Author Topic: Cubs in '22  (Read 43846 times)

Reb

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Re: Cubs in '22
« Reply #60 on: August 23, 2021, 04:35:06 pm »
That piece is about Hoerner’s flexibility to start all over the field and not to figure on him at any one position. Not a problem.

This topic came up here previously after the Marigold 2B acquisition. Ideally, I see Hoerner as a Merrifield type (who also can play SS) and play all over. That’s not a matter of concern but a positive.

Obviously, it’s still an unknown how much he’ll hit with extra-base power.


Deeg

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Re: Cubs in '22
« Reply #61 on: August 23, 2021, 06:16:25 pm »
I'm guilty of the same thing that Brett Taylor is confessing to- assuming Hoerner is a lock to be a starter for us down the road. I'm less certain now.

https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs/2021/08/23/nico-hoerner-the-limits-of-planning-and-the-importance-of-flexibility/


Right now Hoerner's best position is IR.  That's at least as big a concern as his lack of power.

Ron

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Re: Cubs in '22
« Reply #62 on: September 02, 2021, 05:03:18 pm »
Mooney & Sharma have a column up in which they discuss the relative likelihood of any of Bryant, Rizzo and Baez returning to the Cubs in 2022.  Not surprisingly, they suggest that of the three only Baez has much chance of returning. Hard to argue with their reasoning.

https://theathletic.com/2803581/2021/09/02/will-any-of-the-cubs-ex-big-three-return-thumbs-up-or-thumbs-down-on-javy-baez-anthony-rizzo-kris-bryant/

CUBluejays

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Re: Cubs in '22
« Reply #63 on: September 03, 2021, 07:04:13 am »
The Cubs have issued a vaccine mandate for non-players. I hope someone makes Pete Ricketts very uncomfortable and asks him about why his family is violating their employees freedom.

Ron

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Re: Cubs in '22
« Reply #64 on: September 04, 2021, 11:25:18 am »
Sharma has a piece on Scott Effross, and how the Cubs' convincing him to switch to a sidearm delivery has transformed him.  It also includes comments about the Cubs wanting to have pitchers who present different pitching angles (like the Rays).

This season, Effross struck out 26.3 percent of the batters he faced in Double A and posted a 2.89 ERA over 18 2/3 innings before he was moved up to Iowa. He worked 42 innings over 23 games at Triple A, delivering a solid 3.64 ERA but great peripherals, including a 28.2 percent strikeout rate and a 6.1 percent walk rate.
Throwing side-arm hadn’t taken away any of his command, but it added an element that he lacked before: consistent swing-and-miss. Effross was becoming a late-blooming, legitimate bullpen contributor for the Cubs.
“I couldn’t be more grateful,” Effross said. “It completely changed my career. They had the faith in me to let me experiment, and they put a lot of time and effort to get me to be comfortable with the move. I’m super grateful for the opportunity.”
Effross finally got the call to the bigs on Aug. 28. He struggled in his first outing, retiring just two of the four batters he faced and allowing a two-run homer. After the game, manager David Ross suggested that it seemed like Effross was a little too amped for the opportunity and ended up over-throwing. That certainly wasn’t the case his next time out, when Effross cruised through two innings, looking like a seasoned veteran as he faced the minimum. With a four-pitch mix (sinker, slider, changeup and four-seamer), Effross struck out four and garnered six swings-and-misses on 26 pitches. He retired the other two batters on groundouts....

If Effross can impress over these final four weeks, the Cubs could enter the winter with four right-handed relievers who all have swing-and-miss stuff, are under 30 and are still pre-arbitration.

https://theathletic.com/2807535/2021/09/04/how-cubs-reliever-scott-effross-became-a-completely-different-pitcher-with-one-major-change/
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craig

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Re: Cubs in '22
« Reply #65 on: September 04, 2021, 12:20:07 pm »
Nice, Ron.  Thanks for the link and the story. 

Tangent thought:  Pitching is hard and crucial, and most of the free-agent discussion has focused on bringing in starting pitching.  That makes a lot of sense. 

But part of me feels like long-term and developmentally, I'm more concerned about finding hitting than pitching.  Cubs-wise and league-wide, hitting has been doing down, down, down for years.  Pitchers like Effross can become "‘a completely different pitcher’ with one major change.  it can happen, it does happen.  Pitchers can develop at weird times from weird sources.  But that is SO much harder for hitters.  Conjuring up good hitters is hard, and making some mechanics change that changes a guy into a completely different hitter, that just doesn't happen. 

So for me, in terms of rebuilding, I'm really more prioritized on the bats.  If we had a good lineup skeleton and the realistic prospect of a high-end offense, I think the chance to assemble competitive pitching will be there pretty quickly.  (Chance and reality differ, obviously.). But getting a legit collection of good hitters, that's the more problematic challenge, I think. 

davep

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Re: Cubs in '22
« Reply #66 on: September 05, 2021, 01:39:12 pm »
Another factor is that the length of a starter's game has been going down for years, and many starters are not expected to go much beyond the fifth inning.  That means that relievers are a much more important part of the pitching staffs than in previous years.  Guys that seem to run out of gas in the sixth inning can be valuable starters, rather than be relegated to meaningless middle relief.  I was impressed by both Steele and Alzolay for this reason in their recent game.

ben

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Re: Cubs in '22
« Reply #67 on: September 11, 2021, 05:43:58 pm »
I sure hope the Rex Brothers Experience isn't back with the Cubs next season!
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jacey1

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Re: Cubs in '22
« Reply #68 on: September 13, 2021, 12:23:25 pm »
REX should have been gone long ago
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brjones

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Re: Cubs in '22
« Reply #69 on: October 01, 2021, 03:27:57 pm »
Wittenmyer on the Cubs' potential interest in Marcus Stroman this offseason (and Stroman's willingness to come to a rebuilding team):

https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/marcus-stroman-cubs-always-huge-free-agent-destination-target

Deeg

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Re: Cubs in '22
« Reply #70 on: October 01, 2021, 06:34:13 pm »
Wittenmyer on the Cubs' potential interest in Marcus Stroman this offseason (and Stroman's willingness to come to a rebuilding team):

https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/marcus-stroman-cubs-always-huge-free-agent-destination-target

I would be pretty cautious on Stroman.  A good but not great SP, will be 31 next season, velocity down a bit this year.  If you sign him to a 9-figure 4-5 year deal he's likely to be a fading, overpriced player whose salary is an albatross by the time the club is seriously competitive again.  There's plenty of money now, but we all know when the moment to contend (hopefully) comes Ricketts will be crying poor and looking for every excuse not to spend.

CUBluejays

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Re: Cubs in '22
« Reply #71 on: October 01, 2021, 07:43:20 pm »
I will be really shocked if they Cubs sign a free agent to a deal let never than 2 years. Unless the Cubs are willing to spend well north of $200 million in salary next year the team has too many holes to be anything more than catch lightning in a bottle.

craig

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Re: Cubs in '22
« Reply #72 on: October 01, 2021, 10:14:42 pm »
I will be really shocked if they Cubs sign a free agent to a deal let never than 2 years. Unless the Cubs are willing to spend well north of $200 million in salary next year the team has too many holes to be anything more than catch lightning in a bottle.

Tyler Chatwood was three.  There's advantage in getting some extra control if you're signing a guy your scouts think is going to be better in future.  Not sure if the Cubs will find guys like that, or if they do whether the guy they think might be a breakout guy will be, or will be more Chatwood. 
« Last Edit: October 01, 2021, 10:39:40 pm by craig »

Dave23

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Re: Cubs in '22
« Reply #73 on: October 04, 2021, 11:15:34 am »
I wonder if the Tigers will shop Michael Fulmer again this offseason, and if he wants to be a starter going forward...

JR

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Re: Cubs in '22
« Reply #74 on: October 04, 2021, 11:27:15 am »
Selfishly for fantasy baseball purposes, I'd like the Tigers keep him as their closer, but he would make for an interesting starting pitching target.