Starting rotation options available now

[Rcal10]

18 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

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.  

That is my thought. But that probably still isn’t enough. 

[gflore34]

Just now, We Got The Whole 9 said:

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.

Me as well, I don't his cost will be extraordinarily high, think he's a realistic target.

[squally1313]

Toronto is 3 games back in the wild card right now, we're about a month away from any of their performing players being a realistic option. 

[gflore34]

1 hour 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.

What about Birdsell any chance for him in 2025?  Sounds like Assad could be ready sometime in July.

[Jason Ross]

2 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

What about Birdsell any chance for him in 2025?  Sounds like Assad could be ready sometime in July.

There's a chance, but like Assad, neither have logged an inning yet. It's hard to know what we can get out of them or what level they'll be at talent wise as they build back into game shape. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

2 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Toronto is 3 games back in the wild card right now, we're about a month away from any of their performing players being a realistic option. 

So weird, hadn't even looked at that. Now I'm gonna wish for their failure every day. 

 

I just read an article on how the Tigers are the best team in baseball since they dealt Flaherty, so, hey Toronto, follow the trend.

[KCCub]

3 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

So weird, hadn't even looked at that. Now I'm gonna wish for their failure every day. 

 

I just read an article on how the Tigers are the best team in baseball since they dealt Flaherty, so, hey Toronto, follow the trend.

It's interesting how bad the AL is this year. All but 3 teams are within 4 games of a WC spot, which makes knowing who will be available at the deadline tough to predict. 

[Rex Buckingham]

Bowden had an article in The Athletic with potential Skenes deals... Cubs deal was Shaw, Horton, Alcantara and Juan Tomas (17 yo SS).  Dodgers was Rushing (C), Pages, Ferris and Knaack for comparison

[JBears79]

17 hours ago, Tryptamine said:

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

I mean that's fair. I can see why people would hate it right now. I'm a believer that he will return to form and yeah right now I am hesitant to give that up. 2 months from now we could be having a completely different convo though if he gets back to form and I think that particular package would be fair compensation. It doesnt really kill us depth wise either.

I will admit it does hinge a little bit on Tucker resigning though.

[JBears79]

1 hour 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.

Its almost certainly starts at Horton, Shaw, Alcantara+. 

As good as Skenes is, I'm not sure I do that right now. Especially with the risk of injury that pitchers face. It's an interesting thought exercise though. 

I dont see Skenes getting moved for another couple years though since the Pirates are dumb to not cash in on him now while they have nothing.

[Derwood]

No on Skenes. While he could be the next Justin Verlander and dominate for close to 20 years, he could also be the next Stephen Strasburg and have his arm fall off in 2 years

[squally1313]

1 minute ago, Derwood said:

No on Skenes. While he could be the next Justin Verlander and dominate for close to 20 years, he could also be the next Stephen Strasburg and have his arm fall off in 2 years

There are probably worse worst case scenarios than Career 36.6 fWAR in 247 career starts Stephen Strasburg. 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

3 minutes ago, Derwood said:

No on Skenes. While he could be the next Justin Verlander and dominate for close to 20 years, he could also be the next Stephen Strasburg and have his arm fall off in 2 years

Strasburg is one of the most successful pre-FA pitchers in recent memory.  His arm fell off at age 31.

 

That said, I can't imagine there's an actually good deal for Skenes to be had given the appropriate discounting you'd need to bake in for injury risk, arb salaries, etc.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

5 minutes ago, Derwood said:

No on Skenes. While he could be the next Justin Verlander and dominate for close to 20 years, he could also be the next Stephen Strasburg and have his arm fall off in 2 years

Mark Prior was right there this whole time.

[squally1313]

While he could be the 3rd best pitcher of the last 15 years, what if instead he was only the 13th best pitcher of the last 15 years

[gflore34]

Honestly, let Skenes sign with the Dodgers for one billion or whatever dollars, deferred until 2100, then, at least, the Cubs won't have to face him every horsefeathers time they play the Pirates. 

Seriously, the trade cost is too high, for a risk such as a pitcher.  Now, I'd have no problems with the Cubs throwing money at him in FA maybe they can into the deferred game.

Edited May 28, 2025 by gflore34

[Rcal10]

43 minutes ago, Rex Buckingham said:

Bowden had an article in The Athletic with potential Skenes deals... Cubs deal was Shaw, Horton, Alcantara and Juan Tomas (17 yo SS).  Dodgers was Rushing (C), Pages, Ferris and Knaack for comparison

If the Cubs could get him for that package I would do it. 

[WhyCantWeWin]

I saw someone mention Chris Sale, would be a possibility if the Braves are still struggling close to the trade deadline

[Karsten]

I would look into Trevor Bauer. It would only cost money, not prospects. He hasn't been quite as good this year as he was the last couple though. The off the field stuff appears to be in the past.

[squally1313]

Fine. I am so bored at work and this week is fake anyways. Teams with less than 5% chance of making the playoffs:

• Orioles (1.8%)
  • Eflin - FA after this year, like $10m left. Elite in 2023, very solid in 2024, a very slow start coming off a minor injury in 2025. 
  • Charlie Morton - FA after this year, like $10m left. Basically looked like the pitcher version of Justin Turner to start the year, but has turned it around a little bit. Actually didn't realize he got pulled from the rotation so his game log being filled with 1-3 earned runs is not nearly as impressive, but a 3.98 ERA in 20 innings in May.
  • Sugano - FA after this year, like $8m left. Strikes out and walks absolutely no one, a very luck driven 3.23 ERA on the year but the advanced numbers have him as a low to mid 4 guy. 
• White Sox (0%) - To their credit all their pitchers currently have tons of control, so no obvious choices here. Adrian Houser if things get real desperate. 
• Athletics (2.5%)
  • Severino - Just signed a two year deal with a player option, has been very good but can't see them bailing this early on a big signing. 
  • Jeffrey Springs - $6m left this year, $10m next year, team option for 2027. Historically very effectively when he actually pitches, this year (basically a Boyd type), this year mediocre with a lot of innings. Seems like a perfect A, so probably not available. 
• Angels (0%)
  • Tyler Anderson - Owed $10m this year, FA after that. Not good, will soak up innings. 
  • Kikuchi - Just signed a 3/$63m deal so can't see him being available. 
  • Hendricks - I mean....maybe???
• Nationals (0%)
  • Trevor Williams - Somehow also signed for next year still but basically Colin Rea with a little more upside. 
  • Gore - Covered elsewhere. Pay for him. 
  • Soroka - A little more interesting, but it's just been too long since he was good.
• Marlins (0%)
  • Alcantara - Covered elsewhere. 
  • Cal Quantrill - Will eat up innings and not much else.
• Pirates (0.1%)
  • Keller - Not going to be available.
  • Heaney - FA after this year, cheap, will eat innings, go get him.
• Rockies (0%)
  • Kyle Freeland - There's enough there to be interested but the Rockies are so weird trying to trade with them seems pointless. 

lol I once again got bored halfway through. Bolded the names I want to save everyone the time. 

[squally1313]

3 minutes ago, Karsten said:

I would look into Trevor Bauer. It would only cost money, not prospects. He hasn't been quite as good this year as he was the last couple though. The off the field stuff appears to be in the past.

What a first post.

[Rob]

3 minutes ago, Karsten said:

I would look into Trevor Bauer. It would only cost money, not prospects. He hasn't been quite as good this year as he was the last couple though. The off the field stuff appears to be in the past.

Under absolutely no circumstances should the Cubs even consider allowing Trevor Bauer to play for them.

[Karsten]

2 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

What a first post.

It can't be less likely than trading for Paul Skenes? Trying to think outside the box!

[Transmogrified Tiger]

1 minute ago, squally1313 said:

Fine. I am so bored at work and this week is fake anyways. Teams with less than 5% chance of making the playoffs:

Don't want to diminish your fine work/procrastination, but one of the trends we've seen since the new wild card is a blurring of buy/sell lines, so if we're including the likes of Trevor Williams as a possibility, it opens up a lot of options for a more developmental target and/or a target from a cash-poor team that may be willing to make the right trade even if they aren't out of the race.  We've seen Jed make a couple of these in recent years, Wesneski/Effross, Morel/Paredes, even Pearson might technically qualify.

[WhyCantWeWin]

Doesnt Bauer have a near 4 ERA too? Hes not even pitching well in Japan this year