The 2016 Cubs: SPLOOGE SPLOOGE SPLOOGE

[Yeti]

As good as these Cubs are, they could be even better: their 691-462 (+229!) run differential should, all things being equal, be good for a record of 93-44 (.679).  That would put them on pace for 110 wins.  For fuck sake.

While we're on my favourite subject, by the way, I was having a look around the AL (oh, no reason) and it looks like the Red Sox (752-610) and not the Rangers (669-646) might be the cream of the crop.  The Rangers are a full 11 (eleven) games ahead of their run differential, whereas Boston are 5 games behind and missing out on the playoffs is a real possibility.  Which would be a shame, eh?

Texas' record in one run games: 30-9. That's just redick.

Also, somehow, they're 57-28 against teams above .500

[SKO]

As good as these Cubs are, they could be even better: their 691-462 (+229!) run differential should, all things being equal, be good for a record of 93-44 (.679).  That would put them on pace for 110 wins.  For fuck sake.

While we're on my favourite subject, by the way, I was having a look around the AL (oh, no reason) and it looks like the Red Sox (752-610) and not the Rangers (669-646) might be the cream of the crop.  The Rangers are a full 11 (eleven) games ahead of their run differential, whereas Boston are 5 games behind and missing out on the playoffs is a real possibility.  Which would be a shame, eh?

Texas' record in one run games: 30-9. That's just redick.

Also, somehow, they're 57-28 against teams above .500

Pythagorean record is good and all but sometimes I wonder if it tends to favor teams that score a lot of runs even if they don't do anything else well. The Cardinals and Red Sox both have bad pitching staffs. That's something they deal with every day. Their offenses can definitely put up 10 to 15 runs on bad teams with regularity. I can't say much for the Red Sox defense but I know the Cardinals defense is absolutely terrible. I feel like the fact that they tend to win a lot of the games they do win by large margins hides the fact that on a day to day basis they're a pretty mediocre team in two of the three phases of the game. They remind me of the 2004 Cubs with an even worse rotation.

[Tonker]

As good as these Cubs are, they could be even better: their 691-462 (+229!) run differential should, all things being equal, be good for a record of 93-44 (.679).  That would put them on pace for 110 wins.  For fuck sake.

While we're on my favourite subject, by the way, I was having a look around the AL (oh, no reason) and it looks like the Red Sox (752-610) and not the Rangers (669-646) might be the cream of the crop.  The Rangers are a full 11 (eleven) games ahead of their run differential, whereas Boston are 5 games behind and missing out on the playoffs is a real possibility.  Which would be a shame, eh?

Texas' record in one run games: 30-9. That's just redick.

Also, somehow, they're 57-28 against teams above .500

Pythagorean record is good and all but sometimes I wonder if it tends to favor teams that score a lot of runs even if they don't do anything else well. The Cardinals and Red Sox both have bad pitching staffs. That's something they deal with every day. Their offenses can definitely put up 10 to 15 runs on bad teams with regularity. I can't say much for the Red Sox defense but I know the Cardinals defense is absolutely terrible. I feel like the fact that they tend to win a lot of the games they do win by large margins hides the fact that on a day to day basis they're a pretty mediocre team in two of the three phases of the game. They remind me of the 2004 Cubs with an even worse rotation.

Erm...

Rangers runs allowed: 646
Red Sox runs allowed: 610

[SKO]

As good as these Cubs are, they could be even better: their 691-462 (+229!) run differential should, all things being equal, be good for a record of 93-44 (.679).  That would put them on pace for 110 wins.  For fuck sake.

While we're on my favourite subject, by the way, I was having a look around the AL (oh, no reason) and it looks like the Red Sox (752-610) and not the Rangers (669-646) might be the cream of the crop.  The Rangers are a full 11 (eleven) games ahead of their run differential, whereas Boston are 5 games behind and missing out on the playoffs is a real possibility.  Which would be a shame, eh?

Texas' record in one run games: 30-9. That's just redick.

Also, somehow, they're 57-28 against teams above .500

Pythagorean record is good and all but sometimes I wonder if it tends to favor teams that score a lot of runs even if they don't do anything else well. The Cardinals and Red Sox both have bad pitching staffs. That's something they deal with every day. Their offenses can definitely put up 10 to 15 runs on bad teams with regularity. I can't say much for the Red Sox defense but I know the Cardinals defense is absolutely terrible. I feel like the fact that they tend to win a lot of the games they do win by large margins hides the fact that on a day to day basis they're a pretty mediocre team in two of the three phases of the game. They remind me of the 2004 Cubs with an even worse rotation.

Erm...

Rangers runs allowed: 646
Red Sox runs allowed: 610

Oh the Rangers are fluky as hell, there's no denying that. I wasn't even talking about them.

I was saying people saying the Red Sox and Cardinals have been "unlucky" this year are probably right to some extent but I still don't think they are playing 7-10 games below their true talent level. They score a lot of runs some days, but they allow a pretty significant amount of runs on even more days. I believe the Cardinals especially are who their record says they are, since I believe they are still under .500 against teams that aren't the Reds, Braves, and Brewers.

[SKO]

Ha I just looked and the Cardinals have apparently been taking it from the Reds of late as they're now only 8-7 against them with a run differential of +1. Not surprisingly as they've stopped pasting the Reds their pythag has gone down to where they've now only underperformed by 4 games, when for most of the year their early season blowouts of the Reds/Brewers/Braves had made it appear that the Cardinals were anywhere from 7-10 games below their pythag.

Their 15-6 record against Milwaukee/Atlanta is still what's keeping them afloat though. They are 29-41 against the Nats/Mets/Pirates/Marlins/Dodgers/Giants/Cubs/Mariners/Astros/Rangers/Royals.

Eat it, shitbirds. I'm going to laugh when they manage to miss the playoffs after being overwhelmed by a Mets team that has no offense and only one of its big pitchers left and a Giants team that hasn't won a game since June.

[Quality Start Machine]

Just got an MLB alert that Strasburg and the Nationals have agreed on a 7-year, $175MM extension. With him off the market does this change anything in the Arrieta negotiations/non-negotiations for the Cubs? I wonder if Strasburg might have been a top target for Theo and Jed. Obviously it doesn't make Jake any younger, but maybe they'd be more willing to come closer to the number of years he wants now.

Not sure Jed & Theo would ever go long and heavy on any starting pitcher that has Dusty's fingerprints on him.

But I can't imagine Boras not wanting to test the open market.

This is funny because Strasburg is a Boras client.

Yeah, but do you think Jake doesn't get at least 7/210 on the open market? That's a pretty big jump from Strasburg's deal.

Depends. Both have their knocks. Strasburg is younger than Arrieta, he's also had TJS. Arrieta is potentially less of an injury risk but then he's also going to be on the wrong side of 30 and has had only one full season.

I have no idea what the motivation is for Strasburg to sign that deal a mere 4 months ahead of free agency.  That seems weird.  But, he has two opt outs including the first one after his age-31 season, or the age Arrieta will be when he hits free agency.  I have no idea how the contract is structured but, assuming he rakes in a cool 75 mil and has the opportunity to hit free agency again at 31?  If Arrieta is good for 7/210, would Strasburg come close?  So, that would make it a 10-year/$285mm in earnings.  I don't think Arrieta is getting anywhere near that.

I guess, in other words, this is probably a bad comp for the Arrieta negotiations.

As much hand-wringing as there was at the time, maybe Strasburg has actually come to appreciate where the Nationals were coming from when they shut him down way back when to save his arm.

Can't think of too many reasons he'd sign this right now.

Unless he's fearful of going on the DL for the 7th time between now and the end of the season and hurting his value.

Looks like Strasburg cashed in before Dusty pointed him to the glue factory.

[Tonker]

Just got an MLB alert that Strasburg and the Nationals have agreed on a 7-year, $175MM extension. With him off the market does this change anything in the Arrieta negotiations/non-negotiations for the Cubs? I wonder if Strasburg might have been a top target for Theo and Jed. Obviously it doesn't make Jake any younger, but maybe they'd be more willing to come closer to the number of years he wants now.

Not sure Jed & Theo would ever go long and heavy on any starting pitcher that has Dusty's fingerprints on him.

But I can't imagine Boras not wanting to test the open market.

This is funny because Strasburg is a Boras client.

Yeah, but do you think Jake doesn't get at least 7/210 on the open market? That's a pretty big jump from Strasburg's deal.

Depends. Both have their knocks. Strasburg is younger than Arrieta, he's also had TJS. Arrieta is potentially less of an injury risk but then he's also going to be on the wrong side of 30 and has had only one full season.

I have no idea what the motivation is for Strasburg to sign that deal a mere 4 months ahead of free agency.  That seems weird.  But, he has two opt outs including the first one after his age-31 season, or the age Arrieta will be when he hits free agency.  I have no idea how the contract is structured but, assuming he rakes in a cool 75 mil and has the opportunity to hit free agency again at 31?  If Arrieta is good for 7/210, would Strasburg come close?  So, that would make it a 10-year/$285mm in earnings.  I don't think Arrieta is getting anywhere near that.

I guess, in other words, this is probably a bad comp for the Arrieta negotiations.

As much hand-wringing as there was at the time, maybe Strasburg has actually come to appreciate where the Nationals were coming from when they shut him down way back when to save his arm.

Can't think of too many reasons he'd sign this right now.

Unless he's fearful of going on the DL for the 7th time between now and the end of the season and hurting his value.

Looks like Strasburg cashed in before Dusty pointed him to the glue factory.

To be fair, Strasburg has only thrown more than 110 pitches once this year, back in April (114).

[SKO]

Just got an MLB alert that Strasburg and the Nationals have agreed on a 7-year, $175MM extension. With him off the market does this change anything in the Arrieta negotiations/non-negotiations for the Cubs? I wonder if Strasburg might have been a top target for Theo and Jed. Obviously it doesn't make Jake any younger, but maybe they'd be more willing to come closer to the number of years he wants now.

Not sure Jed & Theo would ever go long and heavy on any starting pitcher that has Dusty's fingerprints on him.

But I can't imagine Boras not wanting to test the open market.

This is funny because Strasburg is a Boras client.

Yeah, but do you think Jake doesn't get at least 7/210 on the open market? That's a pretty big jump from Strasburg's deal.

Depends. Both have their knocks. Strasburg is younger than Arrieta, he's also had TJS. Arrieta is potentially less of an injury risk but then he's also going to be on the wrong side of 30 and has had only one full season.

I have no idea what the motivation is for Strasburg to sign that deal a mere 4 months ahead of free agency.  That seems weird.  But, he has two opt outs including the first one after his age-31 season, or the age Arrieta will be when he hits free agency.  I have no idea how the contract is structured but, assuming he rakes in a cool 75 mil and has the opportunity to hit free agency again at 31?  If Arrieta is good for 7/210, would Strasburg come close?  So, that would make it a 10-year/$285mm in earnings.  I don't think Arrieta is getting anywhere near that.

I guess, in other words, this is probably a bad comp for the Arrieta negotiations.

As much hand-wringing as there was at the time, maybe Strasburg has actually come to appreciate where the Nationals were coming from when they shut him down way back when to save his arm.

Can't think of too many reasons he'd sign this right now.

Unless he's fearful of going on the DL for the 7th time between now and the end of the season and hurting his value.

Looks like Strasburg cashed in before Dusty pointed him to the glue factory.

To be fair, Strasburg has only thrown more than 110 pitches once this year, back in April (114).

Yeah I know Dusty's reputation as well as anyone but front offices nowadays aren't going to let someone do what he did to Prior and Wood. The Nats top 4 starters all rank in the top 20 in the MLB in starts per pitch but you'll also find Jake and Lackey in that category as well. Mostly that's just a function of them doing well and staying in games, and 110+ pitch starts are rare even for them. Strasburg is breaking now because he was probably just always going to break. 19 year olds weren't meant to throw 100 MPH.

[Yeti]

Just got an MLB alert that Strasburg and the Nationals have agreed on a 7-year, $175MM extension. With him off the market does this change anything in the Arrieta negotiations/non-negotiations for the Cubs? I wonder if Strasburg might have been a top target for Theo and Jed. Obviously it doesn't make Jake any younger, but maybe they'd be more willing to come closer to the number of years he wants now.

Not sure Jed & Theo would ever go long and heavy on any starting pitcher that has Dusty's fingerprints on him.

But I can't imagine Boras not wanting to test the open market.

This is funny because Strasburg is a Boras client.

Yeah, but do you think Jake doesn't get at least 7/210 on the open market? That's a pretty big jump from Strasburg's deal.

Depends. Both have their knocks. Strasburg is younger than Arrieta, he's also had TJS. Arrieta is potentially less of an injury risk but then he's also going to be on the wrong side of 30 and has had only one full season.

I have no idea what the motivation is for Strasburg to sign that deal a mere 4 months ahead of free agency.  That seems weird.  But, he has two opt outs including the first one after his age-31 season, or the age Arrieta will be when he hits free agency.  I have no idea how the contract is structured but, assuming he rakes in a cool 75 mil and has the opportunity to hit free agency again at 31?  If Arrieta is good for 7/210, would Strasburg come close?  So, that would make it a 10-year/$285mm in earnings.  I don't think Arrieta is getting anywhere near that.

I guess, in other words, this is probably a bad comp for the Arrieta negotiations.

As much hand-wringing as there was at the time, maybe Strasburg has actually come to appreciate where the Nationals were coming from when they shut him down way back when to save his arm.

Can't think of too many reasons he'd sign this right now.

Unless he's fearful of going on the DL for the 7th time between now and the end of the season and hurting his value.

Looks like Strasburg cashed in before Dusty pointed him to the glue factory.

To be fair, Strasburg has only thrown more than 110 pitches once this year, back in April (114).

Yeah I know Dusty's reputation as well as anyone but front offices nowadays aren't going to let someone do what he did to Prior and Wood. The Nats top 4 starters all rank in the top 20 in the MLB in starts per pitch but you'll also find Jake and Lackey in that category as well. Mostly that's just a function of them doing well and staying in games, and 110+ pitch starts are rare even for them. Strasburg is breaking now because he was probably just always going to break. 19 year olds weren't meant to throw 100 MPH.

Now, Terry Collins. That's a guy that runs pitchers into the ground /ForkSlackPwn

[Saul Goodman]

Shocked that the Chris Coghlan trade didn't make this list of the top trades of the last two seasons.  The first Coghlan trade.

[Quality Start Machine]

here is a pretty good breakdown of the building of the Cubs by Bruce, who managed to not call Gordo and Alvin dipshits when talking about people bitching about the build.

[SKO]

here is a pretty good breakdown of the building of the Cubs by Bruce, who managed to not call Gordo and Alvin dipshits when talking about people bitching about the build.

Bruce is great, however, this is also like the fourth different "how the Cubs were built article" I've seen in the last month. The Athletic just did this like last week. I guess there's not much content with them simply counting down the days to the playoffs so "HOW THIS TEAM LEARNED TO KICK EVERYONE'S ASS" is as good as anything else.

[Oleg]

here is a pretty good breakdown of the building of the Cubs by Bruce, who managed to not call Gordo and Alvin dipshits when talking about people bitching about the build.

Bruce is great, however, this is also like the fourth different "how the Cubs were built article" I've seen in the last month. The Athletic just did this like last week. I guess there's not much content with them simply counting down the days to the playoffs so "HOW THIS TEAM LEARNED TO KICK EVERYONE'S ASS" is as good as anything else.

This one is pretty cool in that it gives us a slight perspective from a players point of view:

It's pretty cool. I've been blessed that the Cubs gave me the opportunity to play.

[Quality Start Machine]

here is a pretty good breakdown of the building of the Cubs by Bruce, who managed to not call Gordo and Alvin dipshits when talking about people bitching about the build.

Bruce is great, however, this is also like the fourth different "how the Cubs were built article" I've seen in the last month. The Athletic just did this like last week. I guess there's not much content with them simply counting down the days to the playoffs so "HOW THIS TEAM LEARNED TO KICK EVERYONE'S ASS" is as good as anything else.

Well, we can spend this weekend watching the Cubs play Houston, and enjoy once again that the Stros took Appel instead of Bryant.

[WTB...A RING FFS!!]

So many Cubs fans grumbling about backing in to the division last night and others saying that's it fine as the fans can celebrate after a win today. I looked at today's lineup and wondered how pissed Lackey was looking at it and how he'd need to really be on to get his 10th. Yet there he is down 2-0 in the 3rd after giving up a couple of bombs. GL Lackey.