This team was given an easy opponent for the NLCS and failed badly. What do we need?

Not an easy opponent.

But they did not get the job done.

There go the diehards...

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I'm a realist.

Great season but I don't believe in miracles.

They need to pony up for a top of the rotation pitcher.

Will they??

My first move is Bryant to either LF or CF. Next year have Baez/LaStella share time at 3rd. I hold my breath everytime Bryant touches the ball.

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

Schwarber in LF is a disaster.

HOWEVER

He is supremely white, a B1G tboy and from Indiana which is what Wrigleyville sees when it looks itself in the mirror. Have fun with it Cubs fans.

We will!

I see the Cubs spending like the Yankees in the offseason. They will land 1 or 2 big name starters.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

They need 2 starting pitchers and a CF. You're entering next season with only 2 pitchers Maddon trusts. You might be able to survive with Hendricks as your 5, but you need to add 2 other starts, with one possible being your new #1. Dexter won't be back, so you need a CF and leadoff man. I would like to see a lights out closer like Kimbrel added as well.

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Fuck Edwards and Zobrist

I expect it and thats great, also see the Bullpen get much better...all that said...

Gonna make a run at Heyward....and if that actually pans out.....it will be the time of making the really tough choices. Is Kyle your Lf? Is Bryant your 3B? Baez? Soler? they are some decent problems to have, but you need to pick a lane....we all knew it was coming...and we are now here.

Mets have outplayed cubs and I make no excuses for them winning the games. Bad call, HGH, timely hitting. Mets have taken this one.

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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.’”

Biggie, you expect the Cubs to go after Heyward?

If they are going to spend a ton of money wouldn't it make more sense to go after another big time pitcher?

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

I wouldn't bitch about HGH when it's obvious to everyone in the world that Bryant is off his cycle.

I hope Theo isn't enamored with all the young players and is able to trade for some young arms

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

Good thing LF is absolutely a position any able bodied player can learn and become competent

Even better that the DH is coming in 2 years anyway

Anyway, if Kyle Schwarber is a problem, he's a good problem to have

I wouldn't be surprised if Schwarber was dealt to the AL. He's looking like a major defensive liability.

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Why would they do that? He's likely to be the must overpriced guy on the market. The reason Atlanta moved him was because they didn't know how to price him. He's a guy the size of a mountain who has no power. Yeah, his defense on the outfield corners is great, for what that's worth. And I suppose if you're a Cub fan you think it's worth a whole lot more than it really is right now after watching the adventures of Kyle Schwarber last night. But the Cubs are loaded with outfielders that have to play.

Let me give you a realistic summary from an outsider who isn't emotionally invested in this team. The lineup they've been sending out in this postseason is a tough lineup for a pitcher to go through. Every single motherfucker can hit one on the deck at any time. With the Mets, the pitcher has to game plan for Cespedes. With the White Sox the pitcher has to game plan for Abreu. With the Cubs, I think Bryant is that lineup centerpiece, but how the fuck can you game plan for him when he's surrounded by guys who will ride your best fastball into the stands the minute you take a deep breath?

And all this talk of breaking the bank on another long term deal for a 30 year old pitcher, well, if Theo is half as smart as everyone believes he is that will never happen. You do that, you're creating a window for winning that doesn't currently exist. The end of your possibilities will be in sight when you know you're going to be paying Lester and Price in their late thirties, not to mention Arrieta, and all these young bats are hitting their prime arb years. It's just economic suicide.

Epstein's biggest strength has been finding cheap starting pitching that succeeds beyond what anyone thought. Up until now he's been flipping those guys for prospects. That's something he no longer has to do. I'd look for him to sign a guy like Leake or Gallardo, maybe Buchholz if Boston doesn't pick up his option. Those guys might not be "cheap", but they'll be a lot less than Price or Greinke. Pierce Johnson will be ready soon. There's no reason to make big splash free agent moves. And no reason for Cub fans to start screaming if they don't.

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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

I could see him being traded but I could also see the line of thinking that you dont give up a left handed power bat like that.

Im not the biggest Schwarber guy here but Im sure he can learn to be average in the OF, which is all he would need to be.

It's not like we've seen him play a whole lot, but he looks much more comfortable in right than he does in left.

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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

That's why I think Samardzija is still a possibility.

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Agreed

Also I think if they spend money it might be on the bullpen, since Super Bullpens are all the rage now

Have Ricketts or Theo been quoted as saying they will be in the market for a $200M pitcher this off season? I do not recall that. I do know that the plan is to get pitching to augment the bats per the plan but I have never seen it as a give it will be a top free agent super money guy.

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Elections have consequences.

I'd almost rather see him get more time behind the plate, if that's where he's played most of his life. I don't see him even becoming average in the OF -- though I'm probably overweighting last night's disastrous performance...the fact he couldn't come close to throwing out Wright tagging from first on a pop fly showed he was mentally shot.

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Shark and...?

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Not a mult.

Yeah, but signing bullpen guys always scares me. I would never pay Zach Duke the way the Sox did. And the Cubs might have the makings of a good bullpen already with the emergence of Wood as a reliever and by taking a flier on Cahill. But who knows with these guys year to year? Their sample isn't big enough to really know. They get in an unhittable groove for 25 innings and get big money and they often aren't as great as they seemed.

One other thing that should be mentioned, and it isn't really a Cubs issue but more about the state of the game in general. I hear a lot of people get excited about "how young" the Cubs are. And yeah, obviously they're a young team. But I believe the way a lot of people view the game is a remnant from the steroid era. Young guys have always been the best players except for those anomalous seasons when the ball and the players were juiced from the early 90s to about the mid-2000s. That's when guys in their late 30s ruled the game. Traditionally, when guys have crossed 30, their careers have gone downhill. A 24 or 25 year old guy isn't really "young". He's in his prime. And if you look around, it's not like the Cubs are some special case. There are young guys making noise everywhere. That's the way it always was for most of the history of baseball.

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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

I agree with you. I don't see them going after Heyward.

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

He drops balls hit directly to him

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

Do you think he is incapable of playing mediocre LF?

Im fairly certain he (and any MLB player) could

Word appears to be out that teams should run on his arm, as well.

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

I wouldn't go after Heyward but they need more contact hitters in that lineup. Maybe in a trade.
Also if they got a mid-level starter or 3,that would be great. They were lucky they had no major injuries with SP this year as they had no depth.

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