Official 2023 Chicago Cubs Season Thread Vol: (17-17)

[sportsjunkie]

I'll be damned, a Cubs thread

we are the lovable losers. we moving in a positive directions though.

 

[proshares]

I don't think you'll get much for Jackson though. You may just be better off taking the innings he eats at least for this season and hope he bounces back in the second half. His walks are way up but so are the K's. He's always been a guy who's suffered from extreme bad luck. But, IDK how many teams value **** like that and would take a gamble to see if they can change his luck.

I think the Shark/Hammel market isn't gonna open up until everyone sees what happens with Price.

 

[CP1708]

Agree, Jackson isn't worth anything. Deal the other two tho without hesitation.

 

[proshares]

I'll be damned, a Cubs thread

we are the lovable losers. we moving in a positive directions though.

well I always knew there was CP, you, SLP and arstyle I think? But, I thought it was just relegated to the NL Central thread.

 

[arstyle27]

Yup

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Theo was on the Waddle and Silvi show earlier and spoke about Braynt, Baez, and Schwarber.
As usual Theo was tight lipped and really didn't say much, outside of their sticking to their long term plan.
Bryant will get moved up to triple A soon, but don't expect him or Baez to come up anytime soon. They really are taking care of these two. He also sounded extremely happy with the Schwarber pick.

The only negative thing was the whole delay with the renovation....ain't much he could do with that and I'm sure it frustrates him, but he's got other things to worry about.
He also talked about trying to extend Shark but we all know he's just saying the politically correct thing, he'll be gone soon.

 

[sportsjunkie]

Jackson will get dealt i believe. also Kyle Schwarber has been moved up to class A. dude is on fire right now. Looks like Theo made the right pick.

 

[sportsjunkie]

Kris bryant has been promoted to iowa cubs. Triple A.

 

[CP1708]

Kris bryant has been promoted to iowa cubs. Triple A.

Sooooooooooon.

 

[sportsjunkie]

Sooooooooooon.

His first game in triple A will be tomorrow. i will be keeping track.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

 

[CP1708]

Sahadev Sharma ‏@sahadevsharma 2m
Rizzo, Castro, Arrieta, Valbuena, Wood, not a terrible group to work with. And that's without the kids coming up & the Shark/Hammel return.

Castro with another 3 hits today and up over .290 again.

Arieta with 11K's and his ERA down under 2.00 for the year.


Need these trades to go down so we can see what we come away with.

 

[proshares]

I think you'd probably be better off trading Valbuena too.

 

[CP1708]

What kind of market would he bring? Why would anyone have interest in him?

 

[proshares]

You'd probably sell him as a 2B...you see how God awful 2B is? He's got the same amount of HR's as Cano!

seriously though, he gets on base at a really high clip and he's benefiting from a career high line drive %. Kinda guy you should deal who's gonna be a FA anyway...IMO.

 

[CP1708]

Hey, I'm on board. I'll sell anything that isn't bolted down.

I wanted to sell Bonafacio, but he got hurt, so that dampened things.

If he can net us another young body, I'd gladly move him.



Arieta and Wood look to be keepers for a couple years, Edwin will probably stick to take up innings for a while, and I suspect Ramirez gets moved into the rotation next year. Then we just need 2 arms, one to replace Edwin goin forward, and then a 5th arm overall. At that point, spend for a #1-2 and bump guys down. (maybe they keep Ramirez as a full time closer someday? )

 

[proshares]

I think they'll bank on getting a #1/#2 in the Shark trade, which they should be able to, and then the first big dip into the FA pool will be another front end starter in '16...maybe Price.

 

[arstyle27]

Arietta looked great again today.

 

[CP1708]

Not that I should be surprised, being that it’s promotion season and all, but dude. This is fun.

After learning today that Kris Bryant was finally getting his promotion to AAA, Jesse Rogers reports that he won’t be alone:

Jesse Rogers @ESPNChiCubs

Triple A going to be loaded now. P Armando Rivero and Arodys Vizcaino headed there with Bryant. Ill be on ESPN 1000 at 3:45 to discuss

Vizcaino, 23, was the big component of the Cubs’ Paul Maholm trade back in 2012, as he recovered from Tommy John surgery earlier that year. A setback in Spring Training and a follow-up surgery in 2013, and we didn’t actually get to see him pitch for the Cubs until Spring Training of this year. Since then, it’s been a very cautious, measured return to action for Vizcaino, who worked his way back at Daytona and then Tennessee. Across those stops, he’s posted a 1.99 ERA over 22.2 innings, striking out 26 and walking 7. Vizcaino very clearly has a Major League arm, and it’s just a matter of ensuring his recovery is complete before bringing him up.

As for his future, you can still bank on Vizcaino being a back-end reliever long-term. There was always hope that he could start, but, given the durability concerns, the ability to max-out his fastball as a reliever, and the two recent elbow surgeries, it just seems wise to not expect more than a bullpen arm at this point. But, by all accounts, he’s got the upside of an elite back-end reliever.

Rivero, 26, was one of the Cubs’ big-ish Cuban signings last year, netting a $3.1 million bonus. He didn’t arrive until later in the year, and dominated the low minors in relief before pitching in the AFL. This year, it’s been more of the same for Rivero, who’s posted a 1.56 ERA over 34.2 innings at AA Tennessee, mostly serving as the closer there. He’s struck out an absurd 54 batters in that time, walking 16.

Each pitcher will now pitch in the late innings at AAA, getting their final test before coming up to the big leagues, potentially as soon as later this year. The Cubs’ bullpen, as we’ve seen, is already flush with quality power arms, so let’s hope this is the first step in having the bullpen strength turn into an embarrassment of riches.

(And, when Vizcaino and Rivero do arrive, there’s a fair chance that having them will provide the Cubs cover if they want to try and stretch out guys like Neil Ramirez and/or Justin Grimm to be starters next year.)

These promotions, if and when they become official, will obviously displace two arms at AAA Iowa. There are actually a lot of quality arms there right now – good problem to have – so we may have a twinge of sadness soon. But this is what happens in strong organizations.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Arietta looked great again today.

Arrieta was mowing em' down today!
11 k's and only 1 earned run

 

[CP1708]

No team has been more open about its approach to this market than the Cubs. Next year is the year they expect to turn the corner. So it's time once again for their June/July sell-off, except with a more limited selection of soon-to-be-ex-Cubs to choose from.

Teams that have spoken with them say the Cubs expect to move Jason Hammel in the next two weeks. A year ago, they dealt away Scott Feldman on July 2. And they've told other clubs they expect a similar time frame this year with Hammel.

But Hammel is just the warm-up act for Jeff Samardzija, who is positioned to be the No. 1 alternative to Price for top-of-the-rotation shoppers everywhere.

The Cubs continue to tell other teams they'd still like to get Samardzija signed, and that's not impossible. But they said the same thing (although with less conviction) about Matt Garza last year. And clubs that have spoken with them seem convinced the Cubs are just making sure, once and for all, that's not going to be possible.

So Samardzija is probably going to be somebody's signature late-July purchase -- and, very possibly, for a package closer to Price's than you might suspect.

Remember, Samardzija is going to make about half as much money over the next season and a half as Price (who's earning $14 million this year, to Samardzija's $5.345 million). And the Cubs can do what the Rays can't -- stoke an official AL East bidding war to up the ante.

So Jeff Samardzija is going to be a popular guy in a few weeks -- especially in a market with so few impact players to shop for.

 

[certifiedflyboi23]

 

[sportsjunkie]

a game set with the pirates this weekend. i think we will take 2 outta 3. This rebuilding process is fun watching knowing that i see progress.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Cubs top prospect Kris Bryant ended his Double-A career by winning the Home Run Derby at the All-Star game and last night he started his Triple-A career by homering in his first game.

Bryant went opposite field for a two-run homer, giving him 23 long balls in 69 total games this season between the two levels. And if you toss in his numbers in the low minors last year, plus his numbers at the University of San Diego before being drafted No. 2 overall last June, he’s got 63 homers in 167 games dating back to the start of 2013.

So far the Cubs’ front office has given every indication that Bryant will not be promoted to the big leagues this year, but it’s worth noting that as recently as two weeks ago they were also hinting pretty strongly that they had no plans to even promote him from Double-A to Triple-A. Hitting like he has–.353 with a 1.161 OPS overall–tends to change some plans.

 

[kevin cleveland]

Schwarber is going to end up in Double-A by the end of the season.