Stratos

Yup same thing that happened last year. I don't think it would be so bad if we had some real quality late inning guys to anchor the pen and the annual randoms could slot in mostly in middle relief. As of right now the pen is mystery for next year. We have Merryweather, and probably Hodge who hopefully is solid, but then we have no idea what we get from guys like Neris, Miller, Almonte, Pearson, Wesneski etc. Should be June again until we figure it out.

A bit of tangent but I see Cubs have a fairly easy schedule the rest of Aug, so could get interesting by the end of the month if Cubs play well. Mixed schedule in Sept, playing some chumps but also Dodgers, Yanks, Phillies. They might have to get hot in Sept. Good news for Sept is Cubs have 16 home games and only 10 on the road.

Re: Paredes, Hoyer mentioned after the trade that they had been working on that deal for a while, I think he said for like a month before the deadline, and that there were a lot of teams bidding on him.

Catcher is tough position to find guys that can hit obviously, and you usually are looking at 2 of them to find. Last year the league average for team totals at the catcher position was about 2.0 WAR and 92 wRC+. If they can find someone who is good that's great, but I'd be more than happy with something around league average output on our catching combo, or even a bit below average who are very solid defensively and working with pitchers. Someone like Gomes before this year was solid enough. I think there's something to be said about catchers with experience knowing the hitters/teams around the league and adding intangible value to the pitching staff. Catching prospects are notorious for flaming out offensively so i'm not all that keen in trading good prospects at other positions for them. if they trade real value for a catcher i'd like someone with a few years & results in the league.

I like Boog but he's a know-it-all and Girardi is from the old school era, obviously not the same intensity of analytics guy Boog is. I think Boog just needs to chill a bit and stop fighting with the guy on every point, even if he's right most of the time. He doesn't need to always be right for his own ego.

Originally it was "right forearm strain" LOL. We know that can be code for elbow. Thanks for the smoke and mirrors Cubs.

I think there's a higher likelihood they sign Soto over Ohtani, Correa/Turner/Bogaerts, Harper, and Machado. With Correa (cheating), Harper, and Machado there were some "personality/clubhouse" concerns, plus for the latter 2 the Cubs were pretty tapped out on their payroll limit at the time. Ohtani we may have given a great offer but he was going to the Dodgers no matter what. And Turner/Bogaerts were both 30 years old and their contracts IMO were quite overpriced even for a big contracts. The thing that could stand in the way may be the fact that Soto plays a position we don't have a need for, we just could use the offensive upgrade. But eventually getting rid of 2 of Bellinger/Happ/Suzuki would make roster and payroll room for Soto and Caissie. OF + DH could look something like Soto/PCA/Caissie/Suzuki. We have Suzuki under contract through 2026 and before the contract is done Alcantara and/or Ballesteros/Triantos (at DH) should be ready, meaning Seiya could be traded. Over the next 2 seasons we should be able to get some solid prospects for Happ & Suzuki, plus Nico if they see Shaw replacing him at some point. I like the Cubs staying fairly young (as many guys as possible still in their prime years) & able to consistently reload the farm by turning the roster over. Even with Soto they get to stay in his prime for several years, and could trade him when he hits his 30's before his value crumbles.

They've also had a few crappy players in the lineup much of the year.

It's possible his BA will drop. His BABIP is quite high, but has been pretty consistent, and he had similar in the upper minors. But his K% since June 1 is 27.2%, and 25.2% since July 1. So he's improved. We don't know if he can keep it up though, guess we'll see.

PCA is probably watching the ball the whole way and doesn't know exactly where Nico is and that he had settled under the ball. If you're the CF you're taught that its easier to make a play coming in than an infielder going back so its your ball on those in-between play unless called off. On the one hand if PCA calls Nico off he better know he has a good play on it. You can't call for the ball and then dive for it. But I get Floyd's point because it took Nico a bit to concede to PCA and made the play harder for him. I think ultimately its PCA's fault, he's gonna know Nico has a better play and back off, which he's had problems with before. His enthusiasm is bigger than his brain.

He really needs to learn when to back off in the field. If I played with a guy like this it would piss me off. His enthusiasm is bigger than his brain at this point.

Only have to hop 6 teams for a WC birth. Let's do this.

My favorite player is Motorola.

If I buy a Cubs jersey does it come with the Motorola logo on it? Boy i hope so.

Great investment for them because now I hate Motorola.

Tauchman because he has a really high baseball IQ and gets the most out of his abilities. I like Happ too for his no-BS blue collar type attitude. Imanaga has a fun personality. Was a huge Sosa fan since he first got traded to the Cubs but then stuff happened. Used to like the toolsy/exciting players when I was younger but now prefer the high skill, high baseball IQ, tough competitor types.

What's wild is the Cubs went from 3rd most runs in the NL in 2023 to 3rd fewest runs this year with the same team plus Busch added.

Hopefully a better catcher. They probably don't need to spend too much on the pen. Maybe a cheap depth SP. Will be interesting where they spend that money. Soto and Suzuki could split time between RF and DH. Soto and a catcher like Jansen plus Paredes and Bellinger in CF would change this lineup a lot. Not sure they afford Soto + Jansen though if they want to stay under the cap, but they could go under again in 2026 if they replace Nico with Shaw and 1 or 2 of Suzuki/Happ/Bellinger with Caissie+PCA. Ballesteros can fit in the mix at DH or catcher though a year from now. It sucks to keep waiting but this team looks to start peaking in 2026. I really hope they can make the playoffs next year.

Jed doesn't do things like this. Also would be hard to sign other FA relievers plus some of your team would hate you.

Cowles giving me young David Bote vibes. Meh. Is our #30 prospect according to MLB.com

Yeah they seem to really believe in their ability to snipe guys off the scrap heap and turn them into something. They're pretty good at it but they need to do better in the pen than the last 2 years.

Probably unpopular opinion but I like Bellinger in CF for the Cubs next year. He did fine offensively for us this year even while his HR stroke was clearly not in a groove yet. I don't think he's a different player than he was in March so if they keep him i'm fine with it. He's a little expensive but a CF who can hit and do everything well isn't easy to find.

Cubs might be weaker in the pen for 2025 with this. But Leiter is 33 so they may have wanted to sell high before he might start to age regress.

Yeah but 24 y/o in AA. Only 10 IP in AAA so far this year but K #'s have been pedestrian so far. But we'll see. K% for Cowles has also been poor in his minors career besides this year. Tools matter for these guys, not just stats.

AAA is the only place in the minors where you get face older and experienced players who have played in the MLB. I'd argue its the most valuable level in the minors to learn. Nico is a 4 WAR player who is having a slightly down year offensively, probably because he's been trying to lift the ball more and the AVG has gone down with no power gains. They could trade him next year, no need to put the cart before the horse IMO.