731.4life

Rolison's curveball can play. Can he be able to get the fastball out of the middle of the plate is going to be the question.

I figured that out when he let Brown came back in to face another inning. Honestly, I'm fine with that. Tampa Bay is going to be playing with some emotion tomorrow, as they should be. In addition, there's no more "babying" guys like Brown. I am okay with throwing Brown into the fire and see if he can survive.

Will the Cubs be better in 2026? I would say yes, but not sure if you're going to see that in the win column. For one, we're not sure where Milwaukee is going to be in 2026. Milwaukee won 97 games and went 16-5 vs Phillies, Mets, Dodgers, and Mariners. Chances are, that's not going to happen again. With that being said, I'm curious to see if Busch can keep performing to what he did in 2025, and how's the defense is going to be in right field. I'm curious about that.

Sign him to a 10 year deal worth $450 Million and $40 of the $45 Million will be in deferrals. Hello, lockout!

I'll call for elite starting pitching (Skubal, Alcantara, Cabrera, etc.) and see what the asking price is. You have to be able to get that to perform well, as starting pitching cost us Games 1 & 2 in the NLDS. Ballesteros, Caisse, and even PCA are on the table for that. Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman: I said it a few weeks ago that free agent deals are going to be tough, especially multi year deals. Thank you, Los Angeles Angels, for giving us a hint the 2026 offseason (heading to 2027) could very well be a long offseason with the lockout coming. Giving manager, Kurt Suzuki, a one year deal basically just giving us a heads up. I'll take Tucker back on a one year deal and do everything it takes to go all in on 2026, knowing we have a lot of money coming off the books after 2026. I just don't see them getting 5+ year contracts when the lockout is coming knowing the topic is going to be strictly financial based on salary floor/cap.

The offseason is tricky for the Cubs. I think most people are wanting to think of plans to help the Cubs in 2026. While that is true, I do believe the plans for 2026 are going to be scratched, and the plans for 2027 will be more important than 2026. It's no secret we're going into a lockout. This postseason is a prime example of why I do believe the salary cap is coming into MLB. Some may hate it, some may like it, I can see both sides of the story. But if you look at what's going on with the Dodgers, I'm okay with a salary cap coming into baseball. It's Shohei's contract that helps free up for pay for Teoscar Hernandez, giving him a deferral contract that will end at 2039, Shohei's contract helps free up money for Blake Snell, giving him a deferral contract that will expire in 2046. Blake Snell will be 53 years old when that contract expires. Will Smith's contract expires in 2043, and he'll be 48. So you translate that to Blake Snell going 8 innings the other night against Milwaukee. Teoscar Hernandez hitting a homerun last night. For all of that, I am expecting the Cubs to be more proactive on what it will be at after the lockout. So, I don't expect much for 2026 other than standing pat and landing Happ, Suzuki, and I believe Tallion's contract to expire. Not sure who the Brewers owner is, but I don't blame him for being upset. 97 win team that was #1 seed in the NL, only to probably lose in 4-5 games against the Dodgers. MLB needs to make sure the World Series goes at least 6 games. They can't go 5 games like they did last year, and make the World Series another disappoint. It's bad for the sport that's gaining momentum that's fighting with the NFL and College Football for TV ratings for their most important month/time of the year, which is October. That's more of a thought than anything. On field, team needs an ace, I'll call Minnesota about Joe Ryan and I'll call Miami about Alcantara/Cabrera. I'll also call Atlanta and see about Austin Riley. Contract is more favorable than Bregman. Both haven't been the healthiest players in the last 1-2 years. Riley's is more of bad luck (hit by pitches as an example). I like Bregman, too. But Riley is also a 30-35 (maybe 40) home run guy that can hit 3rd/4th behind Busch, if he plays everyday. Bregman might be a little bit better than Riley, but he's 3 years older than Riley, but if Bregman is looking for $35+ Million (at least), is he $13 Million dollars better than Riley, I'm not so sure.

He's just bad....

Got to capitalized with Ramon Laureano not in the game. That ball is caught with Ramon in LF and not Sheets.

and it's going to be 10X tougher when that shadow peeps in over home plate. This game will be decided in 5 innings, not 9.

Only issue with a 2 PM first pitch is the shadows at home plate late in the game. Getting an early lead will be key for the Cubs. Can't make this to be a bullpen game...

What a dumb mistake by Canario.

It's a simple issue with Assad. He's facing a team that has a high batting average and doesn't strike out. His stuff + Toronto's identity on offense, wasn't a good matchup for Assad to begin with. After Clement's 3-run home run, Assad threw 42 of 59 pitches (71%) for strikes (Alan Porter has a good reputation for a good zone as well). So, when a pitcher throws in the low 90's, and doesn't have a wipeout secondary pitch, it doesn't do well when he is throwing 71% pitches for strikes. Toronto knows the ball is going to be in the zone. Long story short, Assad is throwing way too many strikes, and he got paid for it.

It appears we will miss Paul Skenes in the Pirates/Cubs series next weekend at Wrigley. For the Brewers/Cubs 5 game series at Wrigley, it appears we will miss Freddy Peralta for Milwaukee. Unless, Milwaukee decides to push him back a day and start him on Monday, or go with the short rest and start him on Thursday. Miz is on IL but won't be surprised if he comes back for Brewers that series.

I feel like they're going to be "somewhat content" with letting Tucker go, and not sign him to that $400 Million+ contract, and letting Caissie become the next right fielder... Where if they traded Caissie, then there's pressure to re-sign Tucker. Now, I don't think there's any pressure...

That's where I'm at. Morton, Kelly, and Verlander are established MLB pitchers that can pitch postseason games and do well, and should be for a reasonable price. Sometimes, you just have to overpay a little and hope for the best. Theo did that, AJ Prellar does that, Dombrowski does that, but Jed doesn't. Padres gave up the #3 overall prospect for a relief pitcher...

I would've offered Caissie, Wiggins, Birdsell, Neely, and Triantos for those two. I think it's a fair deal (my opinion), and the Cubs wouldn't totally scrapped their farm system.

It may have been "unreasonably high" but the Cubs are pretty much the only team (you can probably say Boston as well) that needs a legit ace, and they didn't accomplish that. Jed just better hope the starting pitching can hold on throughout the remainder of the season, and that Boyd/Imanaga can perform well in the postseason. If they don't, then this was a failure. I'm sure Miami's asking price was high for Alcantara, but he can still have the ability to be an "ace" pitcher again when he returns into form. You add that with getting Cabrera, and you're able to have a postseason rotation with Alcantara, Imanaga, Boyd, Cabrera/Horton. I don't feel confident with Taillon/Assad starting a postseason game.

Brethowr going to Pittsburgh

Marlins have a good rotation: Alcantara, Weathers, Cabrera, and Perez. Yeesh

Taylor Rogers to the Cubs.

Castro is a Cub.

They need a guy that can start postseason games. Verlander can do that. I know his season numbers hasn't been great, but he's good as of late. I think it's worth a flyer.

Don't understand why they're not going after Justin Verlander...

He had to, to save his job. Which he accomplished that.

There we go Boog, understanding the difference between obstruction and interference.