Tryptamine

Wicks doing a lot of pitching up in the zone, don't think that's a recipe for success with him

It's a damn shame Keller imploded yesterday. They win that game too and the Cardinals are more or less buried.

That's right Seiya, tell them to shove their asg up their ass

where was strike 3?

Really surprised Busch didn't make it when 3 1B are on the roster His 2.5 fwar puts him 3rd behind Olson(3.1) and Alonso(3.0) ahead of Freeman (2.1) His 162 wRC+ leads the NL His 18 HR is 2nd His 56 RBI is 5th His .402 wOBA is 1st Guy got completely hosed

Been there for weeks now. The supposed price tag is absurd for what is basically a reclamation project and the Cubs can't afford to do a reclamation project while they're chasing a division title.

If Busch doesn't make the team that's going to be one of the bigger snubs in recent memory.

Yes, but he didn't start like that with the Cubs. Even Busch can become even passable against lefties he's a super exciting player to have.

So, Michael Busch might seriously be Rizzo 2.0.

They're going to have to trade for a starting pitcher sooner rather than later. Waiting until the deadline is going to be folly unless no one out there is willing to go early.

One guy was having a 99 wRC+ season before being traded and was a season and a half off a 125 wRC+, Hayes is sitting at a 68 wRC+, had a 59 wRC+ in 2024, and had 86 and 85 wRC+s in 2 of the 3 seasons before that.

I did not see he got moved to the 60 day on June 11. I thought he was still on the 15 day. Yeah, that more or less completely removes him. Surgery is almost certainly coming.

Of the at least fairly reasonable options, not guys like Degrom who wont ever be available, I think I rank them like this at the moment 1) Joe Ryan- He hits Arbitration next year and Minnesota is salary dumping getting ready for sale, that's the only reason he's possibly available. Over the last two seasons he's posted a 3.24 ERA 3.37 FIP 3.49 xFIP. The cost would be damn near Mackenzie Gore high. 2) Pablo Lopez- Again, the Twins are looking to lower payroll. He's signed thru 2027 at 21.5M a year. This year he's posting a 2.82 ERA 2.99 FIP 3.54 xFIP. Cost would be high, but not quite as high as Ryan EDIT: Was unaware he was transferred to the 60 day DL which removes him from the list. 3) Edward Cabrera- The performance isn't up there with Ryan or Lopez but the upside is probably even higher. He seems to be ironing out his notorious control issues with a career low 3.79 BB/9 this year. 3.41 ERA 3.83FIP 3.80 xFIP. He's not a free agent until 2029 so the cost would still be rather high 4) Seth Lugo- He's a FA at the end of the year which means he shouldn't cost too much. FIP and xFIP have never really loved him but he consistently puts up solid ERAs. 2.74 ERA 4.18 FIP 4.02 xFIP 5) Merrill Kelly- Another rental piece, who has consistently been at least good if not very good in 3 of the last 4 years. 3.55ERA 3.48 FIP 3.49 xFIP 6) Mitch Keller- He's actually a really solid pitcher, not great but good, I just get the impression that due to him being under control through 2028 at a reasonable 16.5M in '26, 18M in '27 and 20M in '28 that his price will be much higher than I can stomach. 3.64 ERA 3.24 FIP 3.93 xFIP 7) Yusei Kikuchi- The Angels almost certainly aren't selling yet, but if they take a turn for the worst he's a guy I'd absolutely love the Cub pitch lab to get their hands on. I really wanted him in the offseason. He's under control through 2027 where he'll make 21M in '26 and '27. 2.81 ERA 3.79 FIP 4.00 xFIP. Guys I want no part of: 1) Alcantara- The price tag is way too high for a guy who has been mediocre to miserable for a season and a half now 2) Gallen- I don't know if it's mechanics or injury but something is very wrong there in both movement and velocity 3) Eflin- He was hurt, came back still hurt and pitched terribly, now he's on the IL again. It's a shame, he was a guy I had my eye on a month or or two ago as an acquisition. 4) Sugano- His regression to his peripherals has been hard and fast 5) Heaney- K/9 way down, and surviving on a babip 41 points below his career average. I don't think he gives you anything that Wicks, Assad, etc. couldn't give you other than reliable starts. 6) Marquez- Only if the Cubs have a time machine to go back 4 or 5 years 7) Anderson- Same as Heaney, I don't think he gives the Cubs anything they couldn't find internally other than a guy who's a pretty solid bet to make his starts

Fantastic, let the Dodgers waste their powder on Alcantara.

Man, after last I couldn't help but think what could have been if Steele wasn't hurt. Steele/Shota/Boyd would have been a really strong top 3. Drop Taillon to #5, throw another guy in there like Lugo and that would have been a very deep very good rotation.

I'll probably change my mind a dozen times but this is kind of where I am right now. Who I want: Steele Hall Gage Wood Tyler Bremner Who I expect the Cubs to take: Gavin Kilen Wehiwa Aloy Tyler Bremner

He's not thrilling but much like Lugo he'd be a solid get. I just feel like he'd probably cost more than I'd like for a guy who been more just ok to solid.

Cabrera 100 times before Alcantara.

I'd not enthralled with the thought of another fairly safe bet with a ceiling of more solid major league hitter than star type pick, but I'm not exactly enthralled with guys like Aloy either. The Cubs haven't really shown any ability to get hitters to reduce their swing and miss issues.

Oh my god he had a sub .300 SLG in almost 400 PAs last year with a grand total of 13 xbh. Compare that to Nico's .384 SLG so far this year. That seems almost impossible.

I don't have much for expectations. As was mentioned in the article, I don't expect anyone with ceiling to be targeted it's going to be about raising the floor. McMahon is pretty much the perfect candidate for that. He's incredibly underwhelming but he's pretty consistently okish. Personally he's nowhere near enough of an upgrade over Shaw for me to have any interest in him, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if Jed goes there.

JRam will never be traded. He took a huge discount to stay in Cleveland.

He's not horrendous I suppose, but an 86 wRC+ since coming back up isn't exactly glowing in a year where they appear to be going for it based on the Tucker acquisition,

Sure if Shaw is part of the deal along with numerous other prospects for Skenes, otherwise hard pass.

Kept money lining the old decrepit ghoul's pockets.