Chet Coppock's Fur Coat wrote:
It feels like Hoyer has focused on fixing the pitching first through hiring Craig Breslow and Carter Hawkins and flushing out some of the old guard. Steele, Thompson, Effross, maybe Hughes, targeting Killian in the Bryant trade. The pitching side is the harder side to fix because of the need for constant juggling of young guys on the 40-man.
The hitting seems to be mostly 2024 arrivals. Davis is struggling at AAA but there's no reason for them to rush him, Morel has really improved his approach at the plate since last summer, and is a credible replacement for Bote who can also play CF. Wisdom is what he is, he'd be batting 7th on a good team but he does seem to be working on going the other way. Hoerner can't stay healthy which is why they had to waste $4M on Simmons. Madrigal, who the hell knows.
They have a lot of promising pieces at AA and below, but figure that only 1 out of every 5 end up getting 500 PA in the majors. Armstrong's floor is an old-school Paul Blair type, his upside is probably Kevin Kiermeier which is a great return for renting Baez. They have a bunch of SS types and a bunch of power hitting RFs, so figure that one of each makes it to an important role in Chicago.
dont be fooled. there is no rebuild. here is what going to happen. they'll keep going w/ throw aways and coulda beens next season too. then by year 3, they'll realize they got nobody ready to be mlb players. then in year 4 they'll sign FA's but not the big names. 2nd / 3rd tier. What they should have done in year 2.