Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
I agree that it would be great to move Zobrist, but who would want him at his age and contract? He's owed I think $16.5 million next year and $12.5 million in 2019.
Chicago Cubs 2017 Season
- Status
I agree that it would be great to move Zobrist, but who would want him at his age and contract? He's owed I think $16.5 million next year and $12.5 million in 2019.
KBLEE
- Montgomery, IL
To be fair, Lester's FIP is a quarter run better than his ERA and almost the same for Arrietta, so they're clearly still the best pitchers just getting unlucky to an extent.
But people don't realize the main strength of the last 2 years Cub's teams was the pitching, not the hitting. The hitting was good, obviously, but to have only 10 starts not made by your main 5 starters (in 2016) and have those 5 guys outperform their FIP by 0.70 runs on average is crazy. They're offense was middle of the road for the NL last year.
The pitching was always going to fall back to earth, just nobody expected this much. Lack of SP depth was really the only thing that was going to stop the Cubs from making the playoffs this year, which I still think they do.
Just goes to show how delicate yet tough it can be to put together all the puzzle pieces for a world champion run. If we had the pitching we have this year, last year, we aren't anywhere close. If our batters were better against the Mets the year before, we may have made it to the WS.
Such a fine line to walk to get to the WS and win it all.
Oh and then there's luck...
Such a fine line to walk to get to the WS and win it all.
Oh and then there's luck...
Talent of course is the #1 ingredient, but luck has much to do with it as well.
Everyone defines luck in different ways, but to me, in relation to sports, it is getting everything going together at the same time. Lack of significant injuries. No prolonged slumps (not necessarily luck I concur) not having pitching HAVE to carry you for long stretches, not having hitting HAVE to carry you for long stretches, getting most of those borderline calls to go your way . . .
To win the WS you need the talent, the breaks, the luck. Just so difficult to do it twice in a row.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
I believe the previous six winners of the World Series before the Cubs failed to make the playoffs in the next season. Its like its becoming a rule rather than an exception to the rule. An no NL team has repeated in 40 years.
That's a stupid article. The Cubs's ERA is up. Every team's ERA is up. More runs are being scored this year. (Probably due to a juiced ball.) This is the highest scoring season in a decade.
Year to year comparisons aren't as important as team to team comparisons in a given year. And in that respect, the Cubs' pitching has been good enough. Improving the team ERA from 5th in the league to 3rd in the league doesn't put the Cubs in the playoffs.
It's the shockingly bad offense that is currently 10th in the league in runs scored that's got the team on the wrong side of .500.
KBLEE
- Montgomery, IL
Bad offense is one thing, but going from 4th in the league in FIP to 15th is also playing a significant role.
Eloy Jiminez and others to White Sox for Quintana
Well this certainly seemed to have come out of nowhere. I'm going to let this simmer before making an impulse opinion.
Whoah!
Awesome!
Ok. At the risk of sounding like a complete hypocrite who was saying the Cubs needed improved hitting more than pitching a mere two posts up, I love this trade.
Quintana is cheap, young, good, and under contract for three more years beyond 2017.
Cease and Jimenez are nice prospects, but neither are going to be on the big league roster in the next couple years. Nothing else the Cubs gave up are anything more than lottery tickets. The Cubs have improved their team this year and for the next couple with this trade.
Hey look at that
One of those win win trades, although for White Sox won't know for a few years.
You make a great point with the present versus future argument. For all we know, Jimenez could be Jorge Soler II or Giancarlo Stanton. That said, he's 2-3 years away, which is 2-3 years of Rizzo, Bryant, Baez, Happ, Schwarber, Contreras, Hendricks, etc...
So this year, Quintana joins a rotation of Lester, Arrieta, Hendricks, and Lackey/Montgomery. Love that for the second half. Then when Arrieta is gone next season, the rotation is still solid with Quintana under contract through 2020.
Bingo. Although Jimenez looks like a real sure thing. Maybe an early 2019 debut for him. Cease has a huge arm but an injury history. He could be a star (probably as a short reliever) or his arm could fall off before pitching an inning in the MLB.
Not sure what to think of this other than Theo isn't sitting on his laurels . . . .
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...jose-quintana-chicago-white-sox-top-prospects
Have not liked what I have seen from Quintana that much this year.
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...jose-quintana-chicago-white-sox-top-prospects
Have not liked what I have seen from Quintana that much this year.
Serious Late
- Peoria via Denver via Ann Arbor via Albuquerque vi
:thumb:
That is about what I expected, but I am kind of surprised the Sox pulled the trigger here. Jimenez was gonna have to be in the deal, but I figured the Sox were going to demand another high value piece. Cease is nice, but I am willing to risk trading him with the expectation he doesn't become special.
Nice trade, let's go get the division!
One of the important things about Quintana is how cheap and long his contract is. Lets them pursue a mid-priced fa pitcher in the offseason (Alex Cobb, Tyler Chatwood?) instead of spending a ton.
The Cubs are setting up their payroll to make a big run at some of the elite free agents in 2019 - Harper, Kershaw, Machado, Keuchel, Britton, Andrew Miller...
The Cubs are setting up their payroll to make a big run at some of the elite free agents in 2019 - Harper, Kershaw, Machado, Keuchel, Britton, Andrew Miller...
That's not an insignificant consideration.
I'm also starting to wonder whether I was right about having seen the last of Lackey in a Cubs (major league) uniform.
My brother mentioned an important point. Just like last year with Chapman, the Cubs set the bar for how much teams have to give up for a player at the caliber of Quintana. So the A's have a barometer for Gray, the Tigers have one for Fulmer, Blue Jays for Stroman, Rays with Archer, etc...
Is this another Lou Brock trade?
I know you joke, but Brock was an established MLB player who'd had a 2.6 WAR season the year before being traded.
Broglio was a pretty fair comparison to Quintana in terms of age and accomplishment if you ignore Broglio's arm injuries.
The Lou Brock trade would be more like the Cubs trading Javy Baez for Matt Harvey.
[ W ] #44
Never a doubt.
Never a doubt.
- Status