Bill Fogg

I'm with you on the Happ situation but you are dead wrong on Hoerner. Hoerner plays the type of 'small ball' that wins playoff games and low scoring games against tough pitching. He can advance runners by hitting to the opposite side or execute a sacrifice bunt and usually posts 20+ stolen bases each year as well as he runs the bases well. He is not a home run hitter, but he accumulated 72 RBI's which is more than Happ did with his 24 HR's. He plays Gold Glove caliber defense at a premium position and manned the shortstop position for the month that Swanson was on the DL [ will probably cost him the Gold Glove ] . I'm more than satisfied with what Hoerner brings to the team, management has much greater areas of weakness to address in the off -season [ pitching # 1 ] .

Did you watch the Cubs play this year ? Did you really think Happ was an integral part of our success ? He has become a 'Rob Deer' type of player. Deer would hit in the .220 range with 20-30hr's on teams that were never in contention. He was sort of a 'fan favorite' so his career lasted probably longer than it should have. Happ [ age 32 ] is a popular fan favorite for the Cubs but the idea that he is worth $23 million/year is ridiculous, as would be the expectation that he would return to the offensive production he provided up until this year. I'm not a fan of Alcantara [ not ready but he's too young to give up on ] and we don't have any promising young outfield prospects. Conforto [ age 34 ] ,Taylor & Suzuki [ age 32 ], really don't have much upside [ although I wouldn't be opposed to resigning either one ]. In my opinion the 2 best solutions for the Cubs are : 1] Give Shaw the opportunity to win the left field position. He was a good defensive infielder who should convert to an excellent defensive outfielder [ keep in mind that Happ was an infielder early in his career ]. Shaw is also fast enough to be a stolen base threat and his speed on the bases and range in the outfield are assets. I have concerns about his 'wrist injury' that derailed his sophomore campaign that may not have been fully healed when he returned and whether it could be a long-term concern. If healthy the chances that he could provide more offensive production that the 2026 version of Happ is a strong possibility, especially at a drastically lower payroll that could be used on much needed pitching. 2] It appears that we don't have any major league ready outfield prospects in our system, we should look at making a trade with another organization that has a prospect that looks promising but is blocked by the outfielders on their league team. Michael Busch comes to mind. He was a promising 3rd baseman in the Dodger organization that was blocked by quality major league players. We acquired Busch in Jan 2024 from the Dodgers for Jackson Ferris and Zyhir Hope [ don't forget we also received Yancy Almonte in that trade ! ]. Although there was a significant drop in Busch's offensive production this year, I think it is too early to give up on him although I wouldn't mind the Cubs acquiring a right handed 1st baseman to platoon with to cut down on the number of at bats against lefties. The point that I am trying to make about Busch is twofold : our minor league system does not have what we need as far as an outfielder. Although Shaw is a better infielder, I believe he could make the adjustment to a good defensive outfielder. Busch was 3rd baseman in the Dodger minor league system who made a smooth transition to 1st base. Let's give Shaw a chance but also hope our scouts can find a prospect in another system who we can swing a trade for like we did with Busch. Let's keep our fingers crossed that either one or both work out. In light of Happ's 2026 production the bar is not set very high.

Unfortunately I agree with your assessment. It appears that we have an affinity for signing young pitchers with injury concerns. I don't understand how we can be excited about a 21-year-old prospect with a 4.71 ERA in Class A. Excitement over a trio of arms in AAA, 2 that have ERA's over 5.00, and one of them is out with Tommy John surgery ? At this rate our next exciting prospect is pitching in Little League [ but he throws 70mph and has a wicked curveball ] !

Any close inspection of Happ's offensive performance this year reveals a player in decline. In June & July I argued that for a player with as many homers he had hit and the fact that he batted either 3rd, 4th, or 5th in a very good offensive lineup, let's just say his RBI numbers were abysmal. To me it appeared that he could no longer catch up to a good fastball, and I speculated that he needed a vision test. I actually thought that his Gold Glove Awards were overrated and that his defense had started to decline also. He had been a very solid player for a significant amount of time, but it is difficult to imagine a world where he returns to his previous levels of productivity. I understand that as a switch hitter [ especially left- handed ] he has some value but it is time to move on. Thank you Ian, and good luck.

The biggest question for the Cubs offseason is : do they resign Suzuki ? It should be pretty clear that Happ isn't coming back, and I have mixed feelings about Suzuki. I don't have statistics to provide but Suzuki's offensive production has been fairly consistent over his Cub tenure but going into this season I thought that he underperformed in clutch situations. He didn't do anything this year to change my opinion. At his age, it is unlikely that we will see any improvement and there is a strong probability that another team will overpay what he is worth because frankly there aren't many good outfield options available this off-season. Alcantara does not look ready, and we are probably better off with another left- handed hitting outfielder. I know that hindsight is always correct, but I wish we still had Bellinger manning one of the outfield spots [ and not paying him $5 million to play for the Yankees ] this upcoming season.

I understand that we are all disappointed but it's time to be honest : the Padres were playing great ball down the stretch while we struggled to play .500 ball in a fruitless attempt to earn home field advantage during the Wild Card round. I don't want to make excuses, but the last weekend of the season didn't do us any favors either. Flying to Boston for a day-night doubleheader, then an unexpected flight [ and game, after an unexpected off - day ] to Tampa to play another game before flying home and packing for a flight to San Diego. An awful lot of travel [ some unexpected ] in a short time period after a big celebration after clinching a Wild Card berth with accompanying hangovers. With all that in mind, the Cubs underperformed from mid-September on; the hitting went into a funk and the pitching had plenty of up and downs. I was extremely disappointed that Counsell was unable to give some needed days of rest to Hoerner, and PCA but I understood he was trying to win games until they locked up the wild card. There was a lot of bad luck to pin the blame on; the freak accident to Bregman, Swanson's recovery and adjustment to his injury, and all the assorted injuries to the pitching staff, but that is the nature of baseball. The 2026 Cubs reminded me of a thoroughbred race horse that kept the lead for most of the race but was running on fumes by the time it hit the finish line just in time to make the playoffs. It's not surprising they didn't play their best in the Wild Card games. It takes a really talented team to win the World Series; the injuries to our pitchers and our inability to overcome those injuries put us in a position to come up short in the playoffs again. I will always remember this season as one that I had a chance to watch PCA play at an incredible level and turn into the superstar we had always hoped that he would become. Although we hoped and dreamt of a World Series appearance, it wasn't to be. We should be happy about a successful season with a lot of good memories and not dwell on the disappointment.

I was highly criticized several weeks ago when I posted that the Cubs were an 'above average offense' and the nay-sayers jumped all over that by stating that we were one of the best in the league and all the numbers proved it. I went back and checked the box scores this year [ and I may not be perfect on this but pretty damn close ] . The Cubs played 7 games this year where they had such a big lead that they faced a position player [ non - pitcher ] in the last inning or more in 7 games. I doubt that any other team has more than 2 or 3 at most. During those 7 games the non-pitcher threw 9.1 innings allowing 33 hits, 6 walks, and 23 earned runs. If we subtract the statistics from those 9.1 innings our offense is still really good but more closer to average. While those games [ blowouts ] are fun for fans to watch, they are basically useless as an indicator for success in playoff games where we will face quality pitching and strong bullpens and managers don't try to 'squeeze an extra inning' out of their starters. In playoff games each run is huge and the ability to advance runners either hitting to the right side or sacrificing is extremely important. Despite the fact that our offensive numbers may look attractive, our inability to advance runners is a weakness that will be exposed by other teams in the playoffs. I find it rather unusual that a case can be made to start any of our 5 regular starting pitchers, they are mostly solid but not exceptional and it will be interesting to see who Counsell selects to start. We are better suited to a 7 game series than a 5 game or 3 game series but that is how the MLB post season is set up.

Good article BUT it appears that Palencia is rounding back into form. He reached 100 and 101 mph on his fastball on Tuesday and seemed to have good command on his pitches. He was projected to be our closer at the start of the year and after struggling through a series of injuries appears to be returning to his usual level of production. When healthy he is a proven closer. However, we should note some slight improvement in Zefferjahn's performance. As well as solid production from Rollison and Civale. Our starting pitchers are 5-6 inning pitchers and we will need bullpen production from several arms if we want to advance in the Wild Card round. But we should save the 9th inning heroics to Palencia.

I only want to post once so here goes : don't even suggest that J. Steele is coming back this year. Quit Overemphasizing WAR, it's the result of a rating but doesn't take into account how it is earned. Let's take a step into reality : #1. The Cubs have an excellent defense by any measure. #2. The Cubs have an above average offense [ let's not get carried away ]. #3. Cubs starting pitching is okay, not great but good enough in the right matchups combined with their offense to win a World Series. #4. Please note that I wrote good enough to win a World Series not that they will. There are a lot of factors including luck that the winning team needs. #5 The Cubs bullpen is their most glaring weakness, the way baseball is played in the playoffs places a heavy emphasis on a quality bullpen. The Padres are the most dangerous team after the Brewers & Dodgers because of their bullpen. #6 In the playoffs teams will seldom utilize more than their top 3 starters or top setup men and normal closer. Pitchers #9-13 are basically unimportant when it comes to the playoffs. #7. Long term statistical analysis shows that left-handed pitching is more effective against left-handed hitting and vice versa with righties. Statistical anomalies for a season or so may occur but in the long run almost all managers go with the long term analysis. #8. With regards to Reality #7 : The Cubs 5 starting pitchers have not separated themselves very far by performance. The selection of who to start should come down to the matchup of who they play. If it's the Phillies it should be Boyd, Holmes, and Imanaga. The Philly lineup is predominately left handed: Schwarber, Harper, Arraez, Stott, Marsh are their most dangerous hitters. It is probably better to throw a righty in Game #2 in case of a game #3. Using 3 lefty starters in a row could increase the Phillies effectiveness against lefties in Game #3. I selected the above 3 starters because I think that Peterson will probably be better suited in relief than Imanaga. Rolliston will be used frequently and Caleb T. will probably be used also. Zefferjahn, Palencia, Civale, and Thornton will be the most used right handers. Neither Assad or Rea should be used unless it's a blowout or a starter leaves early. #8 Anyone that suggests that Webb can/will get back on track for the playoffs is dreaming.

I know I've been very critical of Counsell, but I seriously doubt that he will be leaving. Although I don't agree with his managing style, he appears to have the support of the players and upper management and I don't see any great advantage to cutting him loose while still paying him an above average salary for a baseball manager. If the Cubs don't win the World Series the 'injury to pitchers excuse' gives both Counsell & Hoyer a 'Get Out of Jail Free Card' . The franchise is financially healthy, the owner is happy [ at least I would assume ] and interest in the Cubs is [ thanks to PCA ] about as high as it's ever been. There is more to being a successful manager than just handling pitchers or making lineup and playing decisions. Counsell doesn't make pitching decisions without input from a pitching coach and game management decisions from his bench coach. His overall winning record is good but a glaring omission on his resume is success in playoffs. We were all happy in 2015 when the Cubs brought in Joe Madden who changed the culture and got the Cubs across the finish line to win the World Series even though he choked on his pitching decisions by overusing Aroldis Chapman in games 6 & 7. Baseball can be a strange game, and sometimes stupid decisions work out. There is still plenty of baseball to be played and who knows what will happen when the playoffs start. Hopefully we make the playoffs and Counsell learns from his mistakes and we go on a long playoff run.

I walked away from the game at the start of the bottom of the 8th, I wanted to scream at Counsell because I knew he was going to have Boyd start the 8th due to a left-handed batter for the Brewers. This game was being played similar to a playoff game. Murphy took out his starter in the top of the 5th even though he was pitching well. Most playoff games are decided by the bullpens in today's baseball. The days of starters throwing complete games are almost as rare as no-hitters. The Brewers have one of the top bullpens in baseball and we have - let's not go there. Anyway, Boyd pitched great for 7 innings but I would have pulled him before the start of the 8th. If the Cubs are going anywhere in the playoffs, they need to find a couple of bullpen arms to use. Most managers talk about trying to put their players in a position to succeed which Counsell seems to have forgot. Most relievers in today's baseball prefer to start the inning rather than come in and put out a fire. Bringing in a reliever in the high leverage situation that we were in [ 2nd & 3rd no outs with Churio batting ] is extremely tough for any reliever. When Boyd walked the leadoff hitter after being ahead in the count, shouldn't that have been a huge sign that Boyd was getting tired and it was time to bring in a fresh arm [ actually a new pitcher should have started the inning ] but once you left him in for the first batter why not change pitchers after the walk ? If Zeferjahn's comes in with a runner on first and no one out, why would we be afraid that the Brewers pinch hit ? Isn't it more likely that the Brewers sacrifice the runner into scoring position and we face the top of the order with one out and a runner on second ? I just grit my teeth that the Cubs brain trust can't understand how important a strong bullpen is. We still have a couple of weeks to try and get Palencia [ and his confidence ] back in form and Zeferjahn at times looks good but there is no help coming [ maybe Cabrera can help ] and we need to put our bullpen arms in a position to succeed. We also can't afford to throw away winnable games because we're afraid to bring in a fresher arm when one of our starters begin to tire. There is a reason why teams carry 13 pitchers.

Ramirez will have a role in the post season; the fact that he is a switch hitter as well having some defensive versatility demands that he will see playing time. Will he start all 3 games in the first round ? No, and he may not start any of the 3 but as the series goes on [ hopefully ] he will get more playing time and he will probably appear in each game as a pinch hitter, base runner, or defensive replacement late.

Boyd was gassed. He barely got through the 5th inning. On a warm night he gave us all he had. If you push him too far when fatigue is setting in, the chance of injuries [ or at least going off form ] increases drastically. We need him for the rest of September and the playoffs. I know our bullpen sucks, but the days of starting pitchers throwing complete games have long gone. The dangerous teams in the playoffs have great bullpens [ think S.D. and Brewers ] but we don't, and we didn't make a serious effort to upgrade our bullpen at the trade deadline.

Out of curiosity : Could this be the first time the winner of MVP award not have been a starting player on the All-Star team ? Either NL or AL ?

The # 1 job for Counsell the rest of the season is to find a suitable closer. Playoff games place a premium on bullpens; starters go 6-7 innings and having at least 2 quality setup pitchers [ more is even better ] is ideal for success. Counsell did an admirable job of mixing and matching with the bullpen arms he had available through the first 2/3's of the season but the inability of Hoyer to upgrade the bullpen will in all probability prove fatal when the playoffs start. Granted both Gausman and Holmes have been an enormous help but the only true reliever they brought in was Zeferjahn and his performance [ at least so far ] answers the question : with his 'stuff' why wasn't he serving in the closer's role for the Angels ? It appears that Ben Brown will not make a heroic recovery, Palencia doesn't look healthy, and dreaming that Shelby Miller will be the panacea is definitely a stretch. Virtually all of the bullpen arms have been 'getting lit up' lately and that is not surprising considering how much they overachieved earlier in the year. But baseball is baseball; did anyone predict that PCA would be playing at the level he has this year ? Surprises are part of baseball, let's hope they become pleasant surprises !