Cuzi

Jed technically did not say they aren't going to be buyers. He said they aren't going to buy rentals. However, this team is never going to buy with Jed pulling the strings. This man just said he is happy with where the organization is. Jed... the Cubs you have led for 4 years have yet to make the playoffs and are currently the 4th worst team in the NL on a tax strapped payroll. How can you possibly be happy with that?

The Cubs aren't rebuilding. In order for the Cubs to be thinking about trading Steele they need MLB returns. That doesn't exist at the deadline. Buyers are contenders. Contenders aren't deducting from their MLB roster, at least not anyone valuable enough to consider trading Steele for.

The reason might be that the Cubs are the team the others need to beat.

Last year from May 14th to May 21st he hit 6 home runs. Is he not that guy or are you just wrong and trying to find another reason to dog Morel. I'm pretty sure anyone that has watched him since he has been called up understands that he is a very streaky hitter, but when he is on he is on fire.

From April 29th to May 6th he hit 5 home runs. Is Girardi wrong?

No. I'm judging Drury on his entire career, He was only got for 2 seasons and his underlying numbers in those 2 seasons were marginal. He had a good run. He's been around for 10 seasons and has 6 WAR. He's not a good player and he's absolutely terrible now. There's no team in baseball sitting around looking at what to do at 3B and having Brandon freaking Drury cross their mind. You can take that to the bank. I would honestly be on the phone with the Mets on Ronny Mauricio. He's a shortstop by trade with a big arm and big power. He's lost this season due to an ACL tear. He has 1 option year remaining, assuming it doesn't get burned before the end of the season. More importantly, with the emergence of Mark Vientos as a viable MLB starter, the Mets dont have anywhere to put Mauricio and they still have Baty. Mauricio is ready for his shot and the Cubs could give him 3B. He's got all the tools to stick at 3B and given that he's only got the 1 option remaining it's probably not going to cost that much to get him. Mets currently sit in the final WC spot and the one thing that stands out as a weakness is pitching. So probably looking at something like Assad going to the Mets. I would want a little something extra on top of Mauricio coming back, obviously. Someone like Nolan McLean has that plus fastball/slider combo the Cubs seem to love in the bottom half of their top 30.

Being against giving a player $20M thats probably going to return that much in value on the field but in favor of giving a player even league minimum who's probably at best looking at a minor league deal is an interesting take to say the least. Brandon Drury sucks. He's accrued 6 WAR in his entire career, of which 5.9 of that came in a 2 year span. He's bottom 20% in EVERYTHING. No one in their right mind should be looking at Brandon Drury as any kind of a solution. I'd rather have Morel man 3B again next year and I've wanted to trade him for over a year now. This feels like some past dream of wanting to pick him up as a rental a couple years ago and pretending that he's still that guy and refusing to let go of that dream just to see him in a Cubs uniform.

167 PA's and racked up a -1.2 fWAR. He's bottom 20% in every baseball metric. No. Thanks.

Brandon Drury is owed around $4M for the remainder of the year and is worth -1.2 fWAR with a 31 wRC+ on the season. I wouldnt even take him for free if the Angels paid his contract.

Paredes is entering arbitration next year. He plays for the Rays. 2 of the Rays top 5 prospects are Caminero and Mead, both play 3B and both are in AAA with stints on the MLB roster. Paredes will 100% be available in trade at the deadline and/or offseason. Going to have to move a mountain to get him, though.

Matt Chapman has virtually an identical batted ball profile as Christopher Morel. If its between paying Chapman $20M for 3 years or putting a black hole at 3B in Morel, I'll pay Chapman $20M. By fWAR numbers, Chapman is 24x the value Morel is currently.

Matt Chapman is almost assuredly going to opt out of his contract so he will also be an option for 3B. Guys like Brett Baty are looking at finding a home on a new team because a guy like Mark Vientos that no one wanted to touch with a 10 foot pole during the great sell off of 2021 has turned into a pretty good player and is adequate at 3B for a 1B/DH only player. There are multiple options out of Tampa beyond just Paredes for 3B. I'm sure there's probably 1 or 2 SS's on the cusp you could stick there like the Brewers did with Joey Ortiz, someone like Ronny Mauricio comes to mind if you believe he can make contact at the MLB level.

Tom?

Of course they see hidden value. The discussion was Morel playing 2B for the Red Sox in exhange for Kyle Teel. Morel is never going to start at 2B for the Cubs. It's not beware... It's aware.

That makes absolutely no sense. You are saying no one ever makes fair offers or overpays for an immediate need? What dream world are you living in?

Couple things, 1) I'd be willing to bet Morel has way more value than a single 40 FV prospect, 2) His value can and will get lower the more service time he eats up and the lack of playing time he'll see in the future when/if the Cubs decide to get actual baseball players to fill the voids on the field.

If the Cubs get serious about actually being a legit WS contender, there are no PA's for Morel to be given. The only way to guarantee him PA's is to continue half assing this "rebuild." Suzuki would be a better DH. Virtually anybody would be a better 3B. At best you are talking about spot starts and pinch hitting. They's done that for 2 years and he was a 1 WAR player... Whoopty do Basil! There's likely more value to be had out of Morel in trade than on the roster. It's the exact same scenario the Cubs found themselves in this past offseason.

Morel is prearb for 1 more year. If a team is projecting him as an adequate 2B and betting on his batted ball profile, he's not nearly as worthless as people claim he is on this forum. The guy is on pace for 30 HRs and 84 RBIs while currently having a .218 BABIP and a xwOBA that is 14 points higher than his career high. His only position on the Cubs is 3B and he completely sucks there. Why hold on to him as a backup to 2B/SS when you have a SS playing 2B, Miles Mastrobuoni, David Bote, Matt Shaw, and James Triantos all either on the MLB roster or less than a year away from being an option?

Why on earth are people so damn afraid of trading a "decent backup," which is a stretch considering he's a replacement level player as it stands, for a potential decent starter?

I'm not for trading Taillon. I'm not for trading Happ. I'm not for trading Suzuki. I'm for trading Morel. I'm for trading Hoerner, but the return has to make equal sense on a MLB level. I'm for trading Bellinger for anything just to get out of the uncertainty of the opt outs, I don't consider him a lock to exercise them. I'm for trading prospects to buy for the current and future of the MLB roster. I don't know why people need some slam dunk sure thing as a requirement to make moves. There's plenty of moves that can be made that still make sense. The Cubs have allegedly had discussions with the A's about Langeliers. He is struggling offensively in MLB but still provides the defense the Cubs covet and he has a lot of power so while the average doesnt play it would be like having Morel at a premium position. Maybe the Cubs revisit that and start talking about trading from the upper echelon of their prospect pool and try to get a Lucas Erceg thrown in. The Yankees have constantly been wanting Bellinger, so eat whatever salary is needed to get even a Clayton Beeter. Talk to the bottom feeders about some of their underperforming relievers with pretty good metrics under the hood like Andrew Nardi from the Marlins, Nicks Mears from the Rockies, or start up conversations with the Blue Jays again about Vlad and throw in Nate Pearson. Do something besides sit on your ass.

Honestly didnt even mean to quote something. Probably just something saved into the box from a previous session. I was just responding to the post above mine.

Standing pat when you have 6 teams needing to leap for a wildcard spot would be monumentally dumb. Sell what isnt in your 2025 plan or buy for your 2025 plan. There's 64 games left in the season. The final WC spot is projected to win 83 games. So the Cubs would at least have to shoot for 84 wins. To get to that number they have to be at a .578 winning percentage the remainder of the year. Only 4 teams in MLB currently exceed that number, the Cubs trail it by nearly 100 points. Hoping for a WC spot at this point and not doing much at the deadline is a typical Jed move.

Darvish only had a full NTC through 2020. He was traded when he had only a limited NTC.

Neither one is getting traded so we dont have to worry about it,

That just means they wont get a PCA caliber prospect in return. They'll get the next tier like an Owen Caissie, or Jordan Wicks if they want a pitcher leading the charge, with a couple more guys thrown in to get that 3-4 player return.