chibears55

Find a way to win another ball game Ryne Sandberg Day #23

Looking at future contracts for the current position players, only Swanson has a guarenteed deal pass 2026. Happ Suzuki Hoerner and Kelly contract expires after 2026 Tucker deal expires this season PCA Amaya Busch and Shaw are all under team control for a few more years. Upcoming Prospects. Caissie(23) OF, Ballesteros(21) C/DH, Rojas(20) 2B/SS Alcantara (23)OF, Long(23)CI/OF, Triantos(22) 2B/OF These are for now, the position prospects that are ready or almost ready to move up. 2026 position players under contract/control C. Amaya Kelly 1B Busch 2B Hoerner SS Swanson 3B Shaw LF Happ CF PCA RF ? DH Suzuki UT UT UT UT Now with the upcoming possibility of a strike for 2027, theres that possibility that Hoyer/TR decides this offseason that it best to stick with what they have under contract/control and just play out 2026 and depending on where theyre at deadline 2026, they could move expiring contracts of Happ Suzuki Hoerner and Kelly. Happ and Suzuki : easier to get a waiver of NTC at deadline if theres zero interest to extend. Tucker: I can see Hoyer/TR pass on resigning Tucker for the years and money it'll cost if the plan is to just get through 2026 and move the expiring contracts, and prepare for a strike in 2027. Caissie: He obviously would be the likely candidate to replace Tucker in RF. Ballesteros: 21 yo, is still young enough to keep in Iowa another year or at least until they move guys at the 2026 deadline. Alcantara: has an opportunity to be the 4th OFer in 2026. Long: has an opportunity to be the Turner guy but can also play OF in 2026 Triantos: has an opportunity to be a utility player in 2026 Rojas: being just 20 yo, will likely be up in 2027 or 2028 and can be Hoerner or Swanson replacement So, I can now see why Hoyer may have been reluctant to pull the trigger on dealing any of his top prospects, as he could have been really looking ahead to 2027 and beyond. He will have more controllable players and money to spend on FA after the 2026 and more so 2027 season as he wont have many players under contract after 2026. This is just my thoughts and opinion on this matter.

Yep, I was told he was good when I said they shouldn't be using him in close games anymore , what was it 2 weeks ago 😅😅

Whew... good thing the wind was blowing in W Great pitching on both sides today, sending Kelly on that medium flyball was the difference. Also, this wasn't even a 2 hour game 😅 1 hour 49 minutes just like back in the days 😅😅

After a certain point it just becomes mental and you start pressing and second guessing on pitches you normally dont. If he can just group together a few hits in that situation he should fall back into his norm again, at least i think he could

Wait the Cubs got Zach Galifianakis 😅

Great start by Horton, he got the game to the late guys in the pen with the lead. Be nice to add on here

Let get to this guy already. Let Go

He's not getting many pitches to slug cause theyre not giving in to him. Most of the pitches are off the plate and breaking balls. Only because Tucker is disciplined and dont chase much, he gets his walks. Why it becomes important for Suzuki to hit and force them to pitch to Tucker over giving up walks. That my simple short version thought on this

Bottom of order from Swanson on down going to be the difference today with scoring runs with the struggles they've had lately. I mean, theres no other reason to send Kelly on that short flyout other then having little confidence in getting a 2 out hit 🤷‍♂️

Bottom line is i guess we can say Hoyer was able to accomplish 3 of 4 needs this team had. 1. He got Castro that everyone wanted, to improve the bench and be that super utility guy and help against LH pitchers. 2. He added Soroka to be the 2nd starter they needed. 3. He improved the Bullpen with a LHer and RHer that can help early and late in games. 4. He was unable to land a SP to help Imanaga and Boyd at the top. Going forward now we have to hope that enough to get back ahead of the Brewers and compete in the postseason. I think theyll be good enough to pass the Brewers, not so sure about getting through the postseason without that SP addition to help Imanaga and Boyd. We're just going to have to hope Taillon and Soroka can get hot and do the job for them

This and the possibility of not resigning Tucker, plus the possibility of trading both or one of Happ/Suzuki, a little easier to get them to waive NTC in final year especially if theres zero interest in extending.

I feel same about his presence, but I keep waiting for him to go on that long IL stint.

I think Zuki will be first to get traded, with Happ likely getting moved at 2026 deadline, depending on how season is going. Both on final year of contract, easier to get them to waive NTC if theres zero interest in extending them

Gets Imanaga an extra day off with him going Tuesday

Poor Ballesteros, the kid is stuck in Iowa

Surprising only cause I'd figure they'd give Boyd the extra day off after 90 pitches and a rough outing on Monday. I wonder if they'll just limit him then on Saturday since they'll have some rested arms in the pen. Guessing then it'll be Soroka on Monday and Imanaga on Tuesday then with Horton Wednesday for the Reds.

My main concern with not getting another quality starter is it going to be rough in the postseason after Imanaga and Boyd because im not sure how much they're going to be able to rely on both Tailon and Soroka to get them enough innings and keep them in their games without burning through the bullpen. I mean right now I have little confidence with them getting past a first round series, let alone two.

SP Imanaga SP Boyd SP Rea SP Horton SP Brown LR/SP Soroka RH LR Hollowell RH RP Braiser RH RP Rogers LH RP Kriske RH RP Pomeranz LH RP Kittredge RH S/U Theilbar LH S/U Keller RH CL Palencia RH Taillon Assad Wicks Not sure what the plan will be with the rotation going forward, Is Soroka going to start Monday over Rea? He pitched on Tuesday so he won't be able to go Saturday in Brown spot. Taillon when he returns will likely take Rea spot, what the plan for Assad? Who getting bumped from pen now Kriske and Hollowell? Then who gets moved for Assad and eventually moved for Rea ? Does Brown go back to Iowa after his start Saturday? Overall the Bullpen should be on great shape but the rotation is a question marks after Imanaga and Boyd

C. Kelly 1B Busch 2B Hoerner SS Swanson 3B Shaw LF Happ CF PCA RF Tucker DH Suzuki McGuire LH Castro SH Turner RH Berti RH Amaya RH Ballesteros LH Who will go when Amaya returns McGuire or Turner ? What to do with Ballesteros? Should they just DFA or phantom IL Turner now and Ballesteros can get some AB as a DH to start getting OFers some days off. I think Berti will stick if CC likes having a guy on bench he could use late as a PR in close games

Now that the dust has cleared and we fans have to accept what this roster is after a couple new additions, theres still some questions on who stays and who goes from the main roster. SP is still questionable, Bullpen is overloaded, regular position players are set, bench has a solid new additions. There are a couple players due to return soon from IL, which brings the question of who will go once they do. Below this will be the position players and then after that the pitching.

No problem with the guys he got cause they help, just the ONE he didn't get that they truly needed, a reliable SP to go between Imanaga and Boyd. Somebody needs to help take that stress off of them to constantly have to be the guy to stop any sort of bleeding.

Maybe with the improved bullpen and guys like Assad in the wing, they wont need their starters to go more then 5 innings 🤷‍♂️😏

That right, I forget

It can Happen if Reds gets hot now and the Brewers continue to roll 🤷‍♂️