2014 Chicago Cubs In-Season Discussion Thread

[brett05]

All yours Cub Fans...all other 29 teams missed out on the bandit...aw shucks

 

[TL1961]

They won't move Jackson. Moving him to the pen may give him value again. It has been long enough to figure that this is not a phase but a decline with him.

Heard the guys on the Score this morning discussing Jackson. They pointed out that he gets shelled in the 1st inning. Last 22 starts, he has allowed 22 first inning runs. This is exactly what we do not want in the pen. OK, we don't want him in the starting rotation either.

 

[TL1961]

Theo and Jed deserve a LOT of praise for flipping pitchers.

Feldman brought us Arietta and Strop, and by including Hammels in the deal with Shark, we got a great prospect and a very good one.

Hammels has pitched 17 innings for Oakland, and has allowed 18 earned runs.

Talk about selling high!

 

[brett05]

Theo and Jed deserve a LOT of praise for flipping pitchers.

Feldman brought us Arietta and Strop, and by including Hammels in the deal with Shark, we got a great prospect and a very good one.

Hammels has pitched 17 innings for Oakland, and has allowed 18 earned runs.

Talk about selling high!

Hammels was just a throw in...Shark was the real prize

 

[dabynsky]

Or....welcome to the better league???

Because Hammel never had success in the AL?

 

[SilenceS]

Read today that the A's gave up Russell under the conditions that the Cubs add Hammel to the deal.

 

[TL1961]

Hammels was just a throw in...Shark was the real prize

REALLY?

But they don't get nearly the same haul with Shark only. They maximized return on Hammels by trading when they did.

 

[TL1961]

Read today that the A's gave up Russell under the conditions that the Cubs add Hammel to the deal.

Billy Beane wants a mulligan on that one.

 

[The Bandit]

All yours Cub Fans...all other 29 teams missed out on the bandit...aw shucks

I never said me, but cute.

 

[brett05]

REALLY?

But they don't get nearly the same haul with Shark only. They maximized return on Hammels by trading when they did.

Debateable

 

[CSF77]

It don't matter. Beene wanted 2 SP and gave up 2 first round picks and a ML ready toss in arm. Deal did not suck on the Cubs side. Hammels has not been impressive for sure. But:

Jon Lester Rumors: Thursday
By Steve Adams [July 31, 2014 at 7:18am CDT]
As of late last night, the Pirates and the Cardinals were said to be the two teams most aggressively pursuing Jon Lester, who was scratched from Wednesday’s scheduled start. At one point yesterday, the Orioles looked close to a deal, but conflicting reports emerged on the severity of those negotiations. Regardless, Baltimore does seem to be in the mix, and a late-to-the-party mystery team was revealed to be the Athletics. We’ll keep track of the final stages of the Lester sweepstakes in this post…

Hall of Fame reporter Peter Gammons tells WEEI’s John Dennis and Gerry Callahan that the Dodgers aren’t in the mix to acquire Lester at this point (Twitter link).

Looks like are gearing up for a Lester rental. I really don't know what talent they have left to give though.

Now the bit about Lester saying he would sign with the Sox next year as a F/A is concerning to me. That is just pushing the issue that the Cubs need to trade for a TOR that wants to be a Cub and extend. Price has gone out and signaled out the Cubs on a team that he would want to be part of.

Not to mention that the Cards have been linked to him and keeping Price off of the Cards in 2015.

The Cardinals and Dodgers are the two teams that are most aggressively competing for Lester’s services, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. They’re also the most aggressive clubs on David Price, though it’s far from a given that the Rays will move their own left-handed ace. Heyman hears similar things to yesterday’s reports regarding the Brewers and Orioles and says neither is in the mix at this point.

The worst thing that the Cubs could do going into next year is to stay in-house.

Jake Arrieta: Career 4.27 FIP below league avg
Travis Wood: Career 4.12 FIP below league avg
Edwin Jackson Career 4.21 FIP below league avg
Felix Doubront: Career 4.28 FIP. Below league avg
Kyle Hendricks: Carrer 4.11 FIP Yes short amount of time but again above 4.00 league avg stat.

Arrieta is having a break through but Wood had one last year. Where is he now? back to his 4.20 FIP carrer slash vs his 3.89 FIP in 2013. Arrieta is even more extreme with a 2.10 FIP this year. That is half of his career line. Either it goes back to his career norms or it propels him to TOR.

But this is a big reason why I'm not a fan of the penny pinching method that Theo has been employing sense day 1.

 

[CSF77]

Accually the guy that Theo should keep around is Tsuyoshi Wada. Age is a concern but not for a few years. His FIP in his 3 games is 2.63 with ranks as a #2 behind Arrieta.

The trade for Doubront was 100% age vs performance related. But Wada looks every bit a major league pitcher right now vs Doubront who looks at best Travis Wood.

 

[brett05]

Price has gone out and signaled out the Cubs on a team that he would want to be part of.

Wait..Didn't he just use the Cubs to say even the worst team in baseball I could fit into given the hitters they may have. That's not quite the same as saying the Cubs are a team I want to pitch for. He in essence said I'll pitch wherever for whomever.

 

[SilenceS]

Wait..Didn't he just use the Cubs to say even the worst team in baseball I could fit into given the hitters they may have. That's not quite the same as saying the Cubs are a team I want to pitch for. He in essence said I'll pitch wherever for whomever.

“Winning absolutely is something you want to do," Price told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Being a part of something special is also something you want to do. You can take that to a first-place team. You could take that all the way to a last-place team like the Cubs. With the talent they have coming up they could be a very special team in a few years as well. That would probably be the coolest city to win a championship in. They haven't done it in I'm not sure how long. To do that there that would be the coolest city to win a championship in right now."

A little more then what you are saying but I am sure you will find a way to fit your words.

 

[brett05]

“Winning absolutely is something you want to do," Price told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Being a part of something special is also something you want to do. You can take that to a first-place team. You could take that all the way to a last-place team like the Cubs. With the talent they have coming up they could be a very special team in a few years as well. That would probably be the coolest city to win a championship in. They haven't done it in I'm not sure how long. To do that there that would be the coolest city to win a championship in right now."

A little more then what you are saying but I am sure you will find a way to fit your words.

I agree it is more, but won;t you agree that he's explaining how the worst team fits for him?

 

[SilenceS]

I agree it is more, but won;t you agree that he's explaining how the worst team fits for him?

Sure, he wants his pay day.

 

[CSF77]

Wait..Didn't he just use the Cubs to say even the worst team in baseball I could fit into given the hitters they may have. That's not quite the same as saying the Cubs are a team I want to pitch for. He in essence said I'll pitch wherever for whomever.

Then why did he not mention teams like Houston or the Fish or the Pads. Other teams that have sucked. He pointed to the Cubs.

The Cubs are a unique situation. They have the top rated farm. A top 5 market. And a long history. Add to it a old world ballbark that fills the stands alone.

If the Ricketts would stop being tightwads this franchise could become respectable.

 

[CSF77]

Sure, he wants his pay day.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tt7HjIernphaSrv4wMWdUYg&output=html

Cubs only have 31 mil committed for 2015.

We are looking at LF open. Alcantara in CF and Soler in RF next year. IF of Bryant, Castro, Baez and Rizzo. Castillo behind the dish.

Even if they retain Valbuena, Sweeney, Coghland and Ruggiano for the bench the commitment is still low.

There is no reason why they could not take on Price.

Career FIP: Price 3.33. This year 2.93. 170 IP in 23 GS. AVG 7 1/3 per game while avg just over 1 SO per IP. BB/9 1.21.

Rays need help in the OF. Will Meyers is on the 60 day. But long term they should have Meyers and Longoria at the core of that team. They could use a LH thumper (Voggy) and some OF help (Almora), pitching is always good (Edwards/Johnson). SS they have Yunel Escobar and in AAA Lee. They are pretty set up going forward IMO up the middle.

If I am the Rays I'm looking at 1B, CF and LF while trying to get SP prospects. Seeing how the Cubs lack a TOR pitching prospect it would start with Baez then Almora. Add Johnson and Vogy as a toss in. They could move Baez to LF next year.

Cubs have Russell to take over SS with Castro moving over to 2B. Alcantara stays in CF. Power is still there with Bryant, Rizzo and Soler. Add Schwarber in a year. Russell is more of a rounded player at SS.

I don't believe they loose so much where losing Baez to add Price is unforgivable.

The flip of this is Cards add Price and he smokes the Cubs next year then they extend him and we have to look at Price against us going forward.

 

[Captain Obvious]

Heard the guys on the Score this morning discussing Jackson. They pointed out that he gets shelled in the 1st inning. Last 22 starts, he has allowed 22 first inning runs. This is exactly what we do not want in the pen. OK, we don't want him in the starting rotation either.

That doesn't mean that if he's a reliever, he'll suck. The big thing with Jackson has been that he has been not using his best stuff in the first inning. If he's a reliever, he'd be forced to.

I'm not too worried about him moving out of the rotation at this point. Maybe next year.

 

[TL1961]

That doesn't mean that if he's a reliever, he'll suck. The big thing with Jackson has been that he has been not using his best stuff in the first inning. If he's a reliever, he'd be forced to.

I'm not too worried about him moving out of the rotation at this point. Maybe next year.

Maybe our pitching coach could tell him to star using better stuff in the first.