Author Topic: Cubs in '18  (Read 171483 times)

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Re: Cubs in '18
« Reply #3810 on: August 29, 2018, 01:27:48 pm »
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/cubs-payroll-set-to-soar-with-potential-tv-deal/

That is very interesting, but I wish he had included information on the salary cap/Luxury tax, and how it affects the Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox, and how it could affect the Cubs.

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Re: Cubs in '18
« Reply #3811 on: August 29, 2018, 02:14:01 pm »
Quote
Info on how Daniel Murphy came to the Cubs

Good read, but what I'd really like to know is how the Cardinals and Brewers didn't manage to keep the Cubs from getting him.  Couldn't they have blocked it by claiming him and then failing to make a deal?  Maybe it's more complicated than that?

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Re: Cubs in '18
« Reply #3812 on: August 29, 2018, 02:16:58 pm »
I doubt the Cards or Brewers wanted to risk the $5 million hit if the Nats just let him go.  That's probably the biggest reason for them.
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Re: Cubs in '18
« Reply #3813 on: August 29, 2018, 04:22:38 pm »
Good read, but what I'd really like to know is how the Cardinals and Brewers didn't manage to keep the Cubs from getting him.  Couldn't they have blocked it by claiming him and then failing to make a deal?  Maybe it's more complicated than that?

As JR says, if they claim him and Washington won't make a deal, they just can stick them with his contract.  However, I think it would have been a worthwhile price for either team to pay.

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Re: Cubs in '18
« Reply #3814 on: August 29, 2018, 10:07:20 pm »
As JR says, if they claim him and Washington won't make a deal, they just can stick them with his contract.  However, I think it would have been a worthwhile price for either team to pay.

Things become much less worthwhile when you simply lack the money for them.  It may well be that neither team had any extra budget room.

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Re: Cubs in '18
« Reply #3815 on: August 30, 2018, 06:16:05 am »
Every "X" in the calendar without the Cards or Brewers getting closer is a win.  It'd have been nice to sweep the Mets, but you lost a game with Mills pitching - not the end of the world.

How did Bote look at SS?

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Re: Cubs in '18
« Reply #3816 on: August 30, 2018, 07:05:04 am »
Magic number dropped again. It is now at 26 with the Cardinals loss.

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Re: Cubs in '18
« Reply #3817 on: August 30, 2018, 07:22:09 am »
Every "X" in the calendar without the Cards or Brewers getting closer is a win.  It'd have been nice to sweep the Mets, but you lost a game with Mills pitching - not the end of the world.

How did Bote look at SS?
I didn't see much, but I thought he looked pretty bad.  Like his range would be about 60% of Russell. 
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Re: Cubs in '18
« Reply #3818 on: August 30, 2018, 09:16:42 am »
Probably a more important question is whether he could handle 2B long-term.
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Re: Cubs in '18
« Reply #3819 on: August 30, 2018, 09:33:26 am »
I hope the Cubs are very cautious about relying too heavily on Bote in the future. He is a nice piece having a nice run but his minor league career doesn't suggest he will be this good going forward and even now he has been pretty mediocre to bad the last few weeks despite hitting a dramatic homer to win another game. Since 7/19 his BA has dipped from .290 to .267. He has gone 5-31 since then striking out in a third of those at bats. I'm not saying that this is who we can expect him to be as he is clearly slumping right now, but other than last year he has been an average at best player most of his minor league career.

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Re: Cubs in '18
« Reply #3820 on: August 30, 2018, 10:00:40 am »
IowaCubsGameDay  @IowaCubsGameDay
Iowa goes for the sweep today at 12:08! Kris Bryant bats leadoff as the left fielder.

Will this be KB's last rehab game?  Or to put it another way, will the Cubs activate him on Friday which would mean somebody would have to leave the 25-man roster for one day?  I'm guessing Alec Mills won't be needed for a few days.

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Re: Cubs in '18
« Reply #3821 on: August 30, 2018, 10:21:57 am »
Did Alec Mills pitch his way off the 6 man rotation with his performance yesterday?

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Re: Cubs in '18
« Reply #3822 on: August 30, 2018, 10:50:45 am »
Mills did not pitch that badly yesterday.  I'd say he's earned another start if the Cubs choose to go with a 6-man rotation.
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Re: Cubs in '18
« Reply #3823 on: August 30, 2018, 10:53:02 am »
Could hear fans yelling after Bote failed to snag a dying quail in short left - screaming something like "Javy would have gotten that!"

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Re: Cubs in '18
« Reply #3824 on: August 30, 2018, 12:29:53 pm »
I hope the Cubs are very cautious about relying too heavily on Bote in the future. ...

He seems like a smart, all-in player who I think might be OK long-term.  But, perhaps as a utility player as he's been used, rather than as a primary every-day guy. 

From what I've seen, I wonder whether he might not be a guy who gets "scouted", and if it won't get a lot harder for him when the "book" is out. 

I can imagine he might have something of a Schwarber/Happ experience and profile: 
1.  started in great and with great power as rookie. 
2.  Patient at the plate. 
3.  High effort, high-will players. 
4.  But after a while might settle in like those guys as .230's hitters with walks, power, and lots of K's, but low-average?
5.  Like with Happ and Schwarber, I'm kinda nervous that the "book" will get out that they can't hit velocity above mid-thigh.