Tim

Oh, to respond to an earlier point... Depending on what the Cubs think about their medicals, I'd hang on to both Strop and Rondon. Sure, if they feel they are on the verge of implosion then make a move. But the upside for each of them in 2016 is larger than what I feel we'd get in return.

Chapman and Jansen aren't going to get huge bucks because of a closer label though, or if they do it's like 5% of the reason, it's because they're really really good. Since most teams are bright enough to catch on, that means that really good non-closer relievers are going to see their trade costs rise too. Like Colome for example, I really doubt that Soler alone would fetch him in trade. That said, it doesn't scale all the way down(e.g. Justin Grimm isn't going to give you somebody's starting CF), and if you want to try to get ahead of the next Miller or Jansen by buying low, there are ways to do that. The problem is that those come with much greater uncertainty, and the back end of the Cubs current bullpen has a ton of uncertainty. If Rondon hadn't gotten hurt and had been healthy through the playoffs I'd probably feel differently with him, Edwards, and whatever you consider the current version of Strop to be. But there's a significant chance that Rondon the elite reliever is dead, and by not going after one of the (several!) elite but expensive relievers available we'd be risking on a Giants-esque derailment of 2017 that I'm not comfortable with. I'm thinking more in response to the "Both Jansen and Chapman" or even the "Both Jansen and Cecil" train of thought. So, I'm all for adding Jansen at the top, but then filling out underneath through trade. Just as an example, I wonder how well the Cubs and Astros line up for a trade this offseason. They could really use a bat like Soler's for OF/DH and they had a deep lineup of really good relievers this year with Devenski, Harris, Giles, Gregerson, Feliz, Neshek and Fields. I wonder if they would be open to a Soler for Devenski swap. I'm also pretty fascinated with David Paulino, though the front office may back away because of his off-field issues last year. But I would be very interested in targeting a Soler + ? for Devenski/Paulino.

I think there are enough great arms out there that don't have the "closer" label associated with them yet that you can trade for one of them. I have altered my opinion about the value of relievers after this postseason. In the past, I never would have thought about trading Soler for a reliever. But now I'd be very open to it for the right guy. I also think it is possible to start grooming someone for the Miller-type role. We've had long relievers in baseball for a long time, but I'm wondering if we start to see some guys get used in multi-inning, high leverage stints with days off in between during the regular season rather than purely stringing together one inning stints on consecutive days. Edwards might be a guy that we start to use in that manner.

Call your wife the wrong name at the wrong time?

you're an ogre who doesn't deserve a hat Well, congratulations on guessing the only other nickname I've ever had. Still looking for a hat. Question: do you occasionally find yourself uncontrollably yelling things like, "NERDS!!!!"?

I've got about $550 worth of stuff in my cart at mlb.com, but I'm sitting on it for a couple days to resist the impulse buy. I'll get at least one tshirt, probably one of the polo shirts and then a variety of stuff for my office desk / shelves / walls.

At the moment, give me Jansen and Cecil for relief.

Hammel is in the rotation for now. Hell, Montgomery would have an innings limit anyway at this point. Use the heck out of first half Hammel and put Monty in a long-relief role. Then trade Hammel at the deadline for the best AA/AAA pitching prospect you can get and slide Monty into the rotation for the second half / playoffs.

btw - I've reactivated both the archives access and also the game thread forum visibility for guests.

I'm still overwhelmed, so I don't have much to say right now. Just trying to help push the thread towards 108.

Again, wow! Thank you, Thrilho!

Wow!!! Thank you to Saluki!

They're going to be even better next year.

you were like the one dude who always had faith. you are a strong man. :(

Vance Law Hector Villanueva John Leiber Mike Bielecki Rick Wilkins Too many to count. Randall Simon Tom Goodwin Doug Glanville Troy O'Leary Mike Remlinger Mark Guthrie Bill horsefeathering Buckner

I TOLD ALL YOU NINNIES NOT TO WORRY!!!

You're the true hero.

Zobs MVP

we did it.

ninnies. WE ARE WORLD SERIES CHAMPS

holy horsefeathers we did it

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ninnies. We've got this.

Coghlan saves the double play