What say you folks?

Leash has been the biggest "playoffs are a crapshoot" person here so I expect him to lead the charge on being buyers.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Buyers

But not on rentals.

_________________
Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

So don't trade Wade Davis?

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

They should be buyers.

_________________

No I wouldn't trade Wade Davis. WTF? Who is suggesting that?

_________________
Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

312player and many Smart Baseball Fans

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I don't think they will, but it depends on what they could get. There's no rule against being buyers and sellers.

_________________
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

_________________
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!

Last year, the Cubs traded Gleyber Torres, a unanimous Top 5 prospect in baseball at a hugely important position, for a few months of Aroldis Chapman...a good closer being an important part of a team that wants to make a deep postseason run.

The Cubs now arguably have a better closer than Chapman and the potential of making this year's postseason, and the Cubs would trade that for? If the Cubs lose 11 or 12 more games before the end of the months, if the Yankees call I'd say they could have Wade Davis if they send Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier to the Cubs. Outside of that....I don't see a point. The Cubs can actually re-sign Davis. That never seemed like a scenario with Chapman.

_________________
Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

_________________

Buy low on Verlander and high on Tyler Flowers.

Do the Cubs have pieces to trade in order to be buyers? They need every arm they can get, so they aren't trading pitching prospects. Schwarber is not tradeable now. You would not get much for Candelario. Willllllson is your primary catcher, so he probably isn't going anywhere. Do they move Happ, Almora, or Jimenez?

_________________

Depends

I'll put the cut off at NINE. Nine or more games out at the deadline, sellers. Less then 9 games, buyers. But it would just be a minor move or two. I wouldn't give up my top prospects for this team. A bullpen guy and a 4th starter.

they tried to trade Schwarber for Fulmer straight up lol

Kind of have to agree with Frank. If you are trading one of the young guys you are trading at a low point in value (except Happ or Willson) or you are dipping down to Jimenez and Cease and that's probably not enough for impact younger pitcher.

Theo has to be kicking himself. I'll bet the White Sox would have taken Russell and Schwarber for Sale in the off season. Theo is on record saying he talked to the Sox about Sale. Theo said they wanted roster players and it was a quick "No".

I understand what you're saying, but last year Chapman was a luxury they could afford, the final piece. If they could get a haul for Davis and then use Edwards or even trade for a somewhat lesser closer I think Epstein would look good and it wouldn't really lessen their chances.

_________________
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 don't see the scenario where the Cubs would get enough back to mitigate the risk for 2017. Again, I'll pull the trigger if it is for something stupid like I said above. But I'm not looking to deal him even in a 'fair' trade.

The Cubs have surplus position players and guys like Candelario, Caratini, Jimenez...even some minor league pitching has been progressing better than expected. I'm not trying to trade away too much from the current window. I want to strengthen the current window.

_________________
Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Unless the cubs grab a legit 2 or 3 starter than I'd trade Wade Davis, this team currently constructed isn't winning the NL, let alone the WS... Washington was offering up a nice haul for Robertson.. Davis is better and makes less dough.. I'd be happy with that deal.

_________________

neither a seller or buyer be

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

Jimenez might get you something, but the other guys are not going to bring you much of anything in return. As for the arms, the Cubs need all the pitching they can get so I doubt any of them get moved.

_________________

No team is going to be turned off of Candelario because of 40 sparse ML at bats. I'm not saying he headlines a trade for an ace. But he is a valuable piece in many trade scenarios.

_________________
Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

So as I said he is not going to bring you much in return unless you pair him with MANY other pieces.

_________________

Candelario could bring you an above average back of rotation starter, straight up. That pitcher would slot in and be better than Lackey, Anderson, Butler, Montgomery and current-Arrieta.

_________________
Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

As you know, I don't say the playoffs are a crapshoot. I say that there is certainly more randomness to baseball playoffs than any other sport and that any team who gets into the playoffs has a shot, unlike other sports.

However, there is a premium to top-of-the-rotation pitching in the playoffs, and the Cubs don't look good in that department (nor do they look good in any department other than maybe closer).

So, though I find it highly unlikely that they win it all, even if they get in, it's still better than nothing. They should be buyers or stay put and hope for the best, but they're still in very reasonable playoff contention even if due mainly to a poor division. They should press forward and do what they think it takes to improve their odds. There's not much they could do to jeopardize future seasons, IMO. Just play it one season at a time.

What pieces would the Cubs even have as sellers? Davis, maybe. Arrieta? Not getting anything for him.

Maybe they could trade Maddon.

_________________

NFL might be a close second. Don't know about the NHL. The NBA is dead last in terms of randomness.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

if that was really the case, than I think this type of move would have been made already.

_________________

Not if you could trade Schwarber, Candelario, Russell and Cease for a Chris Archer / Gerritt Cole type.

No reason to only get a #4 if you can get a cost-controlled ToR starter without giving up Happ or Jimenez.

Getting a bunch of #4's doesn't help the Cubs much right now. They also would rather not part with Jimenez or Happ.

Remember Chuck E Cheese? Every time you get 100 tickets, did you trade it in for a set of stickers, or did you try to get 1000 tickets for the badass stuffed animal or laser pointer? Same idea.

_________________
Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Nobody is trading anything for Schwarber right now.

_________________

You're gonna be so upset when Hahn and Hoyer pull off this trade.

_________________
Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.