bdutts
- Houston, Texas
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Chicago Cubs 2018 Season
Yeah. It was Lee when he had that crazy good year in 2005. I had completely forgotten about that and - before looking it up - thought it was Buckner, who lead the League in 1980.
bdutts
- Houston, Texas
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
There was about a two-year stretch when Lee was with the Cubs that virtually every time the opposing pitcher missed middle-in from the knees to the belt he would simply crush it. They couldn't get it past him in that zone.
[ W ] #47
South Farms
- near Ogden & Rt 83
can you imagine where we would be without Jon Lester this year ?
The guy is arguably in the top 5 of the NL this year.
1st in Wins, 6th in WAR, 4th in ERA, 10th in WHIP.
He’s having an excellent season and should be an All Star.
He’s having an excellent season and should be an All Star.
Yes he should. He holds a 3.2 fWAR and RA9-WAR thus far which is good enough for 4th in the NL behind Max Scherzer (4.6), Jake deGrom (4.4), and Aaron Nola (4.0).
Other All Stars, based upon fWAR lead are Kyle Schwarber (3rd in NL OF with 2.4 fWAR) and Javy Baez (tied for 2nd with Scooter Gennett at 2.9).
Fun little infographic depicting All Star starters based upon this metric that I found on Reddit:
https://imgur.com/a/9YoJRhW
KBLEE
- Montgomery, IL
Cardinals executive John Mozeliak calls out Dexter Fowler for his effort level
Hopefully future free agents see these comments and think twice about playing for someone who would make such ridiculous comments.
Hopefully future free agents see these comments and think twice about playing for someone who would make such ridiculous comments.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
What a totally insane thing to say publicly. Looking forward to the shine rapidly coming off of Mo and this entire organization.
Mozeliak is very meticulous with his words, I'm sure there's an ulterior motive behind it. Maybe there's a trade on the table and Dexter isn't waiving his no trade clause, or maybe there's something else going on behind the scenes (Dexter isn't holding up his side of the bargain) and this is a motivation tactic.
I'll admit though, probably not the best idea to say this stuff publicly about a guy you just signed like 18 months ago and are still contractually on the hook for 3.5 more seasons. But they're all professionals, free agents will continue to sign for whoever offers them the most money and non-productive, highly paid players will continue to mope if their playing time is cut.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
You never want the front office doing this, but I could potentially understand the argument of "Look, it's been a frustrating season, there's a lot of pressure, this kind of slipped out."
Saying "No, no, it's some 4-D chess that is causing this guy to publicly run down a player" makes it way worse. Good look for future FAs, STL.
Jason Heyward and Dexter Fowler are having exactly the years we would have expected, just reversed.
IDK about that. Fowler is clearly on the down side of his career, while Heyward is still in his prime. It isn't a total shock that Heyward finally appears to be figuring things out and getting back to more like what was expected of him.
Well, it is for me, but thank god.
Peoria Illini
- Peoria, IL
Why are you cub fans concerned about the Cardinals and their front office??? I thought you passed them up a couple of years ago? LOL.
You won't have to worry about the Cardinals until they get rid of Matheny. Mozelaik is a good GM. His crack on Fowler and lack of drive should have probably been directed at Matheny.
Don't worry about the Cardinals. They aren't going anywhere this year. Try to catch the Brewers.
You won't have to worry about the Cardinals until they get rid of Matheny. Mozelaik is a good GM. His crack on Fowler and lack of drive should have probably been directed at Matheny.
Don't worry about the Cardinals. They aren't going anywhere this year. Try to catch the Brewers.
They are the Cubs biggest rivals? Schadenfreude was once our only way to experience happiness in baseball. Old habits die hard.
And trying to be completely unbiased, no matter how to spin it, his comments were not a good look on him, nor the organization. Throwing players under the bus publicly is never a good thing, regardless of the organization.
Man if you could've seen this turnaround by Fowler, please send me the winning lotto numbers. Not saying he wasn't due to have a better season (regression to the mean), but before this year started he was essentially worthless at the plate, and only worth his defense. Now he's a top of the order guy who's hitting for power and contact. I see your point with Fowler, but similarly, this is a major turn of a career.
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KBLEE
- Montgomery, IL
We're not concerned about the Cardinals or their front office. We're concerned for Fowler, who was a clubhouse leader and part of the 2016 team that brought us our first World Series title in a long time.
Peoria Illini
- Peoria, IL
LOL... They do die hard, don't they?
I agree, not a good look. But the Cardinals front office doesn't normally do this, in fact I don't remember the last time they did something like that. Hopefully it was a one time mistake. Or maybe there is something really to this whole thing with Fowler. I doubt we'll ever know the real story.
Anywho... rest easy cub fans until the Cards give Matheny the boot and put Jose Oquendo in his spot. Then you may want to worry again.
It's just the Mozeliak has been the GM since 2007 and hasn't even really been a guy to make candid comments like this. Yes, it's likely he's frustrated with the team and it came out wrong and focused on the guy who's playing the worst, but there's also a good chance there was some strategy behind the words he chose.
Free agents will continue to sign with whoever offers them the most valuable contract, that's how it's always been and will likely always will be. They won't be worried about somewhat innocuous comments from the Cardinals brass about a guy who, frankly, hasn't played inspiring baseball this year.
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
Agree to disagree, I guess. For some guys, being publicly hung out to dry by their GM has a negative impact on what constitutes "valuable."
I'll set the highly relevant example of the Cubs front office here so it doesn't seem like fan bickering, but we can step outside of baseball and look at the Bulls. It's one of the worst-kept secrets in the NBA that people aren't exactly beating down the door to play for that franchise, and this is despite the fact there have been several instances where they have max contracts to hand out.
I know the "2nd place" offers are always just rumors, but if you can find some examples of guys taking a meaningful amount of less money to sign for one team over another, then I'd love to hear it. They all talk (conveniently after they have signed) about how all the outside factors swayed them to this team over another, but it's always about the dollars. Like Heyward, where his comments were all about "young core" and "large window" but failed to mention the front loaded contract and additional opt out that made it a better deal.
That article mentions Darvish, Cishek and Chatwood, all of whom took their best offer on the table this off season, according to reports.
The only one I can think of off the top of my head that comes close is Justin Turner before last season. He had some offers reportedly for $75MM/ 4 yrs and took whatever the best Dodgers offer was, just because he had no interest in leaving his hometown. Those type of "hometown discounts" almost exclusively come in extensions, where the team is taking on some risk in exchange for more years of control on the player.
It's not really comparable to a salary capped (and individual contract capped) league like the NBA. Because if the Bulls could offer Kevin Durant $60MM and the Warriors only offered $20MM, I guarantee he wouldn't be on the Warriors no matter how inept GarPax is.
[ W ] #48
Dexter's favorite team in the NL Central hustles a win away from the Tigers.
Dexter's favorite team in the NL Central hustles a win away from the Tigers.
South Farms
- near Ogden & Rt 83
interesting tidbit
of the 8 position players in the Cubs lineup today, the players with the lowest batting averages were Schwarber at .247 and Rizzo at .250
Every other player had a BA pretty much .20 or .30 above those. That is the biggest surprise and biggest reason for the Cubs being 13 games ABOVE .500 at this point in time, while last year we were 2 games BELOW .500 at this time .
With the schedule we have ahead of us, there is good reason to believe we will win 96-98 games, which should be more than what's needed to win the division.
of the 8 position players in the Cubs lineup today, the players with the lowest batting averages were Schwarber at .247 and Rizzo at .250
Every other player had a BA pretty much .20 or .30 above those. That is the biggest surprise and biggest reason for the Cubs being 13 games ABOVE .500 at this point in time, while last year we were 2 games BELOW .500 at this time .
With the schedule we have ahead of us, there is good reason to believe we will win 96-98 games, which should be more than what's needed to win the division.