This season or next?

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

They are intentionally trying to lose this weekend so they'll win one of them.

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Win what? The World Series? This organization mortgaged the future for the 2016 championship and I will thank them every day of my life for it. Unfortunately, the result is they are depleted of minor league talent. The starting staff needs a re-build. The bullpen needs a rebuild. They have gaps at center and second. The offense has gone into major slumps often the past three seasons. If they were smart like the Cardinals organization, they could do a partial rebuild, but instead they probably need a full rebuild at this point.

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I like math.

2124.

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You know me like that.

I hope you also like baseball played in scuba gear because the rising oceans will have overtaken us all by then.

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Win what?

The division?
NL?
WS?



They will win more games than the Sox next year and they'll make the playoffs.

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Win a game

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

If Rickets and the FO had balls they would fine each of them for their play over the last week and a half. It was heartless on the homestand, and these games in Pitt have been pathetic. Don't even fly out if you don't give a shit.

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Fuck Edwards and Zobrist

This is a good question. This team has packed it in.

Oh shut up

this season. I believe they get one game. Darvish hasnt mailed it in.

Also, the role players are hungry and wanna prove themselves. This whole thing about Maddon not playing starters is bull. The guys he is going with have all been starters at some points of their careers. And have contributed to the Cubs success greatly.

STL dropped a 19 inning game this week out west. They are a little tired.

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TL;DR, trust me, I'm right on this.

Tell me how you see any other option here?

Next year, all five starters will be over 30 years of age, two of them 36. If they made the playoffs this year, Darvish and Hendricks are the only ones who could be trusted to win games. Be honest here, do you really think this staff next year can dominate the lineups of the Dodgers, Astros or the Yankees? Heck, the Reds? Would you continue next season with these five guys? I wouldn't.

Next year, they are stuck with Kimbrel as the closer and hopefully he figures it out in the offseason (and whatever his nagging injury was isn't something that needs surgery). Then hopefully Wick steps up for the 8th inning role. Or Ryan? After that its a crapshoot. But bullpens always are. No matter what, there needs to be some turnover here.

Next year, unless they sign Castellanos (and I highly doubt they will at the price he's going to demand), they are stuck with an outfield of Schwarber (who has actually been good this season), Almora Jr. (who has sucked balls), Heyward (who has been sucking balls for years) and Happ. I don't trust Happ and Almora Jr. in CF anymore and I don't really think they give you anything more than a guy off the bench. They can't roll Heyward out there again this year. Yeah, he improved over last year offensively, but he degraded defensively, and he's still a fucking siv. So, the outfield needs at least one more guy who can play CF regularly and can consistently get on base.

Next year, they need to rely on Rizzo (who improved over last year but still is nowhere near his 2014-2016 stats), Bryant (who improved over last year but still is nowhere near his 2015-2017 stats and has been often injured), Baez (who had a good season overall), Hoerner (who is 22 and an unknown at this point) and Contreras (who still hasn't really broken out after four years and is often injured). Then you still have Russell, Caratini and Descalso next year for the bench. The upside is that most of these guys improved statistically over last year. The downside is that injuries played a major factor this year and these guys are all losing another year of contract friendly control. At the least, they need to drop Descalso and Russell. But then you need to fill the bench again with at least 2 guys that can step in and replace one of the best players on this team.

Next year, the farm team will probably be listed as amongst the worst in the league. Maybe Amaya, Marquez or Alzolay break the roster next year and contribute? After that, they need to start getting more talent, which isn't going to happen without trades and better drafting.

How could you even possibly think that given all of these gaps and risks, Epstein will have the money and there will be enough players on the market to construct a World Series caliber team next year? Because the teams they are chasing (the Astros, Yankees and Dodgers) had a much more successful process of finding talent than the Cubs. Jesus Christ, almost every player on the Yankees had an injury this year and they still managed to win 100 games.

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This is becoming a bigger collapse than 1969. At least the '69 collapse was over the course of a month or so, and while the Cubs didn't play red hot ball that last month of the season, they won some games. A 9 game losing streak with the team's playoff life on the line-- directly after scoring 99 runs against the Pirates-- is unprecedented.

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The Sox have clinched their 6th straight losing season, but lets be honest and realistic, if they get their pitchers back from injuries and sign a couple of key pitchers, they can be a pretty good team in 2020. The Cubs? It's easy to point to a core of Baez, Bryant, Rizzo, Contreras and Schwarber (yes, he is included in my core) and believe they should bounce back next year under a new manager. If Hoerner takes over at 2nd and is as good as we hope he might be and they hang onto Castellanos and sign a true ace and acquire a true leadoff hitter.....the team can contend. But we don't know what will happen here. Theo might decide to trade Bryant, or Contreras, or both. Or maybe Darvish shocks the world and opts out of his deal. It's just impossible to gage where this team will be in 2020, when it seems likely that changes will be made and we really don't know what they will be. What we do know, is the Cubs have had a winning team for 5 straight seasons, will have money to spend to bolster the team and a new manager in 2020.

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Go Cubs!!!!

scratch that. apparently Darvish and the Professor wont pitch again this year.

So it will be next year.

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You can solve most of these problems by nailing a Kris Bryant trade.

The projection systems probably have them about equal right now. Maybe slight edge to the Cubs but the Sox are working from a more advantageous positon to make big improvements in the short whereas the Cubs avenues to make impactful moves feel more like long-term opportunities that come at the expense of 2020.

Not it wasn't.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Nope

I expect the Brewers and Cardinals to drop next year but the Reds will be a team to watch out for.

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