I'll admit, I'm not a stats guy. I just don't care for them but I understand their value in baseball. Just don't expect me to give any. I just go by what I see.

Fowler: B+

He's done a decent job as the leadoff guy but he's suprisingly slow by leadoff man standards. Does a good job keeping the hands in and driving the ball into right and center field. Needs to get on base more, doesn't walk alot.`

Bryant: A

He's the real deal for sure. He's done a solid job defensively at 3rd, in my opinion, eventhough I know some of you disagree. Works alot of counts and has a great eye. Finally starting to drive the ball but he needs to start punishing those mistake pitches in the zone more consistently because he's not going to get alot of them. Pitchers be scurred. I have faith he will.

Rizzo: A+

Top 5 player in the game in this first quarter of the season and an early MVP candidate. Rarely gets fooled and has a great eye. Hits everything hard and should start hitting more home runs soon. I love how he changes his approach with two strikes. Has very quick hands and can still generate pop with hardly any lower body movement. Has been great in the field.

Castro: C

aka Clown Shoes. He's frustrating. Inconsistent in the field. Has good play in the field followed by a stretch of circus acts. He's drove in runs but I still don't trust him with men on because he's a ground ball hitting machine. He can drive the ball but because of his impatience at the plate he'll have alot of moments where he lunges for balls on the outside corner instead of taking it and living to see another pitch. He needs to be better.

Soler: C

aka Cerano. I think that sums up his game pretty well but if you need more he's been average in the field, which was to be expected but he has a hell of an arm. Strong and accurate. Murders fastballs but that's about it. Fuck you, Jabu.

Montero: A

He's small but strong. Drives everything that is low with power. It's always the opposite way too it seems. Handles the pitching staff pretty well too. Needs more playing time.

Ross: D

aka Grey Pubes. He's old and bad but people seem to like him. He's done a good job with Lester the last few starts but I don't see why Montero can't do this.

Castillo: C

Started off decent but rarely plays. He's awful defensively. Should only start vs lefties who rely heavily on their fastball otherwise Montero should still start. Not a good breaking ball hitter.

Coghlan: C+

I like this guy. Ideally he'd be a bench guy but he does a solid job in left. Has good pop and hits the ball hard more times than not but man, is this guy unlucky or what? Seems like he hits everything right to someone. He needs to stop flailing around on pitches just off the plate inside as if he was about to get hit, it annoys me but that's just personal. He's done a solid job defensively.

Russell: B

Slow, slow start with the bat and in the field but he's adjusted nicely. Has a quick bat and hits towards the gaps. Has a decent eye that keeps improving. He's very good defensively and will be moved to shortstop eventually. Expect a better grade at mid-season.

Herrera: N/A

Haven't seen him enough this season.

Olt: N/A

Haven't seen him enough.

Alcantra: F

Watching this guy try to hit was painful, especially off speed stuff. Watching him try hit a change up is like watching my girlfriend try to hit in The Show.

Scuzar: C

He's okay, I guess. Not bad for a guy you can call up from the minors when you need him. Inconsistent hitter who struggles reading pitches but has good speed and is reliable in the field.

Deforia: N/A

Haven't seen him enough.

Lester: C+

Awful start to the season but has calmed down. His breaking stuff is awesome but if he misses his spot with the fastball it gets hit hard and far. Been improving locating that fastball with every start. Expect a better grade at mid-season

Arrieta: B+

Only two meh starts but two is too many for me. Breaking stuff is good but he has moments where he leaves too much up in the zone. But overall, he's been good. Has a way better beard than IMU.

Hammel: A-

He's had his moments too but for your #3 he's done a great job. He has suprisingly sharp stuff so he can get away with mistakes sometimes. The good thing is, he doesn't make too many at a given time. He'd be an ideal #4 on a legit staff.

Wood: F

Just awful. Every game he pitches feels like an auto loss. His fastball blows, his breaking stuff blows. He can't locate any pitches. You can't locate and leave everything up and everything goes bye bye. Hopefully he goes bye bye soon too or stays in the pen.

Hendrick: F

Ground ball pitcher who makes too many mistakes up. What could possibly go wrong?

Rosscup: C

Has good stuff but is inconsistent with his location. Yet another Cub pitcher who leaves too much stuff up in the zone.

Schlitter: F

aka The Hippie. Unlike Hendrick who makes too many mistakes up, this guy leaves literally everything up. Bum.

Coke: F

This guy has no stuff and should be on his way out soon.

Motte: C-

Fastball pitcher who is past his prime. Can still get the job done, but can also totally fuck everything up as well. I at least have some hope for him though.

Grimm: C

Wicked curve ball but it's random where it goes. I expect him to improve.

Jackson: F

Can't locate the zone and his breaking stuff doesn't break. I'm pretty sure that's not how it's suppose to work.

Russell: N/A

Haven't seen him enough.

Strop: C-

The set up man should be setting up the closer, not setting up the other team for late inning rallies. Strong Marmol vibes from him. Has great stuff but no control, can't locate with any consistency. Started off strong but teams started laying off his slider and forced him to throw fastballs in the zone. Hopefully he improves.

Rondon: C+

Has good stuff but relies too much on his fastball at times. When he has confidence in his breaking stuff he's pretty damn good. Expect a better grade at mid-season.

Bryant stinks at 3rd. A butcher.

This is about right. Perhaps a little bullish in places (Rizzo isn't a top 5 player in MLB) but at least you identify two guys (Montero and Fowler) who are carrying the team but not as members of The Plan.

Also, Coughlan's grade is too high. He's a good bench guy. It's time to call up Schwarber and toss him in left.

Who cares about his catching. We need his bat so we can lock up the division in mid-September.

The Cubs FO is literally obsessed with value. Bryant is more valuable at 3rd than LF, even though he'd be a much better overall player in LF. Schwarber is near-destined to play the OF but they dont want to cede that until they absolutely have to.

It's a bad organizational philosophy.

I meant to give Coghlan a regular ass C. I like his approach at the plate, he has just been really unlucky. Can't fault him for that. Ideally he'd be a back up and the Cubs go to pinch hitter vs righties.

Bryants baserunning has been A+ and has impacted a number of games directly.

And Rizzo is not top 5 in the game, but perfect fit for the Cubs right now.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Rizzo is fifth in OPS, sixth in WAR, third in offensive WAR, second in OBP, has 8 steals, fifth in adjusted OPS+, second in runs created, third in Power-Speed, and is number one in Win Probability Added.

Through six weeks, he is Top 5.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

where have you been ALL the Sox fans say Avi and Abreu are both better than Rizzo so that leaves only three spots for Harper, Trout, Miggy and then you have to probably make room for Sale and Robertson so Rizzo can not be higher than 8th.

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You will be very happy you gave Montero all that time off when you get to the second half of the year.

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

My Cub Grades:

Rich Renteria: A+ stand-up guy!

Joe Maddon: F-...He's a back stabbing bitch!

Theo=F-....Nothing is worth pissing away 3 years of crap for no matter how many times you guys tell yourselves it is!

As for the team as a whole,very impressed...GO CUBS!

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

pasta



U crack me up ...I do agree ...sucking intentionally is weak and unacceptable for a major market franchise....but ya gotta give credit to Epstein.. He's drafted well ...Hendry/wilken would have drafted scrubs..no matter the pick ...the cubs future is lookn good n we should sit back n enjoy .

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And comparing renteria to maddon is like comparing Walter Payton to matt forte.

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Harper, Trout, Cain, Cabrera, Giancarlo. You can mix and match a little with Stanton but Rizzo isn't part of that discussion.

The fact that you would list Stanton and Cain over Goldschmidt or Adrian Gonzalez doesn't help your stance much.

Anyway, stats don't lie. Rizzo is top 5 in MLB so far this season.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Ya gotta specify hitters or pitchers...if its any mlb player ..hell no .

King Felix is 1

Miggy 2

Trout 3

Tulowitzki 4

Posey 5

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Bases on what?

Renteria only had one chance with a terrible team. Maddon has also managed terrible teams. Let's face it,no matter the manager,it comes down to horses in the stable.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Adrian Gonzalez and Anthony Rizzo are the exact same player. Gonzalez has been a little better than Rizzo in all facets but not by some remarkable stretch. They are both first basemen who hit the ball.

Cain is an elite defender (some of the best OF play EVER to start a season) who also has an OPS well over .800. Cain is also a terror on the basepaths. Stanton is a monster. These guys are a tier above Rizzo and its not up for debate. Most of them play premium positions at an exceptionally high level.

Your strategy is to just shoehorn Cubs players into realms they do not belong (almost hyperbolically) and then use the ensuing debate as a way to legitimize the outrageous cliams you make.

My strategy is to be right, so the ensuing debate is easy.

Stanton is hitting .250 with a pedestrian OPS. Cain's defense does not make up for his significantly inferior offensive prowess. Pick whichever metric you like to judge this...you won't find one that takes your side.

Your bias prevents you from stating the obvious.

I had no problem stating Abreu was a Top 5 talent last season, when he had stats worse than Rizzo has now.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

At this point last season (just before the DL trip) Abreu was crushing the league. He was the best hitter in baseball this time last year, something Harper is now (and figures to be for a very long time).

Stanton gets in the top 5 because he's been a monster the past few seasons and one month doesn't knock him out of the elite tier. The same way one great month for Rizzo doesn't put him even the discussion with the likes of Trout and Miggy.

You guys are arguing two different things. You're arguing the top 5 you'd want moving forward vs the top 5 in production so far.

Rizzo has been top 5 so far in production this season, but is not in the top 5 I'd take moving forward. But he's close.

Yet in no point of last season did Abreu have the OPS that Rizzo has. His high point was 1.003. On May 17th 2014 (the day before he went on the DL) he had a .908 OPS. That is far below Rizzo's current OPS.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

I might take Goldschmidt over Rizzo for 1B.

I would not take Cabrera, Felix Hernandez, Tulowitzki, Posey, Cain, or Stanton over Rizzo going forward.

I'd take Trout. And I am undecided on Harper. Playing amazingly at the moment, but he has had too many years of not living up to hype. He is still young, so I don't know if this is a coming out party or just a good few weeks,

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/instagra ... era-at-22/

IMU is seriously fucking delusional.

You have to consider position importance, anybody can play 1st .

Catcher , s.s. / c.f. are just more important and harder to field .

King Felix
Max scherzer ...both proven winners , nice track record .

Posey is the best catcher in mlb .

Troy tulo is a perennial MVP candidate n great glove . again.. Proven track record .

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Harper over rizzo is an easy decision .

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