spaincubsfan

It looks interesting but no division structure even mentioned yet. ** Likely involves expansion to 32 teams ** Rob Manfred hints at geographic realignment in MLB — what would spur it on trib.al/V4RozHA From the article: https://nypost.com/2025/08/18/sports/rob-manfred-hints-at-geographic-realignment-in-mlb-what-would-spur-it-on/ “I think if we expand, it provides us with an opportunity to geographically realign,” Manfred said. “I think we could save a lot of wear and tear on our players in terms of travel. And I think our postseason format would be even more appealing for entities like ESPN, because you’d be playing out of the East and out of the West.” MLB hasn’t expanded since the Diamondbacks and Rays entered the league in 1998, but the league is reportedly eying expansion once the Athletics and Rays solve their stadium situations. The idea of realignment would likely mean the end of the American League and National League, bringing baseball more in line with the way the NBA and NHL align their divisions. And it would constitute one of the biggest shakeups in baseball, which has occurred more frequently in recent years as Manfred has worked to change the rules of the game, schedule and the postseason format in order to boost interest. What about this?

3rd BP implosion in the total of 8 losses. I really want for the Nate Pearson experiment to end, dude is a walking disaster out of the pen (velocity be damned). We need to stop scraping the bottom of the barrel with these reclamation project rejects, they just haven't worked. I know the pen was good over the weekend but man Counsel overthinks these gameday situations too much for my liking. He should have left Taillon in to face the next batter, I mean he was only at 89 pitches. On to the next one.

With the devastating news we just received on Steele I think it is appropriate to split this out of the GT. Our 5 Man rotation just took a huge hit so what are the options now & going forward? 1. Imanaga 2. Boyd 3. Taillon 4. Brown (he just had his first good start of the season so you can say he is good for now)?? 5. Rea (Today's starter but not really a great option) The 1 & 5 spots should be with different pitchers but it is what it is. I'll start by saying you give Rea 2 starts to see what he has but you have Horton & Wicks ready to jump up into the 5th slot in 2-3 weeks. You can keep the rotation as is for 6-8 weeks but if Alcántara is pitching well (as he should be) you have to make the call. You see where the team is at the beginning/middle of June. I would rather strike early to try and get that #1 but that's just me (and the rumors are already starting on the Alcántara fit). Thoughts?

Pretty improbable but.... If you want to try to get a guy that has great D and an average .880 OPS over the past 4 years with definite 30/100 possibilities at Wrigley and MLB wide, there is someone: Kyle Tucker has 1 year of Arb left, would have to be a package starting w/Busch +. Then you have to resign him longer term at Belli rates minimum (27.M-30M AAV). You left Belli leave in 2026 since he has a 5M buyout but you will need his dropped salary going forward. Cassie can come up early next season & spot LF, RF, & 1B/DH for a total of 90-100 games. 1. Happ LF .800 OPS 135 games 2. PCA CF .750 OPS 130 games 3. Tucker RF .880 OPS 135 games 4. Belli 1B .800 OPS 135 games 5. Suzuki DH .825 OPS 135 games 6. Hoerner 2B .720 OPS 135 games 7. Swanson SS .750 OPS 140 games 8. Paredes 3B .760 OPS 130 games 9. Trade for an MLB ready prospect (Kyle Teel Bos)?

Yeah, save it so you can pay more for the same slop next year. Ricketts thanks you! 😉😉

I think either of the top Seattle guys will require a bat like Busch.

The basis of this idea is that you can never have enough pitching, and the holes we had due the injuries (Steele, Wicks, Brown, etc). And you can't ignore the Prof's diffulties as having contributed to 5-6 losses. My hypothetical trades: Seattle trades: Bryce Miller RHP TOR starter (3.5-4 fWAR), top prospect Harry Ford (C) 50 FV Cubs trade: Kevin Alcántara, Matt Shaw, Moises Ballesteros (All FV 50), & Matt Mervis (35+ FV), MLB player Daniel Paliencia for their BP. That addresses starting pitching and your catching but you give up 3 top 100 prospects plus a possible lottery ticket in Mervis. It may seem top heavy from our side but you have to give to get. And even then some may say it is not enough going to the Mariners or vice versa. In a second trade I would send over Triantos & Cruz (both 45+ FV) to the Jays for 1 year of Vlad Jr. If he finishes 2025 with an fWAR of 6+ he will command 35-40M per year. See if he bites during the season on a 6/225M extension with an AAV of 37.5M and opt outs in years 3 & 4.

Just spitballing as the WC is still a remote possibility although I think we'll be 1 & done if we make it. The streak has been nice but with Steele out we just won't have the horses to catch up methinks. The 1st paragraph of the below article makes perfect sense & sums it up for me. I'd rather take this approach: 1. Graduate Horton out of ST if he does well and has a healthy offseason by putting him in the BP. 2. Trade for Vlad Guererro Jr to be the DH. He's not a butcher by any means but he is a very stable hitter and we have 1 year to extend him. Something like a Triantos/Rojas package & he replaces Cody who I think opts out. 3. Sign Tanner Scott to a 3/39M deal and project him as your LHP closer. Very good peripherals the last 3 years with an 11.4 K9 to 4.5 BB9 ratio. 4. Trade for a proven catcher still in the Arb process or sign Elías Díaz to a 2/11M contract (May have to pay more). https://www.msn.com/en-my/spor...eason-says-insider/ar-AA1pc6jc While the Chicago Cubs still have an outside chance at making the postseason in 2024, most Cubs fans are already looking ahead to 2025. The expectation is that Chicago will be very aggressive this offseason in its pursuit of talent, with the Cubs already linked to several high-profile players. Hurler Corbin Burnes, sluggers Vladimir Guererro Jr., and Pete Alonso are reportedly on the Cubs’ list of targets. However, Cubs reporter Evan Massey says one name should be eliminated from consideration. Poll questions are generic and please missing options or possibilities...

Nerris & the Prof being an absolute shell of himself before finally being pulled from the rotation cost us a minimum of 8 games. Swing that in the win column and we are easily 80-60 & most likely leading the div.

So where there might be some more smoke there might be fire?

Posting here because it would also impact Cubs, but likely years away from being implemented.

It seems if you really dominate AA nowadays the jump to the show is more of a certainty, considering you will have to take your rookie & sophmore lumps.

Incredible how Jude came in as 19-20 year old, worked his buttoffski and is in the running for the 2024 Ballon D'or. Back to baseball now. 😁😁

The credit goes to Florentino Pérez though. He has run a smoothly oiled machine since 2000 with the policy of bringing in the "Galacticos" as the forefront of his dynasty roadmap. Players gravitate to him and respect his approach & humility. Barca & PSG can't stand us because they tried to create superteams and failed. His fiscal acumen is superb as Mbappe will earn a cool 15M€ per year plus a huge signing bonus. The team has cash to burn with the Bernabeau now the blueprint for a cashcow stadium.

Are you a Madridista 1908?

Add Alphonso Davies this transfer window & potentially Florián Wirtz next season and call it a decade.

Help is on the way:

Whoa, we have some football fans (Not American football of course)! Real Madrid fan in the house, best team in the world for the next 5 years. Just signed Mbappe and another 2 great signings in the pipeline!!

Welp, that's it for me for a few days. Hope they get it together at some point. We really had no business walking off that 1-0 game. We are trending downward badly and the only game we have a shot at right now is Imanaga.

This has been the offense for 4+ weeks now:

I'm also an ebbs & flows guy but those stats don't lie. Nobody is hitting, I mean nobody.

This is one of the worst slumps since those rebuilding 2013-2014 teams. I mean it's horrendously bad, look at the 30 day splits (I know the sabermetrics peeps will skew it slightly upward with BABIP bad luck but these traditional stats are DEAD LAST):

As has been noted due to eventual regression this is only valid now, but still a very welcome surprise:

The BP has been a lot better the last 7 days (Hoping the bats follow):