Parkins gave his version of the Rozner/Bernstein speech "The Cubs told you what they were going to do!" and I felt sick. But as he went through it, I felt a little better. Signing Suzuki will be a better decision than Schwarber or Bryant. The "core" had totally sucked in the postseason -- since the 2016 title, Bryant, Baez, Rizzo, and Schwarber hit .140 in the playoffs with 50+ strikeouts and 6 walks in 150 AB.

The bottom line is that the Cubs are counting on contending--maybe--merely by the rest of the division sucking.

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2022 is the last unbalanced schedule year. The NL East is going to beat the shit out of each other, so if the Cubs can come in 3rd in the Central and do better than the Mets or Phillies, they can sneak into the #6 spot.

That sounds crazy, I know. But with 38 games against the Pirates and Reds, if they can just play .480-.485 against the rest of the schedule they could end up with 86-87 wins if they beat the living shit out of those two teams. With the revised schedule, they finish with 6 in a row (3 home, then 3 away) against a Reds team which will have totally checked out.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

86/87 Wins will probably win them the division.

I see the winning like 77/78 games with the roster they have right now. And that's being generous.

Nah, Milwaukee has improved enough to easily win 90-92 as long as their starters stay healthy. They just signed Andrew McCutchen to be their 5th OF, because he still hits well as a platoon OF/DH. And the Cardinals usually have a horseshoe up their ass (other than Flaherty who seems injured again) and will spend at the deadline if needed with multiple stars retiring. I think the Cardinals will bring back Pujols for one final year as a platoon DH and backup 1B as long as he agrees to retire along with the others.

So I think the Cubs are playing strictly for the #6 playoff spot. I'm not expecting much out of Wisdom, and expecting nothing out of Ortega. I think Schwindel can play a reasonable 1B if they can find somebody to play 1B against tough lefties, he's just been blocked at his two previous stops in KC and OAK. Personally, I'd start Contreras at 1B in some of those games against tougher lefties and let Gomes catch, then let Schwindel PH if needed in later innings against a righty reliever.

I don't think they can play .480-.485 against the rest of the league excluding PIT/CIN. They will need a lot of breaks. But it's pleasant to see them try.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

What has Milwaukee done to improve?

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

For a start, stopped giving playing time to Jackie Bradley Jr and Keston Hiura.

They won 95 games last year. Not hard to see them still get to 90 this year.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Oh I still expect them to be good as long as their pitching holds up.

I just couldn't recall anything they have done this offseason to improve

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

The Brewers lineup is terrible. They have to come down to earth.

I see the Brewers coming down a bit. Maybe 90 wins so 88 wins you'll be in the hunt.

Cubs over/under is currently 72.5, so let's not get ahead of ourselves.

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I don't think they'll get to the playoffs as currently constructed because I don't think they can play .480 against teams not named PIT/CIN. Unless Hendricks becomes 2016-2017 Hendricks, Stroman pitches well, and Schwindel is legit, they are more likely .400 against those clubs and .600 against PIT/CIN,

which happens to be 72.4...

But Vegas is also setting the line assuming that Contreras and Hendricks will get moved by July 31. I'm not sure that's going to happen.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Bryant, Rizzo, and Baez took less money to not play for the Cubs.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Vegas also setting the line at 72.5 accounts for a lot of optimistic Cub fans wanting to take the over. Vegas tends to know what they're doing. This team don't look so good.

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The implied probability is that they're going to be a .448 club. It's not unreasonable for their front office to think they could play at a .480 pace for much of the season and get hot against the dismantled Reds. It's probably unreasonable for a gambler to think so, however, absent an upgrade at LF, DH, and #3 starter.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Rickets sure played the game/system like a fiddle.

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If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

Cubs apparently don't think Rowan Wick is the answer.

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you're trusting the Cubs brass for that word. I do not.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

Nice to be back I like this team

Is Contreras considered their best player at this point? Cubs offered him only $9m in arb so it seems they don't see him in their future.

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Yes he is, but I think the Cubs are hoping for Suzuki to quickly become that guy and the one they build around. Seems they view Suzuki, Hoerner, Madrigal, Davis and perhaps Happ as the core group they are starting to focus on. They also appear pretty hopeful that Amaya can be their next catcher.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I wouldn't say I trust the word of Cubs Brass, but going back to 2016-17....stock / Market Value on Bryant, Rizzo, and Baez were pretty high. Deservedly so....they were good.

Since then, their numbers haven't held up. Rizzo got about what I'd expect he deserves getting his age. I expected some goofball owner / GM to give Bryant more money than he ended with. Baez....that's the head scratcher. He's the one that really got overpaid this round.

Cubs brass is a lot of things, but I have no doubt they offered Bryant and Rizzo big money deals those guys left money on the table. Baez.....that one I'm not sure about.

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it doesnt shock me if Bryant, Rizzo and Baez think the offers were low ball. who's going to short value themselves? Cubs handled this correctly. Especially with Baez. His overrated value should have been leapt on as trade bait when it was at its highest following 2016

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'Your AT&T Universal Card has arrived'? Oh God, Kick-fucking-ass, I got a Master Card! I don't believe it, man. Life is kinda cool sometimes.

we win 77

Sox fans would happily hope to have that 5 year run. They wont, it is hard to do.

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Gordon Wittenmyer is officially insane.

https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/ ... -next-core

Wittenmyer should be sued for malpractice for that column.

"Nobody, including Heyward, will try to tell you he hasn’t delivered on the $184 million promise six years into his eight-year contract."

I assume he meant "has" and not "hasn't"?

How long does he want to play? “As long as I can play.”

He hasn't been able to play since becoming a Cub. He has averaged 1.5 WAR in his six years (with a high of 2.3); in his previous six, he averaged 5.1.

Of course he's a great teammate. All he's had to do is keep his mouth shut through the booing and keep collecting those checks for about $125k per game. Wittenmyer should be ashamed.

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Gordo is a Branch Covidian and had a spanky like ran just last week

https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/cubs/ ... again-2022

My God, that's awful.

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Heyward has never in what I've seen ever addressed his Cubs poor offensive production. GW's full of it. His mechanically defective swing has never been analyzed by Chicago media. High defensive war, "great guys", no hit players are a dime a dozen. I have to believe Cubs & ex Cubs have to resent the special treatment JHK gets they don't. Happ, Rizzo, Bryant, Javvy all do charity work with little fanfare. The possibility of juicing prematurely destroying his game has never been addressed either. He was a ball of fire before he bulked up with Cubs. He was fearless on the bases. Now he's petrified of the warning track. I admire him for courage coming back the bad beaning he had. But, that's where it ends.