muntjack

Rivas will be 25 for almost the entirety of next season and has put up a ~.400 OBP at every stop. The 2022 Cubs should find a spot for him.

The rotation is a total wreck. Spending on a SS and an OF would be welcome but they still have a bunch of mediocre, 4.1 IP kind of arms that they're relying on.

If we're down 10-3 at halftime, I'll be pleasantly surprised. Agreed on all points, though. I don't think Nagy has a paradigm shift in him.

Even considering Tatis and Ohtani and Acuna, to me Javy is still the most exciting player in baseball. I would choose a randomly selected Javy play over anyone else's. While I would love to see the cubs win it all again, I waited half of my life for the first one and now simply watching my favorite player play for my team brings me a fair amount of joy in and of itself.

It's amazing considering where he was two months ago. Like that Fangraphs article touched on last year, he's better when he is more aggressive. The walk rate is coming down and the slug is going up.

There are no guys like Frank Schwindel. Only Frank Schwindel.

wtf is going on here

#6 picks from 2012-2017 Albert Almora Colin Moran Alex Jackson Tyler Jay A.J. Puk Austin Beck Literally dozens of all-stars were picked after this collection of studs. Like others have said, this isn't the NBA.

Heyward hits the ball weakly more often than any other player in MLB (>300 PAs). Soft contact at 25.6%.

Nevermind. Trade him.

This has been Kyle's worst season and he has a 1.34 whip. Exit Velo is right where it's always been. Highest HR/FB rate is the issue, which is high variance obviously. He's making $13mil. If you get a disproportionate return, fine, but I'd guess he has more value here than in a trade.

If Pinango ends anywhere near the >1.000 OPS since his promotion to South Bend, I'd love to see him start 2022 in Tennessee.

It's been 22 PA's. Breaking update: since then he's 5-11, 2B, HR, 5 BB 1 K

Definitely a correlation there. Anyone recall that Fangraphs article on Happ last year? I'd love to see an update on it. Went in depth on his swing% in each count. Basically saying his hot start was the result of attacking fastballs in early counts and also being more aggressive with two strikes.

.363 wOBA over his last 100+ PAs. He's still the kind of guy I would look to extend. 27 YO, can play multiple positions, ~.800 career OPS, value at it's low point. Am I out of line with that thinking?

This dude gave up 7 ER in 1.1 innings last time out...

That team will set the record for fewest HRs in the live ball era.

I agree with most of what you're saying but I firmly believe that getting two top-flight starters is the most efficient and obtainable path to quick contention for this team, regardless of what Adbert is or what he may become. A rotation of, say, Rodon Stroman Hendricks Alzolay Mills keeps the Cubs in a lot of games, and the farm is untouched. If Adbert figures out his changeup to lefties and becomes a real #2, then they're in the playoffs almost certainly. After the AS break the lineup is Madrigal 2B Hoerner SS Contreras C Davis CF Ortega RF Happ LF Wisdom 3B Schwindel 1B Hermosillo DH Now you trade for a bat or two if necessary at the deadline. Not even sure where to start with this: 1) Why would anyone think signing Rodon is a good idea? 2) If you think that rotation/lineup is "almost certainly in the playoffs" or "need a bat to get in" then the Ricketts' have you exactly where they want you. That is an utterly garbage team. Rodon is a placeholder. A true #1 and 1A/starter. I'd rather trade for at least one of them but that's unlikely. The lineup is certainly not ideal, that's kind of my point. Adding two bats to that lineup isn't going to make it a strength. Adding two TOR starters seems like greater value if we're going to spend on 2 big FAs this off-season (which seems like the best case scenario)

If Alzolay's dong problem is a mirage, he's a #2/#3 starter. If it's not he's a #4/#5. That's a huge swing for deciding where to allocate resources on the offseason shopping list. I agree with most of what you're saying but I firmly believe that getting two top-flight starters is the most efficient and obtainable path to quick contention for this team, regardless of what Adbert is or what he may become. A rotation of, say, Rodon Stroman Hendricks Alzolay Mills keeps the Cubs in a lot of games, and the farm is untouched. If Adbert figures out his changeup to lefties and becomes a real #2, then they're in the playoffs almost certainly. After the AS break the lineup is Madrigal 2B Hoerner SS Contreras C Davis CF Ortega RF Happ LF Wisdom 3B Schwindel 1B Hermosillo DH Now you trade for a bat or two if necessary at the deadline.

Our starter's ERAs: 4.04 4.19 5.00 5.16 6.88 ...... That wouldn't fly in the steroid era. They need to prioritize starting pitching.

How is Hermosillo not up right now? Makes no sense to me.

I've wanted for some time to see a mid or major market team try a lineup of AAAA players and spend 70% of their payroll on the rotation. I doubt that happens here but, Wisdom, Ortega, Schwindel, and to a lesser extent Hermosillo and Rivas fit the bill. Guys who have a history of performing when given consistent PAs but were never a top prospect are the new market inefficiency. Of course it only (theoretically) works if you go out and sign the best FA starters (or ideally trade for them when you have surplus assets).

I look forward to seeing them trounced in the playoffs.

I'd really prefer to see them concentrate on the rotation. If it were me, I'd go the trade route to target younger SPs but I imagine that isn't in the cards for this winter. Here's what we have in house that I would start the season with next year. If Jed didn't touch the offense and instead went hard after Rodon and say, Stroman, this team would compete in the Central. Let Amaya take over the backup C role by May, bring up Brennan and look to add at the deadline if they're in it. For the starting lineup I put their age and wOBA (Rivas and Hermosillo AAA (why tf is Hermosillo not in the lineup yesterday) ) 1B- Rivas 24/.376 2B-Madrigal 24/.336 SS-Hoerner 24/.341 3B- Wisdom 29/.378 C-Contreras 29/.329 LF-Ortega 30/.385 RF-Hermosillo 26/.456 CF-Happ 27/.273 Alcantara Heyward Deichmann Bote Rodon Stroman Hendricks Alzolay Mills Steele/Thompson Rucker Heuer Winkler Roberts Wick Brothers

Rodon clearly spit on the ball before his curveball to strike out Happ in the 2nd. Are they looking the other way on that now?