YourWhatHurts Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 This isn't meant to be a "bash the Cubs" thread. I'm not that kind of fan where I feel like I have to hate the Cubs just because I love the Sox. But still, I think the Cubs are going to be terrible next year. Their pitching is really going to be bad unless they spend a whole lot of money or pull a couple rabbits out their asses i.e. claim a Johan Santana in the Rule-5 or claim a couple Bobby Jenks off of waivers, sign an Esteban Loaiza as a FA, that kind of thing. They really don't have any avenues to get better without spending money, and it doesn't look they will spend money. Per MLB TR: " Yu Darvish and Kyle Hendricks are obviously entrenched atop the starting five, and president of baseball operations Theo Epstein sounds comfortable on Alec Mills and Adbert Alzolay taking up the next pair of rotation spots. There have been questions about Alzolay’s ability to stick in the rotation, but the Cubs were apparently impressed enough with the improvement of his slider to regard him as a starter. Youngsters Tyson Miller, Brailyn Marquez, and Justin Steele will get a shot at the fifth starter’s role, but Chicago is also looking outside the organization at the middle-to-bottom tier of free agent pitchers" If they really think Alec Mills is anything more than a #6/7 depth option starting pitcher, and Alzolay is more than a MR, they are in trouble. Slotting those guys 3 and 4 is the kind of moves teams make when they are in Year 1 of a rebuild, not when they are trying to contend. If this is really going to happen, I think the Cubs are going to be baaaaaaaaad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWSpalehoseCWS Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 They definitely are going to have their struggles. I'm more curious who they are going to move. Bryant, Schwarber, Contreras are all realistic trade candidates IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iWiN4PreP Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Seems like it'd be smart for them to trade pieces or even think about a total rebuild Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksnort Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Kind of sucks, honestly. I would rather have both teams be best in their divisions and have those crosstown series be so entertaining, like they were in 06, 08, 12. Never really hated the cubs either. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiddleCoastBias Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Hey don't sell them short, they have an MVP candidate in Ryan Tepera. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron883 Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 (edited) 43 minutes ago, ScooterMcGee said: Kind of sucks, honestly. I would rather have both teams be best in their divisions and have those crosstown series be so entertaining, like they were in 06, 08, 12. Never really hated the cubs either. Sadly some here hate the Cubs as much as they love the Sox. I agree with you here. A crosstown world series would be a dream. I made a poll asking if people would want a crosstown series, but more people than not are too scared of losing to the Cubs and wouldn't want the series to happen at all. Edited November 15, 2020 by Yearnin' for Yermin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Deep Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Why do we care. F them. We have our own crazy issues 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YourWhatHurts Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 44 minutes ago, Yearnin' for Yermin said: Sadly some here hate the Cubs as much as they love the Sox. I agree with you here. A crosstown world series would be a dream. I made a poll asking if people would want a crosstown series, but more people than not are too scared of losing to the Cubs and wouldn't want the series to happen at all. It never really lines up. The Cubs can't get enough pieces in a firesale anymore to make a shorter rebuild possible. Their players are too expensive and too close to FA. And now that the MLB pitching is gone and there's nothing in the pipeline it's really bad. Cubs fans are hoping Brailyn Marquez turns into an ace and Brennan Davis turns into an All-Star the same way Sox fans were hoping Daniel Hudson would turn into an ace and Jared Mitchell would turn into an All-Star. They're at that point where they need to pin all their hopes and dreams on like every possible best case scenario occurring, and that just never happens for any team in baseball. Sox fans can identify with that position fairly well I think. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksnort Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 8 hours ago, Yearnin' for Yermin said: Sadly some here hate the Cubs as much as they love the Sox. I agree with you here. A crosstown world series would be a dream. I made a poll asking if people would want a crosstown series, but more people than not are too scared of losing to the Cubs and wouldn't want the series to happen at all. It's a shame, really Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcq Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 The Cub are right where I've always had them. Of mild interest as Chicago's NL franchise and occasionally entertaining and competent. I have nothing in common with their socially obsessed fan base and pay no attention to them. Right now the team is treading water and Theo plans to leave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two-Gun Pete Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 (edited) 14 hours ago, YourWhatHurts said: If they really think Alec Mills is anything more than a #6/7 depth option starting pitcher, and Alzolay is more than a MR, they are in trouble. Ok, no offense, but the scrubs have BETTER depth at SP than the SOX do, full fvkcing stop. Darvish and Hendricks are every bit as good as Giolito and Keuchel. More importantly, Mills and Alzolay are flat-out better at baseball than walkathons Cease and Lopez. Seriously, WTF do posters fall all over themselves to give Cease a break? He fvkcing walks the yard, and gives up HR at a clip that is among the 10 worst in MLB. And Lopez is right there with Cease, in the 10 worst in BB/9 & HR/9. Sorry, but unless the SOX acquire 2 competent SPs this offseason, the SOX will be the team outside the playoffs in 2021, not the scrubs. Edited November 15, 2020 by Two-Gun Pete 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tnetennba Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 The Cubs can either tread water and keep trying with what's left of their core or they can sell off and rebuild. I don't see a full on rebuild w/o a new front office. They would be wise to try to get something for a few of their soon to be free agents but it probably won't be enough to get them past LA, SD, or ATL. I have to imagine the lack of fans in seats is hurting their bottom line hard and wouldn't be surprised to see a few salary dumps ever way. Their window is probably closed. Also, fuck the Cubs ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 2 hours ago, Two-Gun Pete said: Ok, no offense, but the scrubs have BETTER depth at SP than the SOX do, full fvkcing stop. Darvish and Hendricks are every bit as good as Giolito and Keuchel. More importantly, Mills and Alzolay are flat-out better at baseball than walkathons Cease and Lopez. Seriously, WTF do posters fall all over themselves to give Cease a break? He fvkcing walks the yard, and gives up HR at a clip that is among the 10 worst in MLB. And Lopez is right there with Cease, in the 10 worst in BB/9 & HR/9. Sorry, but unless the SOX acquire 2 competent SPs this offseason, the SOX will be the team outside the playoffs in 2021, not the scrubs. It's hilarious that you mention Lucas Giolito in a post about Cease and don't see the irony. Like did you miss him leading the American League in walks? Literally he gave up more walks than anyone else for an entire season yet look at him now. Giolito was 45 starts into his career at this point, or almost twice as many starts as Cease has now, not to mention 250 innings of major league work. Were you having a meltdown about him? Upset about some mythical "pass" that powerless message board posters were somehow giving him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YourWhatHurts Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 3 hours ago, Two-Gun Pete said: Ok, no offense, but the scrubs have BETTER depth at SP than the SOX do, full fvkcing stop. Darvish and Hendricks are every bit as good as Giolito and Keuchel. More importantly, Mills and Alzolay are flat-out better at baseball than walkathons Cease and Lopez. Seriously, WTF do posters fall all over themselves to give Cease a break? He fvkcing walks the yard, and gives up HR at a clip that is among the 10 worst in MLB. And Lopez is right there with Cease, in the 10 worst in BB/9 & HR/9. Sorry, but unless the SOX acquire 2 competent SPs this offseason, the SOX will be the team outside the playoffs in 2021, not the scrubs. Yeah but no The Sox have literally like 10 guys better than Alec Mills. And Alzolay is a MR. The Cubs (and most other teams around the league probably) greatly envy the Sox SP depth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YourWhatHurts Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 Cubs couldn't get Dane Dunning from the Sox for Mills and Alzolay combined. They would have to add. Neither is an acceptable centerpiece for Dane Dunning. And then Dunning is still a guy who is toward the back end of the Sox SP depth in terms of ceiling. Literally, they could offer Contreras, Baez, etc. put their best players on the table and due to those players' contract situations and $$ situations, not walk away with more than 1 of Cease, Kopech, Kelly, Crochet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerksticks Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Hopefully terrible. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonofaRoache Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 The Cubs division is garbage. They will have a good record for another year if they keep the band together. Only the Cards will be worth anything. The Reds can pitch but if Bauer leaves they are in trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
35thstreetswarm Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 I hope they're terrible but I'm not sure they're there yet. I think they may have one more "treading water" season in them with their current core. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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