Clem Fandango

Also, I know the consensus is Bryant will be called up early next season, but is there zero chance he gets caled up when rosters expand? I want to see him in the big leagues right [expletive] now.

Last time I popped in here Joe West was being an asshat, then I see the Soler HR's http://i.imgur.com/QNAJc.gif

Rizzo before Starlin because Rizzo is the [expletive]. Everyone else is in callup order. Fin.

Soler totally called his shot you guys...

Came into this thread for the first time tonight expecting to see comments about a Baez or Soler HR. I don't even know what's happening, but I [expletive] hate Joe West for it

Eww, is that Trajan? What are they, in a shitty horror movie?

http://i.imgur.com/Rav8F.gif

http://i.imgur.com/1XeFV41.jpg?1 http://i.imgur.com/DA4C9ld.png vs. http://i.imgur.com/s4iyjBD.png http://i.imgur.com/P0RbTy0.png

Oh God I hope he sticks at catcher. That would make things so much more amazing

1) McCarthy 2) Liriano Don't really care about anyone else.

Exactly this. That settles my concern. Carry on.

Then like I said, I could be wrong (and probably am). I just misinterpreted.

haubrich was on such a roll I forgot I was even on deck. That and the game started super early (I'm on the West Coast atm). I'll get tomorrow.

Starling Marte (PIT) on June 9th Jordy Mercer (PIT) on June 22nd Anthony Rendon (WAS) on June 27th Matt Joyce (TAM) on August 8th

is it baker or is it arrieta? Arrieta not caring and throwing breaking pitches might be an issue, but Baker's CS% was 9% coming into this game. It's dropped a whole percentage point now. He's now 4 for 49 in catching steals. 8%. League average is 27%. Arrieta throwing offspeed/breaking stuff or not, Baker probably wouldn't have caught any of these guys even if Arrieta was throwing triple digit heat

FIVE [expletive] STOLEN BASES TODAY

Which one? And, if so, did you actually hear it? (I'm not being argumentative... I didn't hear it either so I'd be interested in your interpretation) I was interpreting his statement of payroll increasing to our desired levels when the TV deal is struck as him saying they wont be big spenders until that happens, which I'm assuming means our expectations of having this rollover budget (and extra $50 mil to play with, roughly) is less fact and more speculation now. I could be wrong. I hope I'm wrong. so you think "desired levels" = $100M? Nope. But it sounds like he said they weren't gonna be big spenders until it happens, and I include going after a guy like Lester to be a big acquisition. But who knows. Like I said, I could be/hope I'm wrong and I'm just misinterpreting this badly. I didn't hear it so I have no idea, just going off of what others are saying here. It would just be very PTR-esque for the Cubs to sort of hint that we have this rollover budget to spend this offseason earlier in the season only to come out and be like "We gotta hold off until we get this TV deal in place" and then pinch more pennies this offseason.

Which one? And, if so, did you actually hear it? (I'm not being argumentative... I didn't hear it either so I'd be interested in your interpretation) I was interpreting his statement of payroll increasing to our desired levels when the TV deal is struck as him saying they wont be big spenders until that happens, which I'm assuming means our expectations of having this rollover budget (and extra $50 mil to play with, roughly) is less fact and more speculation now. I could be wrong. I hope I'm wrong.

what the [expletive], baker

What's the read here? Stable as in embarrassing 2014 85M payroll stable, or stable as in we held back money this year embarrassing 100M payroll stable? The payroll thing is a little discouraging to me. I don't see how they won't spend at least a little bit this offseason, because of how low the payroll is going to be going into the offseason. Hoyer has pretty openly said they will be players in the pitching market this offseason, too. Theo's statement doesn't match, unless they're going after more Hammels and Feldmans, which would be disappointing, IMO. That said, the offense should be really fun and potentially very good, so the team won't be miserably awful in that situation.

But seriously I think pitching is the focus and it's obvious. They could use a corner OF but they won't be sunk without one either. But pitching is an issue that needs to be addressed, regardless of how well the current guys are doing. Adding a Lester or a McCarthy (or both) would go a long way to helping the team both on the field and off it (making other guys expendable for trade packages). And obviously Stanton is the dream acquisition, but if he can't be had then a guy like Markakis (or others I'm too lazy to look up) would do in a pinch. I'm also super intrigued by Tomas, but not sure when he's gonna be available. But if we can't get Stanton, he'd be my 2nd choice for a corner OF acquisition. Bullpen has been good and if we buy pitching a couple starters would move there. Not sure if we need a bullpen guy but adding more never hurts. Catcher is iffy. I like Castillo, and he shows signs of being a good catcher but he's kind of meh. Maybe the Cubs trade for one? I mentioned it off hand in the Jax for Upton thread, but it would be splendid if the Cubs could acquire Bethancourt from the Braves in an expanded deal, though I'm sure they're overly attached to him. Not sure what to think about catcher otherwise. Maybe the M's are down on Zunino?

Buy Lester and McCarthy. Trade for Stanton. Offseason over.

Starlin Castro: This is probably before your time, but back in the day... John Baker: *eyeroll*

If he is hopefully Theo will say "Just STFU about Starlin, will ya?"

he's a weirdo i like his info but he's borderline creepy Agreed. You have to separate the persona and the information he gives. He is definitely a weird guy, though. That and he kept insisting Baez wasn't as good as Lindor and had too many concerns, etc, etc and then Kyle called him out for not paying attention enough and probably playing catch up in the offseason and instead of handling it like and adult he got defensive and spewed out the equivalent of "Nuh uh! Nuh uh!" and insisted he had some of the most detailed and accurate reports delivered to him by scouts that back up what he says, and then after the offseason he played catch up and was like "Wow you guys, he's amazing and the 4th best prospect in baseball" basically. He kind of lost some credibility from me in that regard. He provides good info, don't get me wrong, but Kyle straight up called him out, and he basically admitted he operates off second hand scouting reports, which is why hiring him as a scout is confusing to me. I'm sure he's plenty of capable of scouting himself, but whatever. That said, I'm sure it will be fine and I personally don't care about the hire. He just went from a guy I viewed as providing great info to a douche canoe who tried to create his own lexicon and who reneged on his statements after seasons end when he insisted they were the gospel according to Parks all season long.