They will trade Bellinger

2yr/29 mil

I guess this is fine as a back of rotation starter and you can never have enough, but still makes no sense that they wouldn't be in on Soto.

Because Soto wants to play for a winner.

cheapo's signing tier 4 players

hasn't thrown 100 innings in five years, so even if he is good he will have to be managed in the second half of the year

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

It's a signal that Cade Horton is going to spend all of 2025 at Iowa after last year's injury. Horton needs to pitch 4 innings every Saturday in an environment where he can work on his endurance and his mistakes won't matter. And most importantly, his service time clock won't start.

Boyd will give them the 110 IP they had planned on from Horton before he got hurt. Some 5 inning starts in the first half of the year and then the bullpen as a 2-inning guy.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Jed and his giant fucking starched collar needs to do something to shake up this .500 tired as veteran group he has assembled. They clearly aren't good enough to make the playoffs but everyone on the roster is too good to be replaced. If Shaw doesn't start on opening day in Japan Jed should walk home from Japan.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

There is no reason that Shaw, Paredes, and Hoerner should not be fighting to job-share 2B/3B. They can play matchups based on their own starting pitcher (Hoerner sits if fly ball Imanaga and Taillon are starting), the ballpark (Paredes sits if the wind is blowing in), and the opposing starter (maybe ease Shaw in against true top-50 starters and let him beat up on #4/#5 starters to get confidence).

There are 1200 PA between 2B/3B, and another 100 for giving Swanson and Busch days off (Hoerner to SS or Paredes to 1B). So that's 300 PA for the worst of the three, and 500 PA for the other two. And it means not seeing Miles Mastrobuoni on the bench unless one of the five infielders is hurt.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

He will not be good.

If he's their 5th starter, he just has to give them 5 IP and 2 ER most starts.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

He's thrown 110 over the last TWO years.

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

He's probably a #4 or #5 type starter. I don't mind it if it's now a given that a team will need to have 7 or 8 starters to get through a season, but this can't/shouldn't be one of your major moves, especially given the lack of star power on this team.

That's a huge ask out of this bum.

I'm sadly disappointed none of the loyal Cub fans have predicted a Cy Young for this dope pitcher.

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Elections have consequences.

there's no way he's not motivated to build a good team. He's in the last year. So you really have to question who's calling the shots here in terms of the pocketbook.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

At least we get two more years of the Pat and Ron show.

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

Pat will always be a Brewers guy to me. But he's a nice summertime voice.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

Same here. That is why I was surprised to learn he has called way more Cubs games than Brewers.

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

Hoyer going to do anything soon? He needs to make a trade this week. Rumor is they're going after Carson Kelley. whoopie doo.

Kyle Tucker ? What do the Cubs have to trade for him?

Keep hearing this rumored trade w/ the Mariners - Bellinger and Hoerner for a M's starter - that sounds more like a Hoyer trade.

Dansby announces he just had hernia surgery without Cubs’ knowledge, and Cubs brass all say they are fine with that.

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From what I read the surgery was not a surprise, but the fact that he played through having the issue without them knowing.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Seems like they are going to keep the payroll about where it's at, but need to move Bellinger to have flexibility (money) to make other moves.

More pitching is the focus, but unless they surprise everyone, they are leaning on beefing up the pitching depth as their primary means to improve. If they trade Bellinger, even if he was sort of average last season, where is the star production coming from? Who are they replacing him with?

Bellinger to the Yankees seems way to perfect, especially since Judge is moving to right.

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2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

Heyman is now linking the Cubs/Yankees to Kyle Tucker if the Astros trade him.

Assuming the Astro's want young talent in return, the Cubs should be able to outbid the Yankees, but would they take Bellinger in a deal if the Cubs are giving him away?

Just saw an SI report that the Cubs and Yankees have discussed a Bellinger trade but the Cubs want the Yankees to take on just about all of the salary while the Yankees want to take on significantly less than that. I'm sure they'll get it worked out eventually.

If its true I am good with Smith and Paredes for Tucker. Paredes was fucking awful at the plate and at 3rd after they got him. You never know for sure but I have a feeling Smith is going to max out as Patrick Wisdom. He will hit some big dongs but also make 12 outs in a row in between them. If they do this they can't be done though. Now there are too many guys in the OF and no one at 3rd other than the rule 5 kid and Miles. Belli will probably be gone to the Yanks for some prospect package. I would still look for them to do something outside of the box and buy low on Bo Bichette to play 3rd.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Smith is going to hurt, but they have five positional prospects and no place to play three of them. I would rather give up Smith than Alcantara. I was hoping it would be Ballesteros, but with the Astros having a legitimate MVP-caliber DH in Yordan Alvarez that wasn't going to work.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Hell yes. Don't stop, Jed.