Irrelevant Dude
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Everything posted by Irrelevant Dude
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Until his hamstring explodes on April 20th.
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#1 - The Cubs most likely already have 3 lefties in the rotation without Smyly. #2 - Did you watch Smyly's starts last year? If he is even in consideration for a starting spot, then what are we even doing here?
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Don't give up the fight. It's a lonely hill to die on, but I'm with you!
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This is where I'm starting to lean as well. All things being equal, I like Bellinger as a player better than Chapman. All things are not equal though. If Chapman can be signed to a shorter deal, he fills a need for the Cubs and they can let CF shake out between Tauchman, Canario, and PCA. I just don't think either of these guys are big enough difference makers for me to be comfortable with the potential downside of a bad long-term contract, knowing how those types of contracts have hamstrung (legitimately or not) the Cubs in the past. -
Does a deal with early opt outs really make sense for the Cubs? There are two common outcomes with those types of deals - either the player is good and leaves or the player is bad and you're stuck with him. Either one of those benefits the player. In a case where the market for Bellinger is tepid, I don't think I would go out of my to give him multiple opt out opportunities.
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My initial thought was that if Mark Grace had played his entire career in Colorado, his numbers would have looked really similar to Helton's. Maybe not quite the same home run totals, but certainly much closer to where he would be in the HOF conversation. https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/breaking/ct-baseball-hall-adrian-beltre-todd-helton-joe-mauer-20240123-u6c4xetqazacbkb5mnbypffvg4-story.html
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I find it hard to believe guys are waiting it out just to see what other moves teams make over the next 3-4 weeks. They have every right to sign whenever they want to sign, but there is very little that is going to be known a month from now that isn't already known today.
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I really have no concept whatsoever of how negotiations happen behind the scenes, but in my simple mind I boil the process down to: 1. Agent requests offers from teams 2. Teams provide offers 3. Agent reviews offer and reponds What I can't comprehend is why it takes so long for all this to occur. I would think that for anyone still available at this stage, their market has pretty much been established based on existing offers. How much more back and forth could there possibly be? Both sides seem to be waiting for something to change, but nothing really changes from day to day. So they rinse and repeat, waiting for someone to blink. None of it really matters as long as players are signed by Spring Training, but I'm beginning to question whether that is even going to happen or if we are going to have multiple high-profile hold outs into spring.
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Is it not typically discovered by a routine prostate exam?
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You don't think the player might, I don't know, ask Boras whether that actually happened?
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One other quick thing about Shannon and the unfortunate standing ovation - Bringing him in off the bench made that situation worse and set up exactly what happened. I get not wanting to start him immediately upon returning, but they brought him in about 2 minutes into the game, so what's the difference really? Had they started him, his ovation could have blended in with the introductions and not stood out quite so much on the TV broadcast. Maybe they made the right move from a pure basketball standpoint, but they could have managed things better by not giving the initial crowd response so much room to breathe. I get that it doesn't change anything in the big picture, but optics matter and they set the stage for a bad look.
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Did you see the QB play in the Chiefs/Bills game? No matter who you put around Fields, he will never be one of those guys. Time to roll the dice again and hope they come up in the Bears' favor.
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That assumes it was only the college students standing, which I doubt. I'm not opposed to Shannon playing based on the evidence that is presently available, but I am also aware that none of us have the complete picture of the facts right now. Knowing what I don't know, I certainly wouldn't participate in a standing ovation or run out to buy a jersey in a "show of support," but I am still going to root for the team as a whole and hope that evidence will eventually show Shannon didn't do what is being alleged. I also recognize that it is entirely possible he is guilty, in which case he should face the consequences, but there is a lot that still needs to happen to get to that point.
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Payton was shocking because he was so young and seemingly invincible. Sandberg is also relatively young, so at least he has that going for him, but it is going to be a tough road. He was my original favorite Cubs player and is a guy I expected to be one of the primary representatives of the Cubs organization for many years to come, similar to what Ernie, Billy, and Fergie have been from the prior generation. Here's to hoping that will still be the case.
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I thought it was strange that Sandberg wasn't at Cubs Convention this year, especially with the 1984 panel. I don't think the prognosis is great for metastatic prostate cancer, but hopefully Ryno can beat this!
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We now return you to your "nobody knows anything" part of the offseason.
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There is already a preliminary hearing scheduled. Doesn't that occur in place of a grand jury? It's one or the other, not both, right?
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There is no way a trial would occur prior to the end of the season, so I think that part is irrelevant. Barring the case being dismissed or some sort of plea deal, the season will be over well before any court resolution. Once the season is over, he no longer has to worry about being dismissed from the team, so he might be more willing to plead to a lesser charge at that point. Of course, depending on what evidence actually exists and what his story is, he may want to see it all the way the through to try to clear his name completely. Whatever ends up happening, today's ruling is likely going to have a lot of universities revisiting their policies for the NIL era. College sports are a different world now.
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Looking at it from the standpoint of the basketball program, sure. But the university as a whole has larger interests than just basketball wins and losses and ultimately they will decide how strongly to defend their policies.
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Soooo..... Now what? I'm assuming there would be another hearing fairly quickly to comply with Title IX, at which point Shannon could be suspended again? But how quickly can that occur, and are they going to let him play in the interim? The wording seems to indicate that they have no choice but to reinstate him immediately.
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I know the general consensus is that Boras' guys are going to get their money, but what if they don't? What if the market just isn't there for his clients and, despite his best efforts, many of them end up signing deals well under their expectations? Maybe this could be the start of Boras losing some of his grip on the MLB playerbase. I don't necessarily have anything against Boras, but I do think it might be a good thing to have a little more variety in representation.
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For me it's all about the flexibility. Chapman can play 3B and... that's about it, with the exception of DH. Bellinger is good in CF, but can also shift to LF or RF based on injuries or other openings on the roster. Then he can also play a solid 1B. I'm not worried about Bellinger blocking PCA or other guys in the system, because he is versatile and there will always be a place for him. Chapman on the other hand could be a guy that ends of occupying a spot that the Cubs really need to free up in a year or two when/if Shaw is ready, or if Busch ends up being decent at 3B. I just don't like the idea of a long term contract for Chapman when there could very well be better, and cheaper alternatives in the near future. If he wants to sign a 1 or 2 year deal, then sure, go for it!
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White Sox Season in Jeopardy
Irrelevant Dude replied to Brock Beauchamp's topic in General Baseball Talk
Yep, pretty much every time. "Look how quickly we could have got to the Sox game" as I drive by and then sit in traffic on my way to Wrigley. -
White Sox Season in Jeopardy
Irrelevant Dude replied to Brock Beauchamp's topic in General Baseball Talk
As sometime coming from well south of the city, the ONLY thing the Sox have going for them is easy access and parking off 94 without having to go into the city. But I've been there maybe once in the past 10 years, so I'm not sure why I really care. -
2023-24 Offseason Prospect Lists
Irrelevant Dude replied to CaliforniaRaisin's topic in Cubs Minor League Talk
Absolutely this. There is no sense bringing him up in April if he is going to hit his innings limit by August. Bring him along slowly in Iowa and, if all goes well, have him up in Chicago by summer and into the stretch run.
