Tim

The Cubs offense has scored 80 runs over the last 10 games, and leads the league in OBP.. The Royals have scored 67 runs over their past 30 games. Wait until the second half nothing, this is easily the best offense in the NL right now. And in the ten games before the last ten, they scored 29 runs. Not very impressive. Which is why my original post stated that "stats really don’t show how awful the offense can be over the course of several games so often this season." And your point bringing that up now is...

The Cubs offense has scored 80 runs over the last 10 games, and leads the league in OBP.. The Royals have scored 67 runs over their past 30 games. Wait until the second half nothing, this is easily the best offense in the NL right now. Oh yeah, they've also done all that without the best player in the NL.

+20 steals

I got back from a Costco run in time to watch the 8th. Then after the game I come here and see...this. I get that fan is short for fanatic but damn some of you really need to chill and take the long view. Yeah, in the last 10 games, they've scored underneath five runs exactly one time.

:flythew: 1 in a row.

I turned this on during Bote's at bat. You're welcome.

I think he's due for regression and if they can get a top end starter for him while he's overvalued, they should do it.

I present to you all, in one outing, Dillon Maples:

It's only been a few games, but I think Nico is ready for the MWL.

Well, that takes him through the end of the minor league year. So...good thing he set that career high in IP last outing.

When we've won the WS again.

Does he? this year he supposedly does; looks more like Happ slowed down a bit for whatever reason I'm thinking I'll take the larger sample size, take a stab at an overall average; and say that Happ is faster.

Harvey sucks. It’s Chatwood going for us that’s the problem. Harvey's velocity is coming back and he's pretty much been nails in his last couple outings.

I also doubt the A's are going to trade Treinen for anything less than a king's ransom, given his performance and control remaining. That's probably the least realistic trade on the list. The only realistic chance the Cubs probably have at any of the top assets likely to be on the board would be if someone overrates Albert's batting average and totally buys into his defense. But I think our management values the different look his bat brings to the lineup (and other soft values) too much to move him. In the end, I think we'll make a move more towards the middle of the relief market and that's probably it.

one more minor point: Almora has slightly better sprint speed than Happ Does he?

They do know how to spot bats. I'm very hopeful about this draft class because of that.

Where to begin lol? First off, you have Swarmer being sent out twice... You have him in the deal for Harper and in the deal for Treinen/Lucroy. I guess you see some of the pieces as interchangeable, but it's still weird. I like your optimism but the only semi-realistic deal is the first package you listed for Treinen/Lucroy. I know you're just doing this for fun, but let's be a little more serious. I mean I'm surprised you didn't have us making a deal of Mike Trout for Almora/Happ/Carl Edwards Jr./Amaya/THE Zach Short... I'm not sure what you think the Nationals are going to get for two months of Harper, but it won't be as much as you're thinking. Look at what Detroit got for JD last year, then add a bit for Harper. What I've got there is a significantly better package than that. Happ is probably a better player than anything NY is going to get for Thor. Supposedly they are not wanting to completely tear down, so they're probably okay with Happ's service time. I'm adding a first round pitcher succeeding in AA, a starter sitting at 95-97 down in Short A and a high upside reliever as a fourth piece. Replace one Swarmer with a Rucker or Robinson or Abbott or whatever.

After watching today's game...never mind about Conley.

Lower price, supposedly

Okay, I'm bored on an off day. Let's do this. I'm going to assume that all the teams I want to fall out of the race actually fall out. I'm also going to assume the Cubs give up on staying under the salary cap given the opportunities. 1) Oakland looks at the standings and punts. They're way down behind the Mariners and NYY for the wildcard (7 games). Billy is never afraid to pull the trigger and works well with Theo/Jed. He also values certain types of players that we can actually spare. Treinen/Lucroy for Caratini/Bote/ODLC/Swarmer 2) Cubs scouts buy into the huge bump in Conley's stuff out of the pen. We get him for cheap because Jeter. Conley for Robinson/Rosario 3) The Mets are ready to deal an ace. The Cubs unload the farm for Syndergaard. Once away from the Mets training staff, he stays much healthier. Syndergaard for Happ/Lange/Marquez/Maples 4) Washington falls further behind while playing 21 of 24 games against losing teams. They face the inevitable and trade Harper to his future team. In return, they get a mixture of arms. For two months of Harper, it's a decent return. Harper for Alzolay/Little/Swarmer --------------------- So, we now look like this: RF - Harper (that's right - leadoff!) 3B - Bryant 1B - Rizzo C - Contreras (spelled by Lucroy batting down in the order) LF - Schwarber 2B - Baez CF - Heyward/Almora SS - Russell With Zobrist giving rest days to everyone based on matchups and Lucroy, Tommy and Heyward/Almora on the bench. Syndergaard Lester Darvish Quintana Hendricks Chatwood Monty Those seven guys play Dodger games with the DL & partial six man rotation through the regular season. Basically six of them active at any given time. Morrow Treinen Cishek Strop Edwards Wilson Conley Bass (gets sent down when Smyly is ready) Super pen formed.

I think my dream scenario for the deadline involves the Nationals becoming sellers.

For a more off-road idea, Adam Conley's stuff (he's on Miami, for those wondering) has ticked WAY up in the pen. Like, 5 full ticks up. It is a really limited sample of 19 innings, so there's not a lot of track record to go on. It would be nearly like buying into Bass at this point. However, since Jeter clearly doesn't know what the hell he's doing, we might be able to get him for spare parts from the system. I'd look at him as more of a Duensing replacement than late game reliever, but he'd have some upside to him.

As a lower-cost acquisition, I'm a fan of Keone Kela. Averages 97.5 on his FB and also throws a hard curve. He fits the Hickey mold of pitchers really well. ----- eta Well, horsefeathers. Just noticed they made him closer this year and he's 20/20 in saves. He's going to be more expensive than I thought. He also only has 2.1 service years coming into this season, so we'd have him for three more years after this one. They will demand a ransom for him.

What...are you one of those weird people that has something against Strop? I love Strop’s consistency and what he brings to the team. But I’m somewhat concerned about the declining velocity and K rate. He’s pretty similar to Cishek though. He had a weird bump in velocity last year, but he's basically right where he was at in 2016. That average also tends to increase as the season goes on, particularly for cold-weather clubs. He's also made a huge adjustment by adding the cutter as another really good pitch for him.

Back in my day we'd tape it up and get out there. It's a pinky. Just cut it off.