Rcal10

I am also not convinced we will miss Skenes. Right now he pitches the Tuesday before they play the Cubs over the weekend if the 15th. The 5th day would be the 17th. Pirates do have a day off so theoretically Skenes would not pitch that day, the guy before him would. But they have 2 pitchers in their current rotation they can easily skip. So I am not convinced Skenes won’t pitch on the 17th.

Cubs offered more money NOW to Scott and he chose the Dodgers. The deferred money he took actually make the Dodgers offer a lesser value than the Cubs. So with him, yes, they gave an honest solid offer. I mentioned before, with all offers being unique some players will like one over the other. In the case with Scott 4/$66 no deferred money would have actually been considered a better value for Scott than the Dodgers winning offer of 4/$72 but with a lot of it deferred.

I think it is not realistic to not worry about LA nor NY. I know their payrolls are high, but they always find a way around it. Yes, Boston could be in on this too. But to me, the Cubs have a fair chance as long as they are competitive. And I think they will be.

I’m not wish-casting. I was answering the post about the Cubs expecting a home town discount. I am saying that isn’t happening. That the best they can hope for is him loving it here. That is all Jed can possibly hope for. I did not say he will do that. In my post I even said”I am not saying this will happen”, meaning I was only suggesting what I said was the most the Cubs could hope for, not an actual discount. If you are suggesting he will leave to LA or NY because they made a crazy offer, I agree he will go then. But I think Jed is hoping if he loves it at Wrigley and the offers are comparable he will stay here. Again, this is what I believe the FO is hoping for, as opposed to an actual “discount”. I have no clue or have any actual expectation as to how it turns out. I just think they will be aggressive and getting him here this year can only help, if they are in the same ballpark. He isn’t coming on a discount!!!

I know you are joking. But really we all should stop worrying about what the Brewers are doing. Just want the Cubs to play well. If the Cubs go 14-6 and take 3 of 5 from the Brewers during that span, they will be fine. If the Brewers keep winning then they are just better. Cubs can only worry about them when they play them. Win 30 of the next 51 and 3 of 5 against Milwaukee and I will take my chances with 95 wins.

To stay in CLEVELAND!!!!

I don’t think they were banking on a hometown discount. But I am fairly certain they did want him here to experience Wrigley. At the very least love it here so he considers their offer in a favorable manner. With the way teams do deferrals, opt outs, signing bonuses and whatever else they can do to structure a contract there may be multiple offers where one person feels one offer is best while another person likes the other deal. So having a player enjoying where he is playing can slant him towards that teams deal. Or maybe even have him allow the Cubs last option. I am not saying that will happen. I am suggesting the Cubs might be hoping loving here does allow them the last chance to match. There isn’t going to be some actual discount. That doesn’t happen.

How about that boys!!!!

He hit a slider. 2nd one he threw to him

I agree he should have bunted. But not sure with 2 strikes.

Up until his last 3 starts before he went on the IL, he had started 14 games of which 10 were quality starts. 2 others he went only 5 and 5.1 innings. But gave up 1 run in one game and 2 runs in another. Last year he had a solid season. He did struggle his first year here. But I would say 10 of 14 QS is pretty much what is expected from a MOR starter. He isn’t great. No one will suggest that. But a healthy Taillon would help this team.

I didn’t make up Castro’s batting average. I am sure the Cubs coaches have a pretty good idea of who is fielding the ball and who is making the relay. If they. Relieve the chance of a guy scoring is better than the chance the guy gets a hit while coming up next, the send makes sense. Period. Unfortunately even if the odds of a guy scoring is only 35-40% that means he is more likely out at the plate. And we get people complaining. But what is the other option? Let the next guy bat and have him make an out, like even good hitters do 70% of the time? It’s just math staffs should know the math. And they definitely know it more than you and I do.

Bad results from a good process doesn’t make it a wrong decision either. What is Castro batting average? 250? So maybe add a little more to factor in other ways the runner can score with Castro up. So maybe 30% chance. So if the 3rd base coach thinks the odds of scoring on that play are greater than 30% he send the runner. Unfortunately what happens is 50-60% of the time the guy gets thrown thrown out and the complains come. 40% chance of scoring is better than a 30% chance of scoring, therefore the process of sending a guy is correct.

Yep, fastest snail. Well said. Nothing to brag about, for sure.

I second this

You mean they shouldn’t have sent Kelly because he is slow. Interesting. Friday the guy who scored on the shallow sac fly was Kelly. He is slow. If you have a better chance to score the run then the next runner does to get a hit the right play is to send. Unfortunately that means a guy gets thrown out 50-60% of the time and we have these discussions.

Crazy talk. Fact is, like it or not, Ricketts is the best owner in Chicago. This is not saying much. I honestly hope the white Sox get an ownership that spends. Put some pressure on the Cubs to be good. Honestly all the owners in Chicago suck. TR just sucks the least. Not a high bar.

How did you feel about the send in game one? Shallow fly to right.

Exactly. No one said anything about the send on the shallow sac fly in game one. Why? Because a bad throw allowed the Cubs to score. This time a perfect relay cut Kelly down. If he had a 35% chance to score it was right to send him.

I mean they will go to an uncomfortable level and one that industry wide would be considered competetive. Not “cubs” competetive. 10+ years and high end annual. Hard to say amounts because deferrals come into play. Opt outs, NTC, signing bonus, etc. but IMO there bid will be comparable to others. Now if someone comes in at 12/$600 without deferred money, he is done. I don’t think that will happen. But I just don’t think they traded for him with the thought we can get him cheap and how we always do things. I think they knew this would be different and accept the idea they will have to operate differently.

I think this is a fair posts. I do understand apprehension about the Cubs really going all in on someone. But as others have said before, most teams never have, until they do. I just think Tucker is different than other FA that got mega deals. I think he is a guy they want. That is why they traded for him. Now he he here. IMO that makes it different. Also, as you pointed out, there may not be that much competition. If Tucker likes his time here they also helps. Yes, money has to be there. Cubs can’t offer $ years when others are offering 10+. But I don’t think the Cubs would have traded for him if they were not at least going to commit to a mega offer. My biggest disagreement with several posters is I just don’t see it as a foregone conclusion they aren’t even going to be competitive for him. I think they will be. But even so, 30% still has me bringing more likely than not he won’t we here next year. But I think they will try. I can see a 10+ year offer with about $40M annual. I think they will play in that level.

Swanson batting 9th. Maybe CC does read our threads.

Wish I could argue this, but I can’t. The trick is to show ownership that winning brings the most profit. Kind of the theory you have to spend money to make money. Don’t really think the Cubs ownership is that different than most when they put profit ahead of winning. I think 80% or more owners do that as well.

Wait squally. They are 15-11 in their last 26 games of this horrendous slump they are in. This time when they are only playing to a 93 win pace? Reading this thread I would have thought they were losing WAY more games then they have won recently. So they have 52 to go. If they continue this pace the rest of the year they end up with 94 wins and we have people suggesting if they even make the playoffs they will be the last team in? Wow, that is some serious overreaction. Brewers are now 22 games over .500. They are very good. Might win 95+. If they do they deserve the division. But that doesn’t mean the Cubs suck. In fact, if the Cubs go 3-2 at Wrigley and gain one more game in the other 47 games each team plays, both teams win 94 games and the Cubs win the division. Brewers would have to go 28-24 to get to 94 wins. That is an 87-88 win pace team from here on out. Still a quality team. Probably a pace at the beginning of the year none of us thought them capable of doing. And good. It is not them falling flat. It is them coming back to reality and their talent level. Now none of this might not happen. Brewers might go on and win 110 games. Cubs might lose 30 of their next 52. But there is definitely a very reasonable scenario where the Cubs absolutely make the playoffs and even one where they have a real chance at the division without something crazy having to happen.

And we have a chance to catch them too. Cubs haven’t played well for a while now. Just hovering around .500 for 30-40 games. Brewers have been ridiculous. Has anyone here ever watched a complete baseball season? If so, has anyone seen a team play like the Brewers have for 100+ games? Especially one that is not crazy talented. This is not knocking the Brewers. They are good. But they are not 115 win good. They will cool down. Maybe even go into what the Cubs are experiencing and not really slump, but not play great for the next 50 games. Tread water, like the Cubs haven’t played well for a bit. Cubs need to start playing well. I think they will. Play .600 ball from here on out, win 94 games and let’s see how that stacks up. I would say it wins the division. But if not, they are in the playoffs and we have to tip our cap to the Brewers. But nothing is decided on August 2nd.