Jason Ross

They updated on him a few days ago. He will begin swinging after TDL.

I'm not. And it's a good sign the Cubs are going to do that. He's not a reliever. He's on the last year of his deal. And outside of Civale, who's going before him? They have Rea. They have Assad. They both do what he'd do better. This is a good sign about the deadline intentions,

Brandon Marsh is one. Taylor Ward you can argue about; his wRC+ is about the same but his approach is wasy better. Rasiel Iglasies got good again in Atlanta. But I think generally, I don't think the Angels are "bad" in that they don't have good players. It's that they never surround their good players with good players (because I think they sold their soul for anyone who can help Mike Trout or Shohehi Ohtani right now). They are a poorly run organization, but one who has good players intermittently. For me, on Detmers, he looks good now. I'd be fine with that guy, who he is, today. If we can squeeze a little extra out of him? That's cool, too.

Per the Athletic.

And how do the Cubs add 3 pitchers off the 40-man roster while carrying Taillon as a phantom-IL? The Cubs have three pitchers, Justin Steele, Shelby Miller and Hunter Harvey who could all, possibly com off the IL-60 and need added as well. The math isn't mathing. The only alternative is a phantom IL-60 injury which, I think the MLBPA would catch and not be super cool with, and just draws attention. A DFA makes the most sense. For the Cubs. For Taillon.

They could, but it also hinges on a lot of things: 1. Do the Dodgers and Brewers like Reid Detmers enough to actually trade a top-50 prospect? 2. Do the Angels, a team who is kind of hard to figure out where Art Moreno starts and stops, value the Brewers' prospects that high? Teams don't operate on the industry rankings 3. Do the Angles prefer the Cubs' offerings? 4. Do the Angels prefer a quantity or a quality offering? Just about any pitcher in the top-75 is either coming with injury history or because they're a pitcher, are an injury risk, so I think that aspect of Wiggins is kind of...negated. Pitchers just do that, and any team is aware of that. But we can glass-half-full or half-empty any prospect. The Brewers aren't trading Jesus Made for Detmers, for example. Or Luis Pena. Those are top-30 prospects in baseball, and that would be a pretty large jump from where the Cubs bought on Edward Cabrera. Even at the deadline it was "Owen Caissie+" and Caissie was not a top-30 prospect. So maybe it's Jefferson Quero, a 23 year old catcher with a sub-100 wRC+ in Triple-A? Would you rather him or Owen Ayers? Brady Ebel or Alexander Frias are tp-75 prospects or so who are both...teenagers. I'm not shitting on the Brewers here, their system is super fun and have big time upside. But the Angels probably have to prioritize teenagers in a Detmers trade from Milwaukee where as the Cubs can offer players who are in Triple-A. So where are the Angles internally?

Hendricks last start with the Chicago Cubs came on August 28th. There was barely a month to go of the season. And Hendricks was, maybe short of a "Cub legend" but more than a "normal player". Arguably, one of the better Cubs in the last-20 years. He made 270 starts with Chicago over a decade of time served. Hendricks was unable to realistically be picked up and added to another roster, especially a team who could even consider rostering him for the playoffs because of the time it would take to sign. He was given a good send-off. Jameson Taillon is finishing up a four-year deal who played over half of his career elsewhere. While I don't think Taillon is a bad guy, he isn't in the ballpark of what Hendricks meant to the Cubs as a player or as an organization. It's also July 27th. It isn't about embarrassing the guy, but like what does Taillon gain from the phantom-IL? Do you think he's at a point of his career where he's fine being a mascot? Because that's what that says. It says "I don't want to pitch this year, and I'm perfectly fine sitting in this dugout, not helping the team on the mound". I would think Jameson Taillon would prefer the chance to continue to throw on the side and hope another organization values him on the mound versus...that. EDIT: Also, the Cubs are going to need 40-man spots. Another reason to DFA him. August 28th was well beyond the Cubs adding players via trade, and a far less reason to worry about the 40-slot. The Cubs are about to add a handful of new players. They need the slots.

What's the point of a fake IL stint? For the Cubs, it isn't like this is a "work through it thing", this is almost assuredly and age/regression thing. For Taillon, sitting on the shelf for two months with a fake injury isn't helping you get a new job. While I doubt any playoff team would be excited about him, it wouldn't be shocking to see a team have a rash of injuries between today and September go grab him as a veteran SP who's at least game-ready in terms of fitness. Especially after the TDL, it's kind of those types or...no one for teams. The "phantom injury" this is almost always fan theory and rarely used, but I think especially in this situation it's just not one that works for anyone. You either carry him as a long reliever (though there are better versions of that on the roster right now) or you DFA him.

I think a few things can be true all at once: 1. The Cubs, as currently constructed, do lack a hitter off the bench who can smash LHP. They have Michael Conforto, for example, to get to RHP. But as of now, your normal bench options don't inspire a ton against LHP, especially if Kelly is already in the lineup. 2. Matt Shaw will hopefully come back to help with that 3. It wouldn't be a bad idea to hedge your bets and add one and definitely if you plan on trading either Shaw or Ramirez 4. This is low on the totem pole of "needs" 5. It's not a particularly difficult or expensive need to fill in the next week I don't think it's wrong to point out that the team generally hits LHP well, or that it's low on the list of priorities, but also something the Cubs should devote a little time to think through.

He doesn't have a long relief profile. The stuff just isn't really going to play up much in a shorter outing. The fastball sat at 92mph today - what's the bump we expect in two or three inning spurts? 93? 94mph? Average RHP velocity is 95mph out of the pen. So it'll still be below average. And there isn't a secondary worth writing home about. His K% is 21.2% That's below MLB average. I don't see anything that gets it back to even average. He's on the last year of his deal and the Cubs, in theory, should be adding 2-4 players between today and August 3rd. Aaron Civale should be one of the easiest cuts on the roster but beyond that, who's next? Hollowell? He's looking interesting. Tyler Ferguson? Maybe! But he's rocking a 3.72 xFIP and striking out almost a third of hitters faced, so maybe he's more interesting than Jamo. And then you get to the point where, Javier Assad and Colin Rea just do it better. If you need a reliever to eat 2-4 innings, those guys first, please. When one of Cabrera or Brown gets back (hopefully) someone else needs a bump. And well..,I'd rather have those two in that role. Many times that role is asked to keep the game within striking distance; just keep it within four and maybe the offense can come back in. Today the Cubs scored 7 to come back. I don't trust Jamo to keep the game close in a game where you need those innings early in a game. I appreciate the things Jamo has done; and I think some people's reactions are over the top. But it's also probably time the Cubs say goodbye. He doesn't really profile as a reliever. The Cubs have better long relief options. His deal is expiring so it's a full-sunk cost. The math works out that he's an easy cut over the next seven days. So maybe he isn't cut today, and maybe he can give you one more "get you through" outing, but come August 4th, it's not hard to see where he's an easy one to let go.

It's from The Athletic. Written by Rosenthal and Sammon, so it's highly sourced. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7466628/2026/07/23/mlb-trade-deadline-mariners-cubs-rays/?source=user_shared_article&unlocked_article_code=1.0lA.RJ6d.WqZ6AMg3jcD2&smid=ta-android-share

Hopefully that was the last start of Taillon as a Cub but they could be forced to go one more until the deadline. But yeah. We should be done with him as soon as possible. He's cooked.

Brewers have already DFA'd McCullers.

He does not have enough sample size to say anything definitively. No. He doesn't even have 600 PAs yet and is 24. It's fair to be skeptical about what his bat may be, but nothing should be concluded yet.

Connelly Early is on the IL with left elbow discomfort. Do you think the Cubs should trade for a pitcher who's not throwing right now with elbow discomfort? There is a reason that the guy who is hurt was traded and the guys who would actually help a contending team aren't being traded yet.

I would hesitate to say Shaw has more value right now if we're talking in the aggregate around the league. Mead has put up 1.5 fWAR this year. He's on a ~3 win pace. His batted ball data suggests this isn't smoke and mirrors with an xwOBA within .10 points of his wOBA. He's running excellent K and walk rates. The glove sucks and the positional versatility is less but Shaw posted a 1.5 fWAR in a full year last year. I think they're very much on par. You can prefer slightly Mead's bat while knocking his defensive lack of versatility and value, or you can prefer Shaw's versatility and baserunning, but generally speaking they have very similar trade value and on the field value; it's just what your team may prefer but it's probably not more than slight preference.

Yeah, think that's a pretty fair trade. Early is good but think the upside is more "mid-rotation". Mead's upside capped because the glove is "below average" to "bad".

Transactions page on the official site lists it as Kevin headed to Iowa. Which surprised me a bit! But I guess he's a better runner and a bit more versatile. So small quibbles.

It takes two sides to dance. Notice how no trades of consequences across the league have been completed? By this logic, all 30 teams are perfectly fine with their situation and no team is looking to sell anyone or improve. We're at the leadup to the deadline where players like Aaron Civale and Seth Halvorsen are available for okay prices but many teams have to be pushed off their position until they get closer to August 3rd. The Cubs won't trade for Skubal, and they might not pay top-dollar, but I'd be surprised if they didn't make a few trades to improve the team.

Just completed year-15 and headed onto 16. I'm around 50% of the way to retirement age in Kentucky. And honestly? It's not too bad. Teenagers are...finicky. But once you realize that the opinion and validation of a 13-year-old isn't what I need, it becomes a lot easier to let their jackassery roll off your back. "Oh? You don't want to write a paragraph? Bummer, dude. Does sound like a you problem, however."

Didn't think you were. Just explaining my rationale! Especially in the summer when I don't have 125 teenagers spouting whatever the newest brainrot is at me, I've got nothing else to do at 8am than explain my thought process on xERA or xFIP. It's either that or watch some trashy 26 year old movie where they send Val Kilmer and Tom Sizemore to Mars that I know my wife doesn't want to watch when she's around.

First off an 8 point difference in wOBA to xwOBA is entirely a non-factor. That's essentially the same thing. It's like thinking a .280 batting average is different than a .288. Worry about big differences. Then once again, worry about the why. Secondly, as stated, I prefer a broad spectrum look. I said that for a reason; when we pick a statistic we like more, we get blinded. When we pull up fangraphs, all those datapoints are right next to each other, there's no reason to stare at one over another. I prefer each in different situations. So I don't have an answer as to which I prefer. It's best to look at everything in conjunction. Pitching, especially, is just not as easily boiled down to a single data point. I'm far more willing to "silver-bullet" approach offense down to wRC+. I think offense is just easier to track, it's ahead of pitching in terms of statistics, and I think it's far less nebulous. As well, it's got a massive sample size that evens things out a bit more.

ERA and FIP are ultimately attempting to do the same thing but are doing it differently foundationally. Fundamentally, the belief of FIP is in it's name: Fielding Independent Pitching. It's belief is that once the ball makes contact with the bat, the pitcher no longer controls the outcome if it lands in the field of play (home runs are a pitcher's fault in FIP). It's belief is that a pitcher shouldn't benefit statistically from Dansby Swanson at SS much like a pitcher shouldn't be penalized for having the Mets' infield. xERA has a different belief: it suggests pitchers do control the quality of contact against them. It takes statcast data into account. Which may not necessarily give a pitcher credit for their defense, but does take the damage done against that pitcher some consideration. Understanding what each is attempting to do is key in understanding what it's attempting to show us. I prefer a broad spectrum look; if you pick one data point you tend to ignore the full picture. There are ways to beat xERA and xFIP. Defined ways. A good way to beat xFIP? Get a lot of ground balls and don't walk guys. xFIP loves a strikeout but a good way to eliminate runs is to keep the ball on the ground and kill two with one swing. We know that pitchers can control ground ball rates and this is a relative blind spot for xFIP which is concerned with strikeouts, walks and home runs. It's why I posted ERA, xERA, FIP and xFIP. You get a look at raw data (ERA, FIP) and then we can add in the x which adds league data to contextualize. When things are in relative agreement it's a good sign things are going well and that there isn't funny business going in. If one data point is sticking out, we can dive deeper to figure out why. Is it trying to tell the real story or is it seeing ghosts? Where do I sit? Kind of in the middle. I do think there are ways to beat xFIP as I do think there are ways pitchers can control some of the quality of contact they give up. If you induce a lot of chase you can induce a lot of weak contact. It's a risky profile as it requires you to throw not-strikes but get hitters to swing and make contact with a lot of not-strikes. If you start throwing a lot of strikes it can go sideways quick. If you don't get guys to chase as much (loss of shape, lack of command) it goes sideways quick, But there are pitchers like Tyler Rogers who have made a career of it.