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Rizzo got HBP somewhere in there. Ah yes that's right.

19 straight Cubs retired.

Who said that?

I'm pretty much the biggest Soler fan here, but it really seems like some people are overstating the impact he's likely to have when he comes back. He was basically OK at best so far this season. He's replacing Mike Baxter and Chris Denorfia.

I'm pretty much the biggest Soler fan here, but it really seems like some people are overstating the impact he's likely to have when he comes back. He was basically OK at best so far this season. He's replacing Mike Baxter and Chris Denorfia.

I'm pretty much the biggest Soler fan here, but it really seems like some people are overstating the impact he's likely to have when he comes back. He was basically OK at best so far this season. He's replacing Mike Baxter and Chris Denorfia.

"I think you think that a certain something isn't all that it could be. When it is all that it should be and more!"

Mammal

That was mostly a joke. They should keep hitting him 5th or 6th. Ehhhhhhhhhh. Most of his value over Fowler comes from his defense; they've both been pretty underwhelming or streaky offensively. Isn't the reasoning that the 9th spot effectively acts as the leadoff spot once they get past the 1st inning? . You know who is effectively the leadoff man in a normal lineup? The actual person chosen to hit leadoff in the first place. And what makes him a good effective leadoff man that wouldn't make him a good 6th or 7th hitter? Not like he's getting on base a ton.

Russell had a tough June and now has a .670 OPS overall. They're not putting him there because he sucks, but he shouldn't necessarily be hitting higher, either. You know this conversation started about Castro moving up? And he's been better than Fowler. The reasoning for him hitting 9th is stupid and the refusal to hit him anywhere else is even dumber.

If ur changing the lineup you can move Russell. Not a law he has to hit 9th.

Cubs pitchers threw 73 of 105 pitches for strikes today.

The Mets lineup is still worse. Haven't seen it, but it's worse.

Arrieta's Cubs annivrsary. Was acquired by the Cubs 2 years ago today.

Clutchstro!

[expletive] it. Bring back steroids.

One for every run they've scored in the last 9 games.

Hahaha. WTF?

No. He wasn't necessary for the purposes of this discussion of the core players being the same for several years. Obviously, Mirotic, McDermott, Portis, and Snell being more than role players this year would completely change things. Mirotic after a year of playing in the NBA should be a huge difference. Saying something like "Butler/Deng" just has all kinds of things wrong with it. For one, the season Butler just had is arguably better than any Deng had during his time with the Bulls. Butler simply isn't just the + role player that Deng was. Gasol is better and more valuable than Boozer. The only pairing that kind of works is Korver to Dunleavy. You're basically just saying "Body B replaced Body A" when Butler, Gasol and Mirotic are pretty big upgrades over the players you're comparing them two (or, in Mirotic's case, just leaving him out altogether) Yet, they still weren't good enough to beat a Cavs team missing Love and with a 50% Irving. I didn't mean to imply they were the exact same team, they are definitely more talented than 2010-11, but based on the competition improving the teams are basically lateral. It's the same general outline for a team.

No. He wasn't necessary for the purposes of this discussion of the core players being the same for several years. Obviously, Mirotic, McDermott, Portis, and Snell being more than role players this year would completely change things.

Yeah, but he's basically the same dude as Marco Bellinelli and Kyle Korver. Rose Butler/Deng Dunleavy/Korver Boozer/Gasol Noah Backup PG Du Jour Gibson It's all basically the same constructed roster. A roster that isn't good enough to beat LeBron. Again, not that I blame them because it's kinda what they had to do.

Eh. I like Bryant/Rizzo 2-3 because they are the 2 best hitters and are both guaranteed to get an AB in the 1st inning. Leading off with either in the 2nd, probably doesn't have much long-term effect on runs scored (especially since 40% of the time the other will be on base or have scored) but I'd rather not have that happen. That being said, I wouldn't complain about Russell hitting 2nd if he or Fowler really start to heat up. If Castro's contact ability makes him a good option to hit 2nd because of having the leadoff man on base, then why wouldn't it be a good option to hit him behind Rizzo and Bryant, who get on base more than anyone?

Going back with the same team that hasn't been good enough for 5 years. Can't fault the moves, but at this point I'd rather change the team for the sake of change

As others have said, CarGo is not a big bat this year. But the bench thing is overblown. The Cubs bench is terrible right now, because of injuries. It was projected by this point in the season to have Olt, LaStella, Denorfia, and Coghlan (if Baez was healthy, Bryant is the LF right now), with Alcantara still waiting in the wings.

Yeah, right thing to do after not trading sharp last year. Default right thing to do. The two greatest words in the English language, de fault I love all the Monday morning QB from you involving Patrick Sharp. He is a season removed from his best as a Hawk, yet Stan should have traded him? As for the others who were saying they should have paid Saad whatever. It sucks losing Saad but he isn't worth 6.5 million with or without Sharp on the roster. If they would have kept Saad then you can also say goodbye to Seabrook, Krueger, Shaw at minimum after next season. Also the Cap could very well go down after next season with the Canadian dollar in bad shape. So you would be fine icing a team of Toews,Kane,Keith,Hammer,Hossa, Crawford and the Rockford Ice Hogs? Uh yeah. You don't trade guys because they aren't good. Coming off his best season doesn't matter when he was going into his age 32 season and seeing a decent sized increase in pay. The Hawks were clearly going into a cap crunch as Kane, Toews, Crawford, Saad and others were all going to be coming up on contract years and Sharp, while good, was clearly not as much of a building block for long term stability as any other key player after 2013. As for the 2nd paragraph, I think I would have been OK with losing those 3 and keeping Saad (though I am also Ok with this trade as is). I think the Hawks could have gotten a decent amount for Seabs, plus the return for Sharp, Bickell, Kruger, and Shaw. A team of Toews, Kane, Saad, Keith, Hammer, Hossa, Crow and Rockford is still probably pretty good. Maybe not championship caliber, but they'd have a shot. Basically that's what the Pens and Caps are.