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OT: Chicago Baseball 2021

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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#41 » by DJhitek » Sun May 30, 2021 11:03 pm

I also believe a lot of managers in baseball would have reacted the same way as Larussa. It’s the way baseball is, SD’s manager threw his best player under the bus for the same thing last year. The fact that pitchers get a pass for throwing at hitters is just a microcosm of the hypocrisy that spews from the sport. It drives me up the wall even discussing how stupid baseball is at its core.
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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#42 » by ATRAIN53 » Tue Jun 1, 2021 4:30 pm

Taking my kid to first Cubs game in like 3 years tomorrow!

His main goal is to get some autographs pre game.

Has anyone been since the pandemic and knows if they even let kids hang around the dugouts during BP to try and get autographs?
Am I going to be annoyed that there a bunch of collectors my age pushing kids out of the way to get their stuff signed?

I told him to be prepared to be aggressive if you want something signed, it's dog eat dog down there when a player grabs a marker and starts signing stuff. You gotta battle.

He's more interested in MLB than NBA right now, which really surprises me but I'm taking advantage while I can.
I thought the sport was dying for kids. He says he likes the slow, relaxing pace of baseball now. He's not even watching the NBA playoffs and seeing Kemba get destroyed currently.

Go Cubs!
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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#43 » by Jcool0 » Sat Jun 5, 2021 8:34 pm

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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#44 » by gardenofsound » Thu Jun 10, 2021 9:39 pm

Nick Madrigal is now on the 60 day IL with a torn hamstring.

Injury bug keeps hitting the Sox position players. Jimenez, Robert, and now Madrigal out for quite a while with torn muscle injuries. It's starting to seem like it may be a training related issue...
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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#45 » by fleet » Fri Jun 11, 2021 2:33 am

Sox don't get regular injuries. They get surgery.
Brad Biggs wrote:Fields was in the bottom third of the league in too many key statistical metrics for the Bears to commit to the idea of trading down from the first pick for a bundle of future assets and then building around him.
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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#46 » by ImSlower » Fri Jun 11, 2021 9:32 pm

Cards fan here, moreso even than my Bulls fandom. I love Cardinals Cubs rivalry more than any year-to-year moments in sports.

Mustve been a great day to be at Wrigley (minus the oppressive heat). The Cardinals are god damn atrocious right now, and I completely blame Mozeliaks "We'll just coast into the playoffs, probably" mindset. Everyone on the internet agreed the Cardinals needed another veteran starter, or even two. Instead, we lose three guys for months, a major reliever as well, and now the bullpen is suddenly one of the worst in the league. Don't remember the last season that games have regularly pissed me off so much in May and June. Maybe the Cubs winning the division by 10 games will shock our stubborn, outdated FO into being more aggressive.

Hope my rant brings a smile to you Northsiders' faces. I'll never say "Go Cubs", but I do miss how much fun Wrigley/Wrigleyville are.
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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#47 » by Chi town » Fri Jun 11, 2021 10:28 pm

Is this Cubs team for real? Even with all the injuries they are looking like they have that “special chemistry”. How good could they be if healthy?
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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#48 » by DJhitek » Sat Jun 12, 2021 11:22 pm

gardenofsound wrote:Nick Madrigal is now on the 60 day IL with a torn hamstring.

Injury bug keeps hitting the Sox position players. Jimenez, Robert, and now Madrigal out for quite a while with torn muscle injuries. It's starting to seem like it may be a training related issue...


I agree, seems like constant soft tissue injuries.

That said, I know some fans want to trade some of the systems best arms and youngest hitters to get someone like Adam Frazier but the Sox have plenty of infield depth to keep the team afloat until Robert and Eloy come back.

I’d much rather just stand pat and keep an ear to the ground for values at the deadline.
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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#49 » by fleet » Sun Jun 13, 2021 4:05 pm

DJhitek wrote:
gardenofsound wrote:Nick Madrigal is now on the 60 day IL with a torn hamstring.

Injury bug keeps hitting the Sox position players. Jimenez, Robert, and now Madrigal out for quite a while with torn muscle injuries. It's starting to seem like it may be a training related issue...


I agree, seems like constant soft tissue injuries.

That said, I know some fans want to trade some of the systems best arms and youngest hitters to get someone like Adam Frazier but the Sox have plenty of infield depth to keep the team afloat until Robert and Eloy come back.

I’d much rather just stand pat and keep an ear to the ground for values at the deadline.

Previously I was of that opinion, and may still be. However, outside of Kelly, and unseen Vera, I am not sure the Sox farm isn’t completely empty of good prospects. Thompson and Dahlqvist have been awful. I am not disagreeing with your preferred approach. Only quibbling about the quality of the current Sox system. There may be nothing to trade even if they wanted to. They already brought up the Yerminator who was an ancient minor leaguer and is basically a DH. Instead of bringing up real hitting prospects to replace missing outfielders Jimenez and Robert, the Sox are signing players that other teams have cut like Goodwin and Hamilton. They brought in Danny Mendick to play 2b for Madrigal, but he is only a prospect to be a backup someday. If they needed to bring up a pitcher, they would have to choose from the likes of Stiever and Lambert who have already been failing in previous chances and could have been overrated as prospects. Kopech and Crochet may have been the last of the pitchers. The Sox farm system does not appear to have anything to trade.
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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#50 » by Dresden » Sun Jun 13, 2021 4:18 pm

ImSlower wrote:Cards fan here, moreso even than my Bulls fandom. I love Cardinals Cubs rivalry more than any year-to-year moments in sports.

Mustve been a great day to be at Wrigley (minus the oppressive heat). The Cardinals are god damn atrocious right now, and I completely blame Mozeliaks "We'll just coast into the playoffs, probably" mindset. Everyone on the internet agreed the Cardinals needed another veteran starter, or even two. Instead, we lose three guys for months, a major reliever as well, and now the bullpen is suddenly one of the worst in the league. Don't remember the last season that games have regularly pissed me off so much in May and June. Maybe the Cubs winning the division by 10 games will shock our stubborn, outdated FO into being more aggressive.

Hope my rant brings a smile to you Northsiders' faces. I'll never say "Go Cubs", but I do miss how much fun Wrigley/Wrigleyville are.


Interesting to hear a Card's fan complain about their FO being out of date. For years, Cubs fans have looked at the Cards organiztion with envy as they seem to put out a contending team year after year, decade after decade. Every team is bound to have a slump at some point, even the Yankees.

It's mind boggling how well the Cubs are playing this year. I had zero expectations for this team coming into the season. They looked like a last place team that needed a complete overhaul. But they seem to be clicking on all cylinders right now- getting good pitching, great relief, and timely hitting. The additions they made, guys like Matt Duffy, Joc Pederson, Jake Marisnick, have just rejuvenated the whole offense. I still don't know if they can keep this up over a whole season, of if they'll have one of their famous swoons in August/Sept. But it's been exciting so far, and that's a lot more than I thought they'd give us this year.
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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#51 » by johnnyvann840 » Sun Jun 13, 2021 4:48 pm

Dresden wrote:
ImSlower wrote:Cards fan here, moreso even than my Bulls fandom. I love Cardinals Cubs rivalry more than any year-to-year moments in sports.

Mustve been a great day to be at Wrigley (minus the oppressive heat). The Cardinals are god damn atrocious right now, and I completely blame Mozeliaks "We'll just coast into the playoffs, probably" mindset. Everyone on the internet agreed the Cardinals needed another veteran starter, or even two. Instead, we lose three guys for months, a major reliever as well, and now the bullpen is suddenly one of the worst in the league. Don't remember the last season that games have regularly pissed me off so much in May and June. Maybe the Cubs winning the division by 10 games will shock our stubborn, outdated FO into being more aggressive.

Hope my rant brings a smile to you Northsiders' faces. I'll never say "Go Cubs", but I do miss how much fun Wrigley/Wrigleyville are.


Interesting to hear a Card's fan complain about their FO being out of date. For years, Cubs fans have looked at the Cards organiztion with envy as they seem to put out a contending team year after year, decade after decade. Every team is bound to have a slump at some point, even the Yankees.

It's mind boggling how well the Cubs are playing this year. I had zero expectations for this team coming into the season. They looked like a last place team that needed a complete overhaul. But they seem to be clicking on all cylinders right now- getting good pitching, great relief, and timely hitting. The additions they made, guys like Matt Duffy, Joc Pederson, Jake Marisnick, have just rejuvenated the whole offense. I still don't know if they can keep this up over a whole season, of if they'll have one of their famous swoons in August/Sept. But it's been exciting so far, and that's a lot more than I thought they'd give us this year.


How about Patrick Wisdom? What the kid is doing is historic. The rookie has 8 homers in his first ten games (48 at bats). Somebody said nobody has done that in over 100 years. The best part about it is that he was actually drafted by the Cardinals and never got much of a chance in their organization. It's like the World is upside down with the Cubs and Cards right now.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31611193/inside-chicago-cubs-rookie-patrick-wisdom-improbable-stretch-home-run-history
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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#52 » by ImSlower » Sun Jun 13, 2021 5:13 pm

It is definitely bizarro world with the Cards and Cubs right now. Our pixie dust / devil magic for more than a decade seems to have been transferred to the North Side. Mozeliak's continual reliance on AAA pitching coming up and inexplicably excelling for a season or two has been an utter failure this year. The Next Man Up strategy the Cardinals have used to reliably hit 85 to 90 wins, get to the post season, and probably get walloped by a team with real superstars has jumped ship to the Cubs.

And yes, it's been wild how many former Cardinal prospects have been dominating with other teams. I watched Patrick Wisdom with us, absolutely, and I didn't think he was going to amount to jack squat. I didn't hear anyone on my Cardinals boards complain when he went out. Luke Voit was a masher, but there was simply no room once Goldschmidt arrived. Arozarena was an absolute mistake, and everyone was pissed when he got shipped out - same with Tommy Pham a couple years previous. Carson Kelly seemed disposable with the next best prospect, Andrew Knizner in the wings, but Kelly has been far better than expected. Zac Gallen, damnit, is killing it.

In the meantime, the only unheralded Cardinals prospect doing well is Edmundo Sosa, who has pretty much been getting very lucky with his BABIP and hustle - he can't hit a ball more than about 350 feet. We've lost ten of twelve now, and even the past few years of infuriating Matheny seasons weren't pissing Cardinals nation off as much as this past three weeks. I put the blame squarely on Mozeliak - but in his defense, his strategy has been very profitable for Bill DeWitt, and it's only biting us collectively in the ass because injuries have completely decimated our pitching.

On to the Cubs though - can you bastards let us win today, please? It's my birthday in two days and I can't abide a Cubs sweep. I am in shambles.
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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#53 » by Dresden » Sun Jun 13, 2021 5:51 pm

johnnyvann840 wrote:
Dresden wrote:
ImSlower wrote:Cards fan here, moreso even than my Bulls fandom. I love Cardinals Cubs rivalry more than any year-to-year moments in sports.

Mustve been a great day to be at Wrigley (minus the oppressive heat). The Cardinals are god damn atrocious right now, and I completely blame Mozeliaks "We'll just coast into the playoffs, probably" mindset. Everyone on the internet agreed the Cardinals needed another veteran starter, or even two. Instead, we lose three guys for months, a major reliever as well, and now the bullpen is suddenly one of the worst in the league. Don't remember the last season that games have regularly pissed me off so much in May and June. Maybe the Cubs winning the division by 10 games will shock our stubborn, outdated FO into being more aggressive.

Hope my rant brings a smile to you Northsiders' faces. I'll never say "Go Cubs", but I do miss how much fun Wrigley/Wrigleyville are.


Interesting to hear a Card's fan complain about their FO being out of date. For years, Cubs fans have looked at the Cards organiztion with envy as they seem to put out a contending team year after year, decade after decade. Every team is bound to have a slump at some point, even the Yankees.

It's mind boggling how well the Cubs are playing this year. I had zero expectations for this team coming into the season. They looked like a last place team that needed a complete overhaul. But they seem to be clicking on all cylinders right now- getting good pitching, great relief, and timely hitting. The additions they made, guys like Matt Duffy, Joc Pederson, Jake Marisnick, have just rejuvenated the whole offense. I still don't know if they can keep this up over a whole season, of if they'll have one of their famous swoons in August/Sept. But it's been exciting so far, and that's a lot more than I thought they'd give us this year.


How about Patrick Wisdom? What the kid is doing is historic. The rookie has 8 homers in his first ten games (48 at bats). Somebody said nobody has done that in over 100 years. The best part about it is that he was actually drafted by the Cardinals and never got much of a chance in their organization. It's like the World is upside down with the Cubs and Cards right now.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31611193/inside-chicago-cubs-rookie-patrick-wisdom-improbable-stretch-home-run-history


Yeah, forgot about him. He's another one of the new faces that has given them a huge boost. He's not young either, is he? Wonder why he never showed this before?
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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#54 » by Dresden » Sun Jun 13, 2021 6:00 pm

It's hard to remember when both the teams in CHI were in first place at the same time: Sox are ranked #2 in MLB according to one writer:

"With a .617 winning percentage and a run differential that suggests it should be more like .659 and a generally upward trajectory to this season, it might be time to glance down the line and wonder if the White Sox can break the franchise record for wins. Chicago's mark is 100 by the 1917 club that won the White Sox's first World Series and also was led in the dugout by Tony La Russa. We kid!"

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31589142/mlb-power-rankings-week-10-which-al-team-our-new-no-1
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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#55 » by ImSlower » Sun Jun 13, 2021 6:03 pm

Wisdom definitely showed some pop in his stint down here, but he never looked like more than a 4th outfielder. He had his cup of coffee in 2018 and actually hit really well, so I guess he's just another organizational outfielder whose gonna kill it with another team.

Cubs sure are a lot of fun right now - I miss living up there and partying at the stadium and Wrigleyville, even if I was always wearing the wrong hat. If the Cards keep sucking, I'll be happy if the Cubs can make some noise come playoffs.
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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#56 » by Jeffster81 » Sun Jun 13, 2021 7:42 pm

If only the Cubs can upgrade from the corpse of Jake Arrieta and Trevor Williams in the rotation, the Cubs could be set for a big 2nd half.
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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#57 » by gardenofsound » Tue Jul 20, 2021 9:24 pm

So, watching these White Sox and a little bit giddy after the walkoff last night...

I can't think of a better positioned White Sox team in my lifetime for a dynastic run. It's honestly hard for me to think of any teams in my lifetime that are better positioned for multiple WS appearances.

The upside of this team as positioned is like looking at the New York Yankees circa 1995 or 1996. You could argue it's even better considering much of the key positional talent is young and locked up on multi-year deals, and the starting pitching is also younger and better than those pre-Clemens Yankees. Lynn and Rodon (I really hope the Sox can re-sign him) are already ace level, Giolito was a CYA candidate last year and is still pitching reasonably well this year, while Cease has ace caliber stuff and Keuchel is a finesse pitcher who has once a CYA winner himself...

Then Kopech, Crochet, and Kelley are all already or soon to be chomping at the bit for a starting spot. This has '90's Braves level pitching potential.

The downside, though, is maybe the White Sox of the early-mid '90's. While this version of the White Sox may not have a Frank Thomas level hitter, they have more talent spread out across multiple positions, with no real offensive liabilities (of which the Sox had a few at that time: Guillen, Karko, Cora, etc).

Even the starting pitching staff is devoid of true liabilities... the worst pitcher still has a sub 4.5 ERA. But the starting staff has similar depth (those early '90's staffs were loaded with McDowell, Fernandez, Alvarez all as ace level pitchers, and a strong bullpen behind them). The 2000 Sox were similarly talented on the offensive end with Thomas, Ordonez, Durham, Lee, and Konerko, but the starting pitching was nowhere close to the current Sox.

Maybe the kicker: it seems like players around the league actually want to play for the White Sox now. If the Sox can capitalize and maximize what they've built here, I see a real chance for them to reassume dominance as Chicago's team, particularly with the Marquee Network having frozen out a lot of Cubs viewers (no more WGN national broadcasts).

We're going to learn a lot about the White Sox when it comes time to pony up big money to either extend any of the current players, or sign a big fish. The tough thing, though, is that just about every role has a good player already slotted in.

There's still a lot that can go wrong, but man, this is really exciting. Feels like the Cubs must have felt circa 2015/2016, but the Sox situation seems more balanced and set for the long haul.
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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#58 » by Jcool0 » Fri Jul 30, 2021 6:29 pm

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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#59 » by Betta Bulleavit » Fri Jul 30, 2021 7:08 pm

Javy to the Mets. My goodness. This is a full on tear down.
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Re: OT: Chicago Baseball 2021 

Post#60 » by Leslie Forman » Fri Jul 30, 2021 9:17 pm

This has to be the most complete firesale I've ever seen in any team sport.

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