*** Official 2025 Chicago Cubs Thread***

Prefacing with I love Caissie and his potential

But the Cubs will have over $60M to spend next offseason. If they don't resign Tucker, I'm sure they can find a replacement if Caissie is traded.
A replacement to the level of Tucker seems unlikely. Even a trade as it took a good amount to get tucker for a year.
 
I mean depleting your system of pitching is probably the best way to set yourself up for a multi season downturn.
But it certainly would help that you'd have Gore, Imanaga, Steele, Horton, Assad, etc. under team control for at least the next 2 seasons.
 
I despise this sentiment. This organization is intentionally resetting the luxury tax whilst having clean books in 2027.

The goal should be to build a championship caliber team this year, but next year is when you have the money to get stupid. But you can throw that away if you get stupid this year.
Spending money doesn’t guarantee anything. The Giants and the Dodgers spent money off season but SF is out of playoff and LA is fighting injuries.We have a legitimate chance to win it all this year. We should do everything we can this year to win the WS
 
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I mean depleting your system of pitching is probably the best way to set yourself up for a multi season downturn.
Gore is a proven top level MLB pitcher. We would not have won the WS in 2016 if we didn’t trade for Chapman. Some on this board were saying Torres is an MVP caliber player but he has never came close to this prediction.
 
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Maybe they aren’t obsessed with him but they certainly want other orgs to believe they are.
They could still be parting with him too and seeing what will get best return knowing he will be dealt. I think the guys most linked to cubs (Keller, Cabrera, and gore) are still out there. We just gotta wait to see thought process and then draw the conclusions
 
I hope he doesn’t play drunk like Harry Carey
Well, Harry never fell out of the booth, and the mound is closer to the ground anyway, and he has behind him the best SS/2nd base combo in the majors:D
 
I mean depleting your system of pitching is probably the best way to set yourself up for a multi season downturn.
As I mentioned before, what starting pitching have we successfully developed other than Steele and Horton in the past 10 years? We have missed on so many guys, even ones we acquired as prospects when we sold off the core a few years ago have never really panned out. We've had some success with relievers at least I guess. I don't get why we would stockpile prospects then not use them to acquire proven guys that can help now vs hold a guy that MAYBE pans out but we don't know for sure. The window to win sometimes is small so you gotta make moves when you are in the mix to contend and this roster right now is at that spot. If we fail this trade deadline it will have been a wasted opportunity.
 
Will be unpopular opinion. I don’t think the cubs have the pitching to win the NL this year anyway even if they add a good starter. The asking prices are crazy right now. I’m lowering my expectations greatly for today.
I'll respectfully disagree. I think Boyd, Shota, and adding a top end starter are good enough to win a 7 game series with this offense. It's a shame we lost Steele or I think we'd be comparable to the Lester/Arrietta/Hendricks team.
 

I'd think this is being pushed from the Cubs side. Make it seem like they really don't want to part with Ballesteros and eventually "reluctantly" include him in a deal to make the other team feel like they're getting more of a win. Love the bat, but he's going to be DH who can maybe catch part time. You gladly trade him as a center piece of a trade for controllable pitching.
 
I'd think this is being pushed from the Cubs side. Make it seem like they really don't want to part with Ballesteros and eventually "reluctantly" include him in a deal to make the other team feel like they're getting more of a win. Love the bat, but he's going to be DH who can maybe catch part time. You gladly trade him as a center piece of a trade for controllable pitching.
If this is for Gore, then trade him, we still have Amaya and Kelly
 
I'd think this is being pushed from the Cubs side. Make it seem like they really don't want to part with Ballesteros and eventually "reluctantly" include him in a deal to make the other team feel like they're getting more of a win. Love the bat, but he's going to be DH who can maybe catch part time. You gladly trade him as a center piece of a trade for controllable pitching.
Key word is 'controllable'. I don't think Moises, or any of the rest of the top tier, are available for a rental.