Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel traded to Oakland Athletics for Addison Russell plus

[brett05]

He can't. He made stuff up.

as I said, let's agree to disagree

Leave it alone and let's move on. He admitted that he was done trolling in his own special way two posts up.

Agreed

 

[Guitarman]

I gave up watching the Cubs after the Samardzija trade. Not that he was my favorit player, but he was a good pitcher and the Cubs needed him. It was tha last straw. I'm sick of rooting for a team that has clearly become a development program for other teams. **** The Cubs, they lost a fan.

 

[Captain Obvious]

I gave up watching the Cubs after the Samardzija trade. Not that he was my favorit player, but he was a good pitcher and the Cubs needed him. It was tha last straw. I'm sick of rooting for a team that has clearly become a development program for other teams. **** The Cubs, they lost a fan.

Okay, so the last 3 years wasn't enough, so when they make a move to better themselves for the future, that's when you jump ship. Got it.

 

[Parade_Rain]

Okay, so the last 3 years wasn't enough, so when they make a move to better themselves for the future, that's when you jump ship. Got it.

How do you know they made themselves better for the future?

 

[SilenceS]

How do you know they made themselves better for the future?

As yall know, I wasnt big on trading Shark. Now, if we can a TOR this winter and trade for another one then I am fine with the decision. Russell is a very valuable prospect. As people have pointed out, SS is weak all around the league except for a handful of teams. The Cubs hold an all star SS in the majors. And two highly rated SS in the minors. The Cubs could have any pitcher they wanted that comes on the trade market. Only the Twins could match what they can offer. the key to me is Arrieta. If he can continue to be good, then the Cubs could lock up a starting top 3 for awhile. Have Wood as a 4 and then back filler with Hendricks, Beeler, etc. etc. etc. I think Jackson could move to the bullpen by next year. No farm can touch our bats and the best things is we have big bats in prime positions that is highly coveted. Now, will this all happen. I dont know, but they def. can do this.

 

[beckdawg]

As yall know, I wasnt big on trading Shark. Now, if we can a TOR this winter and trade for another one then I am fine with the decision. Russell is a very valuable prospect. As people have pointed out, SS is weak all around the league except for a handful of teams. The Cubs hold an all star SS in the majors. And two highly rated SS in the minors. The Cubs could have any pitcher they wanted that comes on the trade market. Only the Twins could match what they can offer. the key to me is Arrieta. If he can continue to be good, then the Cubs could lock up a starting top 3 for awhile. Have Wood as a 4 and then back filler with Hendricks, Beeler, etc. etc. etc. I think Jackson could move to the bullpen by next year. No farm can touch our bats and the best things is we have big bats in prime positions that is highly coveted. Now, will this all happen. I dont know, but they def. can do this.

Given what the front office/Bosio has done with starters I'm entirely unworried about 3-5 starters like you mention. Even if they have to find guys in FA they've proven to do that quite well. However, given the multitude of arms they've drafted over the past 3 years I find it fairly likely they will at the very least pull 1-2 guys out who can be 3-5 starters.

The real question becomes where you get your #1/2. They may already have a #2 in Arrieta. I hesitate to put him in the conversation for #1 even given his numbers. I think he's pitching like a #2 though as I've said else where I do think he's in line for some regression but he's consistently proven me wrong over his past 3-5 starts. Tseng is also someone who soon should be getting talk in that range. Then of course there's Edwards and Johnson as possible guys who could pitch to that level.

Who's the #1? Hard to say. Scherzer is a guy that should be available and they obviously should have the money to go after him. I think he makes a lot of sense and he's a good pitcher but I'm not sure I want him matching up against someone like Kershaw in the playoffs. I'd rather have him as a #2 even if you're paying #1 price. Honestly, I think the cubs will eventually trade for a TOR guy. Consider for a moment that most average systems have 3-5 prospects who may be in the top 100. The cubs have arguably 10+ who are in that range. They have the 8 obvious guys who were already in most of those rankings, Billy McKinney who arguably should get consideration, Schwarber who's going to make the list, Eloy Jimenez and Gleyber Torres who will soon start to get consideration, Tseng who should be top 100. You also have guys like Jeimer Candelario, Dan Vogelbach, and Christian Villanueva who will start to filter up lists once some of the big cubs names start landing in the majors.

Realistically, you could probably take one of the big 8 names and pair it with two of Vogelbach and Villanueva/Candelario and get a pretty decent pitcher especially if you're not making that trade at the deadline.

 

[Captain Obvious]

Given what the front office/Bosio has done with starters I'm entirely unworried about 3-5 starters like you mention. Even if they have to find guys in FA they've proven to do that quite well. However, given the multitude of arms they've drafted over the past 3 years I find it fairly likely they will at the very least pull 1-2 guys out who can be 3-5 starters.

The real question becomes where you get your #1/2. They may already have a #2 in Arrieta. I hesitate to put him in the conversation for #1 even given his numbers. I think he's pitching like a #2 though as I've said else where I do think he's in line for some regression but he's consistently proven me wrong over his past 3-5 starts. Tseng is also someone who soon should be getting talk in that range. Then of course there's Edwards and Johnson as possible guys who could pitch to that level.

Who's the #1? Hard to say. Scherzer is a guy that should be available and they obviously should have the money to go after him. I think he makes a lot of sense and he's a good pitcher but I'm not sure I want him matching up against someone like Kershaw in the playoffs. I'd rather have him as a #2 even if you're paying #1 price. Honestly, I think the cubs will eventually trade for a TOR guy. Consider for a moment that most average systems have 3-5 prospects who may be in the top 100. The cubs have arguably 10+ who are in that range. They have the 8 obvious guys who were already in most of those rankings, Billy McKinney who arguably should get consideration, Schwarber who's going to make the list, Eloy Jimenez and Gleyber Torres who will soon start to get consideration, Tseng who should be top 100. You also have guys like Jeimer Candelario, Dan Vogelbach, and Christian Villanueva who will start to filter up lists once some of the big cubs names start landing in the majors.

Realistically, you could probably take one of the big 8 names and pair it with two of Vogelbach and Villanueva/Candelario and get a pretty decent pitcher especially if you're not making that trade at the deadline.

I agree that we could. But is it worth it? I guess it depends who we are targeting. I agree that Arrieta is a #2, so if we sign a Scherzer or Lester and sign a middle tier, we should be set with our rotation. I just question whether or not it's worth trading one of the top 8, because obviously not all of them will pan out, and I'd rather find that out than risk trading the wrong one.