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*** Official 2025 Chicago Cubs Thread***

So after we add a starter and get Shota back you have to believe Boyd Taillon and Horton remain but they are going to want to keep Horton’s innings down.

Rea is a solid emergency starter. He Assad, Flexen and Pomeranz makes a nice stable of long guys. I hope they send Brown down to refine his two pitches. Maybe learn the kick change in the off season
 
Cyforce said:
So after we add a starter and get Shota back you have to believe Boyd Taillon and Horton remain but they are going to want to keep Horton’s innings down.

Rea is a solid emergency starter. He Assad, Flexen and Pomeranz makes a nice stable of long guys. I hope they send Brown down to refine his two pitches. Maybe learn the kick change in the off season
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Got some tough roster decisions coming soon when Shota and Hodge come off the DL. Brown, Horton, and Palencia are the only ones on the pitching staff that has minor league options. Palencia is the current closer, I don't see him going down again unless he goes through several rough outing. Brown is the most logical to be sent down then it gets tricky. Cabrera was the last one added to the roster and is the 3rd lefty in the pen and hasn't looked bad so far in a short sample size but he'd be the most logical DFA/trade to open a spot. If they acquire any pitching via trade too it's going to be interesting to see what happens. Currently:

In rotation: Boyd, Brown (likely goes to Iowa when Shota is back) Horton, Rea, Taillon. Horton is the only 1 in the bunch with minor league options
Bullpen: Braiser, Cabrera, Flexen, Keller, Palencia, Pomeranz, Pressly, Thielbar. Again Palencia the only one with options and I don't see him going back down. IMO Pressly is the worst of the bunch after Cabrera but he hasn't given up a run in his last 7 outings so has he redeemed himself? It's going to be really interesting how the navigate the pitching when Pomeranz has yet to give up a run in 16.1 innings and same with Flexen in 17.1 then you have Keller with a 1.99 ERA in 31.2 innings. All 3 guys were not even thought to be much more than a spring training flyer and have turned into reliable bullpen guys. Braiser same thing too, he was a late waiver pickup when LA dumped him and he's be I didn't expect much from Thielbar who is 38 and had a 5.32 ERA but he too has outperformed expectations too. I guess it's a good problem to have but also bad because if you want to acquire a proven lockdown late inning guy at the deadline someone is going to be the odd man out and will surely get picked up by another team if they aren't traded as part of a roster move.
 
1UNI2ISU said:
Hodge also has options. You can send him down for a bit as well. May not want to mess with what you've got right now.
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That is a possibility too although he seemed like one of the main bullpen guys before the injury will be interesting to see if they want to get him back in the mix right away or activate and option to Iowa to get more work in first. Even if they acquire a starter at some point it will force their hand to do something with the limited number of guys with options, Like I said I assume Brown with his struggles and need to develop another pitch is the likely move to send down when Shota is back but another roster move would have to be made if they acquire a starter at some point. I guess Rea and Horton will have a few more starts by then to determining who stays in the rotation but if Horton stays in Chicago, barring an injury to someone there are no other obvious candidates to send down other than a DFA or minor trade of one of the bullpen arms that do not have options.
 
CYdTracked said:
That is a possibility too although he seemed like one of the main bullpen guys before the injury will be interesting to see if they want to get him back in the mix right away or activate and option to Iowa to get more work in first. Even if they acquire a starter at some point it will force their hand to do something with the limited number of guys with options, Like I said I assume Brown with his struggles and need to develop another pitch is the likely move to send down when Shota is back but another roster move would have to be made if they acquire a starter at some point. I guess Rea and Horton will have a few more starts by then to determining who stays in the rotation but if Horton stays in Chicago, barring an injury to someone there are no other obvious candidates to send down other than a DFA or minor trade of one of the bullpen arms that do not have options.
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When acquiring another starter moving Rea back to the pen would make both the starting rotation and the bullpen better.
 
VeloClone said:
When acquiring another starter moving Rea back to the pen would make both the starting rotation and the bullpen better.
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I agree with that but would have to move or cut a bullpen piece to open the roster spot if someone on the current active roster is not part of the trade. Let's assume everyone is healthy, who do you take out of the bullpen? And that is also assuming they don't go out and trade for a closer too which would require another spot. Right now Cabrera is the expendable one since he's the 3rd lefty in the pen and that almost seems like a shame because he's done well enough so far he won't clear waivers I'm sure. I still don't trust Pressly but my guess is they are paying him $8.5 mil so they don't want to just cut him unless he totally implodes again.
 
Before shipping Brown back to Iowa, I would put him in long relief. Entering the summer grind and I'd prefer to keep multi-inning vs. one-inning relievers to load-manage the back-end guys.

Flexen has been a pleasant surprise and I like his multi-inning ability as well.

I DFA Cabrera when Imanaga comes back. When Hodge is ready DFA either Brasier or Flexen.

Presley still makes me nervous as 8th/9th inning guy. Guys see his pitches too well- still a lot of hard hit.
 
isucy86 said:
Before shipping Brown back to Iowa, I would put him in long relief. Entering the summer grind and I'd prefer to keep multi-inning vs. one-inning relievers to load-manage the back-end guys.

Flexen has been a pleasant surprise and I like his multi-inning ability as well.

I DFA Cabrera when Imanaga comes back. When Hodge is ready DFA either Brasier or Flexen.

Presley still makes me nervous as 8th/9th inning guy. Guys see his pitches too well- still a lot of hard hit.
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Pressly has actually been quite good even considering peripherals since May 9.

www.bleachernation.com

Ryan Pressly Has Been on a Bit of a Heater … What’s Changed? His Heater!

Ryan Pressly has been on a bit of a heater ... what's changed?
www.bleachernation.com www.bleachernation.com
 
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Cyforce said:
Flexen hasn’t allowed a run
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So you're saying he has tremendous trade value;):eggplant:

Flexen has been a real nice surprise, but we all know that contract/salary considerations come into play. Plus if it comes down to having Hodge or Flexen in Chicago, IMO the FO chooses Hodge.

Personally, I would DFA Brasier before Flexen. But maybe the Cubs would stick Hodge in Chicago (Iowa) for a month, give Brasier ($4.5M salary) & Flexen ($1.0M) some time to prove their worth to other teams and then the Cubs use one of them as trade pieces in a month.
 
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So i guess Pressly is the official closer again? It was funny seeing "Cubs closer Palencia" banner running across the screen at the same time Pressly is getting the save.
 
NoCreativity said:
So i guess Pressly is the official closer again? It was funny seeing "Cubs closer Palencia" banner running across the screen at the same time Pressly is getting the save.
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Nope. Sounds like Counsell is flexible based on matchups/place in batting order based on Counsell's post game presser.

Palencia faced Pirate hitters 2/3/4 and Pressly 5/6/7
 
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My ranking of SPs I want at the deadline in order based on names I’ve heard:

Sale, Alcantara, Gallen, Heaney, Weathers (think he will be a **** ton). I would prefer 2 starters.

I have heard from people I know are in the know that Hodge is a popular name amongst potential trade partners, and that the Cubs are more willing to move him than many would expect. Essentially they believe they’ve maxed his value and his years of control make him an incredibly sexy reliever for opposing teams while reducing the hit the Cubs are taking on prospects
 
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