Bleacher Bums Forum

Think how boring this offseason has been to fans of most other teams. As frustrating as it has been to wait for the Darvish/Cobb/Arrietta situation play out, at least the Cubs have otherwise been active. They've added Chatwood and three relievers (plus Smyly)--that probably puts them among the top five or so most active teams this offseason.

For all we know, there might have already been and ultimatum.

We still need a starter and a reliever.

The schedule often has an impact on the mix between starters and relievers at the start of a season.

The Cubs begin with four games at Miami on March 29 - April 1, followed by two games in Cincinnati on April 2 - 3.  April 4 is the first off day followed by four games in Milwaukee on April 5-8.  April 9 is the home opener against Pittsburgh .  That means they six games, an off day, and five more games before the next off day.  Needing only four starters for a week or two doesn't happen this year.



https://www.mlb.com/cubs/schedule/2018-04

So our pen was a weakness last year and we replaced two relievers with guys who arent as good as they were?

If they are done either we'll trade Ian Happ for one at the deadline or not have a very good year one.

The Cubs bullpen wasn't a huge weakness--they were middle of the pack. Obviously as a World Series contending team, you want to be better than average. But I don't think they need as much help as you think. (By the way, Fangraphs has the 2018 Cubs projected as the 6th best bullpen in baseball right now by fWAR.)

Davis may have been more valuable overall than Morrow last year because Morrow started the season in the minors. But Morrow was the better pitcher once he joined the Dodgers. I'd take Morrow over Davis going forward no question, even with the injury risk.

Cishek is significantly better than the version of Rondon the Cubs have had since he hurt himself midseason 2016. It's probably unlikely that the 2014-2015 version of Rondon is coming back.

Don't forget about the addition of Wilson--that could be huge. If he returns to his Tigers form (and there's good reason to think he will, IMO), that's a huge difference between last year's pen and this year's pen.

I think the pitching coach change could be a bigger factor than we realize too. I think we may have overlooked some of Bosio's shortcomings over the years because of how much success he had with Arrieta. I get the impression that he's probably about as good as it gets when dealing with old school, bulldog types like Arrieta, Lester, and Lackey. And Hendricks has such a good idea of how to pitch that I don't think his pitching coach matters as much. But I wonder if other pitchers may be better off with a different type of coach. Specifically, the lack-of-command guys (Edwards, Wilson, Strop) could benefit from a different voice with (what I perceive will be) a more modern/analytical approach.

Looks like 11-0 to start the season.

Me thinks someone is doomed to disappointment.

Jerry Crasnick @jcrasnick
I asked an MLB executive what he expects on the free agent and trade markets from here. "My latest guess is a consistent trickle for the next few weeks, and then a mad rush the week before spring training,'' he said. That pretty much summarizes the offseason. #consistenttrickle

So another 2-3 weeks of next to nothing, then we finally get the activity we usually see at the Winter Meetings.