Jump to content
North Side Baseball

Outshined_One

Community Moderator
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    28,178

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    7

 Content Type 

Profiles

Joomla Posts 1

Chicago Cubs Videos

Chicago Cubs Free Agent & Trade Rumors, Notes, & Tidbits

2026 Chicago Cubs Top Prospects Ranking

News

2023 Chicago Cubs Draft Picks

Guides & Resources

2024 Chicago Cubs Draft Picks

The Chicago Cubs Players Project

2025 Chicago Cubs Draft Pick Tracker

2026 Chicago Cubs Draft Tracker: Picks & Bonuses

Blogs

Events

Forums

Store

Gallery

Everything posted by Outshined_One

  1. Outshined_One
    This sort of stuff goes right to my Board Game Brain sometimes. If there's one thing you're really, really good at, but you're just sorta meh everywhere else, do you focus on the one thing, or try to build up the other stuff while passing on opportunities that would otherwise be directly up your alley? Don't get me wrong, I *want* the Cubs to get their act together when it comes to drafting and developing pitching, but the current reality suggests they might be better off taking a bunch of high quality college bats at the top of the draft who could later be traded for major league caliber pitching, because their track record at developing those guys has been pretty good in recent years.
  2. Outshined_One
    I can easily talk myself into all three picks in a vacuum. Hughes is the sort of power hitter the system lacks, Natili is intriguing as a C prospect and has enough bat to produce elsewhere, and Willits has a legitimately fun profile who could be a sneaky good 2nd round underslot. I get the general idea: save money up front on good/safe college hitters for big picks later. I'd want to see the rest of the draft before passing judgment, but just these three by themselves is indeed underwhelming.
  3. Outshined_One
    ESPN's final mock is up. The Cubs' draft philosophy in this scenario appears to be "college dudes who hit really well on the Cape", which actually kinda tracks. The way this draft plays out is also kind of a bummer, since, in the first round, most of the fun hitters are taken right in front of the Cubs and the college pitching that's available is a mixed bag. I don't hate it, but I also don't love it.
  4. Outshined_One
    This isn't a strike; the owners are the ones locking out the players, and the owners could easily take a number of steps to mitigate these competition issues without player approval, be it through additional revenue sharing, increased payrolls, or otherwise. The payroll and competitive disparities were self-inflicted by the owners. This is just a money grab under the guise of fairness.
  5. Outshined_One
    When the hell did a bunch of billionaires become communists whinging about payroll disparity? Oh, right, because it means more money for them while screwing over labor and the fans.
  6. Outshined_One
    S(A)I(Slop)'s latest mock.
  7. Outshined_One
    I'm pretty sure I just yelled at that guy that trading Matt Boyd would be incredibly stupid.
  8. Outshined_One
    He's kind of the reverse of Cam Smith, where Smith had an overly complicated and wonky swing as a freshman that basically sold out for power, and then he managed to simplify his swing as a sophomore to improve his hit tool while cutting down on the strikeouts (and losing a bit of power in the process). I can see it with Robbins and the Cubs if the Cubs think they can find a happy medium with his swing like they did with Cam Smith. Granted, it doesn't sit right with me that Reese and Gracia are also on the board for the pick, but I won't dismiss it out of hand.
  9. Outshined_One
    It's one of those oddball Chicago sports moments that are relatively easy for people to forget or not know about since (a) it involved the White Sox, and (b) no one cared about it after the White Sox won the WS in 2005. I remember the sports radio callers were particularly bonkers after it happened, and went to a HS that was evenly split between Cubs and Sox fans where the Sox fans came back from summer vacation absolutely pissed off about it.
  10. Outshined_One
    You have to go further back for the White Flag Trade: 1997. What people don't always remember about the White Flag Trade is it only contributed to a single playoff appearance by the White Sox in 2000, where they got swept by the Mariners in the first round. It's a dumb thing to put in a positive light.
  11. Outshined_One
    They're currently 7 games behind the Brewers for the division and are a half game up on the top WC spot. Why does this need to be done? Even thinking about returns, you can hope for something comparable to what the Guardians got for Bieber last season (SP Khal Stephen; borderline Top 100 prospect), except Bieber was roughly five years younger and had a better pre-injury track record than Boyd. The odds of the Cubs getting someone who could meaningfully impact the team's chances in 2027/2028 are not particularly good.
  12. Outshined_One
    Dude went down with an arm injury right after this post was made and he now needs surgery. He might be willing to go underslot, but it's more likely he heads off to college.
  13. Outshined_One
    My issue with Jackson isn't the player per se (although I have reservations, but I have reservations about everyone who will be available at 23), but, instead, it feels like we've hit the annual pre-draft stretch where people start talking themselves into connecting the Cubs with catching prospects for their first round pick. Last year it was Ike Irish, the year before that Walker Janek and Malcolm Moore, the year before that Kyle Teel, etc. I'm not saying it'll never happen, but I haven't talked myself into thinking Jackson will break the streak.
  14. Outshined_One
    We've kinda beaten the college catcher dead horse over the last few pages, but if Jackson is a Josh Donaldson type who has the bat and ability to play 3B/OF if catching doesn't work out, then I can talk myself into it. Jarren Advincula, on the other hand? Yeah, that sounds more like it.
  15. Outshined_One
    There's a bit of Korey Lee and Walker Janek to his profile, where both were popped in the back half of the first round in pretty good draft years (2019 and 2024), and both should end up having reasonably decent MLB careers as guys who can sock a few dingers while providing solid enough defense at catcher. We had a discussion about teams' and publications' tendency to overrate catchers in the draft a page or two back, and I think it also applies to Jackson, so take that for what you will. He'll probably end up being a Top 40 pick, which puts him firmly with college hitters like Rose/Strosnider/Robbins, but it comes down to whether you think drafting a guy whose likely ceiling is borderline starter/platoon partner at catcher is a good use of resources with #23.
  16. Outshined_One
    I look forward to a good chunk of this board demanding Jed's head for not drafting a SP, only for the guy they draft to become a Top 25 prospect by season's end, complete with a handful of "How did this guy fall so low in the draft?!" articles during the upcoming lockout.
  17. Outshined_One
    Fansided's Latest Mock Lots of popular names on the board at this pick. I like Rabe's profile, but I think he seems more like a top tier relief pitcher than a starter. Not a bad thing, just not what I'd want out of a first round pick.
  18. Outshined_One
    If Mike Pence has the courage, he can overturn this illegal and fraudulent outcome!
  19. Outshined_One
    Never forget, the Knicks' hot streak ended when he showed up and slept through Game 3.
  20. Outshined_One
    We might also have a similar situation to 2025 brewing. As memory serves, the Cubs' college SP options at 17 were Gage Wood and a big bag of nope. Granted, Gage Wood appears to be really good, but there were also concerns about his medicals that caused him to slip.
  21. Outshined_One
    You don't even need to go that far back; the 2023 WS featured two wild card teams (Rangers & Diamondbacks).
  22. Outshined_One
  23. Outshined_One
    I had a whole post written out and ready to go about the Dodgers and practicalities of winning multiple playoff series in the NL, but this pretty much sums it up. I'm not saying they should Bulls it and aim for one of the WC spots while hoping for their next ten game winning streak coincides with the postseason, but if they're good enough to win the division, then they should be good enough to make the WS (even if they don't).
  24. Outshined_One
    It originally was in the Minors forum and I made the call to move it over. Merging threads is kind of a PITA, soooo 🤷‍♂️
  25. Outshined_One
    This feels more like a general topic than anything minors-specific. I've made my opinions known elsewhere, but I think everyone who is a prospect or prospect-adjacent (Ramirez/Alcantara) is fair game in a deal for someone with multiple years of control.
×
×
  • Create New...