I admit it...

[Slaky]

I don't believe in curses and I don't believe in whatever happened with Boston 11 years ago has anything to do with the Cubs winning this series.

[Tonker]

I'm not a huge fan of Wayne Messmer.

Did he sing the anthem tonight?

He sang it before the NLDS clincher and it was painful to listen to. 

Those pipes're done, sadly.

Hey!

... I think Wayne Messmer is massively over-rated.  Pitch-wise, he's all over the fucking place.

If there's any Messmer-hatin' to be done around here, I'm up first, thank you.  Get to the back of the line.

[Tonker]

I don't believe in curses and I don't believe in whatever happened with Boston 11 years ago has anything to do with the Cubs winning this series.

Me neither - but if, by some miracle, the Cubs can win the next two, you'd better believe the Mets are going to start thinking about it.

[Tonker]

Can we talk about an offseason that includes getting rid of Miguel Montero?

TPD.  Yes, let's get rid of the .754 OPS catcher who had a largely excellent year behind the plate, was a not insignificant part of Arrieta's season and was clearly an all-round good guy and team-mate, because he missed a wild pitch at what happened to be the worst possible moment.  What's that you say?  The Mets scored two more runs in the next inning anyway?  Pfft... I don't care.  And let's ignore the fact that Montero had earlier prevented a run by nailing Granderson - bailing out Baez in the process - with an inch-perfect throw to second.  Also, let's ignore the fact that Fowler, Rizzo, Bryant, Castro and Baez have gone 10-52 with just two doubles in this series, because Montero is the real fucking problem.

EDIT: While we're at it, let's also forget all the other fucking awful fielding we saw last night, and LaStella's "at-bat", shall we?

[SKO]

Can we talk about an offseason that includes getting rid of Miguel Montero?

TPD.  Yes, let's get rid of the .754 OPS catcher who had a largely excellent year behind the plate, was a not insignificant part of Arrieta's season and was clearly an all-round good guy and team-mate, because he missed a wild pitch at what happened to be the worst possible moment.  What's that you say?  The Mets scored two more runs in the next inning anyway?  Pfft... I don't care.  And let's ignore the fact that Montero had earlier prevented a run by nailing Granderson - bailing out Baez in the process - with an inch-perfect throw to second.  Also, let's ignore the fact that Fowler, Rizzo, Bryant, Castro and Baez have gone 10-52 with just two doubles in this series, because Montero is the real fucking problem.

EDIT: While we're at it, let's also forget all the other fucking awful fielding we saw last night, and LaStella's "at-bat", shall we?

To be fair, Montero's complete inability to hit fastballs anymore seems like a problem, and he's old, and likely to decline. I personally hope Schwarber is able to catch a lot more games next year or it could get ugly. Scapegoating him for the loss is dumb, though.

[Canadouche]

In general, there are a lot of issues with the team right now, none of which are "terminal" imo.

They aren't a good fastball team. They're facing fastball pitchers. The middle of the lineup is hitting very, very poorly. Leadoff hitters for each inning have been making outs all series long.

They rely on the homerun, which is a lot harder to hit in cold weather. So basically, they're built to succeed right up until the end of September. This is the one big issue that they're going to have to overcome.

Although, also, the strike zone has not been favouring the Cubs. I really thought Maddon would get himself ejected last night, after being subjected to such regular umpirical bullshit.

[Tony]

Can we talk about an offseason that includes getting rid of Miguel Montero?

TPD.  Yes, let's get rid of the .754 OPS catcher who had a largely excellent year behind the plate, was a not insignificant part of Arrieta's season and was clearly an all-round good guy and team-mate, because he missed a wild pitch at what happened to be the worst possible moment.  What's that you say?  The Mets scored two more runs in the next inning anyway?  Pfft... I don't care.  And let's ignore the fact that Montero had earlier prevented a run by nailing Granderson - bailing out Baez in the process - with an inch-perfect throw to second.  Also, let's ignore the fact that Fowler, Rizzo, Bryant, Castro and Baez have gone 10-52 with just two doubles in this series, because Montero is the real fucking problem.

EDIT: While we're at it, let's also forget all the other fucking awful fielding we saw last night, and LaStella's "at-bat", shall we?

To be fair, Montero's complete inability to hit fastballs anymore seems like a problem, and he's old, and likely to decline. I personally hope Schwarber is able to catch a lot more games next year or it could get ugly. Scapegoating him for the loss is dumb, though.

He's been bad for a while. Maybe he's old. Maybe he's still hurt. Maybe his hot start was a fluke. Either was Schwarber probably isn't an outfielder, and can hopefully stick at catcher. I don't know what that means for Miggy. It's not like they can platoon to work Schwarber in.

[Eli]

Can we talk about an offseason that includes getting rid of Miguel Montero?

TPD.  Yes, let's get rid of the .754 OPS catcher who had a largely excellent year behind the plate, was a not insignificant part of Arrieta's season and was clearly an all-round good guy and team-mate, because he missed a wild pitch at what happened to be the worst possible moment.  What's that you say?  The Mets scored two more runs in the next inning anyway?  Pfft... I don't care.  And let's ignore the fact that Montero had earlier prevented a run by nailing Granderson - bailing out Baez in the process - with an inch-perfect throw to second.  Also, let's ignore the fact that Fowler, Rizzo, Bryant, Castro and Baez have gone 10-52 with just two doubles in this series, because Montero is the real fucking problem.

EDIT: While we're at it, let's also forget all the other fucking awful fielding we saw last night, and LaStella's "at-bat", shall we?

To be fair, Montero's complete inability to hit fastballs anymore seems like a problem, and he's old, and likely to decline. I personally hope Schwarber is able to catch a lot more games next year or it could get ugly. Scapegoating him for the loss is dumb, though.

He's been bad for a while. Maybe he's old. Maybe he's still hurt. Maybe his hot start was a fluke. Either was Schwarber probably isn't an outfielder, and can hopefully stick at catcher. I don't know what that means for Miggy. It's not like they can platoon to work Schwarber in.

I legitimately don't know what they're supposed to do with Schwarber defensively. As bad as he's looked in the outfield, he looked worse at catcher.

[SKO]

Can we talk about an offseason that includes getting rid of Miguel Montero?

TPD.  Yes, let's get rid of the .754 OPS catcher who had a largely excellent year behind the plate, was a not insignificant part of Arrieta's season and was clearly an all-round good guy and team-mate, because he missed a wild pitch at what happened to be the worst possible moment.  What's that you say?  The Mets scored two more runs in the next inning anyway?  Pfft... I don't care.  And let's ignore the fact that Montero had earlier prevented a run by nailing Granderson - bailing out Baez in the process - with an inch-perfect throw to second.  Also, let's ignore the fact that Fowler, Rizzo, Bryant, Castro and Baez have gone 10-52 with just two doubles in this series, because Montero is the real fucking problem.

EDIT: While we're at it, let's also forget all the other fucking awful fielding we saw last night, and LaStella's "at-bat", shall we?

To be fair, Montero's complete inability to hit fastballs anymore seems like a problem, and he's old, and likely to decline. I personally hope Schwarber is able to catch a lot more games next year or it could get ugly. Scapegoating him for the loss is dumb, though.

He's been bad for a while. Maybe he's old. Maybe he's still hurt. Maybe his hot start was a fluke. Either was Schwarber probably isn't an outfielder, and can hopefully stick at catcher. I don't know what that means for Miggy. It's not like they can platoon to work Schwarber in.

I legitimately don't know what they're supposed to do with Schwarber defensively. As bad as he's looked in the outfield, he looked worse at catcher.

Pray he gets better at one of them in the offseason. Or hits 50 bombs next year. Either is possible.

[Tony]

Can we talk about an offseason that includes getting rid of Miguel Montero?

TPD.  Yes, let's get rid of the .754 OPS catcher who had a largely excellent year behind the plate, was a not insignificant part of Arrieta's season and was clearly an all-round good guy and team-mate, because he missed a wild pitch at what happened to be the worst possible moment.  What's that you say?  The Mets scored two more runs in the next inning anyway?  Pfft... I don't care.  And let's ignore the fact that Montero had earlier prevented a run by nailing Granderson - bailing out Baez in the process - with an inch-perfect throw to second.  Also, let's ignore the fact that Fowler, Rizzo, Bryant, Castro and Baez have gone 10-52 with just two doubles in this series, because Montero is the real fucking problem.

EDIT: While we're at it, let's also forget all the other fucking awful fielding we saw last night, and LaStella's "at-bat", shall we?

To be fair, Montero's complete inability to hit fastballs anymore seems like a problem, and he's old, and likely to decline. I personally hope Schwarber is able to catch a lot more games next year or it could get ugly. Scapegoating him for the loss is dumb, though.

He's been bad for a while. Maybe he's old. Maybe he's still hurt. Maybe his hot start was a fluke. Either was Schwarber probably isn't an outfielder, and can hopefully stick at catcher. I don't know what that means for Miggy. It's not like they can platoon to work Schwarber in.

I legitimately don't know what they're supposed to do with Schwarber defensively. As bad as he's looked in the outfield, he looked worse at catcher.

Trade him? His value isn't going to get any higher.

[Brownie]

Can we talk about an offseason that includes getting rid of Miguel Montero?

TPD.  Yes, let's get rid of the .754 OPS catcher who had a largely excellent year behind the plate, was a not insignificant part of Arrieta's season and was clearly an all-round good guy and team-mate, because he missed a wild pitch at what happened to be the worst possible moment.  What's that you say?  The Mets scored two more runs in the next inning anyway?  Pfft... I don't care.  And let's ignore the fact that Montero had earlier prevented a run by nailing Granderson - bailing out Baez in the process - with an inch-perfect throw to second.  Also, let's ignore the fact that Fowler, Rizzo, Bryant, Castro and Baez have gone 10-52 with just two doubles in this series, because Montero is the real fucking problem.

EDIT: While we're at it, let's also forget all the other fucking awful fielding we saw last night, and LaStella's "at-bat", shall we?

To be fair, Montero's complete inability to hit fastballs anymore seems like a problem, and he's old, and likely to decline. I personally hope Schwarber is able to catch a lot more games next year or it could get ugly. Scapegoating him for the loss is dumb, though.

He's been bad for a while. Maybe he's old. Maybe he's still hurt. Maybe his hot start was a fluke. Either was Schwarber probably isn't an outfielder, and can hopefully stick at catcher. I don't know what that means for Miggy. It's not like they can platoon to work Schwarber in.

I legitimately don't know what they're supposed to do with Schwarber defensively. As bad as he's looked in the outfield, he looked worse at catcher.

Trade him? His value isn't going to get any higher.

Intrepid Reader: Harry Frazee
You can even finance a Play with the proceeds. I'm sure the Yankees would overpay for him.

[Eli]

Can we talk about an offseason that includes getting rid of Miguel Montero?

TPD.  Yes, let's get rid of the .754 OPS catcher who had a largely excellent year behind the plate, was a not insignificant part of Arrieta's season and was clearly an all-round good guy and team-mate, because he missed a wild pitch at what happened to be the worst possible moment.  What's that you say?  The Mets scored two more runs in the next inning anyway?  Pfft... I don't care.  And let's ignore the fact that Montero had earlier prevented a run by nailing Granderson - bailing out Baez in the process - with an inch-perfect throw to second.  Also, let's ignore the fact that Fowler, Rizzo, Bryant, Castro and Baez have gone 10-52 with just two doubles in this series, because Montero is the real fucking problem.

EDIT: While we're at it, let's also forget all the other fucking awful fielding we saw last night, and LaStella's "at-bat", shall we?

To be fair, Montero's complete inability to hit fastballs anymore seems like a problem, and he's old, and likely to decline. I personally hope Schwarber is able to catch a lot more games next year or it could get ugly. Scapegoating him for the loss is dumb, though.

He's been bad for a while. Maybe he's old. Maybe he's still hurt. Maybe his hot start was a fluke. Either was Schwarber probably isn't an outfielder, and can hopefully stick at catcher. I don't know what that means for Miggy. It's not like they can platoon to work Schwarber in.

I legitimately don't know what they're supposed to do with Schwarber defensively. As bad as he's looked in the outfield, he looked worse at catcher.

Trade him? His value isn't going to get any higher.

If the Cubs really don't have a place to play him, other teams will know it. So, I'm not sure the return value on a trade would be as much as we expect if half the teams in baseball aren't going to be heavily involved in the bidding.

I think the best approach is to try to coach him up as much as possible in left field. I still don't love the idea of a guy with his bat getting beaten up and worn down behind the plate all season.

[Quality Start Machine]

Can we talk about an offseason that includes getting rid of Miguel Montero?

TPD.  Yes, let's get rid of the .754 OPS catcher who had a largely excellent year behind the plate, was a not insignificant part of Arrieta's season and was clearly an all-round good guy and team-mate, because he missed a wild pitch at what happened to be the worst possible moment.  What's that you say?  The Mets scored two more runs in the next inning anyway?  Pfft... I don't care.  And let's ignore the fact that Montero had earlier prevented a run by nailing Granderson - bailing out Baez in the process - with an inch-perfect throw to second.  Also, let's ignore the fact that Fowler, Rizzo, Bryant, Castro and Baez have gone 10-52 with just two doubles in this series, because Montero is the real fucking problem.

EDIT: While we're at it, let's also forget all the other fucking awful fielding we saw last night, and LaStella's "at-bat", shall we?

To be fair, Montero's complete inability to hit fastballs anymore seems like a problem, and he's old, and likely to decline. I personally hope Schwarber is able to catch a lot more games next year or it could get ugly. Scapegoating him for the loss is dumb, though.

He's been bad for a while. Maybe he's old. Maybe he's still hurt. Maybe his hot start was a fluke. Either was Schwarber probably isn't an outfielder, and can hopefully stick at catcher. I don't know what that means for Miggy. It's not like they can platoon to work Schwarber in.

I legitimately don't know what they're supposed to do with Schwarber defensively. As bad as he's looked in the outfield, he looked worse at catcher.

Trade him? His value isn't going to get any higher.

If the Cubs really don't have a place to play him, other teams will know it. So, I'm not sure the return value on a trade would be as much as we expect if half the teams in baseball aren't going to be heavily involved in the bidding.

I think the best approach is to try to coach him up as much as possible in left field. I still don't love the idea of a guy with his bat getting beaten up and worn down behind the plate all season.

His offensive production should outdistance whatever outfield hijinks ensue.

Worst case, they just sit tight and wait for the NL to adopt the DH. It's gonna hai.

[Armchair_QB]

Can we talk about an offseason that includes getting rid of Miguel Montero?

TPD.  Yes, let's get rid of the .754 OPS catcher who had a largely excellent year behind the plate, was a not insignificant part of Arrieta's season and was clearly an all-round good guy and team-mate, because he missed a wild pitch at what happened to be the worst possible moment.  What's that you say?  The Mets scored two more runs in the next inning anyway?  Pfft... I don't care.  And let's ignore the fact that Montero had earlier prevented a run by nailing Granderson - bailing out Baez in the process - with an inch-perfect throw to second.  Also, let's ignore the fact that Fowler, Rizzo, Bryant, Castro and Baez have gone 10-52 with just two doubles in this series, because Montero is the real fucking problem.

EDIT: While we're at it, let's also forget all the other fucking awful fielding we saw last night, and LaStella's "at-bat", shall we?

To be fair, Montero's complete inability to hit fastballs anymore seems like a problem, and he's old, and likely to decline. I personally hope Schwarber is able to catch a lot more games next year or it could get ugly. Scapegoating him for the loss is dumb, though.

He's been bad for a while. Maybe he's old. Maybe he's still hurt. Maybe his hot start was a fluke. Either was Schwarber probably isn't an outfielder, and can hopefully stick at catcher. I don't know what that means for Miggy. It's not like they can platoon to work Schwarber in.

I legitimately don't know what they're supposed to do with Schwarber defensively. As bad as he's looked in the outfield, he looked worse at catcher.

Trade him? His value isn't going to get any higher.

If the Cubs really don't have a place to play him, other teams will know it. So, I'm not sure the return value on a trade would be as much as we expect if half the teams in baseball aren't going to be heavily involved in the bidding.

I think the best approach is to try to coach him up as much as possible in left field. I still don't love the idea of a guy with his bat getting beaten up and worn down behind the plate all season.

Yeah. That's where I'm at with him too. His career path is as a corner outfielder who can mash. You can forgive an occasional fuck-up in the outfield when he's got a bat like that.

[Oleg]

Can we talk about an offseason that includes getting rid of Miguel Montero?

TPD.  Yes, let's get rid of the .754 OPS catcher who had a largely excellent year behind the plate, was a not insignificant part of Arrieta's season and was clearly an all-round good guy and team-mate, because he missed a wild pitch at what happened to be the worst possible moment.  What's that you say?  The Mets scored two more runs in the next inning anyway?  Pfft... I don't care.  And let's ignore the fact that Montero had earlier prevented a run by nailing Granderson - bailing out Baez in the process - with an inch-perfect throw to second.  Also, let's ignore the fact that Fowler, Rizzo, Bryant, Castro and Baez have gone 10-52 with just two doubles in this series, because Montero is the real fucking problem.

EDIT: While we're at it, let's also forget all the other fucking awful fielding we saw last night, and LaStella's "at-bat", shall we?

To be fair, Montero's complete inability to hit fastballs anymore seems like a problem, and he's old, and likely to decline. I personally hope Schwarber is able to catch a lot more games next year or it could get ugly. Scapegoating him for the loss is dumb, though.

He's been bad for a while. Maybe he's old. Maybe he's still hurt. Maybe his hot start was a fluke. Either was Schwarber probably isn't an outfielder, and can hopefully stick at catcher. I don't know what that means for Miggy. It's not like they can platoon to work Schwarber in.

I legitimately don't know what they're supposed to do with Schwarber defensively. As bad as he's looked in the outfield, he looked worse at catcher.

Trade him? His value isn't going to get any higher.

If the Cubs really don't have a place to play him, other teams will know it. So, I'm not sure the return value on a trade would be as much as we expect if half the teams in baseball aren't going to be heavily involved in the bidding.

I think the best approach is to try to coach him up as much as possible in left field. I still don't love the idea of a guy with his bat getting beaten up and worn down behind the plate all season.

Very much all of this.

However, here's my issue.  If never becomes an even passable LF, he'll have to slug about 650 in order to have a positive value.  We may be looking at a 6 oWAR player with such terrible defensive numbers that he becomes a league average player?  is that even possible?