I was checking the box score of this game. Kenny's LSU football player Jared Mitchell is leading off for the Barons!!!! How the hell is this guy still around. I feel like he has been in AA or AAA for the last 4 years.

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

Just another great minor leaguer. OPS .300 points higher than Javy Baez. I know you're jealous. Wait until he gets to the majors and the Plan is complete. It's gonna be great.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

If you ignore Mitchell's 53 games at AAA this year you would be correct.

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Embarrassing. A word of advice would be to stop and think about how dumb it sounds to call any championship team with 99 wins a "lucky year".

By the way, since the Sox won it, exactly one World Series participant had more than 97 wins.

Good trade for the Cubs though. I'm still not sure I like the idea of trading a guy who could easily be your starting pitcher in game 2 of a playoff series but they seemed to get some good prospects. It's just weird to see people thinking that Billy Beane is an idiot. I guess it's not just Hawk.

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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!

Rays were offered Russell+ for David Price and said "no".
So the two most successful small-market/moneyball franchises in MLB
have both said "no" to the next Barry Larkin/future HOFer Addison Russell being in their organizations.
And the Rays could really use a shortstop prospect. Hmmm.

I thought the Rays have the Cubs old SS prospect Hak Ju Lee or whatever the fuck his name was.

Price is one of the most recognizable/marketable players in the game and he is a #1. He is better than Shark so why shouldn't they demand more??

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

Looks like Lee's another can't miss prospect who went bust.

Cubs sent 2 pitchers to the A's vs just Price?

It's not like the A's couldn't have sweetened the offer for Price.

But the centerpiece of the A's deal for either Shark/Hammel or Price alone was Russell.

And the Rays said "No".

I think most people would rather have Price than Shark/Hammel. I would.

They overplayed their hand. They thought they could get what they got for Shields. Whoops

True. I wouldn't be surprised to see them ultimately get a very similar return than they passed on in Russell. They may be eyeing someone else. Hell, Cubs could be interested in Price.

Bucky did you see this from the Plain Dealer:

That is essentially the same exact package. Top-15 SS prospect, 1st round outfielder, and talented but struggling young pitcher. This one is better than A's I feel but nearly exact same framework.

Or they are afraid they'd get what they got for Shields.

Odorizzi is 4-7 with a 4.20 ERA and 1.35 WHIP . He is K'ing 10+ per 9, but also walking 4 per 9.

Mike Montgomery's pitching well down in the minors. But he's still in the minors and approaching 26.

Wil Myers has fallen off a cliff after winning ROY (only 88 games last season tho):

.227/.313 /.354 .666 OPS

I think Wil Myers is caught in the adjustment game right now. Same as Rizzo was. Same as countless batters before them. When all is said and done, I think Myers will be decent.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Samardzija is undefeated for Oakland. He is an infinitely winning pitcher when on a good team.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Wil Myers had a crazy high BABIP last season, .362. He's below league average (.300) on BABIP this season, .282. But even another 18 points on BABIP still leaves him with a below .700 OPS..

And Wil Myers has a high strike out rate, ~25%. Guys with a high strike out rate who don't put the ball in the seats regularly are going to struggle to make it north of .700 OPS.

Myers also has double the league average for infield hits. ~12% of his hits are infield hits, vs ~6% for the league.

True. He has never been faced with a pressure situation though. Playoff baseball will be all new to Shark. I wish him all the best. Hammel too.

Samardzija pitched an inning in the 2008 NLDS.

Actually, he's 3-3 pitching for good teams.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

We don't count bullpen records.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

No, its always a joke when someone says 900 runs. You want Cub fans to fit into the stereotype you've built for them so you jump all over someone when the hyperbole was completely obvious

That's not reality

Here's what happens

The Cubs made a trade

Cub fan: The guy they got is ranked high. That's good. Hope it works out

Sox Fan: MAGIC THEO strikes again llolololololol

Cub fan: Nobody said he was Magic

JORR: You GUARANTEED the Cubs would score 1200 runs next year

Cub fan: I was joking

JORR: NO YOU WERENT

No one ever says anything like that.

You're just not being honest at this point

There are people saying that. Do you not remember the 90s Braves comparison?

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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!

Im sorry. One guy here said that. He seems to be a tiny majority.

Anyway, whatever people want to think about Cub fans is fine with me. Its obvious what the truth is.

JORR was basically paraphrasing Scooter though.

Just because you are the rare rational Cubs fan doesn't mean most of them are.

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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!

That's pretty much the whole thing summed up nicely. One guy says something and it is projected across the entire fan base.

Im not rare.

Dennis and Scooter are 2 out of tlike 30 regular Cub posters.

Anwyay, this seems like a good deal. Id think Castro or Baez get dealt now

Note his use of the term "no one". That is why I brought it up.

However, you probably aren't the one to fight against the irrational exuberance of Cubs fans as I'm pretty sure you are at the front of the line to worship Theo.

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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!

Yea, true. I'm glad the Cubs have theo. But I can also personally account for a lot of my Cubs fans friends who hate Theo and hate the plan and want him fired. The "worship" isn't as prevalent as you and others make it out to be.

And I love that you and JORR feel the need to play "thought police" about optimism for a sports team. As though enjoying and feeling excited/optimistic about a sports team is the worst thing of all time... Something only an idiot would do. Anytime someone says something positive, you guys jump all over it ripping that thought apart. It's odd that you guys aren't able to let anything positive about the Cubs be posted to the board.