Cubs 2nd half placeholder thread

[Jason Ross]

The Brewers don't make the trade if they don't like something in McCullers or Gordon. Yes. The Cubs wouldn't have traded for David Peterson if there wasn't something they liked about him. 

But I wouldn't worry too much about Colton Gordon either. Go look at his Triple-A data below. This is what the Brewers do. They collect pitchers they think could be interesting. Ultimately they paid $7m for two arms and one is controllable. It's a cheap price of entry. 

And for good measure, his 2025. 

He isn't very good. He doesn't have interesting data. He doesn't have pedigree. Maybe they entirely rebuild him, but as is...it's just a young-ish pitcher. I wouldn't read into it. He almost assuredly isn't a stud. Good chance he isn't even mediocre. 

[BKHoo]

12 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

The Brewers don't make the trade if they don't like something in McCullers or Gordon. Yes. The Cubs wouldn't have traded for David Peterson if there wasn't something they liked about him. 

But I wouldn't worry too much about Colton Gordon either. Go look at his Triple-A data below. This is what the Brewers do. They collect pitchers they think could be interesting. Ultimately they paid $7m for two arms and one is controllable. It's a cheap price of entry. 

And for good measure, his 2025. 

He isn't very good. He doesn't have interesting data. He doesn't have pedigree. Maybe they entirely rebuild him, but as is...it's just a young-ish pitcher. I wouldn't read into it. He almost assuredly isn't a stud. Good chance he isn't even mediocre. 

I’d agree …. but it’s the Brewers.  

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

4 minutes ago, BKHoo said:

I’d agree …. but it’s the Brewers.  

"It's the Brewers" is a made-up narrative. it'll be replaced with "it's the cardinals" in a few years or some other team

[Soul]

11 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

"It's the Brewers" is a made-up narrative. it'll be replaced with "it's the cardinals" in a few years or some other team

It’s PTSD.

[Bertz]

The Brewers are clearly the smartest team in the league, they're the new Rays and have been for the better part of 5 years.

But even the smartest team in the league is still only stacking 53/47 type bets, they're not omniscient.

[CubUgly]

11 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

"It's the Brewers" is a made-up narrative. it'll be replaced with "it's the cardinals" in a few years or some other team

Actually, it was the Cardinals just a few years ago, they have been replaced by the Brewers.   They've had a damn good run with a mid payroll and exceeding projections every year.  Keep waiting for it to end - it just won't.  I hate them more than the Cards now. 

[Soul]

6 minutes ago, CubUgly said:

Actually, it was the Cardinals just a few years ago, they have been replaced by the Brewers.   They've had a damn good run with a mid payroll and exceeding projections every year.  Keep waiting for it to end - it just won't.  I hate them more than the Cards now. 

I swore an oath when I was like 16 to hate the Cardinals more than anyone else in baseball so I’m locked in.

[NorthsideAvenger]

Brewers gave up Prince Fielder's son as part of the deal.  

I don't think much will come from this deal for the Brewers. To me this deal is not unlike what the Cubs have done in the first half, collecting arms and seeing if anything sticks. 

Edited 5 hours ago by NorthsideAvenger

[JD94]

Likely doesn’t mean much but there’s not much to talk about so I’ll post it anyways. Heyman listed the Cubs, Braves, Rays as potential suitors for Skubal today. Oh and his “wild card” team is….. drumroll… the Los Angeles Dodgers lol. 

[Bobson Dugnutt]

6 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

Nah. And this isn't his first Twitter flub. Can't remember the exact tweet or when it was (sometime pre-covid, I think?) but he posted some dumb thing on Twitter before and had to apologize publicly. 

It was in 2020. It was a dumb political meme about Hillary Clinton being a man. The funniest part about it is that it was included in a tweet about maybe the most inconsequential Cubs call up ever. Gramps fumbled his phone trying to break the Ian Miller call up news as quickly as possible and accidentally attached one of the pictures from his Drunk Uncle folder lmao.

[PeanutPunch33]

I'm happy the Brewers made that trade.  I thought this was the year they would sack up and make a big trade like Skubal or Ryan or something.  Instead, it looks like they will continue flirting around the edges, if this move is any indication of their broader strategy.  And given that they are taking on some money it seems like it is.

[Dfan25]

Hopefully the Tigers decide to pitch Skubal Sunday . Don’t want them to run into Ryan and Skubal . Ryan is most likely going Sunday .

 

The schedule coming out of the break is sneaky difficult . They could get both Ryan and Skubal . Pirates can really pitch and the Cardinals have play well against the Cubs and I simply don’t like how the cubs lefties matchup with them .

[Rcal10]

2 hours ago, Bertz said:

The Brewers are clearly the smartest team in the league, they're the new Rays and have been for the better part of 5 years.

But even the smartest team in the league is still only stacking 53/47 type bets, they're not omniscient.

I agree with this. I see getting McCullers similar to the Cubs getting Peterson. Gordon is a throw in they will try to fix. If they can’t they just cut him loose. If they do, he could be someone on the team for several years. Which is why I said he could hurt the Cubs more than McCullers. I feel McCullers does very little for the Brewers, much like Peterson for the Cubs. While Gordon will most likely prove to be nothing, if anyone could hurt the Cubs it would be him, because he has controllable years. When it all shakes out he will probably end up bouncing around baseball and never amounting to anything. But there is something the Brewrrs saw in him or they would trade for him. 

[ILMindState]

OT but you guys should take this over. Give Phil a better platform to post instead of a screen shot of written words. 

[Stu]

On 7/14/2026 at 3:37 PM, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

Rate Pete's red carpet fit:

As a fashion icon, he’s a damn good centerfielder
 

I mean those sleeves are disaster. They’re way too long. and he should be rocking flat front pants, not pleated. And the loafers look like something someone’s grandpa would wear.

Edited 3 hours ago by Stu
Corrected a typo

[NorthsideAvenger]

On 7/14/2026 at 2:37 PM, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

Rate Pete's red carpet fit:

So, PCA is cosplaying as James Marsters?

[Post Count Padder]

Given that I live in Philly, I went to a couple days of the Fan Village. Lotta fun. Got to meet Dexter Fowler, whose smile lights up a room. He saw me coming and said "oh I love that hat" (I was wearing the 2016 WS Champs hat).

Also went to a talk with Fergie Jenkins. Afterward he signed a card for me and kept chatting like he had nowhere to be. Genuinely friendly/awesome. I asked if he knew the Cubs drafted the grandson of the guy who shares his Topps rookie card and he said yeah and went on a story about how they came up together and signed their contracts like a week apart. 

I asked him his favorite Wrigley memory and he told me his first one. His first game at Wrigley pitching with the Phillies and he gave up a homer to Santo and still talks about how the Cubs are the only NL team he's never beaten.

Also a fun note: someone in the crowd asked him the pitcher in the MLB today who reminds him most of himself, and without hesitating Fergie said "Cubs have a kid named Ben Brown who was lights out before he got hurt and I can't wait to see what he does when he's back on the mound."