What the? Is Kimbrel not available today? I thought 1 run games are exactly what you have a closer for.
MLB: ***Official 2019 Chicago Cubs Season Thread***
- Thread starter Cyched
- Start date
You don't want to use him 3 days in a row right off the IL. Man I love me some Rowan Wick.
The window to win another championship with this core group of players is definitely not closed but how long do you see the window being open? The potential and talent is there to compete right now but I don't have a lot of confidence they'll win it this year based on their inconsistency and struggles on the road. They could get hot at the right time but the odds are they probably won't be able to go on that kind of run against the teams they'd likely face. I've broke things down multiple times in this thread how they have some big decisions to make with contracts soon. I think it's this year and the next 2 seasons that the window is open then who knows what happens after that. As the current payroll situation stands the following key players from this year's team either will be gone or can be free agents after the 2021 season:
Rizzo -signed through 2021
Bryant - under team control through 2021
Baez - under team control through 2021
Russell - under team control through 2021 but likely will be gone before then
Schwarber - under team control through 2021
Lester - signed through 2021 and already on the decline
Hamels - free agent after this season
Quintana - option for next year likely picked up then is a free agent after 2020
Zobrist - likely retires after this season
The only guys signed or under team control in 2022 or beyond are:
Contreras
Caratini
Heyward
Happ
Kemp (he's arbitration eligible for 3 years if they choose)
Almora
Bote
Darvish
Hendricks
Kimbrel
Kyle Ryan
Rowan Wick
This team as it currently is constructed is flawed but it's not like they will have to tear it completely apart to fix it if they want to contend for at least 2 more seasons. They have plenty of payroll coming off the books after this season to rebuild the bullpen and hopefully make some kind of moves to fix the offense by signing or trading for an OF and/or 2B. It's probably time to cut ties with guys like Russell, Schwarber, Almora, and even Happ and see what you can get for them in trades as they basically are square pegs that don't fit in the round hole in this offense and for the most part have not developed into the kind of hitters the Cubs envisioned they'd be. Russell alone just needs a change of scenery with all he has been through.
They basically will have to fill at least 1 SP spot each offseason for the next 3 years: Hamels this winter, Quintana next year, and Lester after that if he hasn't already retired or possibly moved to the bullpen by then as he'll turn 36 in January. And how much are they willing to pay to keep Rizzo, Bryant, Baez, and Contreras? Out of that group I think you have to pay whatever it takes to keep Baez and I think they probably will be able to work out reasonable deals with Rizzo and Contreras before they even hit free agency possibly.
The big question mark is do you entertain trading Bryant at some point if you can get a huge haul of prospects and/or a cost controlled impact big league player in return? He's a Boras client and also can't forget how frustrated they were when the Cubs left him down in Iowa for 10 games to start the season before they called him up so they could get an extra year of control. You can bet Boras will push him to not take an extension and then try to get top dollar on the free agent market like he does all his clients so that is a dark cloud lingering that eventually could get complicated because you either break the bank to keep him or risk losing him for nothing or you cash in on him before he hits free agency and get a load of talent back.
Rizzo -signed through 2021
Bryant - under team control through 2021
Baez - under team control through 2021
Russell - under team control through 2021 but likely will be gone before then
Schwarber - under team control through 2021
Lester - signed through 2021 and already on the decline
Hamels - free agent after this season
Quintana - option for next year likely picked up then is a free agent after 2020
Zobrist - likely retires after this season
The only guys signed or under team control in 2022 or beyond are:
Contreras
Caratini
Heyward
Happ
Kemp (he's arbitration eligible for 3 years if they choose)
Almora
Bote
Darvish
Hendricks
Kimbrel
Kyle Ryan
Rowan Wick
This team as it currently is constructed is flawed but it's not like they will have to tear it completely apart to fix it if they want to contend for at least 2 more seasons. They have plenty of payroll coming off the books after this season to rebuild the bullpen and hopefully make some kind of moves to fix the offense by signing or trading for an OF and/or 2B. It's probably time to cut ties with guys like Russell, Schwarber, Almora, and even Happ and see what you can get for them in trades as they basically are square pegs that don't fit in the round hole in this offense and for the most part have not developed into the kind of hitters the Cubs envisioned they'd be. Russell alone just needs a change of scenery with all he has been through.
They basically will have to fill at least 1 SP spot each offseason for the next 3 years: Hamels this winter, Quintana next year, and Lester after that if he hasn't already retired or possibly moved to the bullpen by then as he'll turn 36 in January. And how much are they willing to pay to keep Rizzo, Bryant, Baez, and Contreras? Out of that group I think you have to pay whatever it takes to keep Baez and I think they probably will be able to work out reasonable deals with Rizzo and Contreras before they even hit free agency possibly.
The big question mark is do you entertain trading Bryant at some point if you can get a huge haul of prospects and/or a cost controlled impact big league player in return? He's a Boras client and also can't forget how frustrated they were when the Cubs left him down in Iowa for 10 games to start the season before they called him up so they could get an extra year of control. You can bet Boras will push him to not take an extension and then try to get top dollar on the free agent market like he does all his clients so that is a dark cloud lingering that eventually could get complicated because you either break the bank to keep him or risk losing him for nothing or you cash in on him before he hits free agency and get a load of talent back.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
The cubs just won a game where they had two hits and one walk. 7 of their 8 offensive innings they didn't get a hit. But fly the W anyway.
I haven't been negative, I've simply been realistic. If people want to argue about actual facts, than yeah I'll push back on that.
Pretty much all of the guys that came through our system have been fast-tracked. They are still young. You want a couple great examples that came through our own farm system? Jorge Soler-- gets traded when he's 24 due to inconsistency and injuries.He's got 35 homers and 88 RBIs this year. DJ LaMahieu gets traded when he's 23 and over the last few years has turned into an All-Star.
Moral of the story-- trying to judge a kid's progression when he's 23 years old is pointless.
CyJack, some friendly advice
If CatStevens is liking your posts, you probably said something stupid
If CatStevens is liking your posts, you probably said something stupid
Maybe we don't want to argue. Maybe we want to enjoy the games without a negative comment every few minutes.
I guess I forgot that they used him on Tuesday. I was thinking it was just yesterday.
I just honestly can’t comprehend how ******* miserable your life must be to constantly be negative about your team. What’s the point of even being a fan if you’re constantly worried about the negative? It’s like being married and constantly worried your wife is cheating on you. Or like being an ISU football fan this year but being worried about our 2022 season for some reason.
Enjoy life. Enjoy sports. Don’t be a ******* annoying ass prick
Enjoy life. Enjoy sports. Don’t be a ******* annoying ass prick
I am honestly curious how this even works. Do you cheer success? Do you celebrate? How does this work?
No. Not allowed to be happy. Did CyJack ever post once about winning the WS back in 2016? Or did he complain that we should have won it in 4 games?
I think he said it was about 107 years too late. But strangely, I agreed with him.
Go back and look through any older Cubs thread, I was consistently one of the most optimistic posters about the Cubs chances in 2016 and in the years prior. I was all in on the Cubs future in 2014 when the optimism was warranted. I've only been "negative" when it's warranted too. Who was the first one to tell people there was something wrong with Jason Heyward? And I was right on that too, early in 2016.
The same people on here that are so over the top about the Cubs moving to 11 games over .500 in Aug will be the ones freaking out the most about Cubs losses later on this year.
