Bryants Disco Ball

How many $ is a win worth these days? I’d say yes he should definitely be picked up, he’s probably more of a 4.00ish era pitcher than a 5. His ERA was below 4 before he inexplicably fell apart these last 5 starts. Fangraphs has him worth over $26 million this year. Honestly, the main outlier for him has been the dongs. The concerning part is that that issue first showed up in 2017, and isn't considered that this league-wide power surge didn't happen until last season? This where I get so damn confused. I watched Q all season, and never ever would I have thought, 'Yeah, this guy was worth a one-year, $26 million dollar deal this year.'

Any team that finishes the season 21-2 has to be considered a threat.

And if this score holds up, they will have allowed three or fewer runs in 15 of those games. What the ever living horsefeathers is going on here? horsefeathers them so hard.

The Cardinals even have the Cubs' fake rallies. Congrats, everyone. Wish I felt the way you all do.

It's hilarious that now that I'm cheering hardcore for the Cardinals they have turned into the Cubs the last two games. ' Man, the horsefeathering Brewers are actually going to win the division because they never lost a game.

It's still sort of difficult to believe that on Sept. 5 the Cubs were five games up on a playoff spot, and just 17 games later and with six contests still remaining, they are already basically eliminated. horsefeathers.

You can do this kind of injury listing for pretty much anyone, probably mostly worse. Bottom line he's played 147 games this year minimum and other than 2018 has played minimum 151 games a year in the MLs since 2015. That makes it seem like durability is an overrated/overstated knock. I mean, I guess we can go back and forth on this. I think KB's body breaking down is a concern, based on the last two seasons. The 147 games is a mirage, other than to break anybody's narrative that he is somehow soft. Dude played through an injury the past two months. I also don't think anyone is implying KB is not an awesome hitter and a huge asset to a team. I know all I'm saying is that I'm not confident his body is going to age well in upcoming seasons and I have no issue with looking to move him for something that makes sense, considering I also don't think they are resigning him after 2021.

This knee thing is a whole different level from the shoulder, where he missed 60 games and otherwise played like a 2-3 maybe 4 WAR player. This knee thing killed his August but he's got a .955 OPS in September. rWAR is maybe suggesting that his time at 3B may be coming to a close, buns, but otherwise the bat and power are back. I don't hate 2nd contract Bryant to basically end up a souped up Nelson Cruz these days He also has missed multiple games due to the knee earlier this month and will likely miss the last six with an ankle injury. The guy is banged up a lot, that's all. No way I'm touching KB on a seven or eight year contract after he turns 30, assuming the money is also large. ETA: Unless Bryant is willing to take roids and the NL gets a DH.

Not career threatening. But for two months now he's had a knee that has apparently hurt his production. That's coming off a season in which he had a bad shoulder for like four months. The Cubs aren't going to trade him, but they are going to try.

He's forever trapped in the Dead Zone of technically being too valuable to trade, but he's doomed to not actually be as great as the Cubs desperately need him to be. Also: his skeleton is an antique. Yup. Love KB when he's healthy. The problem is that even when he's playing, he's not healthy for like two or three months. I'm a bit worried his body is not going to get better but might actually keep breaking down.

I would for sure be down with getting Betts, but also more, for the extra year of Bryant.

where did the cubs win total from 2012-2014 rank? those seasons count too. Not for original conversation, which is "last five years." Jim Hendry was GM for 9 seasons and had 3 playoff appearances. Theo is gonna be 4/8. It'd be funny if they missed again next year and he ended up being exactly one appearance better than Hendry (and that one appearance was a play-in game loss). Sure, Theo got through the playoff crapshoot time, which was super fun but doesn't specifically reflect on him as an executive. Theo got you to cry tears of joy. I just read the Game 7 thread yesterday and saw that. He wins.

Haha. Yup. I don't care if this roster should be blown up or not. I want it blown up.

Is there actually somebody named Bryant's Crystal Ball? It can't be me. I don't start game threads except for that one time when everyone forgot and I put the wrong date because I just copied and pasted.

I don't know, man. I just think we are going to be right back here next year trying to come up with why this core again didn't get it done. KB for Betts and Rendon are very unlikely, but at least shoot for somebody that resembles 2016 Dex. For as fun as that would be, they just won't add Betts (with KB or Rendon on the roster) he'd soak up all the available money. Which yeah that sucks but we are dealing in reality, let's wait a year and hope we can grab him in FA. The trade KB for stuff and sign Rendon sequence makes sense on paper and in a video game but I think it's harder to pull off in reality. That leaves us with the fact we have 13-15 WAR banked between KB, Javy and Rizzo going in to next year. They are not the problem. The problems are the pieces around them and we need to make the roster deeper and more diverse to supplement their deficiencies. This was similar to the pre-2016 offseason, we saw our butts get shoved in the CS vs the Mets pitching because we had too much swing and miss and saw we needed a more well rounded roster and contact so we added Zobrist and Heyward. It's not all that dissimilar to this offseason coming up, you know what your core is with those three so go address it with the margin and supplemental moves (which involves trading at least one of Willy or Schwarbs). Build out a deeper roster on offense with some more contact and complimentary pieces and things should shake out better. The pitching also has a decent enough foundation with the guys returning that it's more back filling than doing a big overhaul. The offense should be the big focus. Yeah, that would be fine. Baez, Rizzo and Bryant are cool in the middle. I just really want -- about to sound meatbally here -- a spark at the top. Maybe even two. A couple guys who make contact, get on base and have speed. Guys who can create havoc while getting knocked in by those three. But that's way easier said then done. I suppose everybody wants those guys.

Well, it's more replacing Bryant with Rendon but then also getting another star for KB. So sort of two stars for one. But, yeah, none of this is actually happening. I've just grown fatigued watching this offense and hope for something a tad different. ETA: I also thought Betts and KB were both under contract for two more seasons.

Crap. Then we are screwed. If the core of this team is basically the same next year, I expect to see the exact same type of performance next season. We might as well just start retooling rather than letting everybody play out their contracts. I'd rather trade KB for Betts, trade for Whit Merrifield and sign Rendon. Granted, none of this is probably possible, but that's the kind of shakeup I'd like to see. I love KB, but he's one more ailment away next season from officially breaking down. He has gone months each of the last two seasons with an injury that has zapped him. No we are not “screwed.” That sequence of moves is so unlikely, just not realistic. The problem isn’t the core, the core is still pretty damn good. The problem is the margins and complimentary pieces to supplement what the core lacks, which can be addressed in the offseason. You just don’t blow it up, you make a real effort with the likely $20-30 mil in available money and a lesser trade piece (Willy/Schwarbs) to go figure it out. I don't know, man. I just think we are going to be right back here next year trying to come up with why this core again didn't get it done. KB for Betts and Rendon are very unlikely, but at least shoot for somebody that resembles 2016 Dex.

They lost that edge, man. That 2016 was simply amazing. I'm just grateful it happened. But the core has never really looked the same since because of all those things you mentioned.

Crap. Then we are screwed. If the core of this team is basically the same next year, I expect to see the exact same type of performance next season. We might as well just start retooling rather than letting everybody play out their contracts. I'd rather trade KB for Betts, trade for Whit Merrifield and sign Rendon. Granted, none of this is probably possible, but that's the kind of shakeup I'd like to see. I love KB, but he's one more ailment away next season from officially breaking down. He has gone months each of the last two seasons with an injury that has zapped him.

I feel like this isn't changing things up enough. That lineup, rotation and bullpen is far too much the same for me to have any confidence in this bunch. Theo needs to get much crazier.

Win the next 8 and the best STL can do is tie. Now of course Milwaukee during that stretch will go 8-1 Love how you are showing pessimism toward the Brewers here.

For those who still care, I absolutly guarantee the Cubs will win. I don't think when I'm right it will be that impressive considering it's only a one-run game with two innings left, but it is what it is.

I'm willing to consider it. But how come other teams aren't getting that bad luck who employ a bunch of scumbags, too? ETA: Never mind. It appears the Bryant thing wasn't karma. He just sucked.

but the cubs should still be winning 90 games this season even with those screw ups. and also their contention was never with the players the cubs were choosing to sign. they just thought that the cubs spending money at all meant their window would close sooner, even if they weren't bad signings. their argument never made sense. I am over the Cardinals winning the division. Now just hoping the Brewers trip over their dicks in the last 10 days and we back in to the stupid wildcard. I think the more realistic hope is that the Nationals trip over their dick.

Also, I feel like Cole Hamels has cost himself years and millions of dollars with his injury-riddled second half.