6 years left

fuck.

If Harper doesn't come here then more $$$ for everyone else. Win win.

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Anyone scare you in the division next year?

Also how's Lester going to be next year. A year older and it seemed like his arm got really tired end of this season.

The Brewers.

Lester is just about finished. Below .500 next year.

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Lester will be fine. Cards have money to spend. Brewers may regress do to a lack of pitching.

Lester is 33. Has pitched over 2,100 innings in his career. Pitched deep into the playoffs MANY times. He was never right this year, and started to break down towards the end of the season.

We are entering the bad money part of his deal.

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ya i see a lot of potential holes next year in the starting rotation :

Lester - getting old
Jake - gone
Lackey - retiring
Hendricks - can he stay healthy for a full year?
Q - right now the only guy you can say is good for next year

This is how it works in baseball. You can only go as far as your pitching can take you and nothing ruins pitchers like the postseason. Two years ago the Mets had the best young rotation in the game, now it's a smoldering heap.

You won. It doesn't even matter anymore.

One more with this core group would be pleasant.

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See if Boston will trade Sale for Schwarber.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Schwarber is still more valuable than Soler was last year and we got Wade Davis for him.

But they arent trading him, imo. Although, maybe now that they have Happ, they can.


You dont necessarily need an old school lead off guy, just another high obp guy to stick in the lineup. Could be a middle of the order guy. Doesnt matter.

Hendricks
Quintana
Lester
Free Agent
Montgomery

I actually wish Jake would take 4/120 . I could live with the top 4 in the rotation with him.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

We have enough bats. Almora and Jay are the only people who should be leading off next season.

Pitching is by far the biggest fucking priority this offseason.

Oh, and getting the fuck rid of Zobrist. Goddamn he was awful this year.

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Zobrist hits good pitching well. Need someone like that.

Bro, it's over. Don't be like Maddon, and hang on to your Zobrist love for too long. The guy is 36. Look at these numbers for 2017 compared to the rest of his career. Time to move on.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/z/zobribe01.shtml

And if you're trying to tell me you don't have confidence in the young core to be able to hit good pitching then we need to burn this whole thing down and start over again.

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No, Zobrist is done.

Im saying the ability to hit elite/high velocity pitching is a skill (and like Fredrick Douglas, its getting more and more recognition). That's part of the reason Zobrist was targeted and on 2 different World Series Winners.

They need a guy like that. Someone to replace what Zobrist was at his best.

I thought they had unlimited resources to spend on anything they want.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

My take...

Zobrist - if he wants 60 starts a year its time to move on. Great bench bat and you could do worse as your last man on the bench/ first pinch hitter.

Heyward - No reason to push him out of town. Contract is a sunk cost at this point. Still a great glove in the outfield. If you are sacrificing fielding with Schawber or Happ, helps to have a ++ glove.

Lester - Bad money part of his contract, no doubt. But I see his skill set aging fairly well. Throws strikes and knows how to pitch. If Lackey can hang on until 37 why can't he.

Arietta - He won't age as well as lester as he nibbles too much. Gets by too much on having better stuff than the batter can hit. Even at 4/100 I see it as bad money. Just let it go.

Bullpen - Buy all of the arms. Take the 25M a year for arietta and but 3 8M a year relievers.

The problem they have is the have gone for it for 3 years running and the cupboards are barren. They no longer have minor league bullets to spend for next year. Hopefully soon their debt restrictions are lifted and they can simply outspend and accept bad contracts to plug gaps.

Harper/Stanton - Have to get one of them.

It all hinged on a Scott Walker Presidency.

I thought you got Wade Davis because the team that traded him had salary issues? At least that is what you said yesterday...

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Yes, of course. You think Wade Davis is equal to Jorge Soler?

Im saying, look at what can be done with guys who you think dont have much value.

I wonder how much buyer's remorse Cub administration will have over the second half trades this year. They gave up a lot of talent. Now, both Quintana and Wilson are controllable for several more years and may yet be part of winning seasons in the future. However, on the short term, I'm not sure they make either of those trades knowing what they know today.

I expect Wilson to have a very good bounce back year next year. He didn't just become bad overnight.

I also expect Quintana to be the Cub #1 pitcher over the next three years

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Jeter seems motivated to get Stanton off the books in Miami. Schwarber, Happ, and something might be enough to get that done for them considering the massive contract the Cubs would have to take on.

If by "something" you mean Kris Bryant, then maybe.

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You underestimate Jeter's desire to rid himself of $300M. No one else is taking that contract.

Now there is the Cubbie Fan spirit.

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Elections have consequences.

You underestimate the value of "Scwharber, Happ, and something."

Also, I do not believe for a second that Ricketts is going to pay $50 million a season for 2/3 of his outfield.

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You miscontrue what I am saying. I am not saying that Schwarber, Happ, and something are equal to Stanton. I'm saying that Jeter is basically mandating trading Stanton who has a massive contract that very few, if any, teams will take on. The question then becomes, what team will give up more than Schwarber, Happ, and something for Stanton and that contract. I don't think too many.

Both are still on rookie contracts for a long, long time. Both have big time power. Happ can play all over the field and is a switch hitter. Marlins replace one starter, with two who they will pay $1M for instead of $30M. That's right up the alley of what Jeter is trying to do.

Now will those two together equal Stanton. No. But Jeter probably won't care since he wants to strip about $50M worth of payroll off the books.

That pitching staff is in need of immediate attention. Whatever depth they have in position players will be needed in trade to shore that up.