Recent comments

Bill 2 days 3 hours ago (view)

That pretty well sums up the situation.  Epstein, the media and the fans became obsessed with the concept of a "window of opportunity" that had to be taken advantage of before it closed.  Thus the trade for Quintana, and the trade of Soler for crap.

The way to deal with a "window of opportunity" is not to sacrifice everything to win, but to extend that window.  Epstein knew that he was having his best players, Rizzo, Baez and Bryant in the same year, with Contreras the following year, at the same time that the pitching staff was growing elderly and on the verge of declining.  A responsible administration would have moved one of the ""core" two years earlier, and a second one the next year, in order to prevent the otherwise necessity of "tanking" when they left at the same time.  they had to know that there was no way they could have all been extended, and still leave room for growth.

Other than the Dodgers and the Yankees, no team can maintain a consistent level of production without a consistent flow of high ceiling, low cost controlled young players coming up from the farm.  We have lived through the errors of the past, and hopefully have learned enough from them to prevent a reoccurance of it in a few years.

TarzanJoeWallis 2 days 4 hours ago (view)

I think it was pretty clear that practically all of “the core” was going to be gone after the 2021 season and that utterly gutting the farm system to chase a championship with the same guys year after year until they all departed wasn’t going to end well. That was talked about as early as 2017.

I don’t think it’s hindsight to say they would have been better off from a sustainability standpoint trading some of those pieces for the best prospect packages available and introducing some of the kids. For example, I was hoping real time they would trade Schwarber during the 2016 offseason to an AL team as a DH when the DH was AL only. Fresh off being a WS hero he could have fetched quite a haul. But, alas, he was a member of the vaunted, untouchable “core”.

TarzanJoeWallis 2 days 4 hours ago (view)

What would have surprised me is the Dodgers, who have traditionally been outstanding in evaluating and developing talent, giving away Busch for nothing. They obviously saw something in both of the guys. Perhaps one or both will be future superstars.

That said, the old cliche is that the level of competition increases ten fold for every level moved up. Ferris and Hope both have a long way to go. We’ll just have to wait and see.

For now, I’m watching Busch put the team on his shoulders while the presumed offensive star of the team flails and doesn’t seem to have a plan beyond “waiting for the numbers to even out”. 

I thought it was a good and fair trade at the time - a talented but surplus guy for the Dodgers that filled an immediate need for the Cubs in exchange for potential pieces of the Dodgers future - and I’m awfully glad Busch is a Cub.

First.Pitch.120 2 days 4 hours ago (view)

Mostly agree, but I don’t think it was as much “unshakeable faith” as it was a series of unclear choices in the moment that have become obvious with hindsight.  

The upside outcome for the coming year for any player was always much higher than the return on selling. It was like Texas Hold’em purgatory of having 4 to an A-K led flush…  impossible to get away from. 


 

Dolorous Jon Lester 2 days 5 hours ago (view)

He works quickly too so all that happened in probably like 4 minutes 

crunch 2 days 5 hours ago (view)

as of now, zyhir hope is the dodgers #20 prospect on mlb.com (ferris #7).  he made 0 national "top 100" overall lists.  that may be a different story soon enough.

if hope is not in the team top-10 by year's end i would be shocked.

i don't know what happened between draft day and a couple months in arizona, but he got the attention of many organizations outside of the cubs when he showed up.

crunch 2 days 5 hours ago (view)

...and he takes a comebacker off the knee on pitch 7.  out made, run scored.

pitch 9 is a 3 run homer.  amazing.

crunch 2 days 5 hours ago (view)

wade miley (MIL) loads the bases on 5 pitches in the 1st.  that's a special kind of talent.

TarzanJoeWallis 2 days 5 hours ago (view)

While the Chapman trade helped to cement a championship I honestly think that trade was made in a different era. Nobody trades their best prospects for rentals anymore.

The Quintana trade was a stinker from day one. It seemed to be a product of Theo’s unshakable faith in his 2016 “core” and the consistent and mistaken idea that they were always just one guy away from a return to WS glory. The mistake was repeated several times and I think that realization along with a general evolution in baseball thinking has helped to shape Jed and the way he operates today.

Bill 2 days 5 hours ago (view)

I had mixed emotions when I heard of the trade, as I have with most trades that involve high potential prospects.  But that is because I hate to trade a high potential prospect for a veteran with only a few years control, and with a much lower potential than the prospects give away.  I hated the trade of Cease and Jiminez for Quinta, because I viewed Quintana as a decent, but not top pitcher, being traded for two very high-potential prospects.  I disliked the trade for Chapman, because a high-potential prospect was traded for a rental, although in this case, the fact that the rental was a top player greatly softened the blow.  The trade of Ferris and Hope for Busch seemed even at the time, to be a good one, even though they gave up one of my favorite prospects.  The return was a high-potential prospect with 6 years of control, at a time when he could be a difference maker on the team.

13 games hardly proves that it was a good trade, but at least it was a reasonable one, no matter how it turns out.  So far, so good.

crunch 2 days 6 hours ago (view)

i was strongly happy about the deal, but words can barely describe how quickly zyhir hope went from "interesting youngster" to "high end prospect" when he showed up in arizona post-draft.

it may not have shown up in the team prospect numbered rankings, but the dodgers had their eyes on such a low level guy for a reason and the cubs knew what they gave up.

TarzanJoeWallis 2 days 5 hours ago (view)

I have to disagree. They got not just A triple A stud but THE AAA stud of the entire PCL for a position player who hadn’t played above the AZL level and a pitcher who was rather mediocre in his first taste of pro ball at low A. I’m not saying the guys they traded haven’t shown great promise but they have a very long way to go and a whole lot to prove before they make the bigs. Especially since Busch filled a defined need (whether it had been at third or first) I take this trade any day of the week and don’t bother looking back.

crunch 2 days 8 hours ago (view)

matt shaw (AA) has a .381/.552/.905 line through 7 games...3 homers and a triple.  6 games at 3rd, 1 game DH (5 PO, 7 A, 0 E).

that's somewhat fun news.

crunch 2 days 8 hours ago (view)

i was blown away confused/pissed when it was announced the cubs were trading for y.almonte.

i was thrilled when m.busch was announced as part of the trade.

it's really weird to have the "you gotta take this payroll guy, too" (1.9m) part of the trade leak before the main piece.

the cubs didn't get a deal given what they gave up, but i was very happy to have a guy like busch in the fold with so much club control.

Sonicwind75 2 days 10 hours ago (view)

Have to admit I was initially disappointed the Cubs traded away the upside of Jackson Ferris but Busch is making a believer out of me.  If I still lived in midwest guessing we would have invented some drink special named a Busch Bomb at the local drinking establishment to celebrate his homers.  

Cubster 2 days 17 hours ago (view)

per Tribune: Suzuki MRI results pending from yesterday so we should get a timetable for return later today.

crunch 3 days 3 hours ago (view)

suzuki says he injured his oblique running to 1st, not swinging.  okay.  it's gonna be that kind of 2024 cubs year, huh?

i would say that's good news compared to screwing it up swinging, but i'm not familiar with the recovery time of people screwing up their oblique by running.

right side is at least different from his left side oblique injury last year.

crunch 3 days 3 hours ago (view)

5 IN A ROW!

hack wilson, ryne sandberg, sammy sosa, christopher morel, and michael busch.

Cubster 3 days 6 hours ago (view)

A bit more Jewish take on one of my favorite Cubs, Kenny Holtzman. His 9-0 season while serving in the National Guard and being available to pitch on weekends was one of my coolest teen recollections. 

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/388554

Cubster 3 days 6 hours ago (view)

Suzuki out with oblique strain. Canario indeed is called up. No word on Morel so that might be a red herring (or a red digit).

AZ lineup is posted but Counsell is always late to post his lineup.