KingCubsFan

I think everyone but Mojo would say Addison Russell and it's not even close. Not really sure why we would want Hammel back at this point. We can just sign him in the offseason if we really like him.

6'1" isn't that short for a pitcher. Pedro Strop is 6'1". He's a reliever though. RH starters are typically taller than that and between Black, Edwards, this guy, Pinyero, etc. it seems like the Cubs are targeting these guys as undervalued assets. Combine that with how they have addressed their rotation and it seems like the front office's current slogan is "All pitchers eventually blow up so squeeze as much out of the good ones as you can."

Another short guy. Definitely a trend.

PTBNL has been named: http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=608217

Pretty much this. You could also justify it by being worried about Javy's K rates, but that would ignore the drastic improvements he's made on that front.

Raisin should just put up numbers for Bryant, Baez, Soler, Russell, Schwarber, Almora and McKinney, with splits for BB% and K% by month.

Edwards is pitching his first inning.

The gnashing of teeth and rending of garments is in response to all the 90 loss seasons. Cespedes is just another brick in the wall, but that doesn't mean fans who actually care about results of the major league team are not allowed to wish they signed him. Or does it? I'm saying Mr. Sofa's bizarre obsession with Cespedes specifically isn't based on anything rational. In hindsight I'd rather they signed Cespedes instead of DeJesus+Schierholtz, but it's about #528 on the list of regrets which is why I don't repeatedly rue the day that he got away. It's humorous hyperbole based on an "obsession" with the Cubs failing to sign really any valuable longterm everyday FA under the current FO. I wasn't even the one who brought him up. Hopefully Soler soon puts an end to that obsession.

Given how slowly he's moved, I think they plan on keeping him at catcher.

I'd bring up Javy for the Cardinals series this weekend, just so he can stare at his first homerun a little too long and begin the BFIB stream of hate.

And with the way the game is trending, any young player worth a damn is either getting a pre-free agency extension or is represented by Scott Boras. It makes sense to hold Bryant down (although it sucks), but if Baez is any good they should have him locked up well before that final year of control becomes a problem.

No, but keep in mind that Butler will be a restricted free agent after this season and we'll most likely have to overpay to keep him.

You're dreaming. I think it would have to include Gibson, Mirotic and Butler to come close to Cleveland.

Hopefully Black keeps the walks down.

I bet he was hanging out with the "wrong crowd" when he was doing that extra throwing, too.

I think the teammates are the important one. I would never expect the front office to badmouth anyone with even a sliver of trade value. Given that Law made him out to be a monster in his chat on Friday, it's good to know that his teammates appear to enjoy him.

Not if we suck enough to get the #1 overall pick It'll even suck then because if there's a clear No. 1 pick, he'll have the Astros' massive signing pool whispering promises into his ear. And if the Cubs select them first they will just choose not to take the slot and wait another year in hopes of Houston or another team being in the same mega slot situation? No, he'd just threaten to demand overslot and the Cubs would risk burning up the rest of their pool for the #1 pick.

Not if we suck enough to get the #1 overall pick It'll even suck then because if there's a clear No. 1 pick, he'll have the Astros' massive signing pool whispering promises into his ear. Yep.

Unless he is magically declared a free agent and the Cubs sign him, this kind of sucks since we'll have another pick in front of us next year.

Right here meaning netting (often significant) value in every deal, and hitting on all significant draft and IFA picks. Practically every deal they've made has improved the organization overall, and if you take into account the difference in player development, even the assets that were here have improved stock markedly. We're a long way from spiking the football on the 2012 draft. And the "net significant value in every deal" metric is probably true, but it ignores the fact that they've had some assets depreciate significantly because they were holding out for such a deal. Aside from not going all out in the Darvish/Tanaka/Cespedes races (I'm not 100% convinced they had the resources to do so with the Japanese pitchers, but that's debatable), this has been my chief complaint with the FO. Nobody is prescient enough to know precisely when a player will be at peak value, but they've fudged a few great "sell high" opportunities by holding out. A couple of the guys they could have received solid but not spectacular returns for ended up with virtually no value, Schierholtz being the most notable in my mind. Barney, too. On the trades that they have made, they've done very well. But you're right, we can't ignore the ones they haven't made. The real problem is that guys like Barney and Schierholz have never had any real value.

Most Castro down to behind Baez and push everyone else up one. I'd put Russell at leadoff

Kind of surprised they're doing this. I just assumed they'd keep Baez and SS and Bryant at 3B so they could use the "learning a new position excuse" next year to hold them back until they get the extra year of eligibility.

Given Hendry's past history, I think the Cubs would have pulled him from the rotation when he had that horrific June in 2012 and the bullpen was terrible, but who knows.

Jonathan Quinn remains the worst professional athlete I've ever seen.

Screw that. Orton sucks. My least favorite Bears player in the last 20 years (non Olin Kreutz division). Disliking Orton is kind of odd. But I've always geared my anger more towards our array of inept coaches (Shoop, Shea, etc.) rather than individual players.