Chicago Cubs 2025

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#1,876      
EyeoftheIllini
Second place is 1st loser said:
If you were Hoyer, how much is too much at this point?

Playing RF in Wrigley is not easy. When the wind is blowing in, it's damn near impossible to fence one. Conversely, when the wind is blowing out, not much stays in the ballpark.

Last year, how many games did he play? This season, his numbers are average and that's because he will take a walk. He's currently being benched. He's not running out ground balls. He's being boo'd by the most loyal fans in the planet.

If you were the Cubs, would you break the $250M barrier over 8 years to keep him? That's more than $30M per year and let's face it, given the expectations, he's been a bust. There's just no argument against that at this point. Like you said, he can have just an outstanding September, which changes the outlook.

Maybe the expectations were too high, but they were that of a $500M player. That type of money is paid to guys who can carry a team.

To be clear, he's not the only one that's wet the bed the second half of the year. Their ability to score runs, especially late in games, is abysmal. He's a huge part of that.

Edit: In Houston, he had FAR more protection in the order.
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I agree with most of this. I said early on in thread that I didn’t see him getting 500M. Then again, I’m not a great a predicting these things. Point of my post was just that I don’t think GMs are going to hold back based on “injury prone” or having played in dome in Houston for most of his career since overall he’s been better on road.

I really don’t know how much he’ll get. I’d guess north of $300M, but the looming work stoppage could change things. He’s not a Judge or Soto, but he’s in the next tier. Somebody will pay up.
 
#1,879      
Jimbo
Not to pile on, but they need to keep Tucker on the bench. Don’t need the negative energy of a slumping hitter. Feels more upbeat now (maybe because we just swept the Brewers).
 
#1,880      
Second place is 1st loser
Jimbo said:
Not to pile on, but they need to keep Tucker on the bench. Don’t need the negative energy of a slumping hitter. Feels more upbeat now (maybe because we just swept the Brewers).
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If they can find a place for Happ, Seiya and PCA..... that'd work too.

Watching PCA's temper tantrums after an out is tiresome. He has so many tools, but he fooled himself into thinking he's a home run hitter. With his speed, he needs to focus on learning the strike zone, taking his walks, laying some bunts down and of course, taking advantage of mistakes and depositing the ball in the seats. You never want to take the aggressiveness out of a guy, but keeping a more level head needs to be added to his game.
 
#1,881      
EyeoftheIllini
Jimbo said:
Not to pile on, but they need to keep Tucker on the bench. Don’t need the negative energy of a slumping hitter. Feels more upbeat now (maybe because we just swept the Brewers).
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They’re going to need Tucker. That said, I’d hold him out of next two games against Milwaukee. Give him a real rest and keep him away from the Wrigley boo birds. I hate when fans boo a home team guy. I’d then put him back in to start the LAA series. They’re not good and he’ll be on the road where he’s hit better.
 
#1,882      
EyeoftheIllini
Can’t remember who it was (and don’t feel like looking), but someone in the last week or so commented on how Castro has been a bust. This series has already shown how valuable he can be to a team. Plays first two games at 2B giving Swanson and Hoerner a rest. Only got one hit, but it yielded 3 RBI and gave the Cubs lead they never lost. Then in night cap he comes in at RF and gets himself an OF assist. He hasn’t done much with the bat, but the flexibility he gives the team is really important.
 
#1,883      
DRS
Second place is 1st loser said:
If they can find a place for Happ, Seiya and PCA..... that'd work too.

Watching PCA's temper tantrums after an out is tiresome. He has so many tools, but he fooled himself into thinking he's a home run hitter. With his speed, he needs to focus on learning the strike zone, taking his walks, laying some bunts down and of course, taking advantage of mistakes and depositing the ball in the seats. You never want to take the aggressiveness out of a guy, but keeping a more level head needs to be added to his game.
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This has been said about young players for generations. Though I agree he has to develop his chase rate that is about it. Keep the agressiveness and keep the power stroke, he isn't Nico. Different animal.
 
#1,884      
IlliniFanTX
DRS said:
This has been said about young players for generations. Though I agree he has to develop his chase rate that is about it. Keep the agressiveness and keep the power stroke, he isn't Nico. Different animal.
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He's hit 27 homers, so I definitely agree he hasn't "fooled himself into thinking he's a power hitter" lol

Just a down month, honestly. And I love when guys get mad. I'd rather they show that they care then just show up and suck and respectfully run back to the dugout.
 
#1,885      
KBLEE
I'm guessing stats say otherwise, but I absolutely hate the "contact play". I'm so tired of seeing the Cubs with runners at 3rd going on contact only to be thrown out by 5+ feet on a hard ground ball right at one of the opposing infielders. I think it's happened at least 3 times in the last week alone (recency bias - yes).
 
#1,886      
DRS
KBLEE said:
I'm guessing stats say otherwise, but I absolutely hate the "contact play". I'm so tired of seeing the Cubs with runners at 3rd going on contact only to be thrown out by 5+ feet on a hard ground ball right at one of the opposing infielders. I think it's happened at least 3 times in the last week alone (recency bias - yes).
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has been happening but on the flip side shaw scored last night on the contact play because of a slightly high throw
 
#1,889      
Second place is 1st loser
IlliniFanTX said:
He's hit 27 homers, so I definitely agree he hasn't "fooled himself into thinking he's a power hitter" lol

Just a down month, honestly. And I love when guys get mad. I'd rather they show that they care then just show up and suck and respectfully run back to the dugout.
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This has been going on for over a month. He's currently at 27 HRs(1 since the All Star Break), .257 BA, .297 OBP and his K rate has been obscenely bad.

Young kids struggle. That's fine. He can't be this bad in the four hole. He and Suzuki are absolute rally killers and a lot of that has to be put on Counsell. How he hasn't split them up is absurd.

The bad energy around this club was real. Tucker brought a ton of it and every time PCA has a bad AB(a lot over the last 45 games).....his fits of anger doesn't help. You never want to take someone's passion away, but there is a point where you have to teach the kid to channel it.
 
#1,893      
Grandpa
Jimbo said:
Just win tonight.
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We will finish near the bottom if we just win tonight. I would go with win tonight first, or win tonight then worry about tomorrow, but not "Just"

Semantics, I'm being difficult.

GO CUBS GO!
 
#1,895      
bdutts
Illiniaaron said:
If Tucker continues to struggle the rest of the season, I wonder if he will be reduced to a one-year prove it deal for 2026. Horrible timing for him with potential work stoppage in 2027.
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If there were no pending work stoppage, he'd get a very good long term contract, especially if he's healed from the broken finger and he finishes strong. He has shown enough over the years about what kind of player he is.
 
#1,897      
IlliniFanTX
Second place is 1st loser said:
This has been going on for over a month. He's currently at 27 HRs(1 since the All Star Break), .257 BA, .297 OBP and his K rate has been obscenely bad.

Young kids struggle. That's fine. He can't be this bad in the four hole. He and Suzuki are absolute rally killers and a lot of that has to be put on Counsell. How he hasn't split them up is absurd.

The bad energy around this club was real. Tucker brought a ton of it and every time PCA has a bad AB(a lot over the last 45 games).....his fits of anger doesn't help. You never want to take someone's passion away, but there is a point where you have to teach the kid to channel it.
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Completely agree on getting him to channel it. Also agree on the lineup stubbornness. For all of Joe Maddon's faults, I loved that he would just jack up the order to keep everybody on their toes.
 
#1,899      
DRS
What is with all the cub negativity on this board!!

Massive three games there, Cincy just took a loss, with a win today 4-1 in this 5 gamer and we are moaning about slow lineup changes?!? Come on now. A potential corner can be turned today for real.

Honestly, we've gone a while now with everybody regressing to their means and we are due a breakout in a major way. Odds are it will happen. If we weather this August with a positive record and hit a grove in the spring it really doesn't matter if we win the division or not.
 
#1,900      
champaignchris
DRS said:
What is with all the cub negativity on this board!!

Massive three games there, Cincy just took a loss, with a win today 4-1 in this 5 gamer and we are moaning about slow lineup changes?!? Come on now. A potential corner can be turned today for real.

Honestly, we've gone a while now with everybody regressing to their means and we are due a breakout in a major way. Odds are it will happen. If we weather this August with a positive record and hit a grove in the spring it really doesn't matter if we win the division or not.
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Want some positivity?

Shaw’s OPS is now .705. Fangraphs has him 4th among rookie NL position players for WAR. For some reason FG doesn’t like his defense. BR loves his defense, and that certainly is more in line with the “eye test.” He’s looked fantastic.
 
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