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***Official 2023 Chicago Cubs Thread***

CycloneErik said:
I thought Mancini could be a basically steady hand and bat at first. I totally overestimated him.
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This one is on Ross. Guy has been a total liability at 1st all year. Ross trots him out there because Bellinger was "sick", but was still able to play the final 5 innings.

He cannot play 1st anymore. Just has to be a hardline ban on it going forward.
 
These lineup moves just don't make sense besides the righty/lefty matchup. Ross and the front office obsess over the righty/lefty matchup so much that they completely ignore defensive capability and competence. Ross would probably bench Freddy Freeman or Juan Soto for Mancini just to get the righty/lefty matchup.
 
ScottyP said:
These lineup moves just don't make sense besides the righty/lefty matchup. Ross and the front office obsess over the righty/lefty matchup so much that they completely ignore defensive capability and competence. Ross would probably bench Freddy Freeman or Juan Soto for Mancini just to get the righty/lefty matchup.
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I mean, that error in the 3rd was an inept as you could look playing 1st. There's just no way a MLB first baseman wouldn't know that was hit directly to second base. There's having a rough fielding day and there's looking like you are absolutely lost. He's the latter.
 
CYdTracked said:
Crazy thing is that Madrigal is having a somewhat productive June since being called up and currently getting some run as the primary 3B. .289/.413/.781 slash line with 6 runs 5 RBI 4 BB 5 K's and 4 stolen bases in 38 AB. Seems to be taking a more patient approach at the plate these days and making good contact. Long term he's still kind of a guy without a position as he is not going to be an everyday 3B and 2B is locking up with Nico so maybe he builds some value back and they can move him in the offseason?
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Crazy what happens when you play everyday.
 
This is all from using Baseball Reference

2026 - Taillon ($18 Million)



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2025 - Taillon ($18 Million)



​

2024 - Taillon ($18 Million)

2023 - Heyward ($22 Million) + Taillon ($14 Million) = $38 Million worth -1.0 WAR

2022 - Heyward ($22 Million) worth -0.7 WAR

2021 - Heyward ($21 Million) worth 0.4 WAR

2020 - Heyward ($21 Million) Chatwood ($13 Million) = $34 Million worth 1.4 WAR

2019 - Heyward ($20 Million) Chatwood ($13 Million) = $33 Million worth 3.7 WAR

2018 - Heyward ($28 Million) Chatwood ($13 Million) = $41 Million worth 1.7 WAR

2017 - Heyward ($28 Million) Montero ($16 Million) = $44 Million worth 2.4 WAR

2016 - Heyward ($22 Million) Montero ($14 Million) Jackson ($13 Million) = $49 Million worth 0.7 WAR

Since 2016, we have spent $280 Million for 8.6 WAR.

It’s a reach but I believe the math would say you could hit the third tier of the luxury tax with $280 million and extrapolating all that out, could expect roughly 9 wins in a 162 game season. Signs of a FO that really struggles knowing when to spend big on contracts.
 
ISUCubswin said:
Since 2016, we have spent $280 Million for 8.6 WAR.

It’s a reach but I believe the math would say you could hit the third tier of the luxury tax with $280 million and extrapolating all that out, could expect roughly 9 wins in a 162 game season. Signs of a FO that really struggles knowing when to spend big on contracts.
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Every front office probably has some misses like this over the same time if you dig around I bet save for the handful or so of teams like the A's and KC who just don't spend big in free agency. Look at the Met's payroll right now, easily the highest in baseball by a long margin for spending big $ on some veteran players that are not performing well right now. What do they have to show for it, a 36-43 record and 16 games back in their division. They still are paying Bobby Bonilla and Bret Saberhagen every year in deferred money and Adam Ottavino will be joining them at half a mill a year starting in 2025. The Padres will still be paying Hosmer over $12 mil a year through 2025. The Dodgers have about the same in dead money as the Cubs do this year thanks to Trevor Bauer. The Heyward contract was a bad move but they got a World Series out of it so it is what it is.

If you want the Cubs to spend like the big market teams do then they likely will have some bad contracts to eat along the way like other big market teams have had too. Not every big contract is going to produce the results you hoped for. You just hope they hit on more than they don't. Would say that they hit on the Stroman and Swanson contracts so far, the Suzuki and Happ deals are TBD on future production. The Hoerner deal will likely be a bargain if he keeps producing like he is.
 
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Four game losing streak now. I mentioned this the other week that the stretch leading up to the All Star break might tip the scales on which way they go at the trade deadline as they play against better teams the last 4 series. Already swept by Philly, now have 3 against Cleveland who are 7-3 in their last 10, then the Brewers who now are tied for 1st in the NL Central then finish out with the Yankees who are 9 games above .500. If the Cubs do any buying it's not going to be for any big name pieces it's going to be on the cheap that won't cost them any significant prospects.

Just life as a Cubs fan where Lucy pulls the football out from Charlie Brown over and over again just when you think the Cubs are going to string something together. Heard Tommy Birch mention he wonders if the Jordan Wicks promotion to Iowa may have something to do with seeing how close he is to making it to the big leagues so they can get some kind of evaluation on where they stand for internal options for the rotation if they were to sell and look at trading Stroman. I think with Stroman as a strong Cy Young candidate right now it's unrealistic to think he's going to sign an extension unless the Cubs just offer something too good to pass up now. He'll max out his value in free agency and I'd be surprised if the Cubs were the highest bidder given how they have gone about in free agency over the years. The reasoning that "the NL Central is not good this year so they have a shot at making the playoffs" is a little flawed because by record they currently are 21 of 30 in all of MLB. "They are the only team in the NL Central with a positive run differential" well why are they 5 games back from 1st and 4th in the division? If they were truly the best team in the division they should be over 5 games ahead of everyone right now. Cubs would be 10+ games back in every division other than the AL Central which may be even worse than the NL Central at the moment. Probably would have a different mentality of what this team's ceiling is if the bar wasn't set as low as it is in the division right now.
 
I’m torn on completely selling or not. I like the idea of stockpiling young, cheap talent while unloading payroll but a quick search of the top prospects shows several of them currently injured (7 in the top 18) along with Burdi, Hughes, and Heuer (who will probably never play again).
 
Clonefan32 said:
Tom and Jed have to be downright giddy the team's recent skid is allowing them to become sellers.
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This is the last year I can tolerate not being more aggressive to improve this roster. I'm OK with a sell off if their goal is to maximize return on these guys in order to put them in a spot to be aggressive buyers in the offseason. If they sit on their hands again and keep playing cheap then time for some changes in the front office. I've never been sold on this current roster being good enough to make the playoffs even before the season started. They string together a hot stretch once in awhile then look terrible for another so it's hard for me to get onboard with being a buyer when they can't string together a consistent stretch of winning games and making up ground in the standings in possibly the worst division on baseball this year.

If they do sell off there better be a gameplan to address the biggest holes in this roster in the offseason with some talent that can help immediately. I'll be at peace with a sell off this year if the result is clearing up payroll to sign or trade for some impact players that will make them competitive in 2024 while also stockpiling some more prospects that gives them more depth in the system to make trades or develop talent from within to fill in the rest of the gaps. I think I probably would be more irked if they traded away some of the farm depth for some help at the deadline and still miss the playoffs then watch the guys you could have traded sign elsewhere with nothing to show for it.
 
CyState85 said:
I’m torn on completely selling or not. I like the idea of stockpiling young, cheap talent while unloading payroll but a quick search of the top prospects shows several of them currently injured (7 in the top 18) along with Burdi, Hughes, and Heuer (who will probably never play again).
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Cubs Top Prospects | MLB.com

There are at least 4 guys in that top 10 I could see with a legit shot of making the big league roster in 2024 or at very least find their way to the majors at some point next season: PCA, Brown, Wicks, and Canario. Brown and Wicks both could get a chance later this year probably, Canario was on track to possibly have been called up to Chicago by now until he got hurt last year. Mervis is in that top 10 still and already been called up once. With all the injury issues Davis has had plus his struggles this year when he was healthy I don't have much confidence he is going to be much of an impact that many thought he might be some day. Horton is doing well so far but he is only in A so he's at least 2 years out probably. Going down that list I think Palencia might get a chance later this year possibly. Like anything with the minors it's fluid based on development. Mervis wasn't really even on the radar a year ago until he moved up through 3 levels in 1 season. Sometimes some of these guys move up a level and stall out for a bit while they adjust while others continue their progression.
 
CYdTracked said:
This is the last year I can tolerate not being more aggressive to improve this roster. I'm OK with a sell off if their goal is to maximize return on these guys in order to put them in a spot to be aggressive buyers in the offseason. If they sit on their hands again and keep playing cheap then time for some changes in the front office. I've never been sold on this current roster being good enough to make the playoffs even before the season started. They string together a hot stretch once in awhile then look terrible for another so it's hard for me to get onboard with being a buyer when they can't string together a consistent stretch of winning games and making up ground in the standings in possibly the worst division on baseball this year.

If they do sell off there better be a gameplan to address the biggest holes in this roster in the offseason with some talent that can help immediately. I'll be at peace with a sell off this year if the result is clearing up payroll to sign or trade for some impact players that will make them competitive in 2024 while also stockpiling some more prospects that gives them more depth in the system to make trades or develop talent from within to fill in the rest of the gaps. I think I probably would be more irked if they traded away some of the farm depth for some help at the deadline and still miss the playoffs then watch the guys you could have traded sign elsewhere with nothing to show for it.
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Their best trade chip is Stroman. Selling him, rather than extending him, creates another hole to fill in the offseason. I don't have a problem selling off Bellinger, or most other guys that are not going to be a part of the next good Cubs team, but at some point, you have to retain some of the better players.
 
To me it seemed too soon to abandon the "always bunt with RISP" strategy, but it seems to be paying off so far today.
 
Well FOX showing local news instead of the game after the long delay is certainly disappointing
 
RivClone23 said:
I was able to find it on the fox sports app.
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I saw that on Twitter but was not seeing anything on the app. Is there a certain spot I should be looking? Wasn’t under watch or when I clicked on the game there was no option for me
 
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