*****Official Cubs 2019 thread*****
- Thread starter QChawks
- Start date
They played about 120 games without KB's power. In all seriousness, I think the pitching will be ok. If Darvish is in any way back to form, it could be really good. But the offense was the breakdown last year. Going position by position, there's reason for both fear and optimism:
- Contreras needs a little more rest. He hit nothing like he did in 2017....so which season is his true ability? Personally, I think he'll hit better, but we'll see if he's fully what he did in 2017.
- Rizzo had, on the whole, a down year last year, but he was really quite good in the 2nd half. I don't think he's "lost it", so I expect a good solid season. As @Hime_Peterson likes to point out with frequency, he may not be 2015/2016 Rizzo, but I think he'll still be a hell of a dangerous hitter.
- Javy broke out in a big way last year. Will it continue? His track record through the minors was to struggle until he figured it out and then he just mashed. We'll see. He may not be as good as last year, but I think he'll hit plenty.
- If healthy, there's really no reason why KB won't get back to being KB. He was off to a fantastic start the first month of last season before the shoulder injury.
- Russell is a mystery. He still has all the potential people saw in him at a really young age. He's also on ice the first 30 games of the season, will get some significant public/fan backlash and has a lot of growing up to do.
- Schwarber still has the massive power, but will he become a great hitter? Not looking great at this point....and yet we've seen real flashes of it in the past. Still, no reason to trade him unless someone basically overpays. I'd rather roll the dice on Schwarbs than take a couple middling prospects or a bench bat for him at this point.
- Almora/Happ: Interesting pairing. Almora has a really high floor. He'll always give you good CF defense and he'll hit lefties. Not a ton of power and so far not enough development as a hitter to hit leadoff. Happ, on the flip side, has a ton of power and still a ton of upside.....but hasn't gotten there and his floor is a middling/maybe below-average defender with a crap ton of strikeouts.
- Heyward: He is what he is. Great defender, won't be a good hitter again in his career. That said, last year was better than what he had given previously.
- Zobrist: Professional hitter. If he's healthy, he'll contribute. He won't repeat 2016, but he was solid last year. If healthy, I think he'll be solid again.
All of that with nobody added from the outside.
I don't think they were going to get Machado anyway, but Descalso is cheap enough and versatile enough that getting him would prevent getting Machado. The Cubs, assuming they sign Descalso, have basically come back to square, replacing La Stella with a better glove.
I agree completely. As a Cubs fan, you do better than I at living in the moment. I focus on the storm clouds brewing a couple of years from now due to the organizational pitching issues, rather than focusing on the present.
I would say right now, the Cubs have the second best roster in the NL, behind the Dodgers. If STL signs Harper, their roster will clearly be superior to the Cubs.
If the Dodgers sign Harper, they are head and shoulders above the NL. If Harper wants to win big, LA would probably be the best choice of his suitors.
Remember on the Cardinals, though, that they have a ton of young players. As we've seen as we've moved from 2015 to 2016 to now looking at 2019, player progression is not always linear. There's no guarantee that their young players continue to perform and improved. They may have some guys level out or regress as well.
This is an important year for STL. Goldschmidt, Ozuna, Mikolas (ugh...Theo would love to have this one back), and Wacha are all in the final year of their contracts.
Carpenter was great last year, but is now 33. Molina can still get it done. Martinez is uber talented but a total headcase. DeJong is good, and Harrison Bader is a very good player as well. Flaherty is a future All-Star, and they seem to have a lot more behind him. If Alex Reyes can ever be healthy, he and Flaherty are a downright frightening 1-2.
STL's only bad contract is 3 more years of Fowler at $49M, so they are in a better payroll spot than the Cubs.
Um...I said exactly that about the Cubs. As we've seen from all the hope and potential of 2015-2016, not all of those guys have progressed.
Man, he lost all the zip on his fastball!?!?!?!?!
Sinclair? Great. Will Sebastian Gorka deliver racist screeds in between innings?
He’s tipping his pitches. I could see that he was going to throw a 70mph over-the-top “fastball”.
this is tough to read, hard to want him on the team anymore
http://www.expandedroster.com/2018/...speaking-out-its-time-for-everyone-to-listen/
http://www.expandedroster.com/2018/...speaking-out-its-time-for-everyone-to-listen/
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If you want to believe ESPN reports... Machado is choosing between Philly/NYY/WhiteSox.
God, I hope he doesn't choose the Yanks.
Agreed. He’s 24 and has 3 kids with 3 different women. Not to mention, he verbally and physically abused two of them. He needs a season off without pay to determine how much baseball really means to him.
Because the WS signed his BIL? From a competitive standpoint, signing with them probably has the smallest affect on the balance of power in MLB.
I don’t know as I wasn’t part of conversation. I just heard it from multiple programs on sports radio
I saw this story earlier, and it reinforced what I thought two months ago. He won’t play for the Cubs again. Or, he shouldn’t for everyone’s sake.
The one thing that does surprise me is that Boras wasn’t more proactive on damage control. I assumed he’d drop off some cash, make sure things are squared away, and remind all the women that Addison is most valuable to them making money on the field and reaching FA without any more issues.
I certainly hope he never plays for the cubs again.
I’ve said since 2015 that his life is a mess. People tell me he is at the club every night and always drinking. I hope the cubs cut him or force him to spend a year in A ball.
It's weird that there is this rumor, and three kids by three women reinforces this conclusion, but there isn't much public talk about his lifestyle. Matt Spiegel is the only Chicago person I've heard talk about it, and even he danced around it.
Not confirmed, but the Cubs appear to have re-signed Allan Webster. I like this signing. He was a very high level prospect at one time, and he rapidly moved through the Cubs system on a rehab tour last year, eventually getting three appearances in the big leagues. He still has excellent velocity, and with some location he'd make a great bullpen addition once the Des Moines to Chicago shuttle gets rolling next season.
I know this is a Cubs thread but like talking baseball...looks like the cardinals are getting andrew miller
If I had a wish list a few years ago I would have preferred the Cubs got Miller over Chapman.
I’m not
Not condoning anything but I’ll take about any bet he plays this year immediately after his suspension. Why people are “surprised” by this or any other story that comes out between now and his suspension ending is beyond me
Maybe because it is slightly embellished? Or does HROT know something today’s twitter media doesn’t? It isn’t like we are in 90s when Mark Grace partied hard and could get away with it.
