Agony and Ivy

Awesome way to spend a Saturday boys.

Jesus christ now he's getting 6 inches outside the zone when we can't hit things in the zone, so this should end well. Baseball is stupid.

There is nothing enjoyable about this team right now, but if that game 7 had gone differently I'd be breaking stuff in my living room.

Fairly certain MLB investigates all accusations.

I guess that's better than Julio Teheran's 5.70 FIP. Unless there's a compelling reason to think Teheran is hurt, then yes I would jump all over buying low on Teheran's crappy May. And his 17% K-rate and diminishing velocity? I'd rather just run Eddie Butler or Montgomery out there than give up anything of value for Julio Teheran.

And my fantasy teams where I have him will be better for it.

I used to smash with him in MLB the Show back when he was a Cubs farmhand.

How realistic that we go with a 5 man rotation in the playoffs? I'd say about zero percent. Well by the time the playoffs roll around Arrieta and Hendricks will both be topping out in the mid 70s so it would be Lester/Archer/Gray/Lackey

I am going to print this article out, take down the picture my daughter drew for me, and place it there instead. Honestly that article was super level headed and completely understandable. The comments is where you see the fun.

To me... if they're trading Addison Russell, they'd better be getting something like Noah Syndergaard back. Addison was just a 4-win player as a 22-year-old. Even with his struggles this year, he's still been worth 1.1 bWAR because he leads all shortstops in DRS by a lot. He was a 3-win player as a rookie with a .696 OPS. He's not going to keep hitting *this* poorly, and we know he has the ability to be quite a bit better offensively. So, I just wouldn't really want to get rid of a 3+ WAR player that is still just 23 and with upside, unless I'm getting a significant pitcher back. Bats > arms, especially ones that are awesome shortstops. I don't know if the team is getting any better in an Archer for Russell swap, for example, and I especially wouldn't bet on that being the case over the next 5 years. Use Eloy and company way before that. You're not getting a guy like Thor for Addison Russell and you're not getting Archer with Eloy as the headliner. Picking one WAR and running with it like that and then switching back to another when convenient is disingenuous. Two other sites have Russell at 0.3 WAR so far this season. Since, if they traded Russell, Baez would assume the starting duties this is how projections see it working out for this season only: fWAR: Baez currently at 0.4 WAR with a projection of 1.4 WAR in limited PAs. Russell currently at 0.3 WAR with a projection of 2.0 WAR moving forward without factoring in his kind of demotion. bWAR: This is super crude math coming at you because it's just extrapolation, which favors Baez since he's being sat against tough righties, but Baez is at 1.1 fWAR in 160 PAs, and Russell is at 1.6 in 199 PAs. Extrapolate that out to 600 PAs and you're looking at 4.1 and 4.8 respectively. WARP: Baez has been worth 0.5 WARP and projected for 0.8 WARP RoS (287 PAs). Russell has been worth 0.3 WARP and 1.3 WARP (392 PAs) projected moving forward. So just swapping out Russell and Baez isn't a huge loss in the immediate future and adding Archer over Eddie Butler is kind of a huge upgrade and solves rotation questions for a couple years, until Archer gets hurt and ruins everything. Of course, that leaves no backup SS option at the moment and hurts the depth, but that might be a worthwhile swap in risk. I don't know if I'd do a Russell+ for Archer swap, but it's not some crazy overpay either.

Gray has looked excellent once he got his sea legs under him. I'd love to get him from Oakland if he stays healthy. I didn't read the whole thread, so I'm not sure if this was covered, but if they go big to get a TOR arm with control (Archer) I have a sneaking suspicion Addy will be the centerpiece. Just a thought I had the other day that I can't shake.

Except uppercut swings stay in the zone longer but whatever, I guess Ted Williams could be wrong. I was mostly going off of what KB said his motivation was last year for flattening his path a little. Uppercuts are great. But they can be too extreme. I feel like that is what is happening with Kyle at times. KB specifically said that if his bat angle is too steep then it won't stay in the zone long and his margin for error is reduced. I should have been more clear with what I meant. Bryant flattened out his bat angle by 2-3 degrees to help cover the outside corner. Unless you have data on Schwarber's bat angle through the zone, that's a blind criticism. He's not getting beat because his bat angle is too extreme, he's getting beat because he's guessing on every pitch right now. I can't say if that's something that can get straightened out in Iowa or not, but I think I'd rather he work with big league coaching and fight through this mental horsefeathers he's dealing with at the plate.

Except uppercut swings stay in the zone longer but whatever, I guess Ted Williams could be wrong.

Oh damn its wild Carl.

Schwarber sent his Indiana buddies a bunch of texts "joking" about how much he's struggling but it was more of a "holy horsefeathers this is killing me and I have no idea what's wrong" kind of joking.

How many pitches does it take to strikeout Schwarber here? O/U 3.5

Lance Lynn can go horsefeathers himself. I hate that horsefeathers

I'd guess Russell has more trade value than Baez, so it's not impossible. I don't think they will because of perceived 'character' but baseball wise, it could end up being the right move. I don't think Russell will be able to maintain enough arm strength to stay at SS forever despite his overall better fielding consistency than Baez there. perceived 'character'? he horsefeathers everyone he sees What is fielding consistency? That's not an actual thing. Both Baez and Russell are elite defenders, but Baez and his versatility are an asset. If they're going to go out and get a guy like Archer, it's going to take something huge, and to me, that's Addy.

It's Boras. Good luck. Well horsefeathers. Baez it is then. . I still think they trade Russell before they trade Baez.

My god this team blows. As someone who constantly fights the idiots on Cubs Twitter, they might actually be right.

I says we send him to High-A like the Cardinals did with Grichuk, just to clear his head of course.

Yes yes yes let's follow the Mets system of player development, this is a horsefeathering flawless strategy.

16 is a lot?

horsefeathers the Fire Mallee truthers are here too? What in the actual horsefeathers happened to this place the last week? I challenge one moron that thinks it's Mallee's fault to explain EXACTLY what a hitting coach does on a day to day basis, because I don't think you actually have a clue.

Nice to see the NSBB twitter account has opened up some pandora's box and Cubs twitter has found its way here.