***Official 2023 Chicago Cubs Thread***

Stroman since June 20

26.2 IP
24 Earned Runs
36 Hits
14 Walks

It was smart of him to hunt for a new contract in May when he was the best pitcher in the league. I'll eat crow, it was smart of our Front Office to ignore him.

2 weeks ago, he obviously was opting out of the $21 million contract. It's looking more and more that he would be crazy not to accept it.
 
I'm personally in favor of trading Stroman and still think we can get a decent return. Guarantee that $21 million next year and get someone who isn't going to turn fans and teammates against the FO. Maybe call up the Angels and see if they'd take Stroman and one of those ****** contracts (Mancini? Smyly? Barnhart?) for Adell, since they seem to not want him playing up with them.
 
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At this point Wesneski might even be an upgrade rest of way
Smyly has to be the 1st to be taken out of the rotation. Gotta give Sto some more time to right the ship. But you're right I only feel comfortable with Steele, Hendricks and Taillon right now.
 
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Smyly has to be the 1st to be taken out of the rotation. Gotta give Sto some more time to right the ship. But you're right I only feel comfortable with Steele, Hendricks and Taillon right now.
Another guy I think we're on hook for next year. At least with Stroman and it being sellers market we should be able to get something back. I agree though if stroman is a cub in a week have to keep him in rotation through season
 
I’ll preface this by saying I’m a bad fan and have barely paid attention this year (been a crazy busy year and only have so much time) but I was at Wrigley Sunday and Guaranteed Rate yesterday and now sucked in.

I feel like if you think Stroman can right the ship and get back to early season form then go out and buy. If you get in the playoffs with Steele and early season Stroman you could get hot and have a fun playoff run by adding a couple pieces.

That said Stro looked bad tonight and not sure that’s happening. The fan in me wants to give this group a shot to make a run but the realist says we are still a bit away in which case the smart play is sell.

I have to imagine it will be an interesting deadline and will depend a bit on what the offers are both the selling or buying route. Said another way is it a buyers or sellers market.
 
I’ll preface this by saying I’m a bad fan and have barely paid attention this year (been a crazy busy year and only have so much time) but I was at Wrigley Sunday and Guaranteed Rate yesterday and now sucked in.

I feel like if you think Stroman can right the ship and get back to early season form then go out and buy. If you get in the playoffs with Steele and early season Stroman you could get hot and have a fun playoff run by adding a couple pieces.

That said Stro looked bad tonight and not sure that’s happening. The fan in me wants to give this group a shot to make a run but the realist says we are still a bit away in which case the smart play is sell.

I have to imagine it will be an interesting deadline and will depend a bit on what the offers are both the selling or buying route. Said another way is it a buyers or sellers market.
Can't be sellers if you're 4.5 back in the WC.
 
Can't be sellers if you're 4.5 back in the WC.
Idk I could. Not super aggressive sellers but if you think the best case is WC and maybe win a round I could sell a couple pieces to get some trade pieces for next years run. I don’t like it as a fan but understand also
 
Fangraphs lists the Angels as having the 29th best farm system at 30 and they just traded players #2 and #3 per MLB pipeline for Giolito (and a decent but not elite reliever.)

If that's the tone set for starters, you almost have to trade Stroman.
 
The White Sox got a huge haul from the Angels who are in the same spot as the Cubs (7 GB in Division, 4 GB in Wild Card).

Giolito and Lopez are both free agents at the end of the year yet netted the #2 & 3 prospect in the Angels system. Had the Cubs not won their last 5, it’s conceivable that they could get massive returns for Stroman, Bellinger, etc.
 
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Fangraphs lists the Angels as having the 29th best farm system at 30 and they just traded players #2 and #3 per MLB pipeline for Giolito (and a decent but not elite reliever.)

If that's the tone set for starters, you almost have to trade Stroman.

You beat me to it.
 
Even if he came up and mashed the next 8 weeks a la Schwindel, I wouldn't want to be all-in, but I'd love to see Mervis come up soon and McGeary replace him in Iowa. See if Mervis is someone you can have on your roster next year and give McGeary a bigger challenge.
 
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You can't trade Belly. Keep him around, see if you can make a run and maybe buy yourself some goodwill when it's time to talk about a new contract.

With Stro, if you can find a trade partner I'm all for it. I'm not sure that's a contract you even want next year. I'd even be ok if instead of higher level prospects you get another teams middle-of-the-rotation type.
 
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Even if he came up and mashed the next 8 weeks a la Schwindel, I wouldn't want to be all-in, but I'd love to see Mervis come up soon and McGeary replace him in Iowa. See if Mervis is someone you can have on your roster next year and give McGeary a bigger challenge.

There are several pending moves that need to happen at some point and my guess is they will wait and see what they do at the deadline before they make them. Bringing Mervis back up is 1 of them, promoting PCA to Iowa should of happened by now, and I dunno what else Yonathan Perlaza has to do to get a call up too but issue is he's not going to get regular time in the OF if Bellinger is still here so there lies another issue as if you brought up both Mervis and Perlaza and still have Belli then you basically have to figure out who plays the field and who DH if you play all 3 regularly while squeezing out someone else in the process. Also have Wesnesk pitching well again in Iowa, Ben Brown has struggled at times in June in July but he's a guy that may get a look too if a rotation opening happens.

We keep talking about building for 2024 and part of that will be calling up and playing some of these guys that don't have much left to prove at AAA to evaluate them more against big league pitching. A lot of moves are probably pending what happens at the deadline but at the very least PCA needs to get promoted to Iowa sooner than later and Mervis back up to Chicago at some point for another run.
 
There are several pending moves that need to happen at some point and my guess is they will wait and see what they do at the deadline before they make them. Bringing Mervis back up is 1 of them, promoting PCA to Iowa should of happened by now, and I dunno what else Yonathan Perlaza has to do to get a call up too but issue is he's not going to get regular time in the OF if Bellinger is still here so there lies another issue as if you brought up both Mervis and Perlaza and still have Belli then you basically have to figure out who plays the field and who DH if you play all 3 regularly while squeezing out someone else in the process. Also have Wesnesk pitching well again in Iowa, Ben Brown has struggled at times in June in July but he's a guy that may get a look too if a rotation opening happens.

We keep talking about building for 2024 and part of that will be calling up and playing some of these guys that don't have much left to prove at AAA to evaluate them more against big league pitching. A lot of moves are probably pending what happens at the deadline but at the very least PCA needs to get promoted to Iowa sooner than later and Mervis back up to Chicago at some point for another run.
Have to stop giving out full no trade clauses like candy. I'd love to see Perlaza get a shot, as he'd be a great leadoff or 9 hitter, but we've blocked him with Suzuki and Happ
 
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If they don't want to be sellers, I'm fine with that.

However, if they trade away any decent prospect for a two month rental for this fools gold team I'm going to be really pissed.

My thoughts exactly. If you want to trade some lower level or fringe prospects for some middle relief help and basically stand pat with the rest of the roster that's fine. The only way any decent prospect should be dealt is if it brings back someone with team control beyond this season.
 
Fangraphs lists the Angels as having the 29th best farm system at 30 and they just traded players #2 and #3 per MLB pipeline for Giolito (and a decent but not elite reliever.)

If that's the tone set for starters, you almost have to trade Stroman.
Where would those prospects be in the cubs system though? Or a top 10 system? 10-15 range? I honestly don’t know but two guys that are still outside of the top 100 in all of baseball wouldn’t be enough for Stroman imo.
 
Have to stop giving out full no trade clauses like candy. I'd love to see Perlaza get a shot, as he'd be a great leadoff or 9 hitter, but we've blocked him with Suzuki and Happ
I was skeptical about extending Happ and that one might come back to bite us down the road. Suzuki I get why they did that with him as if you are going to court an international star you have to concede something to entice them to sign with you. I don't think all is lost with him, he's been inconsistent but when he's on he's had some productive stretches. It is what it is with his deal but with all the OF prospects in the pipeline they missed the boat to cash in on Happ last year when he was probably at peak trade value.
 

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