not in the same way as your description but the Royals just did that last off season for James Shields and Wade Davis

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

Agree with GD.

James Shield is in his prime and while not elite, is certainly a top tier pitcher with plenty of skins on his wall.

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

Do you think the Royals will re-sign him? I do not. The Cubs will re-sign their top tier acquired player.

What's your next awful point?

Are you sure?

See: Garza, Matt

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Not an Epstein acquisition. Also past two season he's had two injuries taking him out for months. If Cubs signed him to a long-term deal GD would be the 1st to declare the contract Lackey part dos.

You say that with such assurance after citing a story in previous posts about management not having the money to sign top free agents.

However the point was that the move is another way that they are analogous to the Royals.

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

All elite pitchers are in the top tier but not all top tier pitchers are elite. That is a simple concept.

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

You don't think James Shields is in the top 5% of the 400-500 pitchers that grace an MLB roster each year (including September call ups)? That is, of course, if I was somehow bound by the admittedly arbitrary definition you posted.

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

CJ Edwards....5 dominant innings again for Daytona. Vogelbach and Bryant both with hits tonight so far.

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

MinorLeagueBlog ‏@MinorLeagueBlog 7m #Cubs Javier Baez with his 30th Home Run. 13th at AA Tennessee

Baez struggling was the best thing that could have happened to him. It sounds like he went in to work with his AA hitting coach with an open mind and has really gotten better from it. He isn't Dunning it with bombs and k's now. He has really done well with TN after the initial power/k surge.

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

Dillon Maples has been absolutely shoving in Boise. ERA at 0.96. 9 k's so far in 6 IP tonight and only 1 hit allowed so far. He was completely lost in KC but it had more to do with control then getting hit around. I wonder what the breakthrough was.

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

I'm closing on a property in Cooperstown next Tuesday. Once the Cubs expansion happens in twenty years, I might even allow a Good Dolphin to visit.

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Shoving?

I have to ask Brett Taylor. He told me this property is going to be worth A TON in a couple years.

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It's a beautiful area and a really nice town. I would visit you often...with a full family in tow. Hey Drop In, SHITTERS FULL!

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

Baez with a 2R walk off for TN tonight. Guy is on a tear.

Bryant and Baez will be playing at Wrigley next June. Book it.

Baez might get a 2nd half call up if he tears up AAA. Bryant won't be any higher than AA to start next year. These are both late season call ups at best.

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

Late season call up at worst.

this is a great time to be a cubs fan. the product on the field right now isn't utterly devoid of hope, and it seems like some of these can't miss prospects are going to make up for the jerome waltons, dwight smiths, mike harkeys, corey pattersons, and of course..... kevin ories of the universe!

what, did you think i was going to say felix pie? hell naw. that dude offended my baseball sensibilities insomuchas when i see the back of his jersey and it says "PIE" you're not going to get me to say "PEE-A" until you're hitting a suitably dangerous .280 with all of the SABRtastic fixins.

naw, seriously though this isn't some of that typical oldschool expo on cub hatred.... honestly, i think they've done a good job of loading up on young dynamic assets (save pitching, but then again it's far more likely to get a .500ish/+ team with a grindy lot of position players and good enough pitching so i'd allow that ~3-4 years to come together as a farm system) to where, devoid of those goddamned championship expectations, it's been a pretty enjoyably product to watch over in the friendly confined st. theo de intelligentsia petri dish.

junior lake is the appetizer to the main course of cubs prospects a-gogo. hopefully these kids don't lose their cool once they get up here cuz there's some bonafide !!! down on the farm.

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I read this as "bonafide chk-chk-chk."

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Tommy Birch ‏@TommyBirch 9m Brett Jackson's woes at AA Tennessee continue. Hitting just .179 with 20 strikeouts in 56 at-bats. #Cubs #IowaCubs #PCL

We can probably stop updating on Brett Jackson.

Talk about regressing. This guy's season defines nightmare.

Him and Mike Olt went from top 50 prospect to possibly never making the majors in one quick season.

Mike Olt will be in the majors in roughly two weeks.

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Team Cutler.

Olt hasn't gotten a hit in roughly two weeks. They cannot promote a guy who is hitting .115. If they do, they might as well promote everyone in the system.

Jackson looks like a prime White Sox prospect. Call Kenny!

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest