I guess we’re still doing this?

After last year’s bloodbath/cliffdive/whatever you want to call it, it can be hard to summon up much real enthusiasm for this year’s team.  It’s maybe a mediocre team on paper with a slight chance of being better but a real chance of being much worse.  It’s pretty impressive to have a roster that makes it both obvious how cheap the owners are - $136mil opening day payroll - while also being totally overpaid (I’m looking mostly at you, Jason).  If you want to be kind to the FO, this is a ...

This all sucks

As much as the way the last few years ended, and even though today was completely predictable - and sadly, inevitable - today is still a really painful day.  Maybe we were spared a little pain by getting the shock of the Rizzo dump yesterday, so perhaps we should thank Jed for that.  The Cubs may have done the “smart” and sensible thing, but today sucks as a fan*.  Maybe some of the pieces the Cubs got will end up surprising us and being great, but it’s hard to swallow yet another complete ...

Cubs Postseason Thoughts

No real surprises with the WC round roster - 3rd catcher so Caratini/Contreras can DH.  A little surprised Underwood didn’t make the pen since he’s been better lately, but Ross only used him in mop up type situations for the most part.

Any thoughts go here.

60 Second Season Preview

I had a dream last night that the Cubs won the World Series the year, and no one cared.  After they had won, I was trying to decide whether or not I should post something here about them winning even though I didn’t pay that much attention the season or playoffs.

Anyhow, the season starts tomorrow and there’s really no way to know what could happen on the field - or off the field and how that’ll affect the actual games.  I know that’s always true, but it feels more true this year.  60 games is ...

Being cheap is not a plan

I think, after the way this offseason has gone and reading this and this that I think I’m ready to state that I believe the Cubs main - and maybe only - goal this offseason is to get under the luxury tax.  They will, and are already trying to, spin it as a reset or restocking so they don’t fall off a cliff after 2021 and all the FAs.  They are using this past season’s failure as an excuse to not seriously invest any more into this version of the team, and an excuse for why they’ll end up ...

Regrets

Even though I was one of the people saying the Cubs should move on from Maddon, now that it’s official I find myself second-guessing how strongly I thought it was the right move.  Obviously, my opinion doesn’t matter at all and this would be the reality regardless of how I felt, but now I feel much less sure that it was the right move.  Maybe I’m just being nostalgic for how great those 5 years were.  I always bristled at the general (or non-Cubs) fan who said keeping Maddon was a no-brainer ...

That was fun

The first road trip of the season feels so long ago now, doesn’t it?  Coming into the season I was on the more optimistic side of people around here; I still overreacted a little to that piss poor start.  As plenty of people have said, teams are never as bad as they look at their worst or as good as they do at their best.  However, I see no reason to think the Cubs aren’t much more likely really this good - well, not .800 win percentage good, but 95 wins good.  The Cubs have the best run ...

2019 Season Predictions

I suck at these, but they’re always fun to revisit after the season to get an idea of my state of mind from Spring Training.

1. Bryant will finish top 3 in the MVP voting.  I’ve been saying for years he was going to put together a truly monster season, and he looked on his way last year before his shoulder injury.  I’m talking something .300+/.420/.600.
2. Rizzo’s 5 year OPS+ stops, and he rebounds to a 140ish OPS+ this year (IOW, staying healthy)
3. Baez will keep most of his gains from last ...

Now what?

I’m hungover and at work.  This is probably going to be an incoherent mess.  I probably will end up disagreeing with some or all of this, probably sooner than later.  However, might as well start thinking about how the Cubs are going to approach this offseason. 

The easy route is making some small changes around the edges - maybe splurge on a reliever or two, bring a couple more long shot rebound types - and talk about being healthier and improving from within.  There’s probably some merit to ...

The Final Push

24 games to go.  Cubs still have 8 games left on this 23 straight day stretch, but only 2 more real road trips - DC this weekend and and Phoenix in a couple of weeks; the only other road games are today in Milwaukee and 3 at The Cell.  A 3 game lead is far from comfortable, especially after the way the last 2 games played out, but a win today and leaving with a 4 game lead with 23 left is still quite the enviable position. 

The Cubs went 18-10 in September, and are 10-4 in their last 14, but ...

Status of the Roster mid-December

Figured it was a good time for a new thread, but it’s also time to take a step back and look at how things stand for the Cubs right now.  The Cubs still have some moves to make, though they could field a 25 man roster today if they absolutely had to. 

Catchers
Contreras, TBD. 

I haven’t seen many rumors linking the Cubs to any backup catcher FAs as of yet.  Obviously, Caratini is an option, but as we’ve gone over before it would appear the Cubs are enamoured/comfortable with his defense ...

Cleaning up on loose ends

Assorted thoughts/comments as Spring Training winds down.

- Cubs have said their rotation will start the year as Lester, Arrieta, Lackey, Anderson, Hendricks.  I saw a few places try to say Hendricks is the “5th starter”, but it sounds like the order was set mostly on matchups for the first time through, and not having Lester/Anderson pitch in consecutive games

“Everybody’s always concerned about pecking order regarding who you perceive to be best or least best,” Maddon said. “It’s just more ...

Belated Spring Training Thoughts

I don’t know if anyone is interested, or will even read this one.  I took my annual trek to the greater Phoenix area early last week, this year accompanied by my newly baseball obsessed 5 year old son.  We saw three games, and I jotted down a few thoughts for each game.

Cubs 9, Rangers 9

There is so much general baseball knowledge that I just take for granted, and can’t remember ever learning.  Especially about Spring Training.  The 2 big ones that I found myself having the hardest time ...

Spring Training Open Thread

We’ve gotten some sporadic threads going over the first week of ST, but nothing has really taken off.  I’m putting this up now, and will be adding any news/updates to the comments as they pop up.  It’s going to be a relatively quiet spring, I’d expect, and I’m heading to Phoenix for a few games in a couple of week (so if anyone is going to be there, let me know).

Here’s how I see the roster today, feel free to comment, laugh, etc:

LOCKS:
Hitters (10) - Rizzo, Bryant, Zobrist, Russell, ...

Last Minute Depth Shopping

I added a comment to the last post about the Brett Anderson signing, but there wasn’t a thread for it (nor did it really deserve it’s own thread).  That’s obviously a depth signing, and at only $3.5 mil guaranteed, it’s relatively low risk.  It’s incredibly unlikely he’s healthy enough to be a much of a factor at all, but if he is, the incentives can take his deal up to $10mil.  I’m perfectly fine with this, but if he’s really the 6th starter, there still is more work to do.

So yesterday, the ...

Cubs roster update - post Winter Meetings

Not surprisingly, the Cubs have been relatively quiet so far this offseason.  After a couple moves, I thought it’d be worth putting the current projected 25 man roster on paper to see where things stand.

C: Contreras, Montero
1b: Rizzo
2b: Zobrist, Baez
SS: Russell
3b: Bryant
OF: Heyward, Schwarber, Almora, Jay

SP: Lester, Arrieta, Hendricks, Lackey, Montgomery
CL: Davis
RP: Rondon, Strop, Edwards, Grimm, Uehara

I see those 22 as locks.  Maybe Duensing is a lock, but I don’t think $2mil is a ...

Starting to think about 2017

I’m not entirely ready to start thinking about next year yet.  I’m still enjoying this year (side note: Friday at 7pm on FS1 is the 2016 Cubs movie that MLB produced).  There hasn’t been a ton of offseason movement or rumors yet, and the Cubs haven’t really done anything of note, unless of course you’re a 40 man roster fanatic.  Seeing that Fangraphs has put out their 2017 projections made me at least put up this post.  If anything major comes up during the winter meetings, I might start a new ...

2016 Season Recap

Game 7 Feelings

World Series Champions.  Never a doubt.

For Joel. 

For my grandpa.  For everyone that never saw this.  Cubs were the best team, February through November.  Champions.

Game 6 Feelings

I really don’t have any words tonight, though there’s plenty to talk about.  Maybe I’ll be able to write some coherent sentences then.

Game 5 Feelings

Whew.

Seriously.  Whew.  Holy ####, not sure I’ll be able to fall asleep anytime soon.  So, to try and organize some half thought-through thoughts.

Good:
1. Chapman.  This was a tough situation for him; he’s been bad all year with inherited runners and even worse in the playoffs.  Longest outing in his pro career, almost most pitches thrown.  He made it tougher on himself not covering first (though, not sure they get the out), but still came through. 
2. Lester.  I’ll get to the decision to ...

Game 4 Feelings

Well, hard to like much after that. Kluber was awesome, yet again. The Indians have made almost no mistakes, and have taken advantage of most of the Cubs. The lack of offense is surprising, but the defense falling apart bugs me the most. We can not pick moves here and there, but the Cubs just haven’t been good enough.

Luckily, there’s 3 more games. Once again, on paper, the Cubs have the pitching advantage. They could very easily win each of the next 3 games, or it could end tomorrow. I don’t ...

Game 3 Feelings

Well, not a lot that can be sugar coated after that one.  It really is amazing that was a 1-0 game, regardless of the winner, considering the weather.  The fact that neither team came anywhere near close to hitting a home run is absolutely unbelievable.  Anyhow..

Things I liked, enjoyed, or that gave me hope
1. Only giving up 1 run in this weather is a good thing, I guess.
2. I really don’t have any complaints with how any of the Cubs pitchers pitched.  It would have been nice for Hendricks to ...

Game 2 Feelings

Late night thoughts, as I wait for the NyQuil to kick in.

Things I liked, enjoyed, or that gave me hope
1. Schwarber, Schwarber, Schwarber.  Is this real?  Were I a neutral fan, I might start thinking this storyline is getting pounded into the ground.  But it’s just so damn incredible.  The entire postgame show was about whether or not he should play LF Friday, and how the Cubs are a different team with him.  Yes, they are, but they were still really, really ####### good without him.  ...

Game 1 Feelings

There’s plenty of analysis and overanalysis out there for everyone to find.  Rather than writing a long post in one of the threads, I figured I’d just throw all my thoughts up here and see what sticks.

Things I liked, enjoyed, or that gave me hope
1. Schwarber, Schwarber, Schwarber.  I kind of forgot how good of an eye he had, so there was something to like from each of his at-bats.  He only swung at 2 pitches out of the zone (I think), and even more impressively he hung in against Miller ...

Bring on the outsourced 5 minute Indians preview

I haven’t had time to write one of these up yet, but Walt posted this in a comment on the last thread.  I’ll just post what he wrote, and give any of my thoughts in the comments.

I’ve paid very little attention to this team all year but here goes:

Offense is better than the overall numbers look—the overall numbers are dragged down by a mostly terrible bench but the starters are pretty good and they cleaned up one weakness getting Guyer to mash LHP. There’s no stud batter but everybody is a ...

NL pennant thread

Hell yeah. Whooo.

The Long Wait

No, not THAT one.  I’m talking about the long wait until 7:08pm tomorrow.  These waits with the offday in between are just so, so long.  I already spend so much overthinking things, now I have another 24 or so hours to question and re-question everything I think I’ve convinced myself to think to feel. 

Anyhow, the Cubs are in position to clinch the pennant at home.  It’s a big moment, and as much as I try, it’s impossible to ignore history.  Luckily, history doesn’t really matter; or it ...

Bring on the five minute Dodgers preview

I don’t have a lot of time today to write any sort of detailed preview.  Besides, there’ll be plenty of those everywhere else.  It’s been quite an exciting playoffs so far, but I wouldn’t complain if the Cubs were able to take care of business a little more quietly this series.  So borrowing a format I used earlier…

Reasons for Optimism (all the same, but with thoughts slightly tweaked as applicable):

1. Pitching and defense.  Just like last time, the Cubs have an advantage here.  The Kershaw ...

NLDS Winner Thread

Just wanted to get something up. Probably will write more tomorrow.

All I’ll say is have some faith in this team. Don’t get discouraged or give up so easy. They’re good, and it’s never over.

Hell, they’re really ####### good.