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Backtobanks

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Everything posted by Backtobanks

  1. Backtobanks
    Soft contact and low ground ball rate, so he's the anti-Hamels Low walk rate, so he's the anti-Chatwood
  2. Backtobanks
    That'a a whole lotta money unless Texas is picking up a gigantic amount.
  3. Backtobanks
    That could actually be a sneaky awesome way of upgrading the rotation this year. An impact guy like Stroman probably costs someone off the ML roster, let's just say Happ or Almora. Our FO is reticent to do that during the year, but if you expand the deal to Donaldson and Stroman. pushing KB to the OF if/when both are healthy, you can trade one of those guys without hurting our position player depth. I'm not sure the BJs would want to package Donaldson and Stroman when there's a market for them seperately.
  4. Backtobanks
    Why would anyone take him off our hands? I've heard he has a promising spin rate. Yeah, his spin rate makes the ball miss the strike zone far too often.
  5. Backtobanks
    The last I read was that the A's were going to be buyers at the deadline, but picking up someone like Cahill would be great (and cheap). Perfect swingman to eat some innings as a spot starter in September with Montgomery and Smyly and then reverting back to the bullpen for the playoffs.
  6. Backtobanks
    To me, those comments don't include Happ. Almora is technically not from within that time range either. Baez, Russell, Bryant, Rizzo, and Schwarber all were on the 2015 squad. My take on it is not to expect the big deal and get by with supplementary pieces (bullpen, cheaper rental SP, etc.) that can be acquired with prospects. Obviously, if they don't get to/win the WS, then some of the positional players will be available in the offseason. The FO has been saying all along that they have confidence in this team and are basically looking for pitching depth.
  7. Backtobanks
    !!!* Does something like Almora, Happ, Amaya, De la Cruz, Lange, and Little get the Cubs Syndergaard and Lugo?* DeGrom and Lugo? * I don't think the Mets trade Syndergaard From today's Tribune: And the Cubs appear firm in their unwillingness to move any position players from their major-league roster to acquire pitching help. “We’ve shown were really loyal to this core group for a reason,” Hoyer said. “They’ve earned that loyalty with their performance over 3½ seasons. Our focus really is on supplementing that group.”
  8. Backtobanks
    Dietrich has a full-time gig all to himself, and still has a lower fWAR than Schwarber, Heyward, Almora, Happ, and Zobrist. I cannot imagine a world in which we are shopping for Derek Dietrich unless there's some crazy back2banks 3-way blockbuster on the horizon. He's not even a fit as our 5th OF as things stand right now. Jed, Theo, and I have a few things in the fire, but it's not always easy dealing with two other teams.
  9. Backtobanks
    Insults aside, I still tend to agree with TT that all of these advanced stats are not very predictive especially with young players. If Almora is terribly over-valued at this point and due for an ugly regression according to these stats, then I'm sure the other teams use those same stats when making decisions on trades and certainly wouldn't trade us a TOR starter. BTW, using some of those advanced stats has us 4.5 games ahead of the Brewers instead of 1.5 back.
  10. Backtobanks
    Using that link (https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/expected ... HC&min=100), we should have traded Baez two years ago because he was due for a big regression. Stats are fun and great for argumentative purposes, but there's a reason the game is played on the field.
  11. Backtobanks
    Which means we could get a better TOR starter for Russell. Obviously, we would all love to get that TOR starter without disrupting the core of the ML roster, but unfortunately we don't have the prospects in the minors to make that kind of deal. I'm sure other teams value Baez, Schwarber, and Russell more than Happ and Almora, even though they look to be solid and productive players. The key point in my semi-sarcastic post at the start of this is that Almora is likely to be over-valued right now and is due for significant regression. That's not nearly as true of Russell. Are you ignoring that on purpose to make your point or just being obtuse? I'm not trying to argue with you, but I don't think Almora has "over-valued" himself enough to get the TOR pitcher that I'm hoping for. As I said above, that kind of deal is going to take one of our young ML core players and most teams will ask for Baez, Schwarber, Russell, or Contreras rather than a deal centered on Almora or Happ. A Happ or Almora deal might get you a good pitcher with another year of control, but not a good pitcher that has 2-3 years (or more) of control.
  12. Backtobanks
    The same could be said about Russell. Baez slides over to SS and Happ/Zobrist take over 2B without missing a beat and we could add a TOR starter. Where to begin... Russell's production is much more sustainable than Albert's. Russell's defensive value is much more certain. That should be enough. Which means we could get a better TOR starter for Russell. Obviously, we would all love to get that TOR starter without disrupting the core of the ML roster, but unfortunately we don't have the prospects in the minors to make that kind of deal. I'm sure other teams value Baez, Schwarber, and Russell more than Happ and Almora, even though they look to be solid and productive players.
  13. Backtobanks
    I think he's due for regression and if they can get a top end starter for him while he's overvalued, they should do it. The same could be said about Russell. Baez slides over to SS and Happ/Zobrist take over 2B without missing a beat and we could add a TOR starter.
  14. Backtobanks
    But Almora is 8th in PA.
  15. Backtobanks
    Cahill and Lucroy should be available and pretty cheap.
  16. Backtobanks
    I don't think any of us would disagree with getting a #1 or #2 starter, but there aren't many available unless you're talking about giving up more than Bote and Caratini.
  17. Backtobanks
    Probably all of those guys are too expensive for the Cubs' farm system.
  18. Backtobanks
    If Beane is really looking to sell (and save some money), maybe a deal for Lowrie, Cahill, and Lucroy involving Bote plus other prospects. Big addition to the bench and bullpen/spot starter and they all come off the books after this year. Lowrie adds a lot of versatility and is a switch hitter.
  19. Backtobanks
    I've been thinking about Jonathan Lucroy. A Treinen/Lucroy package would be ideal (even Cahill added in). Beane seems like he’d potentially value a guy like Bote a little more than others, same with Zagunis. Obviously will take more prospects but think there “could” be building blocks there to something. Oakland has Chapman at 3B, so they don't need Bote. I'm not sure we have the prospects to get Treinen or Treinen plus.
  20. Backtobanks
    I don't get the lack of respect that you guys (and Maddon) have for Almora. Suggestions of trading him or making him a platoon player are ridiculous. Almora is leading the team in hitting and was hitting 100 points higher than Schwarber last year while Maddon "searched" for a leadoff man.
  21. Backtobanks
    On Kikuchi: On Sugano: Does this mean he'll actually be able to pitch for a whole season?
  22. Backtobanks
    Most ML players (especially if they don't have a solid track record) are streaky and end up basically at their norm. It's beautiful to watch when Baez, Russell, and Heyward get in a hot streak, but when the season is over they will probably be back to the numbers we expected.
  23. Backtobanks
    Hopefully his performance has lowered the price, but probably not.
  24. Backtobanks
    Offensively we look pretty good, but the rotation sucks.
  25. Backtobanks
    Seems like every start going in to there’s the tweets and articles by the usual idiots about the 5th inning mental stuff, after every game there’s a mention of the mental stuff (regardless of good or bad start). The Score is all over this mental stuff to. Idk, I’ve seen a lot of it. It’s by the awful hack guys that shouldn’t be taken seriously, but they have a large reach and it’s clearly hit an audience (even if it’s a vocal minority) that now it’s gotten to Yu. Every article in Spring was focused around him being mentally weak and soft and building in the narrative he’s soft if things went bad early too. You have to admit that Yu hasn't done anything on the field to disprove the "mentally weak and soft" label. Sports is a really big deal in Chicago, so these guys need to come up with a "story" whether it's reporting facts or opinions. It's even worse with Bears' coverage where we get "stories" for months before training camp and weeks of speculation before the draft.
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