All this talebt, and all this talk about sustained success, and here Cubs fans are saying go ahead and spend $300+ million on pitching.

What a plan.

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Not that Im a staunch defender of any plan but is there a team that relies solely on home grown talent ? Is the plan supposed to fill 27 roster spots internally? Get enough good players, fill out the rest via free agents and or trades. Pretty sure Theo has said they pretty much ignored drafting pitchers and would fill that in via free agency. Thats wrong?

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Trade Soler, Castro, Baez, Schwarber?!

WTF?!

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I propose these kinds of trades all the time in fantasy football and no one seems overwhelmed.

"Hey Oakland, we'll give you 10 marginal AAA players for your Cy Young caliber pitcher."

I don't want it to seem like I am singling you out cp because there has been a few of these posts. Yours is better than others.

I've seen a few Vogelbachs. He is a Rule 5 this year so he is most likely not a Cub on April 1.

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

I think Theo's (and Ricketts') idea of filling in with free agent pitchers might be a little different than the fans' idea though. Not that I don't think the Cubs will drop big money on a free agent pitcher here and there. They already have with Lester. I just don't believe they're going to have two or three starting pitchers all over 34 and making $20 million plus each at the same time. And if they do, I don't think you will be pleased with the results.

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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

The problem is about five of the guys you mention, no one wants. A good rule of thumb: If you think it's a package of junk that you don't care about, no team is likely to want it either.

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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

Agreed, Vogel, Alcantara and Szczur are not getting anything.

The other 4 mentioned have some value.

Vogel has value as a DH/OBP guy and Szcur is a good 4/5th outfielder. Alcantara admittedly regressed last year so he is more in the throw in category.

Remember OAK needs cheap talent.

As has been posted Vogelbach is probably gone and 4-5 outfielders are worth nothing. Every team has a bunch of Matt Szcur's

Castro isn't cheap and the others aren't talent

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

Szczur is an interesting guy though and showed power last year, has excellent speed, and can play all OF spots.

He can be sold to a Billy Beane as a useful part again as part of a big package.

OAK can flip Castro.

I would love to sign Sonny Grey, I think he'd be our best pitcher.. Nobody wants Alcantara or Sczur ..Baez and Soler and Almora might get it done.

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Well Im certainly not pleased with the big one they signed so far thats for sure.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

or the one before that

Theo's free agency work is, in general, spotty with the biggest failures coming with the biggest contracts.

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

He ain't no Kenny/Hahn...

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I was initially targeting Price as the guy they should sign. but given the projected salary and the number of innings he has logged in his career, as well as playoff ineptitude, I'm willing to accept other options. Zimmerman would be good, with a 2nd guy like Lackey or Leake added still might be cheaper (or close anyway) to what Greinke or Price wind up getting. Then, with Arrieta and Lester, the Cubs would have a legitimate playoff rotation. I like depth on the roster, so while trades should also be explored, I don't want to see the depth gone to any great extent. Injuries are a big part of most seasons and it's huge to have guys that can be plugged in for extended periods of time and be relied upon.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Please share this with Theo and Jed at the next meeting.
It will save everyone some time.

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You're right, it should put their minds at ease.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Soler and/or Baez will be the trade bait. Both are at the tipping point where they turn from prospect to suspect. Rizzo and Schwarber are going nowhere.

I'm sure about that too.

_________________
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

All this talk about "playoff rotation", "we need a 3rd starter in the playoffs" blah blah blah. The last time I checked, the Cubs (overall) pitched pretty well this season and won 97 games. Its going to be hard to top that next year, or the year after.

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so theo and jed should just quit trying to improve the rotation?

They did. And they can still do better. Especially in the playoffs.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

I never said they should stop trying to make the club better. That's a lazy conclusion to come up with, Kirkwood.

There are some Cubs fans who feel that a sustained run is imminent if not promised for the Cubs. That is simply not the case. There could easily be a scenario (Mack) where the Cubs win 92 or 93 games next year, and miss the playoffs entirely. The Cardinals and Pirates aren't going anywhere. The Dodgers have an endless supply of payroll and the Giants are still really damn good. The Mets are great and play in a division that is worse than the Cubs do. And then, speaking of the NL East, you have the Nationals. That team still has a ton of talent and could put together a great run next season. You also saw the flip side of that with how the Nats did this year. Now I'm not saying that it is very likely for the Cubs finish under .500 next year, but you get a couple of guys that don't like eachother (this happens on all teams, even the beloved Cubbies) and throw in a couple of injuries, and an 80 win team next year is possible. Again, not very likely, but it could happen.

I think this year's playoffs maybe showed some people that the Cubs have quite a bit of work to do in order to become a legit Championship contender. Next year's (or 2017's) playoffs are promised to nobody.

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Frank.. Would you care to wager 500$ that Cubs make the playoffs in 2016?

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This is reasonable, and it's not to say that Cub fans shouldn't enter next season (especially since it's likely that they will be adding another top 3 in the rotation starter this off-season) believing they are a National League favorite to reach the World Series, but Pittsburgh and St.Louis will likely be formidable as well. That's just in their division. While I would predict the Cubs to be in the playoffs again next season, , there's no sure thing.

85 cubs won 77 games.

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

Who am i to shit on a parade but baseball is weird. I doubt Cubs tank under 500 next year but Cards, Pirates et al will be trying also. But you know it is a given plan and all the future.

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Elections have consequences.

Not shocked that you have gotten no answer to this post.

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Go Cubs!!!!