Starting rotation options available now

[Cuzi]

There's no one available out there that's going to shore up anything on May 27th.

The best you could hope for would be someone struggling on another team that the Cubs see something to tweak that could at least be better than Brown. Someone like a Simeon Woods Richardson that just got demoted to AAA, using up his final option year on a team on the outside looking in,

[Rcal10]

8 hours ago, chibears55 said:

Think you gotta check the remaining salaries that will be left on their contracts too, with the year ending payroll being a question mark for Rickettts. Hoyer may be forced to look for low cost arms who won't be owed much the last 2 + months. 

What is his actual cutoff for 2025?

 

They are way below the LT at the moment. There isn’t any player they should have to worry about taking them over the LT line. As I said, I doubt they get anyone until near the trade deadline. At that point they would owe about 1/3 of his salary. Even someone making $25M would only cost them $8M+. The alt line shouldn’t be an issue. 

[Dfan25]

I really don’t see any realistic impact arms available tbh now or at the deadline I wouldn’t give up much of anything for Alcantara . His last full season wasn’t great and he has been awful so far this year . 
 

Brewers and Cardinals aren’t trading with the Cubs . My hope is that the Nationals talk extension with Gore and realized they aren’t signing him and decide to make a trade with 2 years of control left after this season .  
 

 

[CubUgly]

13 hours ago, Stratos said:

Yeah they don't seem to like skipping off days.  I think they'll keep throwing Brown out there for now, not many options really.

Looking at his stats the K's, walks, and HR/9 are fine.  His FIP/xFIP are good.  In fact his stats really aren't much different than last year.  He has a .393 BABIP and given up a ton of hits so maybe some of it is bad luck.  The LOB% is pretty low too.  They've been hitting his FB hard both this year and last.

Hopefully its a location thing or they're just sitting on it due to the 2-pitch mix.

He seems to always have one bad inning that snowballs, and usually most of the rest of his outings are pretty impressive outside that.  Last outing was a bad inning followed by 3 plus very good innings followed by another bad. 

[JBears79]

55 minutes ago, Dfan25 said:

I really don’t see any realistic impact arms available tbh now or at the deadline I wouldn’t give up much of anything for Alcantara . His last full season wasn’t great and he has been awful so far this year . 
 

Brewers and Cardinals aren’t trading with the Cubs . My hope is that the Nationals talk extension with Gore and realized they aren’t signing him and decide to make a trade with 2 years of control left after this season .  
 

 

I'm still a believer in Alcantara. I'm expecting him to have a stronger 2nd half hopefully. Based on a few articles I have read, it seems like GM's around the league are expecting it too. I would gladly make a trade for him still. 

[Rcal10]

10 minutes ago, JBears79 said:

I'm still a believer in Alcantara. I'm expecting him to have a stronger 2nd half hopefully. Based on a few articles I have read, it seems like GM's around the league are expecting it too. I would gladly make a trade for him still. 

With him it depends on costs. He isn’t worth giving up several solid prospects. And I think the Marlins will want a lot for him.
I don’t necessarily agree that the Brewers or Cardinals won’t trade with the Cubs. If the Cubs give them the best deal they will trade with them.
That said. I don’t expect a TOR starter added. I think it will be someone more in the MOR, BOR trade. Keller, Heaney, N. Martinez, Marquez, etc….Maybe if the Orioles stay down Eflin is an option. 

[JBears79]

1 hour ago, Rcal10 said:

With him it depends on costs. He isn’t worth giving up several solid prospects. And I think the Marlins will want a lot for him.
I don’t necessarily agree that the Brewers or Cardinals won’t trade with the Cubs. If the Cubs give them the best deal they will trade with them.
That said. I don’t expect a TOR starter added. I think it will be someone more in the MOR, BOR trade. Keller, Heaney, N. Martinez, Marquez, etc….Maybe if the Orioles stay down Eflin is an option. 

I'm guessing Hoyer would offer one of our OF (Alcantara/Cassie), a cost controlled pitcher (Wicks), maybe Triantos or Pedro Ramirez and a lottery ticket pitcher. That seems pretty fair to me. I dont think it crushes our depth too much. Idk maybe i'm completely off. 

[Rcal10]

34 minutes ago, JBears79 said:

I'm guessing Hoyer would offer one of our OF (Alcantara/Cassie), a cost controlled pitcher (Wicks), maybe Triantos or Pedro Ramirez and a lottery ticket pitcher. That seems pretty fair to me. I dont think it crushes our depth too much. Idk maybe i'm completely off. 

Of Alcantara is good that is fine. But he has been brutal this year. Not sure I want to lose assets on another question mark. 

[JBears79]

2 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Of Alcantara is good that is fine. But he has been brutal this year. Not sure I want to lose assets on another question mark. 

Yeah. I get where you're coming from. These next two months are going to be really interesting with him because if he even starts showing flashes again of what he was, I think there is going to be a bidding war for him. 

[Bertz]

As much as I agree with Tryptamine that the timing is right for adding an impact cost controlled starter, I don't think the market looks like it's going to cooperate unless the Nats make Gore available. And I'd guess it's less than 50/50 they do.

I think if you're Jed you're realistically going to have three options:

1. Settle for a rental and revisit the big trade in the winter - Honestly this might be the smart play regardless, as Tucker's fate heavily influences what/how many resources you'd want to part with in trade

2.  Buy in on a SSS break out - For example Ryan Weathers and Max Meyer both look great for the Marlins.  The fish are early enough in their rebuild to probably make them available, but you're likely gambling a lot of resources on less than half a season of success

3.  Rescue a live arm from a dumb team - For instance Trueblood made a pretty compelling case for Ryan Feltner over the winter.  Reid Detmers seems pretty fixable.  Etc.  I think the big risk here is can you fix one of these guys *in season*?  Because you need someone who can help out this October

[Tryptamine]

2 hours ago, JBears79 said:

I'm guessing Hoyer would offer one of our OF (Alcantara/Cassie), a cost controlled pitcher (Wicks), maybe Triantos or Pedro Ramirez and a lottery ticket pitcher. That seems pretty fair to me. I dont think it crushes our depth too much. Idk maybe i'm completely off. 

If we gave up that much for Alcantara I would be beyond pissed off. 

[Rcal10]

48 minutes ago, Bertz said:

As much as I agree with Tryptamine that the timing is right for adding an impact cost controlled starter, I don't think the market looks like it's going to cooperate unless the Nats make Gore available. And I'd guess it's less than 50/50 they do.

I think if you're Jed you're realistically going to have three options:

1. Settle for a rental and revisit the big trade in the winter - Honestly this might be the smart play regardless, as Tucker's fate heavily influences what/how many resources you'd want to part with in trade

2.  Buy in on a SSS break out - For example Ryan Weathers and Max Meyer both look great for the Marlins.  The fish are early enough in their rebuild to probably make them available, but you're likely gambling a lot of resources on less than half a season of success

3.  Rescue a live arm from a dumb team - For instance Trueblood made a pretty compelling case for Ryan Feltner over the winter.  Reid Detmers seems pretty fixable.  Etc.  I think the big risk here is can you fix one of these guys *in season*?  Because you need someone who can help out this October

Who is the rental we would be talking about with Seattle? And why would Seattle trade a useful starting pitcher? 
I also agree it would be awesome to get a front end starter now. I just don’t see the reason for a team to be dealing one. As you said, maybe Gore. But that is it and it probably isn’t very likely. I actually hope the Brewers fall out and make Peralta available. He has a team option next year. So he is someone they might consider dealing instead of losing him after next year. 

[Thusly Boned]

46 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

If we gave up that much for Alcantara I would be beyond pissed off. 

A couple of months ago I might have been okay with it, but while I'm not convinced that he's cooked, odds seem very good you're not getting much from Alcantara for the rest of this year. And he may be cooked.

Frankly Miami would probably best be served holding onto him for the rest of the year hoping he can get his horsefeathers together than deal him this summer. Unless he finds it really quickly.

I'd be livid if Caissie alone was given up for him right now.

Edited May 27, 2025 by Thusly Boned

[Bobson Dugnutt]

48 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Who is the rental we would be talking about with Seattle? And why would Seattle trade a useful starting pitcher? 
I also agree it would be awesome to get a front end starter now. I just don’t see the reason for a team to be dealing one. As you said, maybe Gore. But that is it and it probably isn’t very likely. I actually hope the Brewers fall out and make Peralta available. He has a team option next year. So he is someone they might consider dealing instead of losing him after next year. 

Settle, not Seattle

[Rcal10]

2 minutes ago, Bobson Dugnutt said:

Settle, not Seattle

Thank you. Guess I need better glasses or learn to read better. I know Bertz is a quality poster and knows what he is talking about. That is why I asked who that guy might be. “Settle” makes a lot more sense. 😬 Yes, I agree with his options. 

[gflore34]

He's not a option now nevertheless, is there any time table for Assad?  Or, is he done for 2025?

[Bertz]

24 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

He's not a option now nevertheless, is there any time table for Assad?  Or, is he done for 2025?

I saw on BN yesterday that he was playing catch.  If you figure another week or two of that, a week or two of bullpens/sim games, and then 3-4 rehab starts, you're probably looking at early July.

[gflore34]

2 minutes ago, Bertz said:

I saw on BN yesterday that he was playing catch.  If you figure another week or two of that, a week or two of bullpens/sim games, and then 3-4 rehab starts, you're probably looking at early July.

Thanks, thought I read about July being a possibility for Assad. 

[Outshined_One]

The quiet killer lurking for the rotation is the IP limit they're bound to hit with Horton and Brown. I generally agree that a TOR guy probably won't happen in this market, but they're going to need good enough arms either to spell Horton and Brown to keep them fresh for September/October, or to pick up the slack when they get moved to the bullpen or shut down late in the season.

Maybe there are internal solutions with guys like Assad and Birdsell, but a rotation of Shota/Boyd/Rea isn't going far in the playoffs.

[squally1313]

14 minutes ago, Outshined_One said:

The quiet killer lurking for the rotation is the IP limit they're bound to hit with Horton and Brown. I generally agree that a TOR guy probably won't happen in this market, but they're going to need good enough arms either to spell Horton and Brown to keep them fresh for September/October, or to pick up the slack when they get moved to the bullpen or shut down late in the season.

Maybe there are internal solutions with guys like Assad and Birdsell, but a rotation of Shota/Boyd/Rea isn't going far in the playoffs.

I know Boyd is a veteran arm and the circumstances are different but he's about a month away from blowing by anything he's done in the last 5 years as well. 

• 2020: 60.1 IP
• 2021: 88 IP
• 2022: 21.2 IP
• 2023: 71 IP
• 2024: 83 IP
• 2025: 55.1 IP

[KCCub]

15 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

I know Boyd is a veteran arm and the circumstances are different but he's about a month away from blowing by anything he's done in the last 5 years as well. 

• 2020: 60.1 IP
• 2021: 88 IP
• 2022: 21.2 IP
• 2023: 71 IP
• 2024: 83 IP
• 2025: 55.1 IP

Yep - This is the concern with penciling him in the playoff rotation as of today. 

[bukie]

I'm sure it probably wouldn't happen, but I do wonder what it'd take to try to get Skenes from the Pirates, as they're a mess right now, not ready to compete and the farm system isn't looking great.

[squally1313]

3 minutes ago, bukie said:

I'm sure it probably wouldn't happen, but I do wonder what it'd take to try to get Skenes from the Pirates, as they're a mess right now, not ready to compete and the farm system isn't looking great.

It's probably their choice of any three players not named PCA. Think you start at Shaw and Horton, and then at least one of the other top prospects.  

[We Got The Whole 9]

I'd be very interested in Gausman. He's an absolute horse. Never misses a start, doesn't walk anyone, dong suppression. His K% is significantly lower than his peak form but maybe he can recover some of that. TOR is going nowhere and should move him.

[gflore34]

17 minutes ago, bukie said:

I'm sure it probably wouldn't happen, but I do wonder what it'd take to try to get Skenes from the Pirates, as they're a mess right now, not ready to compete and the farm system isn't looking great.

Wouldn't even kick the tires, the cost alone would be prohibitive and pitchers are super fragile.