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Outshined_One

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Everything posted by Outshined_One

  1. Outshined_One
    To me, he's in an odd spot at the moment. He's on pace to be a 2-3 WAR 1B, which should put him among the Top 10 1Bs in the major leagues, but it's unclear if he will take a Rizzo-like jump in production, or if this is the level we can expect from him going forward. I think it's going to come down to internal evaluations in the offseason, because, facially, he is an excellent piece in a hypothetical trade for someone like Vlad Jr. At the same time, last offseason, he would have been an excellent piece in a hypothetical Pete Alonso trade, and now Busch is on pace to have a substantially better season.
  2. Outshined_One
    I think part of what's happening around the forum stems from certain posters being waaaaaaaaaaay too online, to the point that they're constantly bombarded with hawt taekz from bots and blue checkmarked redpill addicts, which consist of nothing but overreactions designed to generate clicks and the sort of racially-tinged nonsense that causes every dog within earshot to howl for hours on end. I'd like to think that most of us in here know the difference between constructive criticism and hyperbole. However, that nonsense can put a person on edge.
  3. Outshined_One
    horsefeathers yes.
  4. Outshined_One
    This pretty much sums it up for me. My inclination is, this is the offseason for the Cubs to cash in their prospect chips for a number of reasons, and I am a heck of a lot more amenable to seeing the Cubs trade from their glut of hitters on the farm than I was a year ago. I'm also amenable to seeing the Cubs dangle guys like Nico and Busch in trade talks if it means acquiring someone like Rooker or Raleigh. Frankly, the only guy I'd deem untouchable in the entire Cubs system is PCA. Regardless, my major goals for this offseason would be acquiring, in order: (1) a top-end bat (regardless of position); (2) a mid-level inning eater SP; (3) a late inning RP; and (4) a starting catcher.
  5. Outshined_One
    Ye be warned.
  6. Outshined_One
    Difficulty: St. Louis Style
  7. Outshined_One
    "Future Hall of Famer" is my hope, for the record.
  8. Outshined_One
    Not necessarily; with Wicks up, they can just keep throwing Kyle Hendricks out there like that old dog your neighbor refuses to put down, despite being incontinent and unable to walk.
  9. Outshined_One
    Knowing Hawk, it just would have been 9 innings of complete silence during each game.
  10. Outshined_One
    This was supposed to be Steele's start, but he was scratched due to elbow soreness. The doctors are evaluating him today/tomorrow and we'll see what comes of it. The Cubs have been really sensitive to elbow/forearm matters this season, so it may just be precautionary. I'm guessing Kyle got the call because he was available and the Cubs would need medicals to come back before doing any sort of roster move. Still, this sucks.
  11. Outshined_One
    Dusty Baker's kid debuted today? I'm horsefeathers old.
  12. Outshined_One
    Herz always struck me as a change of scenery type, as in, whatever the Cubs did with him wasn't really sticking and he needed to go somewhere else with a different approach to succeed. It's clearly worked out for him so far, because I don't think he'd be doing this with the Cubs if they hadn't traded him.
  13. Outshined_One
    You get the feeling Crews two years from now would have destroyed that pitch he fouled back.
  14. Outshined_One
    Cool. Don't let it happen again.
  15. Outshined_One
    My hope for Wicks for the rest of the season is he lays a firm claim to a rotation slot going into 2025. Granted, I get the feeling the Cubs end up acquiring a SP and trading Wicks or Assad for a bat in the offseason, but I'd rather not have the Cubs in a position of desperation to shore up that last rotation spot.
  16. Outshined_One
    The Cubs are in such a weird spot with SP next season. Steele and Imanaga are pretty much locks for the 1-2 spot, Taillon and Assad are serviceable back end types, and then you have a whole bunch of question marks. Ideally, Brown comes back healthy and you ride him until he breaks again, but Wicks and Horton should also presumably be healthy and ready to go come Spring Training 2025. Kilian and Wesneski are kinda sorta there and might put *something* together. Birdsell is also intriguing, but he doesn't quite have the apparent ceiling everyone else does. I think a trade makes the most sense to clear the decks and lock down the #3 spot, but it obviously depends on who's available.
  17. Outshined_One
    NLROY is going to come down to Merrill vs Skenes, but man, PCA is making a really fun late charge at the award.
  18. Outshined_One
    And that's totally fair! If Shaw and Triantos are Happ and Hoerner 2.0, that would be really good outcomes for both. Ideally, a competitive roster will have a bunch of guys who give solid production for cheap, and a good farm system should churn those sorts of guys out on a regular basis. Where my reservations come in is, I'm currently not sold on the realistic ceilings and/or likelihood to reach realistic ceilings of the top hitters. On the flip side, I feel like a healthy Horton is a potential ace. It's also difficult because, if Horton wasn't fully recovered and they rushed him back, that injury could cascade into something worse.
  19. Outshined_One
    The Cubs' pitching injuries this season have been admittedly strange. It's one thing if you have a guy with persistent shoulder issues or who's gone under the knife under multiple occasions, but an annoyingly nagging lat injury and a nebulous neck injury can be viewed differently. I'm not willing to slap the "injury-prone" label on Horton for that reason, but that's just me. Additionally, for me, the top hitters in the system all blend together into an amorphous blob of "good, but how good?" guys. I like what they bring to the table, but I feel like I'm watching the next generation of Ian Happs and Jeimer Candelarios come up, instead of, say, the next generation of Kris Bryants and Javier Baezes. I'll be thrilled if I'm wrong about the hitters, but Horton feels like one of the few special guys in the system to me.
  20. Outshined_One
    As memory serves post-draft, Smith had two swings in college, one last season that put his power to use and caused a huge spike in Ks, and one that he employed this season that cut down on the strikeouts and was effective, but basically caused a power outage. There was some discussion around the forum about getting him to use both as A/B hacks depending on the situation, rather than try to overhaul his swing altogether. I'm curious to see if that's the case.
  21. Outshined_One
    Welp, horsefeathers. Shows what I know about draftnosticating.
  22. Outshined_One
    I love that we've gone from calling for PCA to get demoted to AAA and traded in the offseason to holy horsefeathers he might actually be amazing in the span of a few weeks.
  23. Outshined_One
    Each series is pretty much make or break from here on out insofar as the Cubs' playoff hopes go.
  24. Outshined_One
    Moises Ballesteros is the best and closest catching prospect they have, but he's a catcher in much the same way Schwarber was a catcher.
  25. Outshined_One
    I believe it was Matt Spiegel on the Score. He has connections within the Cubs, but not to the point where I'd take his word as gospel. Alcantara has a history of adjustment periods, to the point where I think this outcome is bound to happen to him regardless of when he comes up, and with what team. I also don't know if the Cubs would give him the playing time or have the patience to let him develop in the majors while trying to compete for a playoff spot, be it this season or next.
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