davell

And they knew. They kept trading for him because he just stood the horsefeathers out. Everyone loves him.

Javy is so smooth at 2B.

We've got a roster crunch coming soon, with Coghlan and Soler coming back soon. We're also evidently still thinking about adding an OFer via trade. Short of the phantom DL move, I really don't see anyone moving down. Seal Boy can, but no one else..... I definitely think Soler has lost quite a bit of luster, so I'm not looking at trading him as a centerpiece for an upper tier major league starter. But trying to find other talented youngsters that may have struggled some off the bat, that may have lost some value themselves..... With Theo mentioning looking at the future, how about Soler to the Braves? They finished second on him back when he signed with us. They tried trading for him last deadline. And they need hitting more than any team in baseball. On top of that, they've got more pitching prospects than any team in baseball. Could you get Folty or Wisler for Soler? Or Newcomb for him? Or any number of combos with them. They've got the guys struggling in the majors that count towards us adding depth now, with upside for next year. They've also got plenty of solid arms in A thru AA that could add to our inventory of basically zilch at those levels..... Anyway, the more I look at it, I think we're ideal trading partners with them.

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I literally think its 50/50 that Szczur winds up with more career WAR than Soler.

I think we get to Sale early. He's not going 6 tomorrow.

No idea on Fowlers contract, but I could see him having a provisional keeping us from QO'ing him next year.

That'll do Addy

Is it wrong to hope Joe goes full on REDASS at some point against the Cards? We've kind of got a guy to do it with now.

I love Hector

#PotatoChipPower

[tweet] [/tweet] Cubs predicted to grab Reddick for Pierce Johnson and Jake Stinnett. If that's all it takes, I'd have done it as soon as it was on the table.

You called it back when we got him. That he'd drink himself stupid at some point.

The last 2 games, now this......Get ejected and go have a nice dinner Joe.

I think he needs a little more time to bake. His line between AA and AAA during his rehab assignment: .118/.200/.118, 2 BB/9 K, in 20 PA He's played baked for 2 seasons now.

To be our designated smiler.

No Contreras two days in a row?

[tweet] [/tweet] Of course, I've seen articles today mentioning Tampa waiting for winter to sell off.

I don't think you should call someone an idiot if you can't spell argument.

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The players and the business are more important than we are. If a guy is eligible to play and is good enough to play, my guess is any team would employ him if it helps them win. The players' opinions about moral issues are not more important than anyone else's. In fact, they're probably the least important given how biased they are (as a group). I would expect the vast majority of players will be more concerned about winning than anything. They see a guy who is an awesome RP who was going to be on their team or someone else's in the playoffs, so they want him on their team. That shouldn't surprise anyone nor change anyone's perspective on whether the Cubs made the right move. If the only thing you care about is winning at all costs, then that's up to you. I don't want to win by having to employ a guy everyone knows abused his girlfriend (even what he admits, shooting a gun in his garage during or shortly after a dispute with your wife, is domestic abuse - the clear intent is intimidation and fear). I appreciate that you're at least willing to own that and talk reasonably about it, rather than try to dance around this issue. Again, its a genuinely great response that I respect. But I do think the players feelings count more than ours, because its a business they affect in greater ways than we do. If we boycott, others step in. Its easier to find fans than it is great players unfortunately. Its a form of peer pressure, I guess. If everyone's willing to do it, I don't necessarily think we should expect our team to behave differently than any other. Its sports, a form of entertainment to us. But a huge business to those involved in it.

The players and the business are more important than we are. If a guy is eligible to play and is good enough to play, my guess is any team would employ him if it helps them win. This isn't a "would" conversation though. It's a "should" conversation. The only baseball discussion to be had here is whether the price was too high or not. The team is most assuredly better with Chapman on the team. But saying "well if we didn't, some other team would have" doesn't absolve the moral dilemma that comes with this acquisition. That's a great point. I guess I just don't think its reasonable to expect my teams to behave differently than others. That may very well be a fault of mine.

Players being ok with it doesn't mean much to me. Sports culture is ok with a lot things that society at large isn't, or shouldn't, be ok with. The players and the business are more important than we are. If a guy is eligible to play and is good enough to play, my guess is any team would employ him if it helps them win.

This is a post I horsefeathering hate writing. It will come off HOT TAKEY and will likely piss off some of the most valued opinions on this site to me. But its not been said yet(I don't think) and needs to be, in my opinion. First off, I can't stand Chapman. I HATE that we traded for him. But, at the end of the day, he's going to be pitching for someone. It very likely could have been the Giants or Nats. Our two chief competitors, both who needed pen help as much or more than us. They were certainly trying to get him. Chapman appears to be the best pen arm that's getting dealt. The price on Miller seems astronomical and it doesn't sound like he's moving. If he does move, it really appears we had to part with Schwarber for him, which I'd have been less OK with, than even trading for this POS. If the Nat's give up Giolito for him, great job by the Yanks. I don't even think the Giants CAN trade for him. Were Theo's comments lip service? Absolutely. But he made the team better and kept him off other teams looking for the same thing, thus weakening them a bit. Set the market high as horsefeathers in the process, making it harder for them to regain their standing. To me, it comes down to whether the players were OK with this move. They're more important than we are. I'll guess they WERE OK with it, or he wouldn't be here. They likely look at it as "Hey, we got better". May help the morale, if anything. That is more important to Theo than catching some blowback from disappointed fans. His chief job is to win. Sometimes, you've got to be ruthless in business to succeed at the highest levels and this is the epitomy of that. He traded for a guy that's unfortunately eligible TO play. And if he didn't, someone else was going to and it could have came back to haunt us eventually. How much does this effect my viewing? No idea, the horsefeathers hasn't pitched yet. I feel confident if we win it all, I'll be happy as horsefeathers though. I sincerely hope everyone here winds up in that boat as well. I don't think we'll even truly know that until it happens. Theo is here to win. He gulped and made the move that made sense from a baseball perspective. His number one job is to bring a championship here. Cold blooded Theo? Hes here now. Rightly or wrongly, this idiot is going to play for someone and help them. In the end, we're secondary and I get that end of it. I hate it, but I get it. The business end trumps us. And I figure that quite a few that are pissed off now will not be, if this works out. I figure I'm in that boat and I hate it. But my want for a championship is high enough that I'll eventually rationalize damn near anything evidently. In the end, I truly wish everyone here winds up in that boat too. Happy as horsefeathers we won, trumping anything else that has gone on. Apologies again, I can't speak loudly enough in saying I'm not trying to offend anyone.

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