Rcal10

Exactly. Kind of funny that I got a survey from the Cubs. In the survey they asked for 3 words to describe the organization. . I used cheap, mismanaged and frustrating. And said I was a huge fan. What is wrong with me…..🤷

I agree that Smith is a legitimate prospect. Of course he is. Or the Cubs couldn’t get Tucker for him. But most people, not you, are overreacting to a good spring. A lot of guys have good springs and end up not carrying to the regular season or even have any kind of major league career. As Bertz said, nothing Smjth did this spring should suddenly have him any higher than the tier Cassie is in. As you correctly stated, what he did this spring should not give him a spot on the ML roster just yet. He is ranked somewhere around 70th in baseball by most publications. Similar to Cassie, Ballasteros, Alcantara. Maybe he moves up and becomes that star everyone is so afraid he will become. But maybe he ends up taking a different trajectory, much like many prospects who never do make it to the majors. The minor leagues are filled with guys who at one time were top 20 prospects in the game. People are getting, seriously, way ahead of themselves with Smith.

You know who else has a great spring? Workman. I don’t see him as a starting option. Does anyhow e expect him to be a star? In the end, Smith might be good. He might have a good career. But he also can very possibly be a bust.

So does the last pitching spot come down to Brown or Miller? If Brown makes it they have to dfa Miller. So I agree Brown will start at AAA.

Yes, I did. Had they added 2 games (depending on what tier the games were) my ticket prices would have been up between 4% and 6% from the previous year. Pretty standard increase year over year.

Maybe not exactly how I described it, but there was some subtle difference that allowed Ricketts to pocket more money then he would have had the games been played at Wrigley. See Matthew Trueblood story on 2/27.

I paid for 79 games.

WOW, that is my bad. Worse than you think too. I was at game 1 in that series and could have sworn the Cubs were the home team. I think the reason I though this was because they sang go cubs fo after the win, and I think Clark came out with the W flag. Either way, you are correct. My bad.

Each team was the home team one game in London. Each team lost 1 game from their home schedule.

He did get paid. As the home team the Cubs get the gate. And unlike games in the states, this is not shared with the rest of baseball. Doesn’t count towards their revenues. That is why he wanted to be the home team in both games. He couldn’t care less about losing 2 home games and having to play in a park where the Cubs were obviously not the home team in the eyes of the fans. He couldn’t care less if they lost. This was great for Ricketts because he gets the money without sharing.

To be fair it is titled bold predictions. If I predicted the Cubs would win 85- 88 games that is not a bold prediction. Or if I said Shaw will be an ok everyday third baseman, again, not exactly a bold prediction. Bold would indicate you have to predict something very good or very bad, that is not a likely outcome. Not surprised people choose to suggest good, except for chibear, which is also not a surprise. And again, in chibears defense he is just making a bold, albiet, negative prediction.

Agreed. Cubs offense is fine. Tucker having a bad spring is of NO SIGNIFICANCE. Cubs might struggle scoring because typically pitchers are ahead of hitters in mid March AND the Dodgers have a great staff. But if they do struggle to score the next two games that is not a sign of things to come this year. It is a sign of playing a good pitching staff early in the year when pitching is ahead of hitting. It also is just 2 games where the team doesn’t hit. Not a reflection of the line up or how the season will go. Same if they come out and score 8 runs each game. Suddenly that doesn’t mean the Cubs are the best offense in baseball. As you said, on paper they have a good offense. It should just be left at that. But hot take posters are going to hot take!

I don’t think Tucker going 1/31 this spring plays a part in my concern the Cubs might not score a lot of runs in this series. TBH, had he gone 10/31 this spring I would still not expect much scoring. They are playing the Dodgers and facing a very solid staff. I think that is a bigger concern than a slow spring by Tucker.

While I agree he could have done a better job and did make mistakes, the argument of giving up prospects for Tucker and Busch as a bad move by him is ridiculous. First of all, none of those guys he gave up have done anything yet. Assuming they will be stars is really taking a leap of faith. And even if they do become good players, the Cubs did get Busch for 6 years of control and Tucker this year. They also have the entire year to let him play in Chicago and hopefully sign him long term. Teams trade prospects for proven talent all the time. If he is going to be criticized for that trade shouldn’t he be praised for getting PCA for Baez? How about for even drafting Smith in the first place. Or trading for Wesneski and Paredes to actually have players the Astros might want. Same with Hope. He was an 11th round pick that the Cubs used in a trade to get their everyday first baseman with 6 years of control. He has made a lot of mistakes. I hate that they still have $25M - 30M before getting to the LT line. I think he wasted too much time considering Bregman. I would have liked to have seen a better pitcher signed instead of Rea. In years past I would have rather seen better use of money. As I said, he did a lot of things wrong. I just don’t think the examples you gave are good. I also think you can say the same thing about every GM/president of baseball ops who has this job. Jed is not the best. But he isn’t as bad as some make him out to be. Just like everyone with his job, he makes mistakes and good moves.

Pitchers didn’t give him a chance either. I only saw one high throw. And all the stolen bases were on the pitchers. He isn’t the best throwing catcher anyway. But nothing I saw from him concerned me. If pitchers can hold guys better than yesterday I think he is basically a league average throwing catcher. Not great, but nothing awful.

My bet is Busch starts opening day at 1st.

We aren’t going to agree in this so I am done discussing it. I’m not going to change your mind and you aren’t changing mine. Guess we will see how it plays out. One thing we do agree on is Workman deserves that final spot on the roster for now.

Because while the plan right now would be to keep Workman there may be some sort of roster crunch that would make them want to send Workman down. Sure, now it is keep workman regardless. Might not always be the case. Why not see if Detroit wants Thompson or whoever else who might be dfa and work out something so that the Cubs don’t have any restrictions on how they use Workman. From Detroit’s POV, they get a guy without him having to clear other teams before they can get him. It works. That said, if he cost more than that, agreed, just keep him on the roster and if he falters offer him back.

Why do you wish Workman was righty? I think it is a plus he hits left handed. He is our bench left handed hitter. Also nice for him to play for Shaw at times.

To be clear, working something out with Detroit was not suggesting sending them anything of real value. I think the word prospect is loosely appropriate. I was thinking of maybe Thompson, who the Cubs are going to have to dfa anyway. Maybe whoever is the next guy they are going to have to release. Might be T. Miller, if he doesn’t make the roster. He is out of options. Can also be Brujan, assuming Workman beats him out. (And we all safely assume that is the case) Or maybe a cash sort of deal. Nothing of real value. But if that didn’t do it, I agree they just roll with Workman without a safety net in the event he fails. As you said, if he doesn’t hit well he is still a solid defensive option. And probably won’t get many AB anyway.

I agree with this. And that’s why I would like to be able to work something out with Detroit on Workman. We are clearly seeing him at his best. But he never played above AA. My guess is he is going to struggle at some point. It would be nice to be able to send him down when that happens. I don’t see him making it all year in the team. I like him, he had a very good spring. But they may need some flexibility with him. Hope they can get something done.

For me, this was the easiest one. I looked at it for 2 seconds and thought DeJesus. Guess being old helped in that one.

More importantly, what happens for stateside OD? If Nico is ready he is in. So who goes? Workman or Brujan. Not going to be easy keeping Workman up all year. I think if they decide him they really need to work something out with Detroit. This way he can start the season, but if he struggles they can send him down. But assuming he does make the team that is another 40 man move needed. They will need to move 3 guys out if Keller also makes the team. Keller making it might be the end of Tyson Miller. I guess Miller can make the team and Morgan can be sent down. That saves Miller for now. But still need a 40 man move.

I know Jaimo is, not sure about Boyd. I do think he makes some sense being on the roster. With only 1 lefty pen arm, why not carry him too. I think he is a better option than Rea in the pen. (For this particular event) Maybe Rea pitches the other exhibition game and Boyd is held for the real games.

Not really a surprise. He made the 31 player roster going to Japan. I don’t see that surprising. I also don’t see him making the stateside 26 man roster. He will start at AAA, which is no surprise.