Cubswin11

1. Darvish 2. Arrieta 3. Tanaka 4. Nobody else unless Otani is available then he's 1 and everyone else gets knocked down 1.

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Yeah it's time to rip off like 12 of 15 and wrap up this division

We have 10 games until our next scheduled off day and then another scheduled off day 6 games after that. So if we let Monty go one more time and then bring Lester back, with those off days, I think that would roughly give everyone an extra day off between starts the next 2-3 times through the rotation going forward before the last stretch of games in September/October. My math may be slightly off but think it's roughly right.

[tweet] [/tweet] What's the harm in giving Lester one more start to rest? Monty looks strong, let him keep going Monty should get one more start this time through the rotation before bringing Lester back just to bump everyone a day and give them an extra rest, imo.

I'd be shocked if anyone guaranteed 6 years for him, maybe he gets 6 in option years and/or incentives reached but I can't see 6 guaranteed happening. Unless, for whatever reason, his market doesn't materialize and all it takes is like 6/100 to get him. And going 6/100 is what it takes to beat like 5/90-95 type offers.

Didn't see it posted here or anywhere by any Cubs writers/twitter but according to ESPN's schedule Lester is the scheduled starter this Saturday vs the Braves and next Thursday vs the Pirates

:flythew:

It's not impossible in the coming years an infield of Bryant/Russell/Baez/Rizzo/Willy all win or finish in the top 2-3 in GG award voting (I know it's a stupid award but you get the point).

Go away, Koji

THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU, BENNY!!!

Damn it, Javy

It seems like a lot of Heyward's soft contact has been falling for hits lately

Jake's stuff is almost too good tonight, it's like a Harden start

Both have their roles and are valuable, I just like and think Russell is better and is more likely to be better long-term. Javy still doesn't really take walks, he has 24 this year and 13 are IBB. So if you subtract the IBB his real BB rate is under 3%, it's just really hard to stay consistently good offensively with his profile unless he gets some BABIP luck and/or is protected in certain matchups.

Win, jerks

He's also still our best SS and it would be stupid to trade him I don't believe he is our best SS going forward. At least not in terms of offensive upside. I believe J. Baez can be just as good as A. Russell on defense if he cleans up a few things. He has unquestionably the strongest arm on the team. He makes plays no one else can make, including A. Russell. J. Baez is improving and getting better... I can't say the same thing for A. Russell. I really haven't seen any improvements from A. Russell at the plate or in his approach. I really doubt he improves much beyond hitting for more power. He should be getting better, but I'm almost positive his scouting report says "Don't throw him a fastball in the zone" and "really struggles to hit good breaking pitches inside and outside the zone". I mean the same thing can be said for Baez too. Baez is showing some improvement, but occasionally regresses and goes back into his bad habits. Look, I'm fine with keeping him (Russell). I said he's still super valuable because of his defense and power at SS, but I think Baez is better and has better chance of reaching his ceiling now. No harm in exploring trades for this kind of talent. I never said T. Turner for A. Russell...I said for a "T. Turner + J. Ross" type package. Personally, I do like T. Turner more than A. Russell as well, but I doubt Washington would even consider doing a Turner for Russell 1-for-1 swap. T. Turner is the better player and has a much higher upside IMO. I have no problem trading Russell for prospects, but they would have to be excellent consensus Top 100 prospects. I feel the complete opposite. Russell is already better and younger and has just as high an upside and does just about everything better than Javy except arm strength. There's plenty of playing time for both, however, and it's pretty silly to trade either, especially for prospects when both are young themselves and we are in the competitive window right now with them for the next 5-7+ years.

The Troy Glaus with a little more BA and defensive value comps are looking quite true right now

Why would we trade our 23 year old SS who already has 8 career WAR for a SS prospect? Prospect? He's put up 5.1 WAR in less than a full season. The real question is why would the Nats do that deal? I don't think the literal Trea Turner is being discussed here, it's a figurative similar deal the Nats/Padres did. Which in that case (and which I assumed) yes he is a prospect

He's also still our best SS and it would be stupid to trade him Not sure it would be all that stupid if you had Trea Turner headlining the deal Why would we trade our 23 year old SS who already has 8 career WAR for a SS prospect?

Davis absolutely is getting QO'd barring any sort of late season injury and/or his medicals looking awful (which his performance wouldn't indicate this year)

Don't want to make a new thread but any guesses on September call ups? I'd think Caritini, Zas and Grimm are locks. Obviously Willy, Lester and Russell whenever they are healthy. But anyone else? Maples should be up, IMO. Maybe Tseng or PJ just to have some bullpen depth in the event of a blowout game? Then maybe Hannemann or Zagunis? That's getting to kind of a lot of guys.

2 days*, hope for a split and extra inning games so both pitching staffs/bullpens are wrecked for a few days as a residual effect and then hopefully the Nats kick the Brewers horsefeathers in over their 4 game series starting Thursday.

The only thing their fanbase should be pissed/meatbally about is that they didn't trade away assets at the deadline from their shitty team who is going to be even shittier next year because they can't afford any of their FA in the offseason. Going that long without scoring is crazy but they have a pretty shitty offense, they are near the bottom 20-25 of the league in anything meaningful on offense.