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Well, Teheran wasn't very good last year. And that's why I threw out a Soler, Happ, pitching prospect idea. That's about equal to what the Braves got for Miller. Granted, Soler is probably a lesser value than Inciarte and Happ lesser than Dansby Swanson (position value), but Inciarte has really struggled this year and his bat has suffered leaving Chase Field. Granted Inciarte plays wonderful defense, but Soler would be very valuable RH power that they don't have. Swanson and Happ both destroyed the Carolina league and Happ is still hitting very well at AA, don't think those 2 are that far off. Cubs don't really have an Aaron Blair, unless Underwood can be fixed. But it's not an astronomical package that the Cubs can't reasonably meet due to the sheer amount of talent on the roste.r

Actually he's a 4 WAR pitcher by RA9WAR and rWAR, and is almost at that already this year. As a pitcher who has beat his FIP his whole career spanning -750 innings and 3+ seasons, I am inclined to go with either of those over a FIP based WAR like fWAR. These trades tend to come with another piece, the teams trading for the ML rarely get just that guy, and I suspect that will be the case here too even if it is not Vizcaino. While he does beat his FIP it's usually by .4 or .5. I"m not about to believe in a guy whose current babip is .040 lower than any other he's ever had in his career and whose strand rate is also the highest of his career. When the numbers start evening out I suspect he's a 3.2-3.5ERA pitcher which is nice, but I suspect they want value like he's a young top of the rotation pitcher and he just isn't. Yeah, like Tom said....why is this a bad thing? Outperforming his FIP is an actual skill when he's done it in every year of his career, it's not a luck thing. I also don't know how you can say he's a 3.2-3.5 ERA pitcher when he's only been at the exact bottom of that range in his 1st year of the 3 of 4 strong years of his career. He's 25 and a top 25 pitcher in baseball. I like him because he's under contract (mistakenly said arb eligible after next year), he's a top 25 SP, who's young, and durable and could conceivably get a little better with Bosio. Would be a good guy to have in place when Lackey is a FA/retires and insurance in case they can't/won't pay Arrieta in a couple years. While I'd rather give up the type of package it would take to get Fernandez or Carrasco or Gray, I don't know that any of those guys will come available.

Back to Earth? He's 25 and 2015 is looking like the outlier in his career. I guess the reason to deal him would be his salary doubling next year before he becomes arbitration eligible. They didn't really have much incentive to trade Miller, and while they did get a nice haul for him I probably wouldn't hate giving up Soler, Happ, and a pitching prospect not named Cease for him and either a reliever (Vizcaino) or minor league arm.

I still wouldn't be overly surprised if all this LH reliever hype goes by the wayside and they aim higher - namely a SP. It won't go by at all. The Miller/Chapman/Doolittle extraordinary LH reliever hype might, but they'll get someone in here. I still think the Cubs have to get in on Teheran/Rich Hill talks. Teheran is such a good fit and Atlanta is a team that would be very happy with a Soler and minor leaguers package for him. Hill is a rental, but I really love what he could add to this team. I think he could easily be the 3rd or 4th starter for a playoff team, or he could be a late inning LH reliever if necessary. I don't have much faith in Hammel to be there by October, and I agree that a starter could prove to be an even bigger need eventually.

It's a conspiracy. Umpires hate the Cubs.

Real and fantasy team destroyed.

So much sweat.

Yeah, good thing!

Woo, Mike Conley got PAID. 5 years, 153M for about the 8th best PG in the league.

God, me too. 2B Zobrist LF Schwarber RF Bryant 1B Rizzo C Contreras CF Heyward 3B Baez SS Russell Thats how I'd run 'em out there. 7 of those guys are going to be there for sure. IDK if the Cubs are ready to A) move a capable Bryant off of 3B or B) hand Javy an everyday job. Ideally, Maddon would work things the way he has this year with Baez and Almora basically being your interchangeable 8th/9th position starters. And that still means they'd have to move Soler and not re-sign Fowler. Not to mention figure out how to get Contreras in there when he's not catching. Great problem to have.

yes...and no. Splits can be indicative of a particular skill, especially for pitchers. If a guy is able to maintain, for the pertinent example, a platoon split over the course of several years it is probably meaningful. If that is backed up by a mix of pitches that are particularly hard on same-handed or oppo-handed batters, it is even more meaningful. A player doesn't have the be the best guy overall to be the best guy for a particular job. I know all of this. Just still frustrated. Plus, it was more aimed at Peralta being on the roster and baseball in general being stuck in their ways with having guys used for distinct roles like the 8th or 9th inning, when they should be putting their best pitchers in the most stressful situations instead of waiting for a hypothetical 8th and/or 9th inning lead that they may or may not have.

This seems like as good a place as any to announce that I hate using splits to determine anything. Splits are a large sample size. To get outs/runs in a small sample size.....use the best players to do things. If a player has been released by a team or out of the league or signed on a minor league contract, he's by nature, probably NOT the best player to do anything.

Expect to at least tie it with 2nd and 3rd with Bryant, Rizzo and Contreras coming up. Didn't have much hope for Javy, but you have to score there.

Why not Heyward?

horsefeathers. Those aren't strikes.

Actually, that may be on Bryant. But he needs to take the out at 1B or home, though home would have probably been safe.

And there's the bad Baez defense.

Also seems like Maddon trying to let Bryant settle in at 3B. I'd think Javy at 3B, Zobrist at 2B with Bryant in the OF but has not been the case the last 2 days.

Up until last week, the Cubs had won at least 3 games in every 4-game series this year. Mets have Matz and Syndergaard who both currently have elbow issues on the bookends of this series. Both were pretty well lit up in their last starts. The Cubs have the potential send both these guys to the operating table, or at worst get into the pen early, if they run up their pitch counts. I'd really like to take both of those games against possibly injured pitchers. And horsefeathers Bartolo Colon, so we better not lose to that fat ass either. Cubs take NYC, 3 of 4.

Don't have a ton of hope for Grimm to regain enough of his form to be the 7th inning guy the Cubs need. I think the Cubs should trade for a cheap reliever sooner rather than later (I liked the suggestion of Cingrani someone mentioned) and then try to find a late inning guy between that cheap option, Edwards, Nathan (because it's inevitable), and maybe Matusz (though I think he should be a starter/long reliever). Best case- one of these guys are really good and the Cubs can still trade and have 4 strong options in the pen along w/ Wood. Worst case- adding Nathan and a guy in a cheap trade makes the Cubs look less desperate to teams with relief assets to trade.

Hendricks gotta give us another one. 5-run lead (soon to increase). 6-man rotation maybe by the next time he starts. Let him go until he shows he can't anymore.

Clean inning, but filthy pitch.

Just wait til next year when both are here. If Schwarber was as good behind the plate as even Contreras is now, you could have 2 of the top 3 hitting catchers in the league on 1 roster, but each getting 600 PAs between 1 playing LF while the other catches.

Figured that'd be the lineup Maddon would go wtih (players, not necessarily order). Back-to-back lefties, figured Baez would get a pair of starts but NOT at 2B because he doesn't have the best defensive value there. And figured Szczur and Almora would each get a start in CF the next 2 days. And with Contreras not catching Lester, he's in LF so that means Bryant has to be at 3B unless you sit Heyward. I'm guessing tomorrow, we'll see Bryant in LF, Baez at 3B, Almora in CF, and Willson behind the plate.