Crick Ramp wrote:
Urlacher's missing neck wrote:
Everything started to unravel when the Brewers took their minor league pitching coordinator years ago. He knew their organizational approach to hitting and used it against them. It worked masterfully as the brewers began to own them and strike them out at record rates with shitty pitchers like Zach Davies. Other teams took notice now that the book was out on them. The cubs hitters and front office have been too god damn stubborn to adjust and here we are.
I think most of these guys need fresh starts elsewhere. Conetreras, Bryant and Schwarber need to go. Rizzo is a smart enough hitter to survive their terrible organizational strategy, Javy is too damn exciting in other aspects of the game to get rid of him. Happ showed some good things and is a dynamic enough player to stay. This should be fixable provided theo pisses off after the season. Trade Conetreras for something of substance. Trade Bryant and Scwarber for a few small but helpful pieces and then sign some actual hitters and not softball players full of launch angle and k's.
And who is executing these trades?
Armchair GMing is so easy but (a) you can’t let Jed or Theo make any trades. And (b) the Cubs simply aren’t getting anything of value for any of these pieces.
Cubs are fucked for the next 3-5 years minimum
The first order of business is to figure out who is going to be running the baseball operations and who is going to be the GM going forward. Theo has a year left but he could also move on this year instead of having a lame duck year.
The second order of business is going to be to swallow some pride so you don't have to swallow your wallet. They have something like 75 mil committed next year if they were to not exercise all of the team options. They can non tender the entire core and not exercise the option on Rizzo next year if they wanted it. They won't do that but I bet you see a few of them either non tendered or traded for small pieces. The point is that they are not screwed for the next 3-5 years unless they decide to pay all of these underperformers. If they non tender Bryant that frees up a good 20 mil. The Brewers could cobble together half a lineup with 20 mil and win games with them.
This is what I hope they do.
Bryant- see what is out there as far as a trade. There has to be a way to take back a little salary or take some low level prospects to make a deal. If they can't find any takers then non tender him. He is gone in a year anyways.
Rizzo- Do not exercise option. Either sign a new deal for less money or let him sail. He is too streaky and his back is always acting up now. For being a clubhouse leader he doesn't get shit for performance out of his teammates.
Javy- Try to sign him long term while his value is low. He is an attraction and excels in all areas of the game and can usually hit.
Schwarber- same as bryant. Get anything you can or non tender him.
Contreras- This is probably the only chip you can trade that you want to trade. He is extremely talented but he is a fucking idiot and its very hard to win with a catcher who is a fucking idiot. His catching was better this year but he launches half his throws into the outfield and his hitting approach is brutal and his baserunning is some of the worst in the league. He will get you the biggest return. Vic is a decent catcher and Amaya is not that far away so he is absolutely replaceable.
Lester- thanks for the memories but its over. i dont even want him back on a cheap deal after not exercising the option.
Those are some bold decisions for the GM to make but they are on the table and while these guys are the "core" the have been atrocious as a whole for the last 3 years.
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
