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Watch Shaw breakout in a huge way after Nico's contract extension! Any no trade verbiage in the extension?

Brown is going to be impersonating a yo-yo this season. He will be back and forth from Chicago to Des Moines. Why? Brown has options remaining and the majority of the roster does not.

Does he have a + glove?

Depending on Amaya to back up any position up is risky. With his injury history, however flukey, he just seems snakebit with injuries. I'm a big Long fan from watching him here in Des Moines. He is a quality human being who can flat out hit with authority. Besides the elbow injury he is currently not on the 40 man roster. With all of the non-roster guys in camp his roster status may dictate that he starts the year at Iowa. No matter who backs up Busch, Mo (5' 8"), Amaya (6' 1") or Long (5' 11"). The defense is going to be sub-par.

Amen. That bench was atrocious and structurally self-redundant.

With the off days early in the season going with 6 starters is an inefficient alignment. An extra pen arm is more optimal. You don't want starters going 7 to 8 days between starts.

Jonny Long has a MLB ready bat and little to prove in Des Moines. After being promoted at every level his numbers improved instead of regressed. It would be a soft introduction into MLB by filling Austin's 1B/DH role. When they call him up, I'd wager it's for the duration. Side note: Jonny will be missed by the greater Des Moines Little league communities. He held several hitting clinics during his limited downtime. He would stay late to sign both at the park and the clinics. Quality human being and a wonderful role model.

Mike Tauchman would make a nice 4th outfielder. I don't think Alcantara's bat is MLB ready plus he needs to play every day to develop. Tauchman shouldn't be an expensive sign.

What does your bench look like? With the Bregman signing - Shaw moves into the utility infielder role. Would like to see Jonny Long on the roster. Having another RH bat would be nice. He could platoon with Mo at DH as well as backing up 1B when a tough LHP starts and Busch sits.

What's next? Cubs signing Trevor Bauer?

As a young child, some of my first memories of sporting events, are of attending KC Royal games with my Grandfather, who had season tickets for many years. Collected some cherished signed balls (Frank White, Dennis Leonard, and George Brett) and more importunately memories of games with grandpa. Even though a lifelong Cub fan, I still followed the Royals to talk baseball with 91 years old Grandpa. Where am I going with this? 2015 Was a World Series winning year for the Royals. With a mediocre at best starting rotation I thought they had no chance and told that much. Grandpa kept reminding how much of a weapon the bullpen the bullpen was. He was right. And it was. The Royals were shortening the game to 6 innings. If their starters and front half of the bullpen could get them 6 good innings and keep them close (Royals had 1 starter with an ERA under 4 and 1 ((Jeremy Guthrie over 6)) they had a +.550 win percentage. The bullpen had the depth to cover a Greg Holland injury. They shortened the game using this template: 7th: Herrera 8th: Davis - (Madson when Holland went down) 9th: Holland Relievers are volatile from season to season, The Cubs proved you can build from the scrap heap this year. It's an ugly process without a guarantee of success that takes in season time that wastes some of the team's best efforts which directly impacts morale. Rather than Hoyer's typical nickel and dime approach of signing a plethora of low to mid range FA BP arms, Why not pony up for an arm that takes the 9th inning away and makes everyone else one slot better? Who fills the 7th 8th and 9th slot right now?

The Los Angeles Angels have some players that fit current Cub needs. An ascending young controllable starter that has mid/top of a rotation stuff: José Soriano - Free agent 2029. His knuckle-curve is filthy combined with his splitter. Needs to refine his command. Having a solid year. Here is a link to some clips of him pitching, José Soriano Stats, Age, Position, Height, Weight, Fantasy & News | Los Angeles Angels Bullpen help: Kenley Jansen - rental - still missing bats. Not sure if he should close or setup for Palencia. 3B / OF / Bench - Taylor Ward - rental - Has experience at 3B. Just not much of it as a pro. Has 2B experience as well. Right-handed batter should help with tough LHP. Having a good season. Taylor would be a HUGE upgrade to the bench if the Cubs do something different @ 3B or if Shaw breaks out and claims 3B. Individually, Ward and Jansen are rentals and shouldn't be that hard to acquire. Soriano is a different matter. Concerns? Other than RCal's (😄) anxiety over Ward's 3B defense. Morel's 3B defense discussion affected us all... Thoughts?

I don't want to set the Pirates up with quality Bats. I don't want Caisse...Wiggins or Long in our division.

To be fair - Jim freaking Bowden DID make some bad trades. Maybe he just can't help himself. He did get fired for wasting prospect capitol by trading for ......relief pitchers.

A rental is a rental...NO DBacks. You don't move that caliber a prospect for 50+/- games of Eugieno Suarez.

Get Ryan and Willie Castro in the same deal please!

Not sure ownership wants an interim GM trading the organization best trade asset at the deadline. If Gore gets traded, it would likely be at the winter meetings. That would allow the Nat's to get a new GM & Manager in place.

Wonder what kind of a prospect package it would take to acquire Skenes

Can't believe I'm typing this but - I hope the Cubs go cheap. Rental starters only please or ..... put your big girl panties on and go all in. Not a fan of Alcantara - let someone else figure him out. Keep the money off the books and the prospects in house. Lugo has a player option - the only way he exercises that is if he is hurt or gets lit up in the 2nd half and/or play offs. Keller is solid and affordable but is going to cost extra coming from us and I don't want to set them up. The Nationals are "listening" on offers for Gore. But there is little chance ownership is going to let an interim GM trade the org's top asset at the deadline, If he is traded it will be at the winter meetings. That leaves Cabrera and Ryan as the best remaining controllable arms. Are they both really available? I think you will have to overpay to get them. Packaging Willi Castro with Ryan you may have a strong argument to do so. If not now, then when? The Cubs are now in a dog fight just to win the division. The prospect cost will hurt, it should, Ryan is a nice controllable piece, and Castro can back up everything up outside of Pitcher and Catcher. Swapping Castro's bat for Shaw's is not a huge upgrade but you do not want to see him in a Brewers jersey. If Jed makes this commitment, then hold on...go get Bednar...Clase...or....Miller (it's ok to dream). The stress-free guaranteed way not to overpay at the deadline is to get Charlie Morton and Tyler Anderson along with Kyle Finnegan. It's also a way to miss the playoffs and not get extended. Short Series Shota Imanaga Joe Ryan Mathew Boyd 7th: Brad Keller 8th: David Bednar 9th: Daniel Palencia OR 7th: Brad Keller 8th: Daniel Palencia 9th: Emmanuele Clase LHP Matchups as needed: Caleb Thielbar Drew Pomeranz 4th Starter/Long Relief Horton / Taillon / Brasier

Correct me if I'm wrong, didn't Hendry draft Simpson in his first draft as GM?

I've enjoyed watching the Giant Ginger develop and thrive in the Cub system. Lucky I live in Des Moines so I get to watch the I Cubs at Principle Park fairly regularly. Cassie and Johnny Long are gym rats....they always seem to be in the cage hitting or working on fielding drills at 1B/RF early pre game. And they stay and sign late. Two quality people you want in your clubhouse at any level. The work ethic is strong with those two. Hope we can keep them both as there are only a couple of pitchers (Cabrera and Gore) I would include Cassie in a deal. There is some redundancy between Johnny Long and Moises Ballesteros. Their bat's are ready as there is not that much left for them to accomplish at AAA. The problem is they both lack a defensive position. Outside of DH and 1B where are these guys going to fit in? Moises is 5'8" tall and really shouldn't play 1B. Long's play @ 3B/LF is subpar. Both guys are not athletes, they don't run well, and fielding is sub optimal. But they sure can hit, work counts, draw walks and typically don't chase stuff outside the zone. Long has been criminally undervalued by many people unfamiliar with his development. Jed and crew got an absolute steal drafting Long in round 9 (2023) and signing bonus under 180k. The following excerpt was taken from: How Cubs No. 13 prospect became lethal at the plate One key to Long’s success? He hits the ball extremely hard. He is second among all Triple-A hitters (with at least 100 batted balls) with a 58.9 percent hard-hit rate and third with a 93.4 mph average exit velocity. Among Major Leaguers, only the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani and the Pirates' Oneil Cruz have a better hard-hit rate. So I think one of them gets dealt before the deadline. Who would you rather keep between the two?

Jonathon Long's bat is MLB ready. Kid has improved his numbers after each promotion. Long would surpass Turner's terrible numbers but some of Turner's value and contributions don't show up in the box score. With that said, even with his intangibles, you simply need a better RH bat on the bench. Guessing here but it wouldn't surprise me if Carlos Zambrano or Travis Wood put up better numbers through a half season than Turners 2025 numbers. Edit: Added link to Long's big 4th of July performance: Jonathon Long's multihomer game | 07/04/2025 | MLB.com

Pray that "ALL IN" doesn't put the club into a nightmare situation where Caisse, Alcántara and Moises are traded at the deadline and then Tucker signs elsewhere. Concerned that there has not been a trade for a pitcher completed yet. Wonder if it's the acquisition costs or the fact that some teams don't know if they are selling yet. 2 weeks ago there was chatter that a pitching deal was imminent.

The bench is atrocious. Heaven forbid the Cubs get some significant injuries in the 2nd half of the season.

Would be happy with: Kelly/Suarez + Finnegan ok with Keller/Bednar + Castro Brujan and Berti should be mutually exclusive and should have never been on the same roster. Fix it already Jed. There is no one left to blame.