2023 trade season

[CSF77]

I did like the 7-9 last night. Now Jed needs to start a clone farm and make up fun last names.

 

[Diehardfan]

I did like the 7-9 last night. Now Jed needs to start a clone farm and make up fun last names.

I like 7-9 anytime

 

[beckdawg]

Can we trade Jed at the deadline and find a guy that doesn’t shop at Aldi?

I mean... if you're buying players in FA you're unlikely to do well anyways historically speaking. The bargain value players tend to be the only good signings. None of the top 10 hitters in baseball by fWAR were FA. They all came via trade or home grown. Dansby at 13th is the best FA. Not sure i'd count Ohtani has a typical FA but he's 14th. Only other hitter in the top 25 is Xander at 25. I think you can do better with pitching but it's kind of a huge risk too because of the frequency of injuries with pitchers.

Frankly this is the issue that drives me nuts with fans because you don't build a winning organization via FA. In the best cases you get 1 year peaks and then it all falls apart when you have bloated contracts no one wants. LA for example isn't great because they spend huge sums in FA. LA is great because they took what tampa had been doing for years and threw more money at it. And with regard to the cubs, i mean... results are still yet to be seen but they did recently invest a ton into development and have seen some decent returns on this in the minors. Obviously you need to see those people reach the majors too but I honestly like what they've done. Don't over spend in FA. Invest into player development.

 

[CSF77]

Even if they go 16-8 up until the ASG it is a 44-45 record. So I really doubt that they will be buyers this year.

So expect a sell off of short term.

I think that we can write this off as development of non top end talent takes more time and is not helping the team compete this year. So Jed needs to play his hand and we move on to development of the next team.

 

[PickSix]

I mean... if you're buying players in FA you're unlikely to do well anyways historically speaking. The bargain value players tend to be the only good signings. None of the top 10 hitters in baseball by fWAR were FA. They all came via trade or home grown. Dansby at 13th is the best FA. Not sure i'd count Ohtani has a typical FA but he's 14th. Only other hitter in the top 25 is Xander at 25. I think you can do better with pitching but it's kind of a huge risk too because of the frequency of injuries with pitchers.

Frankly this is the issue that drives me nuts with fans because you don't build a winning organization via FA. In the best cases you get 1 year peaks and then it all falls apart when you have bloated contracts no one wants. LA for example isn't great because they spend huge sums in FA. LA is great because they took what tampa had been doing for years and threw more money at it. And with regard to the cubs, i mean... results are still yet to be seen but they did recently invest a ton into development and have seen some decent returns on this in the minors. Obviously you need to see those people reach the majors too but I honestly like what they've done. Don't over spend in FA. Invest into player development.

No argument that player development is key. Seems to be another Cub organizational weakness when compared to others if you ask me.
On the spending side, I’ll disagree. Cubs signed 10 FA. The bottom 6 “value” contracts were Mancini, Barnhart, Fulmer, Boxberger, Nittoli and Hosmer….all poop. I find no value in such poop. Far and away the biggest contract was Swanson and the results are great. The middle 3 are a lengthier conversation, but Taillon made no sense at any point. You don’t pay that kind of money for a #4 or #5 ever. Just a mistake.
The Cubs are a major revenue machine and sitting in 13th position in payroll is insulting, especially when there isn’t a group of youngsters knocking on the door needing playing time. Any type of reasonable investment in the closer and bullpen would have been huge in the W/L record of this team. But they chose to take the money to the bank rather than be serious about contending in a crappy winnable division.

 

[CSF77]

June 13: OF Cody Bellinger begins Minor League rehab, plays first base
After working through some final rehab steps and facing live pitching in Arizona, Bellinger was scheduled to begin a Minor League rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa on June 13 to continue to test his recovering left knee while on the 10-day injured list. The only catch: Bellinger was slated to get playing time at first base rather than in center field.

"There's a number of thoughts there," Cubs manager David Ross explained. "It's just probably easier on the knee. From everything that he's done up to this point, the only thing that has bothered the knee is just the all-out sprint, the extension within that. And also, [Mike] Tauchman's swinging the bat really well and has held down center field pretty well. So, just trying to find the best lineup whenever Belli gets back. He's pretty darn good at first base, and has been. Just having another option over there makes some sense."

To Ross' point, Cubs first basemen this season had combined for a .699 OPS (21st in the Majors) entering play on Tuesday. Bellinger is a Gold Glove-winning center fielder and has played strong up the middle this season, but he has also appeared in 262 games at first over his MLB career. Prior to landing on the IL last month, Bellinger was batting .271 with seven homers, nine doubles, 20 RBIs and an .830 OPS in 37 games for Chicago.

 

[CSF77]

Predicted that one. Mevis might end up in AAA when decision time looms.

 

[TL1961]

June 13: OF Cody Bellinger begins Minor League rehab, plays first base
After working through some final rehab steps and facing live pitching in Arizona, Bellinger was scheduled to begin a Minor League rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa on June 13 to continue to test his recovering left knee while on the 10-day injured list. The only catch: Bellinger was slated to get playing time at first base rather than in center field.

"There's a number of thoughts there," Cubs manager David Ross explained. "It's just probably easier on the knee. From everything that he's done up to this point, the only thing that has bothered the knee is just the all-out sprint, the extension within that. And also, [Mike] Tauchman's swinging the bat really well and has held down center field pretty well. So, just trying to find the best lineup whenever Belli gets back. He's pretty darn good at first base, and has been. Just having another option over there makes some sense."

To Ross' point, Cubs first basemen this season had combined for a .699 OPS (21st in the Majors) entering play on Tuesday. Bellinger is a Gold Glove-winning center fielder and has played strong up the middle this season, but he has also appeared in 262 games at first over his MLB career. Prior to landing on the IL last month, Bellinger was batting .271 with seven homers, nine doubles, 20 RBIs and an .830 OPS in 37 games for Chicago.

Bellinger at 1st in 2024 and beyond would make sense.

 

[CSF77]

Bellinger at 1st in 2024 and beyond would make sense.

Bellinger slotted in last night's line up in lieu of Mervis would have been ideal.

3B has been and will be the biggest issue going forward. Next year the pickings are slim. So if for some reason plow through Pit and Mil over the next few days that would be the prime target.

This is a real stretch but it really falls onto the players performance peaking and Bellinger returning to stabilize 1B.

 

[Discus fish salesman]

Bellinger slotted in last night's line up in lieu of Mervis would have been ideal.

3B has been and will be the biggest issue going forward. Next year the pickings are slim. So if for some reason plow through Pit and Mil over the next few days that would be the prime target.

This is a real stretch but it really falls onto the players performance peaking and Bellinger returning to stabilize 1B.

Yesterday there was no way they are buying, now after winning a game its back to potentially buying and looking for a 3rd baseman. Very interesting to watch your opinions change daily over the next month

 

[CSF77]

Yesterday there was no way they are buying, now after winning a game its back to potentially buying and looking for a 3rd baseman. Very interesting to watch your opinions change daily over the next month

I still feel that they are not going to match expectations. It is why I always use huge doubt and if they do.

I am not a future predictor. I just go with the odds and potential scenarios.


Odds are sell mode.

If they pull off the upset then they need a 3B. Tampa has Parades at 3B (Cub minor league player BTW) . They have Curtis Mead in AAA. He is scuffling there but is rated as the top 3B prospect in baseball.

Winning or losing that is a trade scenario that the Cubs should look into.

If I had to make a full prediction.

Cubs fall short by the ASG. Too many things had to go perfect and they are not there yet.

Cubs trade Stro and promote Brown. Rays are the perfect trade partner. Get Mead in return and let him stabilize 3B.

Next part is a I hope. Jed extends Bellenger. Bellenger is not in a strong spot post knee to see himself on the market. Cubs give him a solid offer that he runs with.

Next year Cubs get involved in the Othani sweepstakes and looks to trade out excess OF depth to put up a contending team.

 

[CSF77]

Still have a snowballs chance in hell. Bring up Belli after 2 days in a panic move. Yep way to do it. Other than that good series.

 

[CSF77]

Nice game, still screwed, line up the suitors

 

[knoxville7]

Nice game, still screwed, line up the suitors

What on earth are you going on about now?!

They’ve won 4 in a row with a 3 game sweep over the division leaders and a win over one of the best teams in baseball. They are now just 3 games out of first place heading into tonight’s outcomes

If the cubs went out and got a legit closer, they could easily win this division if they stay healthy.

 

[CSF77]

What on earth are you going on about now?!

They’ve won 4 in a row with a 3 game sweep over the division leaders and a win over one of the best teams in baseball. They are now just 3 games out of first place heading into tonight’s outcomes

If the cubs went out and got a legit closer, they could easily win this division if they stay healthy.

shush. Reverse jinx in action.

Cant wait for the dead line. Get some fresh players.

 

[truthbedamned]

I went to the 13-3 thrashing by the Giants this past weekend. Can someone tell me why Madrigal is even on the team? What a fricking waste. Couldn't hit his way out of a paper sack.

 

[TL1961]

Nice game, still screwed, line up the suitors

Yeah, there's no chance to make up 3 games against a .500 team with only 93 games left.

 

[Discus fish salesman]

I went to the 13-3 thrashing by the Giants this past weekend. Can someone tell me why Madrigal is even on the team? What a fricking waste. Couldn't hit his way out of a paper sack.

I'd rather Madrigal play every day than wisdom. Madrigal has at least shown to be a very good hitter in the past. Wisdom has pretty consistently been terrible outside of an occasional HR

 

[Castor76]

I would like to have seen Morel get a chance at 3rd. As has been talked about before, either the Cubs somehow get Bellinger to stay and move to 1st or Mervis becomes a viable option and offensively the team is fairly set for 24-26 except for 3B. Just going to be important to go balls out of Ohtani and some real bullpen arms

 

[TL1961]

I'd rather Madrigal play every day than wisdom. Madrigal has at least shown to be a very good hitter in the past. Wisdom has pretty consistently been terrible outside of an occasional HR

Madrigal has no power, and only hits the occasional single. Once on base, he has no speed. He offers next to nothing defensively.

This is not a guy who needs to play every day.

I do agree that Wisdom doesn't need to either.