Irrelevant Dude

Not for long.

Yea Broncos down 10, they're done. Zona still in it. Still mostly irrevelant if this is the Bears for next week. Also, Saints still up 10, setting up Minny to be playing for the bye next week. Does it matter whether Minnesota wins today?

That may be the safer bet rather than dropping Fields back and having him get repeatedly chased and/or sacked.

Holding 2 guys on the same play and still allowing a sack is quite impressive.

If they both win that will clinch the 2nd pick right? Yes, and next week becomes largely irrelevant.

Cardinals and Broncos are both currently winning. One or both of those holding on would be a nice bonus.

Having Fields out there running for his life just doesn't make sense at this point.

I'm willing to reserve judgement on Poles until we see what he does this offseason. If this was simply an intentional one season tank and is followed by smart drafting and free agent signings, that's ok with me. This team is really, really bad, but that doesn't necessarily reflect negatively on Poles if they were bad on purpose. I'm willing to give everyone a temporary free pass as long as they can make good on a huge opportunity with the combination of excellent draft position and a massive amount of cap space to work with.

If you're just gonna throw the ball up for grabs, it might as well be in the end zone. That was a pointless pass and could have turned into 6 points on the other end.

How is that not helmet to helmet against Fields?

At this rate, he'll break it today Do it today or it doesn't count. Do it today and lose, then sit out next week.

I have a bad feeling the Bears are going to win this one.

More "bleh" than "meh"

I'm not a soccer fan at all, but I was on the edge of my seat from the second half on despite not having any particular rooting interest. That game was an absolute joy to watch. The chances of me watching soccer again before the next World Cup are close to zero, and there's no guarantee I'll even watch any of the World Cup next time around, but I will definitely remember this game.

Is he hurt? If not he’s got to go. I don't know if he's hurt, he was dealing with some personal stuff earlier and hasn't been the same. I'm ready to move on. He can't be back next year, but for now he's a useful piece to enhance the tank.

Watching the Astros win isn't fun at all.

I'm still terrified of Rodon's injury history, but I would have been ok with this deal for the Cubs.

With or without Swanson, extending Nico is a must.

So it sounds like the plan is to try and replicate the historically great farm the Cubs had in 2014/2015 before going all in. A totally reasonable scenario and not at all completely unrealistic. Don't forget the once-in-a-lifetime Arrieta trade where the Cubs lucked into a cheap ace for free. 2016 doesn't happen without that complete freak anomoly of a trade.

You understand that, like the Bogaearts and Turner contracts, they're only giving them these extra long contracts to lower the AAV and help them with their cap situation correct? That's why Correa is only 27.5m annually. If not for the cap implications he would have gotten more like 35M annually and 3 or 4 years less. Yep. And while I would prefer NOT to sign guys to 13 year deals, that's the cost of doing business in this market. Those contracts can still be managed in a way that doesn't completely cripple a team's future, as long as teams have enough guys who are on the front (productive) end of their deals to balance out the others who are being overpaid in their later years. Of course that doesn't work if you operate in boom or bust cycles, like the Cubs, and only sign long term deals at specific times in the competitive window.

If he was always "the guy", kudos to the Cubs for giving him all the leverage by letting him become the last man standing.

Jesse Rogers again reiterating that the plan is to build from within first, then spend. The massive flaw in that strategy is, what happens if building from within doesn't pan out? While the minor league system is substantially improved over a few years ago, I still have concerns with how the current crop of minor leaguers are going to translate to Major League success. PCA is the consensus top prospect in the system and he might turn out to be a very good player, but does anyone really think he has a high enough ceiling to be a star? Beyond that, there are still a lot of question marks. Injuries have taken their toll on several other key prospects (including Brennen Davis), and those things happen and will continue to happen. There is unquestionably a lot of depth in the system, but if that depth ends up producing primarily relief pitchers, 5th starters, and 4th outfielders, then how much have we really improved from within? I just can't shake the feeling that Jed is operating under a plan that relies on a perfect confluence of circumstances. First, we are dependent on developing a core of minor league players that can contribute at the major league level. That may take a couple more years, five years, or even longer. There are no Kris Bryant's coming this time, and the team likely won't be anywhere near a draft position again to pick another player of that caliber. Then, we have a window where we can spend money on long term deals and hope that players are available who fill the holes on the roster. Then, we compete for a few years and are back to dealing with the fallout of an aging core, because our front office seemingly doesn't know any other way. It remains possible that Jed will execute the perfect plan and everything works out, but what is Plan B when it doesn't? Does Jed have the capability to stray from the course and get creative when other opportunities arise, or does he become paralyzed with inaction by continuing to follow a rigid plan for building a mid-market team.

Man, it would suck if the Cubs had given Correa this deal and had his dead money on the payroll 8 YEARS FROM NOW. Jesus Christ Jed, what exactly is the plan here? If we're trying to be good 2-3 years from now, having a guy like Correa sure would have been nice. I can't wait until we reach the mythical point where long term contracts are ok again, but there is nobody worth signing.

Does Hoyer really have a choice? Ricketts is the owner and doesn't have to do anything. Jed... Well, that's kind of his job.