*****Official Cubs 2024 Thread 🪦*****
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“The minute I become part of the conversation I’m not making good decisions anymore. Its simply about trying to make good decisions for the organization. I feel great about where the organization is but we played badly for two months and now we have to make decisions as it relates to that.”
—Jed
Won’t be buyers….
—Jed
Won’t be buyers….
That comment doesn’t preclude trading for an addition that’s under contract or control beyond this season. The only thing he ruled out is rentals.
Correct, he plans on helping the team in the future. Where I think the quote is interesting is where he mentions two bad months. I would argue while they haven’t been horrible, they certainly haven’t been good enough to make the playoffs, especially given the payroll.
^ Someone is not going to be happy.
Earlier this season I wasn't sure that Busch could become an above average 1B from a defensive perspective. Now, if he ever jumps on top of the rain tarp to catch a pop foul, I just may forget Anthony Rizzo. This guy has improved so much this year it's just plain remarkable.
SeattleCubs at Brewers in 2016 (July 23). Cubs lose 6-1. Ross brought in new lefty reliever just acquired in a trade (from KC, I believe) to face left handed hitter Kirk Nieuwenhuis. 1st Hitter he faces hits a 3 run HR in 8th to seal game. We laugh and say that was a great Cubs' debut for that pitcher - will he ever pitch a meaningful pitch for the Cubs?
The pitcher was Mike Montgomery ... who got the last out of the World Series that year.
Not exactly sure what you were expecting. Do you want Jed to sell off value pieces of the farm system for a few rental guys that might or might not help propel a team that is sub-.500 towards a World Series title?
IMO the trade deadline needs to be moved back to Aug 15th or maybe even later. It's actually quite silly that the trade deadline is the same now with 12 teams making the postseason as it was back when only 4 teams made it. It made even less sense to get rid of the waiver trade period.
Yes and no. April was objectively good outside of Alzolay, basically. Cubs had the best April record they’ve ever had in franchise history and were 17-9 at one point….so that’s clearly on the positive side of the ledger. Then they were atrocious in May and June and are now 10-7 in July. He’s kind of right. There are a lot of teams in play, obviously, but they’re 3.5 games out of the WC. I agree with Jed to not spend prospects on rentals in their current positions, but I wouldn’t gut this team, either. They have a very much non-zero chance of making the playoffs.
He’s a great example of why guys you think have skills need some real runway to struggle and adapt. I’m tired of a kid coming up, getting 40 plate appearances and we just declare he sucks.
You were? I was there, too, with my family plus parents and brother for the first time he ever jumped on the tarp. Amazing series that made my kids think the Cubs were just good by rule.
I agree with this, especially now that the playoffs have an expanded field and the draft is during the All Star Break. August 15 would be a much better deadline and truly split the difference from the old days of 2 deadlines.
Not to be nit-picking, but the Cubs actually had better records at the end of April in 1969 (16-7) and in 2016 (17-5) than they had this year.
Hopefully Jed will have the ability to decide what will make the Cubs better next year.
the criticism of Jed is not based on this decision, it’s based on what has led to this, the way the team is constructed. He’s spent a lot of money, but where has it gotten them? He has rebuilt the minor leagues, but it hasn’t paid dividends yet. I’m anxious to see how it all plays out, especially with the OFs in the system. Like one beat writer said, it’s great to have, at the time, seven top-100 players in the minors but not all of them will play for Chicago.
My bad. I thought I had read that about the April record. I think it was most wins, not best record, but either way, April was clearly not a bad month for this team.
To that point, I'd like all you brainiacs list who you think are trade pieces in MiLB. Mervis? Howard? DO they dare trade a Shaw or Caissie?
I'd like to see the Cubs be buyers at the deadline. Maybe sneak into the playoffs this year and setting themselves up for 2025.
My fantasy trade is Morel and a couple of MiLB for Vlad Jr.
If I was PCA I would request a trade. It’s has to be tough listening and playing next to Happ and Suzuki. With Suzuki obsessing about Korean pop music and Happ talking how he’s a bigger sports icon in Chicago than Michael Jordan.
It's especially true this season, as it is July 23rd and there are literally only 2 teams in the NL with no chance of making the playoffs, and maybe 4 in the AL. Can't do a lot of buying if there aren't a lot of teams selling. By Aug 15th, chances are that more than half of the teams that are currently in contention but on the outside looking in (CHC, SF, CIN, WSH, TB, DET, TX) will fall out and be more willing to sell.
I remember 2 times. Maybe I missed a third. I was there when he did it the first time against Milwaukee in 2015. Montero walked that game off with a homer in the 10th.
The later deadline would also offset a little more money and could actually lead smaller market teams to be more willing to add. It’s only a couple weeks difference, but for a high profile player that could be the difference of a couple million bucks or more.
How does it feel to have 99% of people gloss over your posts because they’re so unoriginal & have nothing to with baseball? You love TMZ don’t ya?
It's easy to rip on Jed, but hindsight is 20/20. I don't think he's made any foolish moves. I don't think there was a lot of criticism of the Bellinger and Dansby deals when they happened, and the contracts for Happ, Suzuki, Nico and Taillon are all rather team-friendly, and it's quite possibly they could all look like great value deals for the Cubs by 2026. The Imanaga deal could turn out to be a steal.
Easy to criticize him for not bringing in better bullpen help, but I'm not sure what great players he might have missed out on, and I'm not sure he can be blamed for the entire bullpen having injury issues. I'm pretty sure the Cubs have broken a world record with 6 pitchers on the 60-day IL. Speaking of which, in regards to prospects paying dividends, if Davis and Canario could stay healthy for more than a few weeks at a time, chances are they'd be contributing at the MLB level by now. I'm still pretty confident that the other high-level prospects (Caissie, Shaw, Horton, Triantos, Ballasteros) will turn out to be solid major leaguers.
One of my biggest criticisms of Jed has been his inability to unload Madrigal and Mervis, who have no future in this organization, are taking up space on the 40-man and whose trade values are in rapid decline.
FanGraphs says 10.5%
MLB Playoff Odds | FanGraphs Baseball
Playoff odds tell how likely an MLB team will win the division, wild card berth or win the World Series. FanGraphs simulates each season 10,000 times to generate the probabilities.
I’d quibble with Mervis. I don’t think he’s in decline. He may not be an above average MLB hitter, but he’s continued to hit in AAA with no real decline (now he’s out with a hamate injury).
My biggest complaint about Jed isn’t that he’s bad, it’s that he’s too risk-averse. He’s built a team with a lot of high floor players, but there have also been times where he’s dedicated too much playing time to low-ceiling vets and lacked the willingness at times to inject some of those young players to see if you can catch a period of higher ceiling performance (and also letting those guys start to adjust to MLB play).
Canario, as you noted, has had some injury issues to deal with, but there have also been times (particularly this season) when he’s been healthy and murdering baseballs in Iowa while Nick Madrigal, David Bote and Patrick Wisdom have sat on the bench in Chicago….and when Canario has been up, he’s played very, very little.
Overall, it’s a mixed bag - they did commit to Morel and Busch. PCA is playing pretty much everyday. He’s made some good moves and he has rebuilt the farm system in a pretty big way….that said, he’s POBO for a franchise that has top 5 revenues in the game and we’re in year 3 of a rebuild that was announced as “not a rebuild” at the deadline in 2021. At some point, Jed needs to deliver a playoff team or else it’ll be time to move on to someone else.
I’d say that’s about right…and those odds can change pretty quickly.FanGraphs says 10.5%
MLB Playoff Odds | FanGraphs Baseball
Playoff odds tell how likely an MLB team will win the division, wild card berth or win the World Series. FanGraphs simulates each season 10,000 times to generate the probabilities.www.fangraphs.com
You’re extremely jealous of my knowledge of baseball. The liberal Cubs fans and yourself are bitter because Happ and Suzuki won’t lead the Cubs to the World Series.
I was in the RF bleachers. There was much rejoicing when Montero went yard.
