PeanutPunch33

I'm just hoping they can play well enough to force Jed into making a big move in July. If they look like just a good but not great team, they might have a trade deadline like last year. And that would be disappointing.

Depends on what your definition of "fine" is. I see a team that will make the playoffs (via wildcard) like last season. But I don't see a team that can compete with the Braves or Dodgers once they get there. There's a noticeable talent gap.

Nico just hasn't been the same since he got plunked in the head in that Padres series. Hoping there's nothing more to it than just a bad stretch

When the Cubs are struggling, the implication is always that they are just unlucky and things are fluky and it's no big deal because the sample size is small. Of course, the reason can never be that they might just not be as good of a lineup as we think.

If they want to shake things up, put Busch back in the leadoff spot against RHP. Literally no reason to still have Nico in that spot when he's produced a .<600 OPS since that Padres series. Busch played well in that role last year, and he's been the best (and only good) hitter on this team over the last 2-3 weeks.

Well, at least we got Caleb Williams

He was available at the trade deadline last year so I don't buy that for a second.

Everything is relative. We know Caissie stinks now but at the time he was what, a top 50-60 prospect. They gave up 3 names for Cabrera when they could have given up 5 names for Joe Ryan. They consistently settle for mediocrity. Anyways I wasn't trying to be a dick about Cabrera. I hope he gets healthy soon and starts dominating. I think we're all just a bit frustrated watching this team right now.

Seems like cope to me. He's been mediocre in basically every start as a Cub outside his first 2. Sucks that he got hurt but that doesn't mean I have to pretend that he's good. Also all I've been told here is that this is a top 3 offense full of difference makers so surely that can't be used as an excuse.

Not trying to take a victory lap but last season I posted a lot about how badly I didn't want the Cubs to get Cabrera. Dude is Javier Assad with a better baseball savant page lol. A mental ****** who will never live up to his ridiculous, undeserved hype.

Michael Busch is probably my favorite player. I wonder if you guys have ever noticed that I've never criticized him on here - not once - lol. With that being said, he's not Freddie Freeman lol. He did have a great great year last year though. But Freeman is a 1st ballot HOFer. I'm a huge Seiya fan too - but it's hard to call a guy who's never made an all star game a superstar. Pitching won't really be a problem once Boyd and Steele get back and the Cubs likely make another trade at the deadline. But upgrading this lineup is hopeless. Nearly everyone is locked into long term contracts and there aren't any big time hitting prospects left in the minors.

Brewers deserve credit for fixing Harrison. He's been a stud. Great challenge for this lineup tonight

Why would he need to sit on the bench in that scenario? When the Cubs acquired Busch he was ready to start from day 1 and he never looked back. And there will certainly be a corner OF spot available next season, whether it's Happ that gets resigned or Suzuki. IMO, the Cubs are a much better team tomorrow by air dropping a guy like Corbin Carroll or James Wood into this lineup than Tarik Skubal into the rotation. I get that others here wouldn't agree with that, but the Cubs pitching isn't really that bad when they are heathy. Their issues are injury related and not talent related. Whereas, IMO, I question the individual talent in this lineup. Too many guys with redundant skillsets and not enough pop. Also, what are those numbers like from 2024 in your analysis? I'm guessing not that great. The Cubs still had Kyle Tucker in 2025 and he was one of the 5 best players in baseball up until June/July. There are 27 big leaguers with a .500+ slug at the moment and the Cubs don't have a single one of them. It's a real issue.

I'd be down with a superstar pitcher. Haha. I agree that pitching should be the focus. But I also think that if that opportunity to upgrade the lineup presents itself, they should also jump on it. Make another Busch-like trade for a young guy on another team who's blocked somewhere. Maybe they can do that for one of the corner OF spots this off season.

Exactly. It's basically the same lineup for 3 seasons in a row, aside from 3rd base and 1/2 a season of Tucker. It's just annoying that even the crappy teams have guys like Witt Jr or Corbin Carroll or Elly De La Cruz. Even the Athletics have some big time bats now. If the Cubs can't draft and develop this type of player, they should at least be aggressive in trying to acquire that guy in a trade. They have the resources to do it, but they have been way too conservative over the years in making a big move.

You are right that "superstar" is vague and open to interpretation. But I feel like all of us can agree that superstar = considered one of the best players in the league, as a general definition. Also, you are right that I probably should have left pitchers off my list since my point was about the lineup. However, I do want to clarify that my analysis wasn't using some benefit of hindsight. I tried to list how those players were viewed in that particular year. For example, if you and I stepped into a time machine back to November 2022, it would be indisputable that Austin Riley is one of the best players in the sport. 6 WAR player with 38 home runs and an .890+ OPS. Or if I took you back to November 2023, when Seager finished the season with 1.013 OPS and an MVP runner up finish (and WS MVP). Point being - these guys might not be superstars today, but they absolutely were in those WS years I listed. I just want the Cubs to have a player like that because it would solve so many issues. Can't get the big hit with RISP? That's because there's no star player. Can't hit a 99 MPH fastball when it's right down the middle of the plate? That's because there's no star player here with elite bat speed. Can't get the big 3 run home run in the 8th inning to steal a game that you otherwise would have lost? No star player. This is a good team, possibly a really good team. But to be great, there is a major ingredient missing (IMO).

Regardless of the sport, it's the elite players that carry you to a championship. There are very few instances in any sport where a team wins "by committee" and doesn't have a superstar. That's just the truth, even in baseball. Let's look at the last 10 or 11 WS winners: 2025 Dodgers: Ohtani, Freeman, Mookie + 2024 Dodgers: Ohtani, Freeman, Mookie + 2023 Rangers: This team had 4 all stars + Seager runner up MVP 2022 Astros: Alvarez, Verlander + 2021 Braves: Freeman, Riley + 2020 Dodgers: Betts, Seager, Kershaw + 2019 Nats: Soto, Strasburg, Scherzer 2018 Red Sox: Betts, JD Martinez + 2017 Astros: Altuve, Springer, Correa + 2016 Cubs: Bryant, Rizzo, Arrieta, ++ Even the small market 2015 Royals had 5 all stars + even better pitching and defense. It's worth mentioning that every team that lost in the WS to these teams above also had 1 or 2 superstars. It is a big deal that the Cubs don't have one and IMO more people should be criticizing them for it. Especially at the massive payroll they got and year 6 of the current GM. There are no excuses for it.

I hear you on that. But ask yourself this - what makes this lineup different today than the one that ended the 24 season? Only change is Bregman over Morel/Peredes and a better DH. Otherwise it’s the same exact lineup. (I’m going to exclude Tucker from this analysis because it was obvious they were never serious about extending him). So it’s basically 3 seasons in a row with the same lineup. Why aren’t they trying to find their Olson or Jose Ramirez or whoever that can change the game with one swing? Like I can’t be the only one here that thinks it’s weird they don’t have that face of the franchise guy and haven’t made a serious enough effort to find him. On most nights, the Cubs don’t have the best player on the field or the more talented pitcher on the mound. It’s not a viable path to a WS trip. I just want to get to the point where the conversation shifts from “anything can happen in october” to “we expect to win in october because we have a dominant f***ing team”. Like it was in ‘15 and ‘16.

"Not like it was a sweep that conclusively showed who was better" wtf 😂😂. Buddy they WON the series. There is no prize for 2nd place. Are you suggesting that the Dodgers (2x world champs) are "not conclusively better" than the Phillies because the Phillies won 1 game in that series last year 😂 😂 It's okay to admit that the Brewers are better. It's also okay to be livid that they are better despite a fraction of the payroll and expectations. And I'm not overreacting, feel free to go back and look at my comments in basically every game thread. Good team, but missing that prototypical superstar talent which will hold them back. I agree that they will bounce out of this slump soon and play good baseball. What concerns me is what happens in October.

Who won when it actually mattered in the playoffs?

Jed has spent too much time over the years trying to improve around the margins and chase "value" instead of doing everything in his power to acquire superstar talent. Like the Braves trade for Olsen or the Dodgers trading for Mookie, Jed never had the balls to make a move like that until his job was on the line... and then he picked a guy that they were never going to extend anyways. You don't win in October with Joe Schmoe, you need actual game changing superstars that can catch up to a 101 mph fastball or throw a 3 hitter against an elite lineup. I'll enjoy the 90 win season but this team is cooked in October.

Now that's a great manager over there. You want to qualify for the win kid? Go ride the pine and cry about it. Team comes first.

Now would be a great time for Bregman to live up to his contract

And this is why the Cubs should have been more aggressive in protecting that 4-1 lead yesterday and going all out to win that game. This was always going to be a tough series. The last one didn’t need to be.

Hard to be taken seriously as a contender when you have no stars on offense