OT: Cubs Offseason Thread

[SirKaiser]

What in the world are they doing? They're a last place team, they suck, and they're BUYERS? Is AK running the Cubs too?

Frustrating and underperforming, yes, but I wouldn't say they suck. The pitching has been great, and they play in the 2nd best division in baseball. The offense has just been abysmal with too many guys having down years. Morel has been by far the biggest disappointment (although I think we expected way too much out of him), so Hoyer probably figures this trade will provide the spark needed for a wild card push. I think they should have traded Bellinger, but they'll be getting him back too.

Kind of a broken record argument, but just look at the Dbacks last year.

[Jeffster81]

What in the world are they doing? They're a last place team, they suck, and they're BUYERS? Is AK running the Cubs too?

They are NOT buying for this year. They are buying for '25, '26. In the case of the Cubs, they don't need a teardown, just a remodeling. Best of all they acquire the better player without trading any of their top prospects. This is a fine trade made by the Cubs. Calm down.

[Dominator83]

What in the world are they doing? They're a last place team, they suck, and they're BUYERS? Is AK running the Cubs too?

They are NOT buying for this year. They are buying for '25, '26. In the case of the Cubs, they don't need a teardown, just a remodeling. Best of all they acquire the better player without trading any of their top prospects. This is a fine trade made by the Cubs. Calm down.

A .247 hitter that would also have 5 less Homeruns if his home stadium wasn't Tropicana. Not impressed.

And besides, they're way too far away from being in position to be trading away prospects instead of accumulating them. Look at that lineup. Suzuki is a keeper, but not a consistent stud. Busch MAYBE a keeper. After them, nothing but a meh collection of replacement level bats. Hoerner, wisdom, happ, Swanson, etc. All can go and nobody would miss them. They also have a revolving door of junk at Catcher too. That core of bats is more pathetic than Zach/DeMar/Vuc. Cubs need to tear the whole thing down and pile up as many prospects as possible and try to hit on a pick or 2. They're doubling down on an awful team and adding another bat that doesn't hit with any kind of consistency.

[_txchilibowl_]

What in the world are they doing? They're a last place team, they suck, and they're BUYERS? Is AK running the Cubs too?

They are NOT buying for this year. They are buying for '25, '26. In the case of the Cubs, they don't need a teardown, just a remodeling. Best of all they acquire the better player without trading any of their top prospects. This is a fine trade made by the Cubs. Calm down.

A .247 hitter that would also have 5 less Homeruns if his home stadium wasn't Tropicana. Not impressed.

And besides, they're way too far away from being in position to be trading away prospects instead of accumulating them. Look at that lineup. Suzuki is a keeper, but not a consistent stud. Busch MAYBE a keeper. After them, nothing but a meh collection of replacement level bats. Hoerner, wisdom, happ, Swanson, etc. All can go and nobody would miss them. They also have a revolving door of junk at Catcher too. That core of bats is more pathetic than Zach/DeMar/Vuc. Cubs need to tear the whole thing down and pile up as many prospects as possible and try to hit on a pick or 2. They're doubling down on an awful team and adding another bat that doesn't hit with any kind of consistency.

I don't hate it. Morel just wasn't working out here and the prospects they gave up are middling so the cost wasn't exorbitant. When the time comes they can probably flip Paredes too.

The nice thing is Paredes is under team control through 2027, one year longer than Morel.

[Jeffster81]

What in the world are they doing? They're a last place team, they suck, and they're BUYERS? Is AK running the Cubs too?

They are NOT buying for this year. They are buying for '25, '26. In the case of the Cubs, they don't need a teardown, just a remodeling. Best of all they acquire the better player without trading any of their top prospects. This is a fine trade made by the Cubs. Calm down.

A .247 hitter that would also have 5 less Homeruns if his home stadium wasn't Tropicana. Not impressed.

And besides, they're way too far away from being in position to be trading away prospects instead of accumulating them. Look at that lineup. Suzuki is a keeper, but not a consistent stud. Busch MAYBE a keeper. After them, nothing but a meh collection of replacement level bats. Hoerner, wisdom, happ, Swanson, etc. All can go and nobody would miss them. They also have a revolving door of junk at Catcher too. That core of bats is more pathetic than Zach/DeMar/Vuc. Cubs need to tear the whole thing down and pile up as many prospects as possible and try to hit on a pick or 2. They're doubling down on an awful team and adding another bat that doesn't hit with any kind of consistency.

They DO NOT need a teardown. What they need is a big bat. Parades is a fine addition, regardless of your hyperbole.

[Chi town]

They are NOT buying for this year. They are buying for '25, '26. In the case of the Cubs, they don't need a teardown, just a remodeling. Best of all they acquire the better player without trading any of their top prospects. This is a fine trade made by the Cubs. Calm down.

A .247 hitter that would also have 5 less Homeruns if his home stadium wasn't Tropicana. Not impressed.

And besides, they're way too far away from being in position to be trading away prospects instead of accumulating them. Look at that lineup. Suzuki is a keeper, but not a consistent stud. Busch MAYBE a keeper. After them, nothing but a meh collection of replacement level bats. Hoerner, wisdom, happ, Swanson, etc. All can go and nobody would miss them. They also have a revolving door of junk at Catcher too. That core of bats is more pathetic than Zach/DeMar/Vuc. Cubs need to tear the whole thing down and pile up as many prospects as possible and try to hit on a pick or 2. They're doubling down on an awful team and adding another bat that doesn't hit with any kind of consistency.

They DO NOT need a teardown. What they need is a big bat. Parades is a fine addition, regardless of your hyperbole.

Totally agree that lackluster Happ Swanson and Belli made this trade. I love Morel the person and potential but I don’t think he ever pans out better than Paredes.

The issue is Cubs need like 3 big bats and I only see Ballesteros and maybe Cassie as those bats. Shaw will be a good improvement over Hoerner though.

I also maintain that I don’t believe in PCA ever really becoming a hitter. Don’t think he will even be average.

We need to buy a big bat in FA.

I really like our future pitching with Steele Imanaga Brown Assad and Wicks. You may even have to trade Steele to get the superstar bat.

[SirKaiser]

Also it's not really fair to compare the Cubs with the Bulls, like at all lol. The Cubs have the 2nd best (top 5 atleast) farm system in baseball. That was what made the trade possible without them breaking the bank.

[Dominator83]

A .247 hitter that would also have 5 less Homeruns if his home stadium wasn't Tropicana. Not impressed.

And besides, they're way too far away from being in position to be trading away prospects instead of accumulating them. Look at that lineup. Suzuki is a keeper, but not a consistent stud. Busch MAYBE a keeper. After them, nothing but a meh collection of replacement level bats. Hoerner, wisdom, happ, Swanson, etc. All can go and nobody would miss them. They also have a revolving door of junk at Catcher too. That core of bats is more pathetic than Zach/DeMar/Vuc. Cubs need to tear the whole thing down and pile up as many prospects as possible and try to hit on a pick or 2. They're doubling down on an awful team and adding another bat that doesn't hit with any kind of consistency.

They DO NOT need a teardown. What they need is a big bat. Parades is a fine addition, regardless of your hyperbole.

Totally agree that lackluster Happ Swanson and Belli made this trade. I love Morel the person and potential but I don’t think he ever pans out better than Paredes.

The issue is Cubs need like 3 big bats and I only see Ballesteros and maybe Cassie as those bats. Shaw will be a good improvement over Hoerner though.

I also maintain that I don’t believe in PCA ever really becoming a hitter. Don’t think he will even be average.

We need to buy a big bat in FA.

I really like our future pitching with Steele Imanaga Brown Assad and Wicks. You may even have to trade Steele to get the superstar bat.

Thats basically what i was saying. Their pitching core is solid, but they need ALOT of bats. Major ones. Nobody in this lineup strikes fear into anybody. As a collection of a bunch of bad hitters with only a couple decent ones in Suzuki and Busch, they're just too far away. Parades doesn't hit enough homers to justify his .240 batting average, especially when 5 of his HRs are routine flyouts when at Wrigley (or any stadium for that matter) instead of Tropicana. They need a Bobby Witt or a Fernando Tatis level bat, preferably even two of those, to be a fearful lineup. I know their farm is supposed to be good, but do they have any of THOSE in the making? Adding a meh bat to a "core" of Swanson, Hoerner, Wisdom, Happ, a regressed Belli, etc, does nothing for them.

If anything, this trade should have been just Morel straight up. Morel is cheaper, has an extra year of control, and a much higher ceiling as a hitter. The Rays are like the danny Ainge of baseball. Just doing business with them is a loss in itself. Fleecing teams and knowing when to let guys go is how they're usually always competitive despite being in a tough division and spending even less money than the White Sox.

[Chi town]

They DO NOT need a teardown. What they need is a big bat. Parades is a fine addition, regardless of your hyperbole.

Totally agree that lackluster Happ Swanson and Belli made this trade. I love Morel the person and potential but I don’t think he ever pans out better than Paredes.

The issue is Cubs need like 3 big bats and I only see Ballesteros and maybe Cassie as those bats. Shaw will be a good improvement over Hoerner though.

I also maintain that I don’t believe in PCA ever really becoming a hitter. Don’t think he will even be average.

We need to buy a big bat in FA.

I really like our future pitching with Steele Imanaga Brown Assad and Wicks. You may even have to trade Steele to get the superstar bat.

Thats basically what i was saying. Their pitching core is solid, but they need ALOT of bats. Major ones. Nobody in this lineup strikes fear into anybody. As a collection of a bunch of bad hitters with only a couple decent ones in Suzuki and Busch, they're just too far away. Parades doesn't hit enough homers to justify his .240 batting average, especially when 5 of his HRs are routine flyouts when at Wrigley (or any stadium for that matter) instead of Tropicana. They need a Bobby Witt or a Fernando Tatis level bat, preferably even two of those, to be a fearful lineup. I know their farm is supposed to be good, but do they have any of THOSE in the making? Adding a meh bat to a "core" of Swanson, Hoerner, Wisdom, Happ, a regressed Belli, etc, does nothing for them.

If anything, this trade should have been just Morel straight up. Morel is cheaper, has an extra year of control, and a much higher ceiling as a hitter. The Rays are like the danny Ainge of baseball. Just doing business with them is a loss in itself. Fleecing teams and knowing when to let guys go is how they're usually always competitive despite being in a tough division and spending even less money than the White Sox.

We need two Tatis level bats. I’d trade all the bats in the farm for them too. I believe Ballesteros is one of them but we need two more.

I’m fine letting go of Cassie, PCA, and Shaw to get them. We just need to keep our young pitching. We have some studs.

[Betta Bulleavit]

What in the world are they doing? They're a last place team, they suck, and they're BUYERS? Is AK running the Cubs too?

They are NOT buying for this year. They are buying for '25, '26. In the case of the Cubs, they don't need a teardown, just a remodeling. Best of all they acquire the better player without trading any of their top prospects. This is a fine trade made by the Cubs. Calm down.

A .247 hitter that would also have 5 less Homeruns if his home stadium wasn't Tropicana. Not impressed.

And besides, they're way too far away from being in position to be trading away prospects instead of accumulating them. Look at that lineup. Suzuki is a keeper, but not a consistent stud. Busch MAYBE a keeper. After them, nothing but a meh collection of replacement level bats. Hoerner, wisdom, happ, Swanson, etc. All can go and nobody would miss them. They also have a revolving door of junk at Catcher too. That core of bats is more pathetic than Zach/DeMar/Vuc. Cubs need to tear the whole thing down and pile up as many prospects as possible and try to hit on a pick or 2. They're doubling down on an awful team and adding another bat that doesn't hit with any kind of consistency.

I get the passion here. But you’re talking basketball strategy against baseball. It doesn’t work the way you are suggesting that it would/should. Building a good baseball team is something that takes years to do (if done right) and it’s not just about accumulating picks. You’ve got to get guys that are good, developed well and present years of team control to match the length of your process.

Additionally, a batting average in the .240 - .265 range is average these days. So getting a guy like this makes a ton of sense in the grand scheme of things because he’s shown himself to be worth developing while also offering many years of team control. I honestly don’t see a way to be pissed about this.

[Dresden]

I agree with the opinion that the Cubs don't have anyone in their lineup capable of striking fear in opposing pitchers, and they need 3 or 4 of those to be competitive. Look at the best teams in baseball- the Yankees with their bats, or the Dodgers with who they have. Cubs don't have guys that hit for average or power. They need for some of these minor leaguers to become sluggers, and they need to acquire a few more.

It reminds me of the Bears and their woes on the offensive line. Each year they shuffle a few new guys in there and hope that will fix it, and it ends up being the same old crap.

And the sad part of it is, the Cubs payroll is top 10 I believe. I dont know where they're spending all that money, but it's not paying off. Swanson is looking like a huge overpayment. And what happened to Belli? He's regressed. Those were two guys you hoped would provide at least a core to build off of.

[SirKaiser]

It's a shame that Morel was such a disappointment (not that he's been the only one), cause if he atleast played as well as he did last season, he wouldn't have been traded. And hindsight is 20/20, but Hoyer would have targeted Hoskins or Chapman more aggressively in FA if he knew Morel would be batting under .200

[JockItch43]

Jed Hoyer appears to be Temu Theo Epstein.

[Chi town]

Shaw, Triantos, and Alcantara all got the call to AAA.

That lineup with Cassie and Ballesteros will be so good.

[Kurt Heimlich]

If the As sweep the Sox the streak will tie the modern baseball losing streak. Their next game to own the record outright would be against our cubbies on Friday. Must see, game of the year potential right there y'all.

[Dresden]

Cubs are showing a few signs of life. Some of their bats are starting to come back to life- Swanson esp., but also Happ, Belli, and PCA. Paredes had his first Cub HR yesterday. They are within 3 games of .500. Would be nice to see them finish with 85+ wins.

[Tetlak]

Cubs are showing a few signs of life. Some of their bats are starting to come back to life- Swanson esp., but also Happ, Belli, and PCA. Paredes had his first Cub HR yesterday. They are within 3 games of .500. Would be nice to see them finish with 85+ wins.

The stage is set for them to finish strong. Offense coming to life, bullpen becoming dependable, soft schedule. Of course I'm sure this all just means they'll let us down at the end. Team definitely underperformed all year and there's no excusing it.

[Chi town]

Cubs sweep the Sox and they are back to .500.

Been fun to watch PCA slowly breakout.

[Tetlak]

Cubs sweep the Sox and they are back to .500.

Been fun to watch PCA slowly breakout.

Actually it's only a 2 game series, so they'd still be 1 game under. They're likely to get back to .500 within the next 2 series tho

[Tetlak]

Also, I'm on record stating the team has been a disappointment and that there is no excusing it, but the lineup is not as far off as some of the doomer posts above say. I mean they've got 5 20 HR ~.800 ops guys in a row, a couple more proven solid guys starting to even out for the better, and PCA figuring it out. They quite literally just could use one big consistent power bat. Asking for 2 Tatis level players is ridiculous.