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

[arstyle27]

I bet my entire Jordan collection that Price isnt signing with Toronto.

 

[CP1708]

Jon Lester was dominant yesterday. His 14 strikeouts were the most by a Cubs starter since Mark Prior was in his hay day, and the performance improved his ERA/FIP/xFIP to 3.26/2.92/2.96, and increased his WAR to 3.1. He’s now 16th in FIP in all of baseball, 12th in xFIP, and 12th in WAR. Folks who were worried about him in April looked silly then, and they look really silly now.

 

[CP1708]

So.......Almora, Alcantara, and Olt are all out of the lineups today in the minors...........

Could mean something, could mean nothing.......

 

[af1nike]

Watching this offense struggle is rough :x

 

[arstyle27]

Rizzo bomb.

 

[johnnyredstorm]

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Toronto renting Price. Got a good feeling about this.

 

[CP1708]

If Toronto falls flat, I'm gonna be a wreck in November.

Not only dreaming about Price (like Lester last year) but now giving Theo another first rounder to play with. Had Price stayed in Detroit, we would have lost our pick for signing him.

Bryant, Russell, Schwarber, Soler year 2. Baez, Almora, Happ, CJ Edwards possibly helping out, Torres prime trade chip for a large deadline deal if needed, Rizzo/Starlin age 26 seasons, Price/Arrieta/Lester/Hammel/Hendricks.........

Man.........


See if we make somethin happen with SD tomorrow.

 

[sportsjunkie]

Dan Haren has been traded to the Cubs

 

[arstyle27]

Haren is way past his prime, but its an improvement.

 

[CP1708]

Haren for Ivan Pineyro and Elliott Soto, IE, we gave up nothing, and marginally upgraded our 5th spot in the rotation.

Haren is only under contract for this year, 100% pure rental.


Theo upgrading, but not giving up anything for future.


Alex Wood talk?

 

[johnnyredstorm]

Pretty sure the Dodgers are paying Haren's entire contract as well.

 

[CP1708]

We also traded Junior Lake for RP Tommy Hunter.

So we've added a little more pitching for this year, and kept our farm deep.

November should be outstanding.

 

[CP1708]

There’s another consideration: Lake is out of minor league options after this season. So, if the Cubs had kept him, he would have taken up a spot on the 40-man roster all offseason, and then, if he didn’t make the 25-man big league roster out of Spring Training next year, the Cubs would have to waive him, and risk losing him for nothing.

So, whatever your feelings about the talent swap here on paper, the deal makes a ton of sense.

Pineyro recovered from a forearm injury last year and was actually pitching well at AA this year, but, as I’ve mentioned before: he’s a Rule 5 eligible guy. The Cubs won’t be able to roster them all, so this is what happens

Another sign that Theo is always on the ball. 2 of the 3 minor leaguers he gave up today were guys the Cubs would have lost for nothing anyway inside 9-12 months.

So even if someone isn't blown away by getting Haren and Hunter, Theo literally gave up NOTHING for them, or, 2 guys that would have been lost anyways inside a calendar year.

Bottom line, people tried to pry away some of his minor league system, but he wouldn't deal unless we were getting a great deal out of it. So he stood his ground, and we wait for 2016.


If we can stay in the hunt til the end of the year, that's great progress from last year when we were trying to tank to make sure we kept our top 10 draft pick.

Last year was a step forward
This year has been a step forward
Next year will be another step forward.

Everything is coming into focus.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Solid outing from Hendricks today
Schwarb and Rizz

 

[illmatic34]

The team looks like it's rounding into form. It's gonna be a tight race for that 2nd WC. Giants have cooled off a little and are trailing by a run right now, hopefully that continues.

 

[CP1708]

Soler catch in the 9th.

Rooks are gettin tired, but fightin thru it. 9 games over .500 on August 1? In the toughest division in baseball. I'll take it.

 

[sportsjunkie]

Tommy Hunter throwing the heat last night. fastball 99 mph.. i hope can keep it up, because Motte is kinda struggling.

 

[sportsjunkie]

i'm glad we didn't give up our top prospects at the trade deadline.

 

[sickickz23]

Break out the brooms. Very nice sweep vs Milwaukee. And very important because a real tough week lies ahead

 

[CP1708]

10 games above .500 with Lester/Arrieta comin up.

Keep it goin.

 

[sportsjunkie]

Lester and Arrieta have to be lights out the up coming days. We tied with the Giants for that last wild card spot.

 

[CP1708]

The good news is that, after facing the Cubs, each of the Pirates and Giants go on to play a tough stretch. The Pirates face the Dodgers, Cardinals, Mets, D-Backs, and Giants, before settling into a pretty soft stretch to end the year. After the Cubs, the Giants face the Astros, Nationals, Cardinals, Pirates, Cubs (again), Cardinals and Dodgers. Their schedule also gets softer to end the year, so this may be the stretch where the Cubs need to make a run. (Then again, the Cubs’ schedule is relatively soft from here on out, after previously facing one of the toughest schedules in baseball up to the All-Star break.)

4-3 this week would make me very happy.

3-4 is acceptable, as the schedules will balance over time, and we can recover.

Anything worse, is a cause for concern.

 

[CP1708]

Great start to this one, even tho Russell got thrown out at the plate on a bad send.

3-0, and battering their starter. Arrieta just needs to get thru 7-8 and we're in good shape.

 

[illmatic34]

Arrieta killed today. Easily been our best pitcher so far this year. Great W.