The 2021 season hasn’t gone as the Cubs expected after trading away their ace and listening to offers on several other highly regarded players over the winter. Trading Yu Darvish, non-tendering Kyle Schwarber and generally avoiding any additions until some bargain pickups late in the winter, the Cubs appeared ticketed for a transition year. With Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo set to become free agents after extension talks failed to bear fruit, a retooling of some extent appeared nigh.
Perhaps the Cubs didn’t count quite so much on the inactivity throughout the rest of the division. The Cardinals eventually added Nolan Arenado in a blockbuster trade with the Rockies, and the Brewers made some nice late moves, most notably signing Kolten Wong to a two-year pact, but the NL Central was a wasteland in terms of hot stove activity. The Reds dumped their two best relievers to trim payroll and now have MLB’s worst bullpen. The Pirates, setting out on a lengthy rebuild, obviously made little effort to improve. Even the Cardinals, beyond their acquisition of Arenado, opted not to address some spotty pitching depth.
The result was an eminently winnable division for anyone other than the rebuilding Pirates. (Sorry, Pittsburgh fans.) And with all the focus on the looming turnover in Chicago after Theo Epstein stepped away and Jed Hoyer ascended to the top baseball operations spot, it almost became easy to forget that the Cubs won the division by three games during last year’s shortened season. Subtracting Darvish and Schwarber hurt, but the Cubs added some complementary veterans to round out the roster a bit: Zach Davies, Joc Pederson, Trevor Williams, Jake Marisnick, Andrew Chafin and old friend Jake Arrieta all entered the mix. It was at the very least a competent roster in a lackluster division.
Add in varying levels of resurgences not only from Bryant, Rizzo and Baez but also from written-off closer Craig Kimbrel, and the Cubs suddenly find themselves in the thick of the division race. Bryant was playing at a near-MVP level for much of the season until a recent slide. Rizzo’s bat isn’t back to peak levels but is much improved over 2020. Ditto Baez. And Kimbrel? The right-hander is sitting on a 0.59 ERA with a 46.4 percent strikeout rate against an 8.9 percent walk rate — both the third-best single-season marks of his career. He’s played so well that the $16MM option on his contract for next season suddenly looks like a bargain.
The result is a second-place Cubs team that finds itself in a gray area with just over one month until the trade deadline. Entering the year, the predominant question regarding Bryant was: “Where will he be traded this summer?” Now, it’s shifted to: “How can they trade him when they’re only a few games out of first?”
In reality, it’s hard to envision the Cubs trading anyone if they’re this close to the front of the division. To the contrary, this team looks more like a buyer than it does one that should be expected to dangle Bryant, Baez, Rizzo, Kimbrel, Davies, Pederson, Chafin or any of its impending free agents. The front office may have envisioned the Darvish trade as a launching point for similar deals down the line — clear payroll, add some young talent to lay the groundwork for the next generation — but instead the 2021 season now has the feel of one final hurrah with the 2016 core.
The context of the division and the schedule plays an important role, too. The Cubs have dropped nine of their past thirteen games, including series losses to the Dodgers and Mets. Normally, that might’ve begun to shift the team away from potential buying status, but their Central-division competition hasn’t exactly been thriving, either (outside of the first-place Brewers).
The Cardinals have dropped eight of their past 10 games as they try to weather major rotation injuries. They were recently swept by both the Cubs and by a Reds team that put its two best relievers, Lucas Sims and Tejay Antone, on the injured list. Cincinnati has now dropped seven of ten themselves. There’s plenty of talent on both the Cardinals and the Reds, but injuries have impacted both clubs quite a bit in recent weeks.
The schedule in July will be pivotal for the division as a whole. Chicago plays three games in Milwaukee and three in Cincinnati before hosting the struggling Phillies for four and the Cardinals for three. Coming out of the break, the Cubs will play six of their first 14 games against MLB’s worst team, the Diamondbacks; the others are, again, against Cincinnati and St. Louis. It’s probably not what the front office envisioned, but given all that context it’d take a somewhat of a faceplant, primarily against a series of .500-or-worse opponents, for the Cubs to really be in position to sell.
The Darvish trade, of course, looks all the more egregious now that starting pitching is precisely what the Cubs need. Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic took a thorough look at the Cubs’ rotation needs this morning, noting that executives around the league don’t expect them to make an aggressive, blockbuster style acquisition. The likelier focus, per Sharma and Mooney, would be on pitchers with reasonably affordable salaries and/or relatively low costs of acquisition.
Fans are never going to be excited by any report suggesting that their team’s primary targets are middle-of-the-road pitchers who can simply keep them in the game for five or maybe six innings at a time, but given where the Cubs are versus where they likely expected to be, it’s also not a huge surprise. A Darvish-caliber arm isn’t walking through that door, but someone like Merrill Kelly (D-backs), Chris Flexen (Mariners, if they sell pieces controlled beyond ’21) or Tyler Anderson (Pirates, if the Cubs don’t mind sending a prospect elsewhere in the division) are all speculative names that fit that general mold.
The next few weeks of games are going to be pivotal to most clubs around the league; there aren’t many clearly defined sellers. Even underperforming clubs like the Twins and Cardinals have so many games left against division rivals and/or rebuilding teams that they’ll probably wait to definitively commit to a course of action. But there might not be a team whose long-term outlook will be so closely tied to the fate of its July performance than the Cubs.
There are long-term implications for every team this time of year, but the Cubs have a slew of short-term veterans to market if they wish to sell — several of whom are longtime cornerstones. This could be a month in which they genuinely jumpstart an accelerated rebuild — not unlike the one the Yankees engineered in 2016 when they traded away Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman.
On the flip side, if the Cubs continue to exceed expectations, the pendulum would swing in the other direction, likely leaving the team with some draft compensation (via qualifying offers for Bryant, Rizzo and/or Baez). Not only would they lose the opportunity to add to a thin farm via trade — they’d perhaps further deplete the current system to make a measured push to remain in the division hunt.
A few clubs always find themselves performing something of a tightrope walk this time of year, but the Cubs are among the more prominent examples in recent memory. The clubhouse probably relishes the fact that they’ve upset the front office’s expectations to date; every group of players wants to win, after all. If they can keep it up a month longer, we’ll likely be looking at a much different deadline than most expected for the Cubs after they shipped Darvish to San Diego in exchange for Davies and a handful of lottery-ticket teenagers who might not make it to the Majors before the entire roster turns over.
Doug Dascenzo
As a Cubs fan, I’m happy to see Schwarber going absolutely bananas right now. Also as a Cubs fan, I’m incredibly depressed to see Schwarber going absolutely bananas right now. Meanwhile, I’ve had breathalyzers higher than Javy’s OBP, but he does have the second most errors right now, so at least he’s got that going for him.
ChiSox_Fan
And (Javy) even more K’s than Escobar.
thecoffinnail
I remember watching Doug Dascenzo play years ago. He was pretty much just a bench bat late game defensive replacement in 1989. Don Zimmer seemed to have a soft spot for him. Plus, he always seemed to get that clutch hit when it was needed. The Cubs had a great team in 89. Too bad The Giants had a bit better of one. Plus, they had that earthquake so they were the feel good team. That was the most well rounded club I think I have seen the Cubs have. Maddux, Sandberg, Dawson, Grace, Lancaster, Sutcliffe, Wild Thing Williams, Smith, Dunston (#1 overall 1982 draft), Walton (RoY). That was a fun team to watch.
tjdchi
I still remember Dascenzo’s first game. Didn’t he have 3 or 4 hits? That team was great. I went to game 3 when Bielecki singled up the middle to drive in the winning runs.
Doug Dascenzo
Those mid to late 80s teams were my first taste of baseball, and I’ve been obsessed ever since. Growing up with all those lean years, made 2016 that much better. My dad took me to my first game in April of 1989. Sat in the upper deck on the third base side and froze our balls off. He taught me the game. Lost him last year to cancer. We still talked about baseball for HOURS right up until he passed. Man, I miss those conversations.
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
You need to calm down your drinking. Hope you’re joking about your BA% Being higher than javys OBP.
jdgoat
If I were the Cubs I’d be looking for a pitcher like Yu Darvish
dray16
I wouldn’t be, glad they unloaded that contract.
jdgoat
True, it would suck to be stuck with the contract of a perennial Cy Young candidate.
louwhitakerisahofer
Perennial doesn’t apply to Yu. Look at his first year as a Cubs. Good pitcher, yes.
Cosmo2
Darvish has been a Cy Young candidate exactly twice in his entire career. Not exactly perennial.
mattcubs
That contract for Darvish is now a steal.
leftyleftylefty
Yeah I keep trying to figure out how Darvish’s contract is so bad—it’s damn near cheap.
It’s like none of these guys have any idea how much front line starting pitching costs, which Darvish certainly is.
Cosmo2
Contract a steal? Depends on how he does moving forward. He’s not exactly been the model of consistent greatness throughout his career.
1984wasntamanual
If he keeps pitching like he is now, sure. But he’s about to be 35. It wasn’t too long ago that everyone was calling his contract a huge mistake.
downsr30
If you are Jed, you have to ask yourself – what chance do we have to make the playoffs this year? Decent, but not great.
What chance do we have to compete IF we make the playoffs this year? Less than 5%, realistically? Sure anything can happen in October, but let’s be real.
I personally don’t think the Cubs will beat out the Brewers for the Central.
So the question comes down to: Are you willing to hold onto these guys, make a push for October, potentially come up empty, and delay your rebuild by a year or more because you didn’t trade the guys you could have received a return for?
Ryan Dempster was a valuable piece the Cubs had in 2012. He netted the Cubs Kyle Hendricks. Where would they have been the last few years had they held Dempster and not acquired Hendricks? (Granted the Cubs were an obvious rebuild in 2012)
Where would the Yankees be if they pushed forward in a time when they were teetering in a similar spot the Cubs are, and instead of trading Chapman and getting Gleyber Torres, they wasted his value to compete and just to appease the fans that’ll still be around next year anyway.
Sell now, give up the two months of hope for an expedited re-tooling.
CalcetinesBlancos
Bryzzo To White Sox confirmed.
Dumpster Divin Theo
For Matt Foster and salary relief
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
Jed isn’t the smartest man in the world but he’s not dumb either. White Sox don’t have the prospects to get Bryzzo. I’d rather try to extend those two and later Contreras. As great as jqvy I think he walks unless he get a QO. the cubs just have to stay focused and not take a dumb and roll over and die like tonight vs Milwaukee. That’s a complete embarrassment.
dugdog83
What the hell are the Cubs doing?
They waited way too long to trade the big 3 if this was their plan all along. They will get nothing for them at the deadline. They have nothing coming up to replace them. And trading Yu for nothing was just the start of bad moves all around. Crap GM. Not a real coach. Just vomit.
St Louis and Brewers will be fighting for the top of the Central the next decade.
Dumpster Divin Theo
Dylan Bundy says hi
ASapsFables
The Cubs are the only team in the NL Central with a chance to buy their way back to the top. They will have a lot of capital to work with next offseason with Bryant, Rizzo and Baez potentially off the books in addition to the money they shedded with the Darvish trade. Tom Ricketts also won’t have the ‘pandemic’ excuse that he had the past two years going forward. He also needs to boost his team so enough fans buy into the Cubs Marquee TV network.
Nobody on the northside of Chicago is looking at another rebuild akin to what Theo Epstein did when he was hired back in 2011. The Cubs will just retool this time around which could be more than enough to sit atop a weak NL Central as soon as 2022.
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
If the Ricketts weren’t cheap they would’ve extended all 3 of baez, Bryant and rizzo by not. Should’ve been done after 2016. Rizzo was lowballed this past winter and baez turned down a huge contract. They never offered Bryant an extension probably because it took 4 years for his manipulation service time trial to happen. At anytime he could’ve dropped it. Even admitting he was never going to win. Even though the cubs did nothing wrong. Keeping him down for what 13 days extra. That’s not manipulation.
The cubs have some very good players that can help them right now. They need pitching. They have Brailyn Marquez. Don’t know why he hasn’t been on the ML roster the entire year. Brennan Davis is just about ready to make an impact as well. They need a backup catcher. They need to bring up Miguel Amaya. He can give Willson Contreras more days off. Jose Loboton is not the answer.
Technically Tom Ricketts doesn’t own the team. His father Joe does. Since he used his father’s money to buy them.
stan lee the manly
The Cardinals also will have a lot of capital next year with al of their big dead money contracts coming off the books, so it is incorrect to assume that the Cubs will be the only team with money to spend
bigjonliljon
Yu being traded was all about setting up next year to avoid salary cap. Ok it’s not a cap, but reset the penalties
1984wasntamanual
Yeah, it was them being cheap and not the fact that your idea is stupid. Why would you want to have Baez and Rizzo extended with the trends we see in their production? What an odd thing to criticize them for.
That Baseball Fan
“The Cubs did nothing wrong.” Got to love Cubs fans.
bucketbrew35
Well since Torres kind of sucks I’d imagine they’d be in a similar position that they are in now. And before anyone flames me, Torres has not hit at a league average clip for nearly a year, his defense is below average and his power has almost completely disappeared.
KJS1313
My thoughts exactly on the playoff aspect. Sure, you made it, but with the Dodgers, Padres, etc., it will be difficult to get anywhere. Meanwhile, if you trade them, you might get a jumpstart on a “re-tooling” of sorts. The situation is very similar to the 2017 Royals. Yes I’m a Royals fan. They had their core of players all hitting free agency at once and the big deal was whether they would trade them or get one last run. Hindsight says they should have been dealt, as they finished 80-82,at least I think that was their record. At the time I was fine with whatever choice was made. Sure, it is not fun to lose your core from a championship team, but it is better to be realistic and have what is best for the future of the team in mind. Nostalgia can be blinding.
oldmansteve
You play to win the game
dbdmack
Practice?
Dumpster Divin Theo
You win to play the game.
PsychoTim
I pray there is a life-size cutoff of Tom Ricketts in the clubhouse.
“Every time we win, we peel a square.”
PutPeteinthehall
No rather see him in the dartboard.
Doug Dascenzo
Yeah that joke doesn’t really work here. Seeing Tom Ricketts naked, probably wouldn’t motivate, well anyone.
Sideline Redwine
Entitled Cubs fans, never thought I’d see the day. That terrible Ricketts helped bring a world series championship to the Cubs…or maybe you were sleeping for 108 years? He improved Wrigleyville immensely–it was a hole not that long ago. Division title last year, somehow in the mix this year.
Yeah, Ricketts is awful. Just like Joe and Theo. Truth is, most Cubs “fans” don’t deserve another title. Their–your–ignorance is painful to watch.
bbatardo
Imagine how good the Cubs would be had they kept Darvish and Schwarber lol.
cubsnomore
Schwarber became good because the Nationals changed his approach to hitting. Had he stayed with the Cubs he would not be the player he is now.
stymeedone
Imagine who they would have had to move instead of Darvish and Schwarber to make payroll? LOL! That the Cubs are competing without them shows they made the right choice. To keep things real, you can’t ignore the fiscal reality that after reduced revenue due to Covid, payroll was getting cut. It was never a choice of whether to keep Darvish or Schwarber. It was how do we reduce payroll while keeping the Cubs in the best position to compete? Imaginary scenarios that ignore that may as well complain that they didn’t add Bauer to be the number 2 behind Darvish, and Lindor to play second.
Franco27
Didn’t they have both last year? How did that work out?
Jimbob 57
Even at there best this team would never advance in playoffs , trade Baez,Kimbrel, Peterson, Davies and Tepera then go from there
jimthegoat
And Bryant, Rizzo and Contreras
Orel Saxhiser
Dear Rickey,
How does it feel to be the second-greatest leadoff man in baseball history?
Love,
Schwarbs
Ghost of past pirates
Cey hey the uncoolstorybrotroll
Orel Saxhiser
Having a disappointing run, aren’t ya?
coolstorybro
coolstorybro
oebrr00
The Brewers have crushed the vaunted NL West teams by the way thanks to continued shrewd decisions. The Cubs have been caught with their pants down again. It’s so cool how Baez, Rizzo, Bryant and the gang have not accepted it though.
dray16
lol, I don’t think anyone is worried about Milwaukee
augold5
Any team would be concerned about facing Woodruff, Burnes and Peralta in a series. Brewers are actually pretty wrll built for the playoffs
PutPeteinthehall
Padres and Dodgers were swept in Chicago earlier in the season before Cub injuries. Sure this Cubs team doesn’t have what it takes to beat the Dodgers or Giants in the postseason. Padres are overrated. Think Brewers are below the teams I’ve mentioned above. They are not winning a pennant this year.
Shane Newbanks 2
The Crew has been playing one of the easiest schedules every since the end of May, while the Cubs have been playing SD, LAD. SF. Cubs will have their easy part here after the break.
mike127
Kinda missing your point, Oeb……. The Brewers are 8-3 against the Padres and Dodgers and the Cubs are 9-4 (even with losing the last three against the Dodgers). Good thing those last three days just past and the Cubs lost their pants. Lord help the Brewers if the split the next couple games with the Dodgers and end up with that god awful pants down record against those “vaunted” teams.
PutPeteinthehall
Schwarber has been a streaky hitter his entire career. The last three years it resulted in a ton of strikeouts and less production than advertised. On the flip side he’s actually an average outfielder with a cannon for an arm. Think he was mistakenly cast as an only DH type of player. If they can fix his bat he’s a great player to have on the team.
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
Talking heads have been bad mouthing him for years ever since 2015 nlcs. I know its not all about errors or whatever but if you’re a catcher turned outfielder only has maybe 14 errors his entire 5 and half year career. That’s pretty good at defense. The Ricketts were too cheap to give him $10 million. He’s shoving right down their thorats right now. I’d bet money they it was the ownership choice to dump him. There’s no way Theo would do that in his own. He was in love with the guy. Especially after refusing to trade him for Chapman. Possibly could’ve been keeping it under wraps that kyle would be ready if they made the world series.
Dumpster Divin Theo
Errors how quaint. You must be a fan of Larry Bowa and no dive Ryne Sandberg
rondon
Trolling. How unoriginal.
Cosmo2
Context was given as to why the error total was an appropriate stat for the discussion.
CalcetinesBlancos
Can we interest you in a Reynaldo Lopez? He was only driven on sundays to church by a little old lady.
Dogbone
Is that the rumor Steve Stone has been telling you sox fans?
matthew07
There is no dilemma. The Cubs aren’t going anywhere for a while. Trade everyone but Hendricks and Hoerner.
Orel Saxhiser
Considering the lack of quality starting pitchers on the deadline trade market, Hendricks should be the first one to go. He’d bring the most in the trade, which is important for a team in what is realistically a rebuild. The Dodgers, Giants, Padres, Mets, Braves, Phillies, and Nats could all use him, and that’s just in the National League. They would get some really good offers.
mlb1225
I still think there are a lot of similarities between this Cubs team and the 2017 Kansas City Royals. It wasn’t that long ago they had one of the best cores in all of baseball, but most are on expiring contracts. The team isn’t bad, but it isn’t fantastic either. Maybe they do a soft buy like the 2017 Royals did, but If they’re at or below .500 by the deadline, I’d sell Bryant and Baez at the very least.
jimthegoat
And Rizzo and Davies and Contreras
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
The difference is KC is a small market team. With the way the Ricketts claim they have no money you’d think they were a small market team as well.
1984wasntamanual
Why does that matter in this case? How many times do you need to be shown that you can’t just buy a team before you stop crying about the Ricketts being cheap? Even if the Cubs spend more, they aren’t a legit contender. With the way MLB free agency works, it’s near impossible to just buy yourself out of a system that’s failed to produce productive, cost controlled replacements for the aging players on their roster.
cubbiepatriot21
One can resign their stars rather than piss them off for years? Maybe only Bryant is worth building around, at this point. Baez is fading back to his rookie year swing and his defense isn’t making a difference when he throws so many errors and cannot make contact with RISP. Fans don’t watch the game to accept mediocrity, so mocking Cubs fans for calling their team cheap—they’ve built a little entertainment plaza in Wrigley, but the team’s futility makes all that spending on the outside appear worthless when the product on the field is dull.
citizen
If the cubs were to trade all 3, mostly for the happiness of mlbtr and the receiving team, there’s no guarantee any of the prospects the cubs get make the majors or an impact. Better going for it, with a favored schedule and a full team and get the high draft picks next year.
jimthegoat
No guarantee those draft picks make the majors or make an impact either
Cosmo2
Exactly. There’s no guarantee for anything in this sport. Dumb reason to never trade for prospects. (Plus, going for higher draft picks is the dumbest most inefficient plan you can do. You end up setting your team further back than those high picks can possibly pull you forward. This isn’t the NBA. Draft position means very little compared to other sports or other strategies.)
jimthegoat
@Cosmo2 Draft position means everything. It’s been proven. The Cubs are going to lose those guys anyway so trading them only hurts the team for 2021, not for the long-haul.
Cosmo2
I question the “proof” that draft position means “everything”. The statement itself is entirely hyperbolic. And absurd.
jimthegoat
@Cosmo2 On average, the higher you draft, the more WAR the player you draft produces over the course of their career. And the marginal difference from pick to pick is much more pronounced the higher you go in the draft. (ie: The difference between pick 1 and pick 2 is much greater than the difference between pick 222 and pick 223. Again, on average)
Cosmo2
Sure, I agree with all that. But that doesn’t translate into a large advantage when you look at the big picture (player development, luck, the 25 other players on the roster besides the one or two guys drafted high in the first round vs. the guys they would’ve drafted a slot or two after them). It adds up to a minuscule advantage. Losing 100 games puts you twenty games farther from success than losing 80 games. No draft class is gonna make up that difference. Bill James has talked about this on his website. Losing is never beneficial.
Deleted_User
1. It’s a fact. There’s no agreeing or disagreeing with it.
2. Player development, luck and the other 25 players on the roster are all constant here. All that doesn’t change is the draft position and on average, drafting higher = more WAR from your draftees.
“It adds up to a minuscule advantage.
It’s still an advantage.
“Losing 100 games puts you twenty games farther from success than losing 80 games.”
Trading one player isn’t going to lose you 20 games. Not even Mike Trout. And we are talking about trading players who are pending free agents here so you are going to have to make up the wins lost by losing those players regardless of whether or not you trade them. So you might as well get something by trading them rather than losing them for nothing at the end of the season. This has the added benefit of boosting your draft position.
Cosmo2
We’ve got some crossed wires here. I’m not arguing against trading players to accumulate prospects. I’m arguing that losing games is worse for the team than is the advantage gained by drafting slightly higher. The minuscule advantage is offset by the huge disadvantage of being a bad team even further from contending. In short, it’s better to win more and draft lower as a better team is closer to being great than a bad team. (And no draft pick will make up that difference). Again, I get a lot of this thinking from Bill James so you’re disagreeing with a baseball genius if you are disagreeing. But trading a player to get prospects IS often worth the extra couple losses you’ll suffer without that player.
ruckus727
They will not be buyers. Though they should, they will not. I expect them to sell because the owners cry poor.
bandude
Ricketts is trying to save money so he can help fund Trump’s next presidential run.
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
Lol save money? That’s a great joke. Joe Ricketts is the complete opposite of Scott Boras cheap as hell and doesn’t want to spend money. Boras is just (old guy from Vegas vacation voice) “money, money… mon…ney”
Wouldn’t doubt if he has a complete trade deadline firesale and at the seasons end sells the team so the new owner has to build from the ground up.
rememberthecoop
I’m a Cubs fan, but we all know the Cubs won’t be re-signing KB. They should trade him before he loses all of his value. And this offense has been broken for 4 years so all 3 free agents can go as far as I’m concerned. Look, they might have a chance to win the division, but there is no way they go anywhere with that terrible rotation and such a streaky homer-dependent offense. If they can expedite a rebuild by moving the Big 3 and Kimbrel then you gotta do it.
2012orioles
Orioles got pretty much nothing for machado. I’d expect Bryant to get about the same if not less. I’d go for it this year hands down. Add some minor moves at a minimum. I would guess the 2 of the giants/dodgers/Padres will be in the wild card game, with the odd team out being the 1 seed, thus playing the wild card winner first round. That leaves 2 of the 3 eliminated after the divisional round. When you look at it that way, it’s a lot easier to make it to the World Series. Obviously it’s not even July, and a lot could change, but you may not get what you think you can by trading all of your stats
2012orioles
Stars*
Brick House Coffee Tables Inc
It also means that the Cubs would have to play the Mets or the Nationals in the NLDS. Cubs-Mets is a train wreck. Cubs-Nationals would be a chance to win in 5. Only path with any chance of getting to the WS is Nationals and then WC Dodgers (who don’t play well at Wrigley).
They will need to clean up coming out of the ASB. Anything less than 9-3 in that stretch is a death sentence, they could easily go 11-1 if their opponents start selling at or before the break.
Neither Bryant nor Rizzo will accept the QO, so that’s the minimum return required for a rental as salary relief doesn’t seem to be a need with ballparks opened. Baez may take a QO but he really seems like he needs a change of scenery mentally.
The trade destination for Baez to me is the Mets. He has said that the only person for whom he would move off of SS is his buddy Lindor. Putting Baez in that infield with a healthy McNeil would be intriguing, and Baez could easily hit 8th in that lineup.
ASapsFables
Crunch time for the Cubs and their remaining 2016 core. We will find out shortly whether they are trade deadline buyers, sellers or riding the season out with all hands on deck.
ChiSox_Fan
Cubs losing again (to Brewers) tonight!
Hendricks getting rocked!
ChiSox_Fan
14-4 loss. Cubs “ace” pitched tonight!
Put a fork in them!
Brick House Coffee Tables Inc
Hey you goof, it was 4-4 when both Hendricks and Peralta were gone. Tepera is finally going through a rough and perhaps less sticky stretch. Winkler will probably get a few more opportunities in that spot for the next two weeks.
oebrr00
Yes definitely go for it. Baez is such a mature leader of men. What could go wrong?
Orel Saxhiser
What leading have you done? First to the kitchen for between innings snacks?
junkyard
Sell Mortimer sell!
jimthegoat
Going to largely depend on how the next 29 games go for them, including the one they are playing right now
paindonthurt
Javy Baez is one of the most frustrating players in baseball.
Appalachian_Outlaw
If I were the Cubs GM, I’d go for a World Series title. Are they the favorites, no. They could get lucky though, and they’ll get picks for players they lose.
bucketbrew35
I think it’s too soon to say that. Especially with Yusniel Diaz currently performing the way he has in the high minors this year.
Voice of Reason
The Cubs won’t have any untouchables at the trade deadline. The owners had no intentions of trying to win this year. What team trades it’s best starter before a single pitch is thrown this year with the intentions of winning? The owners aren’t going to let all those pending free agents walk without getting a nice return for each of them.
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
They’ve haven’t had winning intentions over the last 3 years. Refusing to spend money. Crying wolf saying their broke. They’ve got plenty of money to spend. The Ricketts are just cheap.
Franco27
Dumb comment as usual.
Cosmo2
I never understand when fans of a team with a decently high payroll complain that the owner is cheap. Some fans will never be satisfied until the owners are irresponsible and spend like drunken sailors… then the “the owner doesn’t want to win” nonsense starts. No, the owners just don’t agree with YOUR plan which likely involves wanton spending (and probably not winning anyway).
Brick House Coffee Tables Inc
Many here who say “cheap” really mean “Republican.”
That said, this has been primarily a real estate play for the Ricketts family all along, and the winning was a bonus. They were the safe choice for MLB because they absolutely were not going to let Mark Cuban own the Cubs.
It’s not Ricketts’ fault that Theo gave Jason Heyward $184M (and the Cardinals tried to give him $200M), nor is it his fault that once he saw the ROI that he cut off the spigot in a way which Boston’s owners wouldn’t.
mkeyankee
Who accepts their qualifying offer? Baez, no doubt. Rizzo is gone. Bryant?
Cmurphy
Agree on Baez. Unless Rizzo’s bat gets going, and his back stops acting up, I think he’d jump on a qualifying offer, which would be over 19 mil, considering he’s making only 11 mil this year. Bryant wouldn’t.
Dogbone
That is probably why Baez may be the first to go. Baez absolutely would accept the QO because he’d never get an offer from another team, for anything close to that number. Also I believe the team under Hoyer, will be looking for hitters with a more contact oriented approach.
paindonthurt
I agree with this. I would trade Baez if possible. I can see him accepting the QO and that is not want they really want. I would probably play it out with Rizzo (I think he resigns). Trade Bryant of you get a solid deal.
swinging wood
If Rizzo gets the QO, he should take it. His back isn’t getting better as he ages.
Brick House Coffee Tables Inc
The problem for Rizzo is that he needs to lock up his money now. 4/58 is probably better for him than 19 and the risk that he declines at 33. Add in the likelihood of a labor stoppage costing him much of that 19…
Rizzo to Miami is a natural. Local boy goes home, provides veteran leadership to an emerging team. Especially if the DH comes to the NL.
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
They were buyers up until the game after the combined no hitter in LA and then tonight getting blown out by a team that’s not going anywhere.
oebrr00
If the team that scorched you for two touchdowns is going nowhere…
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
It was a badly managed game. And that’s extremely rare from David Ross
Dumpster Divin Theo
Rossy’s mind is elsewhere. He’s prolly like, I don’t need this crap. I could be doing the Foxtrot.
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
I can take anyone seriously when they use “prolly” safe to say and assume that you’re a millennial. “Prolly” isn’t a word. Might not use it on here but I’d bet money you use “finna” as well.
Orel Saxhiser
Do you even know what age bracket “millennial” represents?
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
Something between 24-34.
Orel Saxhiser
Do you have a problem with that? I am 63 and think they are a step up from my generation. In my opinion, each generation is an improvement on the one that came before. They build on past successes and fix the mistakes. I don’t get older people who bash younger ones when they should be supporting and encouraging them. The ones before my generation did the same thing and it was stupid on their part. Things get better, not worse. That pretty much covers all aspects of life.
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
Imn not bashing anything. I just said it’s hard take him seriously when he used “prolly” it’s like when people don’t spell out entire 3 or 4 letter words. It’s just lazy at that point
cubsguy954
Says the guy using conjunctions lazily instead of spelling out two two-letter words
Cosmo2
Hey, I pronounce it as “pry” and I’m pushing 50. Nothing wrong with writing how you talk in a casual forum.
Cosmo2
I somewhat agree, Cey Hey, but if the younger generation could stop bashing us that’d be nice too.
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
What? That doesn’t make sense. What two two-letter words would I use?
JoeBrady
Things get better, not worse.
================================================
I agree, for the most part. But this latest generation of kids seem lost from not have to fight for anything. I know a lot of black and Latino families from my kid playing B-Ball in the Bronx. All of the kids have plans In three generations, the kids have moved from grandparents with broken English, to parents that were mostly bi-lingual, to the kids that are all going to college, and can’t understand any of Spanish that there grandparents use.
Meanwhile, a lot of suburban white kids, who have had a lot of these handed to them, struggle.
That said, most of them are nicer than the kids of my generation.
JoeBrady
Yup, I don’t get it. I understand using IDK or IRT, etc., but ‘prolly’ is only 2 letters shy of ‘probably’, and prolly requires more time since it spelled different than what you are use to.
jasondav
The truth the cubs should trade them all. i say you went as far as you can. there is no point trying to hold on they can make the playoffs. It is time to rebuild and start right now. Get some players for these free agents.
dpsmith22
Absolutely they should be sellers. Sadly the ask can’t be high but they did this to themselves. 1) I could argue that they could get better now and the future with the right trades for Baez and Rizzo who are just names with little production. 2) you aren’t winning playoff games with ‘guys that keep you in games’ anyway.
msqboxer
Baez and Rizzo will bring you nothing in return, your better off QO them at the end of the season. Any team trading for them now can’t give them a QO, so unless they believe that they will sign them as a FA in the offseason, it’s not worth it. .
Cubs Dynasty
This Cubs unit is essentially a new team. Players were brought in from all over the place. The remaining small core are all in position to possibly jettison out. It’s a team in transition. We dont know what that transition might become. What we do know is that it normally takes several seasons of playing together in order develop talent and team chemistry for winning. Championships don’t come easy. The rub of course is that while our Cubs budget was slashed, Ricketts became wealthier.
Cosmo2
Does this team have years to gel? It’s not exactly a very young team and will be losing some great players in that time. It’s win-now, rebuild or retool.
Cubs Dynasty
You are right Cosmo2! A team in transition ..
1984wasntamanual
Unless their starters decide to go nuts in the playoffs, this is a team that’s gonna get knocked out in the first round again (were they to make it), as a fan, I’d have no problem, at all, with them selling if they can get decent returns. Otherwise they are looking at another lengthy rebuild as they have very little of note in the system at the moment.
JoeBrady
I don’t think they will sell, since they are close. But more importantly, they won’t get much back at this point.
KCJ
It must be insanely frustrating to be a Cub fan these days. Luckily for me, I am not one of them. However, every Cub fan must be wondering where they would be in the standings if management and ownership had not decided to be so cheap and basically give away 4.9 WAR (bbref) for almost nothing. Wonder if the might be in first place if they had an ace who is 7-2 with a 2.44 ERA and 0.94 WHIP, along with 2.7 WAR. In addition, they could probably use an outfielder who has 2.2 WAR along with 24 HR and 52 RBI right now.
If Tom Ricketts and whoever the GM is these days hadn’t decided to give up on the year before it even started just to save a few pennies on a 2 billion dollar franchise, they’d most definitely be in first place and recognized nationally as one of the top contenders for the playoffs and World Series. Such a shame Mr. Ricketts is such a pathetic excuse for an owner and apparently does not care about the fans. Why don’t you sell that 2 billion dollar asset if you’re hurting for money so bad, Mr. Ricketts? People would be lined up around Wrigley wanting to purchase the franchise.
There is no excuse for this ineptitude or flat out negligence. Cub fans should be angry as could be toward these people and demand a sale of the team. Like I said, I thank god I am not a Cub fan, otherwise the rage would consume me.
I legitimately feel sorry for you Cub fans as this window of opportunity fully closes after the seasons and hope you have brighter days in the future once competent ownership is in place.
Servo
I have been a Cubs fan since the 1980’s. This is not a time for Cubs fans to be frustrated. This is a team who was a perennial doormat who now has conversations about whether they are buyers or sellers at the deadline and have made the playoffs nearly every year for the last 6 years and had good runs in the 2000’s as well.
Does this mean that we should be satisfied with one WS win? Nah, but keep it in perspective. This conversation wouldn’t be happening if the Tribune still owned the team.
I don’t know the Ricketts nor do I care to, but I do respect their wishes to keep payroll down when you can see how well teams like the Rays and A’s can perform relative to salary. If you’re not willing to spend like the Mets or Dodgers, then you can find a happy medium between the two where you can comfortably operate.
We’re at an inflection point now, and what will likely be another rebuild if you’re not going to pay these FAs their expected value, which I don’t believe they should.
I was fine with Darvish going – he was a perfect sell-high candidate and with the unknowns of the 2021 season and fans returning, it made sense at the time. Losing Caratini as part of that deal has hurt worse in my mind. I am also fine with Schwarber going after his terrible 2020 and the relative salary ask. He is on a 3-week hot streak. He was awful prior to this past month and doing this in the leadoff spot where he hit below .200 as a Cub. Let’s see how his full season shakes out before we start calling anything out about that deal.
Hindsight is an awesome tool though right?
Cult of Dickie Thon
Fans who are fine their team’s owner just limiting payroll spending and pocketing the savings baffle me.
Then again they are generally the same fans who side with the owners vs. players and somehow assume that if players were paid leas that ticket prices would come down.
Fred K. Burke
Here’s a trade between the Cubs and White Sox. If the Cubs become sellers. Right now the Cubs are not playing well. White Sox receive Inf/OF Kris Bryant and RP Andrew Chafin. Cubs receive OF Yoelqui Cespedes and P Garrett Crochet. True, this would be unlikely. The Sox receive a good, versitile player in Bryant and a solid reliever in Chafin or the playoff push. The Cubs receive a pair young, talented players. Crochett can start immediately for the Cubs. Cespedes is likely a year away. Possibly sooner.
Moneyballer
horrible trade – it makes no sense. Sox would have to put Bryant in the outfield and Crochet simply doesn’t have the pitch arsenal to be an effective starter. Just a bad idea for both sides!
Fred K. Burke
Being the baseball savant you are. Along with being a highly intelligent human. Who am I, as just a simple baseball fan to disagree.
Moneyballer
Trade for Yu Darvish but only if the Padres eat a substantial portion of his remaining contract. No blue chip prospects head to San Diego.
oebrr00
Good news! Dilemma solved this week by being completely dismantled by the Crew. Hilarious watching the Cubs fans leave Miller park early.