Pollyellon banned me

[Quality Start Machine]

I was reading yesterday that Baez and Bryant (our own Killer Bs! THE BEEG!) are projected to be 12 WAR players combined when they're finally up for good.

If my math isn't failing me, that means the addition of those two over replacement level alternatives, of which there are many (some worse than that), means the Cubs go from a 70 win team to an 82 win team. They're instantly a .500 team and that means with a few breaks they're contenders. With a couple savvy additions or the panning out of any 1 or 2 other prospects they're going for the division.

Does that help? that's my positive for the day. Because the idea of sitting through a Cubs game in which Travis Wood does all the pitching and hitting makes me want to throw up and die.

Interesting. Got a link? That'd certainly be grounds for much joyful positive if it happened, since there were only 12 hitters with 6 WAR or better last year (sorted list here*). Adding two superstars would obviously go a long way toward making the Cubs contenders.

It's not impossible if they hit the upper end of their projections. But even the most optimistic fan probably finds it unlikely that they're both that good immediately upon arrival.

* Stupid Josh Donaldson

I can find the link. Yeah, and I agree that's asking a lot. For two prospects to top out you'd have to think we'd endured a lifetime of bad baseball or something.

This tweet below has the links:

https://twitter.com/TimBaffoe/status/458606668037636097

I'm sure projections for minor leaguers can run on the dicier side as far as prediction goes. But they can still give us all some descriptive boners, right?

Even if the actual numbers spit out are dubiously high in and of themselves (35 HR for Baez if he got 600 MLB PA this season?!), they offer a contextual glimpse at how truly retarded these two have been in the minors thus far.

Yeah so we can at least have a place to store some kind of future give a shit about baseball. In the meantime I don't exaggerate when I say that this whole season feels like a waste of time and I barely ever even look at the standings anymore. Whenever there's a report about a player breaking out from nowhere or a team that is on a crazy run of success that's completely unexpected I get pangs of jealousy. It makes me angry that it just doesn't matter.

The Cubs are 1-4 in one run games. That stat seems to hold a key to that lucky season where contenders come from nowhere.

The Cubs just continue to scuffle aimlessly with sub replacement level players at almost every position. Even Castro, who's looking better is sub 100 on his OPS+. You had some guys who might have gotten off to a hot start - the only guy who did is Neifi Perez 2 and that's already fading fast.

What a joyless bunch of shitheels.

I hate this fucking team.

Nah. There's no one hateable left. Not one player on this team is a detriment to them trading for / spending money on a future free agent to help. Nor is anyone blocking anyone else from coming up to a position. The closest to any of this is Castro because: A) It sure seems he's not going to be a perennial all star; and B) there is a potential conflict with Baez viz a viz the short stop position.  But B is mitigated by the possibility of a move to second for one of them and the tradability of both of them.

The worst part about this team is knowing it's not worth watching until either Baez or Bryant comes up (which is a big time saver) and knowing that $14mm is still being wasted on Soriano.

[Eli]

Nah. There's no one hateable left.

Sorry for your loss.

Not one player on this team is a detriment to them trading for / spending money on a future free agent to help. Nor is anyone blocking anyone else from coming up to a position.

This is a good thing from a flexibility standpoint. But the downside of almost everyone being fungible/bad means they'll need to find like 15-20 new, better players for the roster before they want to seriously compete. Hopefully most will come from the system, but it's still no small task.

[Slaky]

Nah. There's no one hateable left.

Sorry for your loss.

Not one player on this team is a detriment to them trading for / spending money on a future free agent to help. Nor is anyone blocking anyone else from coming up to a position.

This is a good thing from a flexibility standpoint. But the downside of almost everyone being fungible/bad means they'll need to find like 15-20 new, better players for the roster before they want to seriously compete. Hopefully most will come from the system, but it's still no small task.

On the flipside, once the core gets better assuming blue chippers in Baez and Bryant pan out, the Cubs become more attractive to incrementally better players that are free agents. Not all-star type players but plus WAR players who would usually sign with a contender.

[Chuck to Chuck]

Nah. There's no one hateable left.

Sorry for your loss.

Not one player on this team is a detriment to them trading for / spending money on a future free agent to help. Nor is anyone blocking anyone else from coming up to a position.

This is a good thing from a flexibility standpoint. But the downside of almost everyone being fungible/bad means they'll need to find like 15-20 new, better players for the roster before they want to seriously compete. Hopefully most will come from the system, but it's still no small task.

On the flipside, once the core gets better assuming blue chippers in Baez and Bryant pan out, the Cubs become more attractive to incrementally better players that are free agents. Not all-star type players but plus WAR players who would usually sign with a contender.

And the willingness to sign a player like a Tanaka increases. Supposedly, the deal break was the out clause the Yankees gave him after 4 years. The Cubs were willing to waste 2 years of salary on him for non-contending years (2014 and 2015) to have him for the next 5.  They were not willing to waste 2 years only to guaranty having him for only 2 years after that.  Once the core is better/proven, there are fewer to zero wasted years on the front end of high dollar contracts.  The ROI on free agents increases dramatically.

[Saul Goodman]

Nah. There's no one hateable left.

Sorry for your loss.

Not one player on this team is a detriment to them trading for / spending money on a future free agent to help. Nor is anyone blocking anyone else from coming up to a position.

This is a good thing from a flexibility standpoint. But the downside of almost everyone being fungible/bad means they'll need to find like 15-20 new, better players for the roster before they want to seriously compete. Hopefully most will come from the system, but it's still no small task.

On the flipside, once the core gets better assuming blue chippers in Baez and Bryant pan out, the Cubs become more attractive to incrementally better players that are free agents. Not all-star type players but plus WAR players who would usually sign with a contender.

And the willingness to sign a player like a Tanaka increases. Supposedly, the deal break was the out clause the Yankees gave him after 4 years. The Cubs were willing to waste 2 years of salary on him for non-contending years (2014 and 2015) to have him for the next 5.  They were not willing to waste 2 years only to guaranty having him for only 2 years after that.  Once the core is better/proven, there are fewer to zero wasted years on the front end of high dollar contracts.  The ROI on free agents increases dramatically.

Tanaka will opt out and sign with my Kubbeez to RIGHT THAT WRONG!

[Quality Start Machine]

Nah. There's no one hateable left.

Sorry for your loss.

Not one player on this team is a detriment to them trading for / spending money on a future free agent to help. Nor is anyone blocking anyone else from coming up to a position.

This is a good thing from a flexibility standpoint. But the downside of almost everyone being fungible/bad means they'll need to find like 15-20 new, better players for the roster before they want to seriously compete. Hopefully most will come from the system, but it's still no small task.

Every successful team that has risen from sucking has done it. If THE PLAN works, the guys they'll have to bring in via the FA market or trades will be patching over holes. A large part of the roster - over half by my reckoning - will be guys currently in the Cubs' organization. Not just the "core four" (plus whoever the Cubs take with the fourth pick in June), but guys like Alcanatra, Edwards, Johnson and Candelario added into Castro and Rizzo. It'll be fun to watch it all come together.

[Richard Chuggar]

I was reading yesterday that Baez and Bryant (our own Killer Bs! THE BEEG!) are projected to be 12 WAR players combined when they're finally up for good.

If my math isn't failing me, that means the addition of those two over replacement level alternatives, of which there are many (some worse than that), means the Cubs go from a 70 win team to an 82 win team. They're instantly a .500 team and that means with a few breaks they're contenders. With a couple savvy additions or the panning out of any 1 or 2 other prospects they're going for the division.

Does that help? that's my positive for the day. Because the idea of sitting through a Cubs game in which Travis Wood does all the pitching and hitting makes me want to throw up and die.

Interesting. Got a link? That'd certainly be grounds for much joyful positive if it happened, since there were only 12 hitters with 6 WAR or better last year (sorted list here*). Adding two superstars would obviously go a long way toward making the Cubs contenders.

It's not impossible if they hit the upper end of their projections. But even the most optimistic fan probably finds it unlikely that they're both that good immediately upon arrival.

* Stupid Josh Donaldson

I can find the link. Yeah, and I agree that's asking a lot. For two prospects to top out you'd have to think we'd endured a lifetime of bad baseball or something.

This tweet below has the links:

https://twitter.com/TimBaffoe/status/458606668037636097

I'm sure projections for minor leaguers can run on the dicier side as far as prediction goes. But they can still give us all some descriptive boners, right?

Even if the actual numbers spit out are dubiously high in and of themselves (35 HR for Baez if he got 600 MLB PA this season?!), they offer a contextual glimpse at how truly retarded these two have been in the minors thus far.

Yeah so we can at least have a place to store some kind of future give a shit about baseball. In the meantime I don't exaggerate when I say that this whole season feels like a waste of time and I barely ever even look at the standings anymore. Whenever there's a report about a player breaking out from nowhere or a team that is on a crazy run of success that's completely unexpected I get pangs of jealousy. It makes me angry that it just doesn't matter.

The Cubs are 1-4 in one run games. That stat seems to hold a key to that lucky season where contenders come from nowhere.

The Cubs just continue to scuffle aimlessly with sub replacement level players at almost every position. Even Castro, who's looking better is sub 100 on his OPS+. You had some guys who might have gotten off to a hot start - the only guy who did is Neifi Perez 2 and that's already fading fast.

What a joyless bunch of shitheels.

I hate this fucking team.

Nah. There's no one hateable left. Not one player on this team is a detriment to them trading for / spending money on a future free agent to help. Nor is anyone blocking anyone else from coming up to a position. The closest to any of this is Castro because: A) It sure seems he's not going to be a perennial all star; and B) there is a potential conflict with Baez viz a viz the short stop position.  But B is mitigated by the possibility of a move to second for one of them and the tradability of both of them.

The worst part about this team is knowing it's not worth watching until either Baez or Bryant comes up (which is a big time saver) and knowing that $14mm is still being wasted on Soriano.

Fine, I'll bite.  You think they're going to trade Baez?
I'll hang up and kill myself while I wait for your answer.

[Eli]

Fine, I'll bite.  You think they're going to trade Baez?
I'll hang up and kill myself while I wait for your answer.

Chuck thinks that since Baez was drafted by Hendry, he's more likely to be traded.

[Yeti]

Fine, I'll bite.  You think they're going to trade Baez?
I'll hang up and kill myself while I wait for your answer.

Chuck thinks that since Baez was drafted by Hendry, he's more likely to be traded.

And that likelihood increases each day.

[Chuck to Chuck]

Fine, I'll bite.  You think they're going to trade Baez?
I'll hang up and kill myself while I wait for your answer.

Hurry.

[BH]

Fine, I'll bite.  You think they're going to trade Baez?
I'll hang up and kill myself while I wait for your answer.

Chuck thinks that since Baez was drafted by Hendry, he's more likely to be traded.

I thought Chuck was saying that since Castro and Baez were drafted under Hendry's watch, we'd trade both of them for decent SS/2nd base prospects.

[Quality Start Machine]

Fine, I'll bite.  You think they're going to trade Baez?
I'll hang up and kill myself while I wait for your answer.

Chuck thinks that since Baez was drafted by Hendry, he's more likely to be traded.

I thought Chuck was saying that since Castro and Baez were drafted under Hendry's watch, we'd trade both of them for decent SS/2nd base prospects. Robinson Cano

[Tonker]

Nah. There's no one hateable left. Not one player on this team is a detriment to them trading for / spending money on a future free agent to help. Nor is anyone blocking anyone else from coming up to a position. The closest to any of this is Castro because: A) It sure seems he's not going to be a perennial all star; and B) there is a potential conflict with Baez viz a viz the short stop position.  But B is mitigated by the possibility of a move to second for one of them and the tradability of both of them.

The worst part about this team is knowing it's not worth watching until either Baez or Bryant comes up (which is a big time saver) and knowing that $14mm is still being wasted on Soriano.

Fine, I'll bite, too.  So what you're saying, Chuck, is that you hate players who are paid too much for their abilities, despite the fact that the person ultimately responsible for that situation is the dumbfuck General Manager to whom they were worth that contract?  Should they give some of the money back?  Would you?  I'll answer that rhetorical question for you: of course you fucking wouldn't.  You'd take the financial security that you and your family had just been awarded, and you'd shut your fucking mouth about it.

At the risk of getting all meatbally about this: I might hate players who can't be bothered to give it their best efforts, or don't learn lessons, because it's important to a lot of people that they do.  If Bonerface keeps getting fucking picked off, for instance, I might start to hate him, no matter how little he's getting paid.  I might also hate players who are pricks and make everybody else's lives more difficult: the Hundleys, and Bradleys, and Stewarts of this World.  But as long he's not being a pain in the arse, and as long as he's trying to succeed and trying to improve, I couldn't give a flying fuck what a player is getting paid or whether he's standing in somebody's way or not: it's not his fault, and it's not his problem.

[Brownie]

This is a good thing from a flexibility standpoint. But the downside of almost everyone being fungible/bad means they'll need to find like 15-20 new, better players for the roster before they want to seriously compete. Hopefully most will come from the system, but it's still no small task.

Your point is noted, but it's not that steep a climb. You do not need 15-20 new players.

Here's the Cubs' 25-man roster:

Code Select Expand

52 Justin Grimm R-R 6'3" 210 Aug 16, 1988
39 Jason Hammel R-R 6'6" 225 Sep 2, 1982
36 Edwin Jackson R-R 6'3" 210 Sep 9, 1983
50 Blake Parker R-R 6'3" 225 Jun 19, 1985
56 Hector Rondon R-R 6'3" 180 Feb 26, 1988
40 James Russell L-L 6'4" 200 Jan 8, 1986
29 Jeff Samardzija R-R 6'5" 225 Jan 23, 1985
46 Pedro Strop R-R 6'1" 220 Jun 13, 1985
41 Jose Veras R-R 6'6" 240 Oct 20, 1980
33 C. Villanueva R-R 6'2" 215 Nov 28, 1983
37 Travis Wood R-L 5'11" 175 Feb 6, 1987
53 Wesley Wright R-L 5'11" 185 Jan 28, 1985

# Catchers B/T Ht Wt DOB
12 John Baker L-R 6'1" 215 Jan 20, 1981
5 Welly Castillo R-R 5'10" 210 Apr 24, 1987

# Infielders B/T Ht Wt DOB
15 Darwin Barney R-R 5'10" 185 Nov 8, 1985
64 Bonerface S-R 5'11" 205 Apr 23, 1985
13 Starlin Castro R-R 6'0" 190 Mar 24, 1990
30 Mike Olt R-R 6'2" 210 Aug 27, 1988
44 Anthony Rizzo L-L 6'3" 240 Aug 8, 1989
24 Luis Valbuena L-R 5'10" 200 Nov 30, 1985

# Outfielders B/T Ht Wt DOB
51 Ryan Kalish L-L 6'0" 215 Mar 28, 1988
21 Junior Lake R-R 6'3" 215 Mar 27, 1990
20 Justin Ruggiano R-R 6'1" 210 Apr 12, 1982
19 Schierholtz L-R 6'2" 215 Feb 15, 1984
6 Ryan Sweeney L-L 6'4" 225 Feb 20, 1985

OK, you call up Baez and Bryant tomorrow and they are Rogers Hornsby and George Brett, except far better at baseball (or simply 75% as good), you probably waive/trade Valbuena or Barney and maybe send Olt back down (he has an option). Or maybe My Colt continues to hit, you keep him at third and you put Bryant in the outfield full-time, so then Tom Ricketts asks his good friend CHUCK GITLES to introduce Justin Ruggiano to the possibility of a career in commercial banking or something, and you have essentially replaced four players.

Then, Arrieta comes  up and tries a novel approach to pitching: not sucking and getting guys out 75-80 percent of the time, and then the Cubs get another starter that decides not to suck at baseball (Hendricks maybe). Carlos Villanueva can join Justin Ruggiano in the career transition phase of their lives, or maybe the lovechild of Rollie Fingers and Kyle Orton can be effective out of the bullpen, effectively ending Blake Parker's career.  Meanwhile, the Cubs can work on dealing Samardzija to a team lacking a possession receiver or a No. 3 starter and get a couple prospects and one guy who can pitch out of the bullpen and maybe look like he belongs in the Big Leagues. Meanwhile, Jose Veras can aggressively progress to the mean and some desperate team (Detroit maybe?) will send something useful the Cubs way just to get this red-hot pitcher at the deadline. It probably won't result in a bonanza for the Cubs, but Veras is gone and you can bring up a guy who might have a chance to have a career as a relief specialist....

[Brownie]

So now here's your roster:

Code Select Expand

52 Justin Grimm R-R 6'3" 210 Aug 16, 1988
39 Jason Hammel R-R 6'6" 225 Sep 2, 1982
36 Edwin Jackson R-R 6'3" 210 Sep 9, 1983
        Kyle Hendricks             Too fat amirite?
56 Hector Rondon R-R 6'3" 180 Feb 26, 1988
40 James Russell L-L 6'4" 200 Jan 8, 1986
        A relief pitcher from another MLB team that won't shit the bed every time he goes out there
46 Pedro Strop R-R 6'1" 220 Jun 13, 1985
33 C. Villanueva R-R 6'2" 215 Nov 28, 1983
        Jake Arrieta                   
37 Travis Wood R-L 5'11" 175 Feb 6, 1987
53 Wesley Wright R-L 5'11" 185 Jan 28, 1985

# Catchers B/T Ht Wt DOB
12 John Baker L-R 6'1" 215 Jan 20, 1981
5 Welly Castillo R-R 5'10" 210 Apr 24, 1987

# Infielders B/T Ht Wt DOB
15 Darwin Barney R-R 5'10" 185 Nov 8, 1985
64 Bonerface S-R 5'11" 205 Apr 23, 1985
13 Starlin Castro R-R 6'0" 190 Mar 24, 1990
30 Mike Olt R-R 6'2" 210 Aug 27, 1988
44 Anthony Rizzo L-L 6'3" 240 Aug 8, 1989
        Javier Baez                     Dec. 25, 6 B.C.

# Outfielders B/T Ht Wt DOB
51 Ryan Kalish L-L 6'0" 215 Mar 28, 1988
21 Junior Lake R-R 6'3" 215 Mar 27, 1990
        Kris Bryant
19 Schierholtz L-R 6'2" 215 Feb 15, 1984
6 Ryan Sweeney L-L 6'4" 225 Feb 20, 1985

OK, Barney goes at the deadline for a bullpen arm and Logan Watkins comes up to replace him.  James Russell goes (and maybe Edwin Jackson as well in the same deal) netting the Cubs three prospects, plus an MLB outfielder. Schierholtz gets dealt for a prospect and a live pitcher. Dallas Beeler and C.J. Edwards come up.