Now that the season is over

[Hammer]

IMO, smarter move would be - switch Contreras to LF and trade away Schwarber who is bad fielder / streaky hitter.

 

[fatbeard]

Who’s going to fill in at 3rd then?

There's a lot of ways they could configure the infield just between Baez, Happ, Hoerner, and Russell. They could also get short-term 3B via trade or FA (Donaldson, Moustakas, etc.).

 

[fatbeard]

IMO, smarter move would be - switch Contreras to LF and trade away Schwarber who is bad fielder / streaky hitter.

Well, he isn't a bad fielder anymore and hasn't been one for at least two seasons. And if you trade Schwarber you have a pretty unbalanced lineup where outside of Rizzo all your power is coming from the right side. That's not a move that makes the Cubs better in any appreciable way.

 

[Castor76]

Please just stop with Nico at shortstop, that is a Theriot arm there. Second base should be his home. If Bryant is gone and Baez is going to third (bad idea) Russell will still be here.

I didn't say that's what I want. I said that's what I thought they'd do. So please just stop with the "Please just stop." until I say what I'd want that you disagree with.

 

[SilenceS]

Nico isnt a SS. He has a noodle arm. He is basically a second baseman and will be a second baseman. Baez isnt moving off short. He was a top defender at SS in the league. You dont move him off short for worse defense. Bote is def. a possibility at third. He is a better defender and his stick wasnt bad. He gets a lot of flack but that was only his second major league season and he has been a bench player the entire time. He has really good exit velocity. Lets see how he adjust this off season. The high pitch hurt him this year.

 

[anotheridiot]

I didn't say that's what I want. I said that's what I thought they'd do. So please just stop with the "Please just stop." until I say what I'd want that you disagree with.

well, please dont let me stop you from posting what you'd want then, and get your panties out of a bunch while you are at it.

 

[CSF77]

Nico isnt a SS. He has a noodle arm. He is basically a second baseman and will be a second baseman. Baez isnt moving off short. He was a top defender at SS in the league. You dont move him off short for worse defense. Bote is def. a possibility at third. He is a better defender and his stick wasnt bad. He gets a lot of flack but that was only his second major league season and he has been a bench player the entire time. He has really good exit velocity. Lets see how he adjust this off season. The high pitch hurt him this year.

Bote we will see. I highly doubt that he become much of anything.

Nico at 2B I agree that is his best landing spot.

Baez improved a lot last year at SS. This is no brain.

Happ is another option at 3B. Strangely it was his strongest D position.

I still believe that it is better to wait and see if suiters who are out off by Rondon or Donaldson. My take is ATL and Nat will go all out to retain and succeed in this. Then the rest of baseball there is not this ideal scenerio that I see going on.

NYY I think that they like their situation.

Rangers a hard maybe. I don't believe Bryant alone makes them anywhere near the Astros. Never can tell with that team.

Mets. Interesting at best. I also dont see a ideal situation.

Minn needs to decide on Ordonzzi before looking to add. They are good enough to get in right now. Not good enough to win a game though. Bryant is a maybe.

That is the playing field right now for Bryant. That is why giving him his arb makes sense. See how the team does and the market changes. I major injury to a contender tends to make a GM dumb.

 

[CSF77]

IMO, smarter move would be - switch Contreras to LF and trade away Schwarber who is bad fielder / streaky hitter.

Return value C all star vs LF 40 HR'S. Teams value star power and can center their product to their fan base around a All star starting Catcher. Yaddi has lived off the fat of that cow for a long time.

The thing is the Cubs can afford to drop a RH stick. Bryant and Baez are middle of the order hitters. Schwarber and Rizzo are middle of the order LH hitters. They really don't need to stack the deck more. But having a SH catcher that is a hitter above a slugger it a element that is lacking.

They could run

Nico
Caratini
Bryant
Rizzo
Baez
Schwarber
Almora (place holder)
Heyward.

Or run Heyward #2 to split up Nico and Bryant. He did all right out side of the lead off and his pay check valadates more PA's.

 

[fatbeard]

Return value C all star vs LF 40 HR'S. Teams value star power and can center their product to their fan base around a All star starting Catcher. Yaddi has lived off the fat of that cow for a long time.

Molina is a first-ballot HOFer and the best defensive C in baseball history. There's really no comparison in term of trade value between him in his prime and Contreras.

 

[TL1961]

My eye test says that he came in lazy and with hair past his shoulders acting the every day player roll vs keeping hungered.

Some teams (NYY) don't allow their players to come in looking unprofessional and sloppy.
Maybe that is what this team needs. Some discipline.

Switching sports here, so try to keep up, but John Madden once asked "If my players wear sportcoats on the plane and are clean shaven, but jump offsides, is that disciplined?"

Who gives two shits what the players' hair looks like?

 

[Castor76]

Switching sports here, so try to keep up, but John Madden once asked "If my players wear sportcoats on the plane and are clean shaven, but jump offsides, is that disciplined?"

Who gives two shits what the players' hair looks like?

It's a variation of the "broken windows" theory. When players have to care about little things like personal appearance then other things like hitting the cut off man, tagging up, running out a grounder become second nature as you drill those things in the Spring. Going back to football, the greatest WR of all time always made sure he looked his best when going out on the field.

 

[Steve_A]

Return value C all star vs LF 40 HR'S. Teams value star power and can center their product to their fan base around a All star starting Catcher. Yaddi has lived off the fat of that cow for a long time.

The thing is the Cubs can afford to drop a RH stick. Bryant and Baez are middle of the order hitters. Schwarber and Rizzo are middle of the order LH hitters. They really don't need to stack the deck more. But having a SH catcher that is a hitter above a slugger it a element that is lacking.

They could run

Nico
Caratini
Bryant
Rizzo
Baez
Schwarber
Almora (place holder)
Heyward.

Or run Heyward #2 to split up Nico and Bryant. He did all right out side of the lead off and his pay check valadates more PA's.

Line up looks worse than it does this year but that's okay in your books
because they will DEFINITELY rebuild right?

 

[Steve_A]

Nico isnt a SS. He has a noodle arm. He is basically a second baseman and will be a second baseman. Baez isnt moving off short. He was a top defender at SS in the league. You dont move him off short for worse defense. Bote is def. a possibility at third. He is a better defender and his stick wasnt bad. He gets a lot of flack but that was only his second major league season and he has been a bench player the entire time. He has really good exit velocity. Lets see how he adjust this off season. The high pitch hurt him this year.

Agree that Nico ain't a shortstop.
Don't understand why they didn't convert him earlier.
I think they should try to see if he or Garcia can hold down the fort there.
Not waste any money on the offense but get more pitching.

 

[fatbeard]

It's a variation of the "broken windows" theory. When players have to care about little things like personal appearance then other things like hitting the cut off man, tagging up, running out a grounder become second nature as you drill those things in the Spring. Going back to football, the greatest WR of all time always made sure he looked his best when going out on the field.

Now do Babe Ruth.

 

[Castor76]

Now do Babe Ruth.

With as awesome as Ruth was as a player, imagine how much more devastating he could have been if he took care of himself in the slightest. If had half of Gehrig's humility, he might have owned every hitting record ever and still have a good number of them. He might have even won a triple crown. Of course if Cobb had been interested in hitting home runs, Ruth might have been and after thought.

There will always be the occasional outlier, but I don't think you're saying Almora is Ruth level talented. When you've done it, like Ruth had, you can be a dick and people will let it slide because you've done it. But when you haven't done it, like Almora hasn't, you're just a dick.

 

[Steve_A]

With as awesome as Ruth was as a player, imagine how much more devastating he could have been if he took care of himself in the slightest. If had half of Gehrig's humility, he might have owned every hitting record ever and still have a good number of them. He might have even won a triple crown. Of course if Cobb had been interested in hitting home runs, Ruth might have been and after thought.

There will always be the occasional outlier, but I don't think you're saying Almora is Ruth level talented. When you've done it, like Ruth had, you can be a dick and people will let it slide because you've done it. But when you haven't done it, like Almora hasn't, you're just a dick.

Why does everyone hate Almora so much?
He doesn't seem like a bad person at all dudes.

 

[Steve_A]

They would be fucking idiots if they didn't try to sign Castellanos

Go sign Rendon (we have nobody that hits for average)
Move Bryant or Schwarber (keeper plays lf)
Go find a lh or sh hitting cf
Move heyward to rf
Dump russell
Move Horneer to 2b
Dump hamels
Look at the second tier starters (wheeler)
Improve the pen
Get new blood in the dugout

1) Theo Epstein is not hiring a manager for a MLB club who has no managerial experience at any level. This is a guy who fired Renteria to go get Joe Maddon

2) “Clutch” requires sample size. Once there is enough data with rare exception there is not much of a variance between a player’s every day numbers and numbers broken out for specific situations. Specifically regarding Schwarber, for his career, his batting average with 2 outs and RISP, he has had a whopping 169 AB. Overall, he has had 206 Plate appearances in that situation, meaning his batting average is .172 in that situation. His OBP is .320. This indicates the anomalies involved with small sample sizes. No MLBer today ...over the course of a year and career ... has an OBP .150 points higher than their average.

3) If we want to look at specific Cubs hitters, the real issue is missed. The Cubs have too many of the same hitter. The Cubs are bottom of the barrel in contact rate this season. Meanwhile, they have 7 guys with 20+ HR. OTOH the Cardinals have only 3 players with 20+ HR. IOW, HR and runs scored in MLB by HR may be at record levels, but contact rate is more important.

4) Theo needs to learn something new. His FA acquisitions have been mediocre or worse overall since 2016 WS. Three years removed and the team is considerably less competitive. No one hits on all their prospects or trades, but the Cubs don’t have a single player in the lineup who can hit over .300. Theo traded that guy away in year 1 (LeMahieu).

Slightly off topic, but I can’t wait to see how pissed he is as the end of season press conference and how this isn’t going to happen, it doesn’t feel good, yadada. He made a bed that is going to take more than 1 off-season to fix.

Good thoughts in here. Analytically, there has to be players out there that don't fizzle out post ASB or down the rd in August and September.
Cubs were rolling post ASB. And then old age, or weariness crept in. Not one pitcher lasted this season. And the older ones fell off a cliff.

Nick or no Nick?
Any other priorities this offseason?

 

[Steve_A]

Astros vs Nationals. Shows how good pitching is crucial in the postseason right? Or no?

 

[Parade_Rain]

With as awesome as Ruth was as a player, imagine how much more devastating he could have been if he took care of himself in the slightest. If had half of Gehrig's humility, he might have owned every hitting record ever and still have a good number of them. He might have even won a triple crown. Of course if Cobb had been interested in hitting home runs, Ruth might have been and after thought.

There will always be the occasional outlier, but I don't think you're saying Almora is Ruth level talented. When you've done it, like Ruth had, you can be a dick and people will let it slide because you've done it. But when you haven't done it, like Almora hasn't, you're just a dick.

Babe Ruth is still the career leader in OPS. Ted Williams is 2, then Gehrig and Bonds.

As for Almora, you could just say his shower shoes shouldn't have fungus on them. The knock on him is he is too aggressive at the plate leading to little pop in his bat.

 

[fatbeard]

With as awesome as Ruth was as a player, imagine how much more devastating he could have been if he took care of himself in the slightest. If had half of Gehrig's humility, he might have owned every hitting record ever and still have a good number of them. He might have even won a triple crown. Of course if Cobb had been interested in hitting home runs, Ruth might have been and after thought.

There will always be the occasional outlier, but I don't think you're saying Almora is Ruth level talented. When you've done it, like Ruth had, you can be a dick and people will let it slide because you've done it. But when you haven't done it, like Almora hasn't, you're just a dick.

Listen, the haircut argument is idiotic. It has nothing to do with talent, or humility, or work ethic.