KCCub

Yep it's exciting. The new ownership is actually making an effort to build a competitive team plus they've been trying to push a downtown stadium. Fielding a solid product along with a star like BWJr will help with that.

FYI on his no trade list -

The SP market is crazy. Wish I was a fly on the wall to know what type of offers Jed has received for Taillon.

With Leiter gone, Little injury, and Smyly gone after this season, Jed will need to target guys who can get lefties out next season. He's been reluctant to bring in a leverage lefty arm so far, we'll see if he changes that now.

It's kind of shocking how quiet the Cubs can keep things from their end. Little to no leaks on a lot of their moves. No idea who all will be moved today.

Nice catch Seiya

Exactly! It was a smart move on the Cardinals part because they have a young cornerstone SS and a surplus of OFers. But Edman was the best player in the deal!

I get what you're trying to say, but really those three aren't close to the three the Sox gave up. And each team is going to have different priorities on return (Near ready vs lotto tickets). Leiter at 2.5 years of control 1.3 fWAR this season (1.9 total counting last season) > Kopech 1.5 years of control -.2 fWAR this season (-1.1 counting last season) Tauchman (104 wRC+) 2.5 years of control vs 36 year old rental Pham (102 wRC+) And then Fedde vs Taillon. I'm not as high on Fedde as it appears most folks in the twitter world is. He was basically worth a little over 1 fWAR his previous 6 year big league stint. He did make changes after his year in the KBO and so far he's been solid (xERA 3.77, xFIP 3.96). Do I buy he's that guy again next year when he currently doesn't get a ton of whiffs or chase, no I really don't. Especially if you factor in a more bullish offensive environment next year. Part of me thinks they could of done a little better in their prospect haul, but also part of me thinks they just turned a short term project who they signed from the KBO into 5/6 years (I don't know how much control Vargas has since he's been up and down a few times) of Miguel Vargas and two ascending young prospects from the Dodgers farm who probably slot in close to the Sox top 10. Here's to hoping there's regression coming Fedde's way.

We also don't know how much his fractured hand has impacted him this year.

And you're going to see his defensive value jump back up when the Dodgers use him at SS fulltime. We can revisit next year, but I think there's a good chance the Cardinals gave up the player who ends up being the most valuable.

Idk, Edman is sneaky valuable with being a plus defender at SS and OF. Fedde also only has one year of control and Pham is a 36 year old rental with a 102 wRC+. Wouldn't be shocked to see Edman pushing 5 fWAR again for the Dodgers next season.

If Shaw struggles at AAA then what? There's just nothing out there in terms of 2b FA. I don't see a world where you're getting back a starting 2b for Nico, so I just don't believe they are getting Nico's value back. There it is, you don't believe in the core. Does it make sense to address a black hole at 3b with a good player just to turnaround and trade a good low cost player at 2b and create another black hole? I don't see that at all. You can add the big bat at RF or DH this offseason without having to move your valuable 2b. You have money to spend, and a large prospect stash to move to address the remaining needs - Big bat, catcher, SP (Maybe), and BP.

We shouldn't pencil in a guy as the every day starting 2b who hasn't taken an AB at AAA yet. If he forces his way onto the big league club at some point next season, then we can start looking to move Nico for another need. You're also not getting anywhere near Nico production elsewhere for the $11.5m you save next season by moving Nico.

Breslow must think they can get him right.

The great thing about Nico is he's under contract for only two more seasons - his age 28 and 29 seasons. Age isn't a concern there. He also only has an AAV of $11.67m, has been worth 4.2 and 4.5 fWAR the previous two seasons and will probably be around 3 fWAR this season. How are you replacing that value in 2025?

Yea I just don't see a path where moving Hoerner makes sense right now. I'm a believer on making prospects force their way onto the team. At that point, it's a great problem to have if Shaw for example is destroying AAA early next season. It doesn't make sense to fix our 3b problem just to create the same exact problem at 2b next season (See the 2b FA class).

Seems like the Dodgers would be the best trade partner in that scenario. They have a plethera of young, injured arms. They already have the upper end SP, they need someone who can reliably eat innings. However, not sure which arm we would target and what else we might have to send depending on which arm it is. In a similar vein, I mentioned awhile back that we should kick the tires on Alcantara this offseason if we are moving Jamo this deadline.

Good chance Montas is gone before tomorrow's start as well. Might get lucky and get a BP day from them.

Agreed. I really hope Morel & Bigge are successful. It's almost like the twitter world doesn't understand that this can be a good thing for both sides and in terms of team context it makes since for both teams.

Idk, call me crazy, but I think a guy who puts the ball in the air at over a 70% clip is going to be a welcomed sight at Wrigley in the summer time. His away HR/FB % is down 4% this year from last. If we are expecting the offensive environment to improve next year (I sure think it will), then we might see gains there.

They have 55 games left. His current appearance pace is 60.5 appearances per 162, so they are right on the line.