or do you also think Matt Shaw being a top 40 prospect less than a year after being drafted 13th is somehow bad?

19 was a completely different group.  Theo was in charge of the org and McLeod was in charge of the draft.  19 is about as relevant to the conversation as '12-'18.  Speaking of 18 funny you didn't mention the draft where the Cubs picked the top performing player in the entire thing at #24. 

[Tryptamine]

27 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Again, I don't think you get this stuff.  It's really hard and any team drafting outside of the top 5ish range in any draft (or wherever the top tier with the slam dunk blue chippers ends in a given year) would kill for a draft like '21.  A mid rotation SP, a fringe top 100 bat, and a second division bat is a haul.  That's how low the bar is.  The MLB draft is TOUGH.

And then in 22, you've got Cade Horton, who now that Skenes has graduated is in the discussion for best pitching prospects in baseball?  Plus Jackson Ferris who netted us Busch.  Plus a handful of 40 grade pitching prospects.  With how pitching-heavy it is it can very easily go bust still, but right now?  If you think it looks bad right now that's absolute crazy talk.

'20 was awful for sure.  No one would dispute that.  Kantrovitz did have to deal with this little pandemic thing 2 months into his job starting, but even setting that context aside he looks 3/4 in strong drafts.  Or do you also think Matt Shaw being a top 40 prospect less than a year after being drafted 13th is somehow bad?

19 was a completely different group.  Theo was in charge of the org and McLeod was in charge of the draft.  19 is about as relevant to the conversation as '12-'18.  Speaking of 18 funny you didn't mention the draft where the Cubs picked the top performing player in the entire thing at #24. 

I did mention Nico.

[Outshined_One]

It's also worth pointing out that COVID kinda sorta wrecked amateur baseball and player development for a few years.

Granted, some teams did a better job drafting and developing players than others, but horsefeathers got nigh on apocalyptic for awhile there.

[Jason Ross]

Just to echo a few other points, and to add some more to the discussion; no one here should be upset a bit about the 2021, 2022, or 2023 drafts, as all three look like absolute bangers right now. The Cubs have drafted plenty of useful-looking MLB players. You really couldn't ask more from either draft, and the Cubs have done well to, every year, find some guys beyond the 10th round who has become some sort of a prospect. They've used some of these draftable guys (Ferris/Hope) to land Busch as well.

The only "bad" draft is 2020, and as others have mentioned, the context of that draft can allow you to give it a pass. As well, I think some added context to 2020 is needed: despite not drafting PCA and Caissie, both are 2020 picks who have, essentially, been entirely developed within the Cubs system. Luke Little still has a decent shot at being a useful MLB mid-reliever, and I suspect Matt Mervis will eventually be used in some sort of a trade to get an MLB piece.

And listen, while it's a small sample size, Ed Howard is currently in his best run ever as a pro. His last 61 PA's have resulted in a 174 wRC+, a 7.6 BB%, a 21.1 K%, and a .530 BABIP. That's not enough today to say "they won that pick" but there's just enough juice left in that squeeze, that at 22 years old, and with all of the injuries he's had...that there's still some potential there. He's kept a 100 wRC+ over his last 100 PAs and there seems to be some real improvement. He's hit six doubles in his last 16 games (that's six of his season total of ten). He also looks healthy. Don't pencil Ed Howard in as a top-100 prospect, that'd be ridiculous. But if he reaches Tennessee this season at age 22...there might still be a prospect there, too.

[Petrey10]

I wanted Alonso on this team in preseason and I have no reason to not want him again. Busch and Alonso can be in the same lineup. There’s no one pushing him out. Belli in CF and Busch/alonso at 1b/DH. 
 

we need some pop. Alonso is the best option available.

[Tryptamine]

Why get Alonso when you can probably get JD Martinez from the same team cheaper and he's a better hitter?

[Rcal10]

12 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

Why get Alonso when you can probably get JD Martinez from the same team cheaper and he's a better hitter?

TBH, yes Martinez would be the better option to me. But why are the Mets selling. The idea of “Cubs should get Alonso” or in this case, Martinez just seems crazy to me. Not because they won’t help, but because why would the Mets be trading either, especially now. I know you just suggested Martinez instead of Alonso, but I didn’t want to quote two posts, so I am answering you. Mainly because if the Mets were selling, I agree with you. I would go after Martinez. I have no interest in Alonso as a rental for his cost. And they aren’t going to extend him, and I wouldn’t want to anyway.