Outshined_One

Noble and Nimmala are the two guys that would make me excited. I'm also curious as to whether the Cubs have Cameron Johnson on their radar, since they've previously popped two other IMG pitchers (Gray and Ferris). Maybe as an underslot guy at 13? Considering how deep this draft is, the next few days should be fun.

All I ask is we get a power hitting prospect worth a damn in the pipeline for a 2024 callup, and this is what I wanted to see from Alcàntara earlier this year. I still have hopes for Davis, but things are decidedly grim in the higher levels when it comes to power guys.

I didn't mind that Martinez asked the umps to check his bat since it was strange piece of equipment. I had a problem with this part:

And promptly worms his way into my heart. The fact that Dave Martinez and Joe Maddon have turned into complete redasses about the unwritten rules of the game has been kind of a bummer.

Additionally, no one is meaningfully blocking Mervis on this roster. The downside to Mervis sucking is that 1B continues to be an offensive black hole, which changes exactly nothing about how this team is currently performing on offense. The fact that he literally isn't Anthony Rizzo should have zero bearing on whether he should get any playing time.

Data and information are needed to determine where the Cubs should allocate their resources in the offseason. Two months should be enough time to determine if Mervis should be given an opportunity to be the everyday 1B in 2024, or if the Cubs should plan on finding a new starting 1B in the offseason.

This is a team that's currently 6 games under .500 after 84 games, with the Reds sitting at 47-39 in first place. I don't believe a better manager/coaching staff would have gotten much more out of schmucks like Hosmer, Mancini, or Mastrobuoni. I think the best we would have gotten out of a better manager/coaching staff would have been better allocations of playing time for younger players and maybe a better-structured bullpen, but you wouldn't have seen Suzuki be a 20 HR threat or Madrigal with a .375 OBP. A better manager/coaching staff would not have given this team 10-12 additional wins to this point in the season. This all comes down to roster construction. Since the 2021 selloff, most of the problem comes from a lack of spending, but blame can also be assigned to lackluster production and injuries to promising position players in the farm system and also to certain free agency signings not panning out. I'm also not willing to go all-in on the position talent in the high levels of the farm system at this point. I think PCA is the only untouchable hitter, and I want Mervis to get a meaningful opportunity to play 1B every day once he works things out in AAA, but everyone else seems like they're at least 1-2 years away from even being called up. Frankly, if they want to go fishing for a quality hitter with 2-3 years of team control (if one actually exists in this market), I'm in favor of it.

Firing Ross doesn't fix the underlying issues with this roster. Yes, there have been some questionable decisions made, and the Cubs should consider an upgrade in the offseason, but this is still a sub-.500 team even with a good manager. My vote is they poke around for 1B replacements and bullpen arms, but hold steady with Stroman and Bellinger, and try extending both. I think there's enough here to make a run and sneak into the playoffs, but I also want to see where things go with guys like Mervis, Amaya, and Morel and some of the up and coming arms this season.

Random question for the people who know way more about this stuff than I do. Is there anyone in the Top 50 in this class who is projected to be a good defensive SS? I feel like Nimmala is the only one whose writeups indicate he's likely to stick at SS, but nearly every other MIF prospect gets knocked for issues with arm/quickness/lateral movement/instincts and is likely to end up at 2B/3B/OF in the majors.

Does Shaw actually project as a major league SS, or is he one of those Zobrist types who can play around the diamond, but you wouldn't want him getting regular playing time at short barring catastrophe?

Is it any shock David Ross has an affinity for mediocre backup catchers and bench guys who've stuck around longer than deserved due to "intangibles"? It's almost like we need to go back to the days of Dusty-proofing the roster.

Words fail me.

Kinda curious to see if this game happens, given the air quality in Chicago right now. It basically smells like a bonfire outside, and my eyes haven't stopped watering despite being in air conditioning most of the day.

I mean, I guess it explains his dip in production, but two seasons in a row with major injuries is troubling.

Man, the 2003 season was a blast up until the last three games.

Considering that was Ross' role on the team in 2016, is anyone surprised?

The continued media coverage of the Bears' bass ackwards approach in courting other Chicago suburbs makes it astonishingly clear just how stupid they are. Rather than announce an intention to leave Soldier Field and open up a potential bidding war between municipalities across the country prior to purchasing or committing to a new lease, they immediately jumped on the Arlington property, purchased it for nearly $200m, started demolition, and then decided they wanted to start up a bidding war because they didn't secure preferential tax treatment prior to the purchase. I get that they could conceivably develop, divide, and sell off the Arlington property at a profit, but that would require a serious long term commitment of cash flow to non-football operations, and it also would require the Bears to seek additional financing for the purchase and development of a different parcel (or the redevelopment of Soldier Field) when the public funding of stadium construction can be political suicide. It's not like the McCaskeys are independently wealthy and have bags full of money they could throw around or extensive collateral they could put up for secured financing. The only theory that makes sense to how all of this happened is the Amazon purchasing Arlington rumors had legs, which caused the Bears to panic and accelerate their timeline for purchasing Arlington, rather than taking the time to exercise due diligence, build local political support, and secure commitments for preferential tax treatment prior to purchase. In other words, they pulled a Trubisky.

It's as if Lou Piniella never left.

Can't say I expected this tonight from Kyle.

I think this is performative for Cook County and Arlington Heights, rather than the State. The problem is, they closed on the Arlington property and have already started demolition on it. It's not like they're going to spend millions to buy a parcel in Naperville and then turn the Arlington Heights location into a practice facility and office complex. That's abjectly dumb. I keep saying, if the Bears want the State and Cook County to bend over backwards, they should work on a deal for the Rolling Meadows courthouse facilities at Euclid and Wilke and offer up a new courthouse and government building across the street, where Ditka's used to be. It gives the county and Illinois a win with an influx of cash and modern facilities, it opens the doors for untold amounts of graft, the Bears can use it as leverage for tax breaks and favorable treatment, and it gives the Bears more options for development.

That's how I've felt about following the team this season; their offense is streaky enough that having a mediocre pitching staff means they need to rely on defense and luck to have any shot at a playoff spot. Stroman, Steele, and Smyly have held up their ends of the bargain, but after that, woof. The 4/5 spots are complete black holes and the bullpen desperately needs an overhaul.

I'm fascinated by where the Cubs could go in this draft. Pre-Carter Hawkins, guys like Troy and Shaw would be the leading candidates for the Cubs to select at 13 (assuming availability) as advanced college bats with questions regarding position (see: Kyle Schwarber, Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner, Chase Strumpf), but I don't quite have a handle on this current regime since we only have two drafts to go off of, both of which were COVID-impacted. My hope is for Nimmala, based on my limited knowledge and current preference for targeting high upside types to fill out the lower rungs of the system, but you can make arguments in favor of any guy on this list.

Even when this team is only losing by 2-3 runs, it still feels like a blowout.

Can this team just fast forward to 2027 already?