PeanutPunch33

I'm not going to complain about the offense because I'm just a broken record at this point. But for folks that want more pitching: A guy like Kyle Harrison was available for basically anybody to acquire last off-season. That could have been our Arrieta 2.0. And the Cubs were especially primed to make a move like that, given that the Sox needed a 3B and the Cubs had a pretty decent one to offer in Shaw. Now the Cubs will pay 5x more for a pitcher nowhere near as talented with nowhere near as much control. If Jed is half the GM that he gets paid to be, the Brewers wouldn't be 10 steps ahead of him at every turn. They revamp their entire team every few years with these types of moves. Whereas Jed has locked the Cubs into mediocrity.

A walk off would be sweet. This team needs a spark badly

Jump is actually a decent prospect. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap

My definition of superstar is any player who everyone expects to have a .900+ OPS bat going into the year. I'm guessing that checks out to basically 10-15 guys across the league in any given year. Acuna, Harper, Schwarber, Judge, Alvarez, Soto, and so on. There are a ton of very good hitters, the Cubs have several of them, but there's a noticeable difference between a guy like Michael Busch and a guy like Bryce Harper. If the Cubs win the WS this year I don't think anyone is calling Michael Busch a superstar if he goes back to a low .800 OPS or high .700 something OPS next year. It's got to be year-over-year dominance.

Fair points. I acknowledge that I'm going against the grain here and my opinion is not what the majority think. I can get behind any move they make as long as it helps the team significantly. ^ If a guy like Alvarez is actually made available and the Cubs don't make a serious effort to get him, though, I would be pretty disappointed. Guys like that don't come along often.

Did the Cubs not win a playoff series last year despite that so called terrible rotation and Shota playing awful? Whereas they got nothing from Tucker in the 2nd half of the year. So yes, I do believe that their best player last year getting hurt made more of a difference than Shota being terrible. You also fail to consider that since then, the Cubs have developed Brown into an ace, acquired another power arm in Cabrera, and are getting "their best pitcher" back later in the year. The rotation is fine when healthy.

If Judge got hurt tomorrow, the Yankees go from being WS contenders to a horrible team. If Kyle Tucker didn't get hurt last year in June/July and his performance falling off a cliff, the Cubs could have made a deep playoff run. I think it gets underestimated how much that one player impacts the whole team. Now, they might not even be a playoff team despite adding that so-called star pitcher in the off-season and replacing Tucker with Bregman. Need to be able to hit home runs in October. It's not just about aesthetics. If Bregman lived up to what he was supposed to be, this wouldn't be my position. Also, let's see what this 6th best offense looks like in a month or two. Last year, it all fell apart in the 2nd half. I hope that doesn't happen again but if it does, perhaps more people will agree with me on the need for more talent in the lineup.

I'll trust the numbers but I personally think there's a disconnect between the numbers and what this offense actually is. They don't have a good enough leadoff hitter, they don't have a guy who can (individually) slug at an elite level. They don't have any young exciting prospects on the way. They don't have any stars except maybe PCA. It's just a very bland offense.

I don't see why this has to be an "either/or" btw. Go and get a pitcher and get a hitter. I want to watch better baseball and there are many holes on this team beyond the rotation.

And you are intentionally using a time frame where Kyle Tucker was playing as an MVP candidate here, to mask how mediocre this offense is. 2024 and 2026 are more appropriate reference points. They missed the playoffs in 2024 and might miss the playoffs this year.

By that logic, what's the point of ever making a move for a position player? There isn't an Aaron Judge that's going to be available any time soon, so they have to take a chance on a younger or more unproven player that can develop into a future star. The Mariners have probably the best rotation in baseball. 5 deep. Yet, they still stink this year. This team values pitching and defense too much at the expense of pure offense and slugging. There has to be a more balanced approach.

Well the Cubs are missing like 4 starting pitchers due to injuries and Brown is starting to look like a guy. Is this rotation really that bad when everyone is healthy? On top of that, they just swung a massive trade in the off-season for this supposedly great pitcher and it hasn't panned out (yet). It's time for Jed to consider alternative ways to improve the team or at least be open minded to it. Prime Jacob DeGrom isn't going to help this team hit better with guys in RISP or put one in the seats in the 8th inning when the team needs a big hit. Personally doesn't make sense to me why this team would pay an arm and a leg for another SP when this offense looks like it will barely be able to score 2 runs a game in October, always assuming they can even get there.

Well the other day you said that Seiya is a top 20-25 hitter since he came into the league, so surely getting the 25-year-old version of that type of player should be a very desirable thing right? Especially a guy that has elite traits (bat speed + hard hit %) and is more consistent? At the end of the day, the Cubs are not going to be able to acquire a Juan Soto or any true elite hitter - those guys are almost never made available. And because of their abysmal drafting over the years on hitters, their only remaining paths to acquiring that true middle-of-the-order bat is 1) free agency or 2) taking a chance on a good or very good player and hoping he can becoming great. Also, I have noticed that some Tigers players over the years become way better once they leave Detroit. Scherzer and Castellanos come to mind. It's not inconceivable that Riley can make a significant jump as a hitter in a different organization. And even if he doesn't you still got a very good ballplayer. What intrigues me about him is that he can slug (last year, 35+ HR) and this year, he has even better numbers despite only 4 HR, getting on base at a .398 clip. I see a kid who can do a lot of different things as a hitter, and if ever puts it together you got a franchise player. Anyways I was just spit balling ideas. If you have a different name in mind than Greene I'm all ears. For me, the true dream is Corbin Carroll but that ain't happening. At least the Tigers would answer the phone on Greene if a serious offer was made. They are 16 games below .500 and going nowhere fast.

Barring an epic come back, Sox will have a better record than the Cubs going into June. Not been a fun season so far.

Not sure about you all but I'd rather watch Javy Assad pitch 10/10 times than this bum.

Wicks is awful

He's a 25 year old 2x all-star, who is getting on base nearly 40% of the time this year. He's way better than Seiya has ever been. Don't get me wrong, he's no Yordan Alvarez or Juan Soto but he'd be the best bat in this lineup easily. With plenty of upside.

If the Cubs are making a deal with Detroit, I'd much rather pursue a guy like Riley Greene. The Cubs have the pieces to get it done. I know this is an unpopular opinion here, but they need a middle-of-the order game changing bat more than they need half a season of Skubal. It would be like acquiring a younger, better, cost controlled Kyle Tucker. Check out his baseball savant. I'd give them any 3 prospects they want. He's an elite left handed hitter and only 25 years old. And his swing would fit like a glove at Wrigley.

If the Cubs were 1 piece away then I'd be all for Skubal. But unfortunately, they need at least 1 more legit piece in the bullpen, the lineup, and the rotation. Selling the farm for Skubal could backfire tremendously for future seasons.

It felt great to watch elite starting pitching today. We've been robbed of that this season with all of the injuries. Very imperfect lineup and serious questions about roster construction, but if the Cubs have Boyd/Cabrera/Steele/Horton healthy, this team is probably as good as anyone outside of the Braves/Dodgers.

When PCA is at his best it's a sight to behold

Ben has become the best SP on this team and that’s an exciting development

at least PCA is looking like a beast again 2/3

I’m really interested to see what they do next season. Happ and Seiya will basically be the 2 best OFers on the market. Seems like they will try to bring Happ back - do they make another Tucker like trade or a prospect for prospect trade if Seiya is gone?

I’ve been a Seiya fan since day 1 but he’s not playing like a guy who deserves an extension here