Yeah, but it's 2020 now and whitey has it coming.

Heyward is under zero pressure except personal pride. He is getting paid and knows there is no way he can be traded. And he also knows he's one of two good fielding outfielders on the roster.

He's a sunk cost who will have a stretch of good ABs and that's about it.

That was a pretty shitty outing, especially from the relievers.

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

On the way back from the bar this afternoon, I was debating with myself which of the players from my two favorite teams that I wish could just go away and free up payroll- Seabrook or Heyward? Since I like baseball every so slightly more than hockey, it would be Heyward.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

The LOSING pitcher's line:

4.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 K, 0 BB

Salaries

Salaries may not be complete (especially pre-1985) and may not include some earned bonuses

Year Age Tm Salary SrvTm Sources Notes/Other Sources
2012 25 Texas Rangers $5,500,000 ? contracts
2013 26 Texas Rangers $9,500,000 1.000 contracts
2014 27 Texas Rangers $10,000,000 2.000 contracts
2015 28 Texas Rangers $10,000,000 3.000 contracts
2016 29 Texas Rangers $10,000,000 4.000
2017 30 Texas Rangers $11,000,000 5.000 contracts
2018 31 Chicago Cubs $25,000,000 6.000
2019 32 Chicago Cubs $20,000,000 7.000 contract
2020 33 Chicago Cubs $22,000,000 8.000

2021 34 Chicago Cubs $22,000,000
2022 35 Chicago Cubs $19,000,000
2023 36 Chicago Cubs $18,000,000
Earliest Free Agent: 2024

is there any reason to play day games this year? all games should be at night since there are no fans.

quietly cubs signed daeek deitrich yesterday.

Heyward could be sat, if Ross had the balls to override Theo. Heyward's contract has totally screwed up free agency, possible trades, friction between managers and Theo, teammates knowing he's killing the team. Security wise he's under no pressure. Baseball winning he's in a tornado of pressure.

Yes, he could be benched. That's why I said only his personal pride is on the line. I agree on the domino effect it had on the makeup of the rest of the team. Him and Darvish have fucked the Cubs big time.

"Baseball winning" is a non factor when it comes to Heyward. They won the World Series with him playing and they've missed the playoffs with him playing. You just have to accept it.

I'm more concerned about the bullpen and Darvish/Lester/Chatwood trio that is going to burn out whatever little talent we find in the bullpen.

Cubs stars still swinging for the moon. Shouldn't have to see players like Castellanos (last year) and Kipnis come from other teams for a solid understanding of the strike zone.

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Season’s over

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I don't think anyone is saying that but it's obvious this team is going to struggle.

I’m saying it Matt.

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What I don't understand Matt is that it's mostly the same team from the last 5 years on offense.



Don't get me wrong, the core 5 are still good (Contreras, Baez, Bryant, Schwarber and Rizzo), but the way this team goes into slumps falls directly on them. It seems like they live and die by the home run. Grinding out ABs isn't sexy anymore. I give Epstein a lot of credit for getting rid of Maddon to try and fix this. I'll give a few weeks before I make a final judgement, but my opinion is that Ross isn't going to get their hitting philosophy back on track and you'll still the same offense from the past two years.

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Again, I forgot that Heyward bought and upgraded Ross and his family a hotel suite for every road game in 2016. He did this because they were locker roommates in Heyward's rookie year in Atlanta. A very nice and expensive gesture by Heyward. When does Ross bench him because of his poor play? I'm surprised some people here think this is Theo doing this. Maybe Ross believes Heyward is the best option? Or maybe he just likes Heyward because they go way back?

If your lead off hitter is a power hitter, you know you will not be manufacturing runs.

You don't get paid by grinding out AB, unless you are this generation's Tony Gwynn. It's like walking your way off of the Dominican Republic.

The core has won, and other than Rizzo they are playing for their next contract. (I think Rizzo knows the only two places he will play when his contract runs out are the Cubs or the Marlins, his cancer scare changed his approach to his contracts). This year's playoff format dooms Theo because nobody's going to pay to take Bryant or Contreras at the trade deadline. Other than Caratini and maybe Hoerner, the next six hitters after the core all suck or are past their prime. None of Heyward, Happ, Almora, Kipnis, Sousa, or Bote get meaningful PA for most playoff clubs.

They need to conserve Lester (mostly 90 pitch starts) and hope that 31 wins gets them a playoff spot. Because the back half of their bullpen looks atrocious.

Then again, Cincinnati wasted a really good start from Luis Castillo (6 IP, 11K, 2 ER) today, and they are expected to have the best bullpen in the division.

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

Losing Castellanos killed this team.

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Well he put up Mike Trout numbers while he was with them and they didnt get anywhere but I agree that losing him is going to hurt a lot.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Eh, that's changed over the years. Most really good teams now have a pretty good power guy batting second. Today's second hitters included Trout, Betts, Judge, Hoskins, and Moncada.

Bryant vs Rizzo has more to do with slotting Baez third instead of Schwarber. Rizzo has shown he could be a good leadoff man. Bryant can be just as good.

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

He is already pissed at his manager in Cincy for being taken out for a PR and defensive replacement yesterday.

But yes, Rizzo Castellanos Bryant Baez is a more potent top of the lineup. Even with Schwarber's HR today.

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

Going into the 2018 season, they made replacing Arrieta (or finding another starting pitcher to pair along with Hendricks, Lester, and Quintana) a top priority. It was top priority because the Verlander deal never happened at the 2017 trade deadline. The Cubs were his 1st choice. I'm not sure if Detroit only wanted prospects and the Cubs didn't have enough but I bet some combination of Almora, Schwarber, Happ, Russell, and a couple minor leaguers would have gotten it done. And that's my problem with Theo. He's had no trouble trading away prospects but he can never pull the trigger on his guys that made it to the majors.

Same story trading for Christian Yelich in the 2017/2018 offseason. Did Theo not want to part with any of his young major league guys? Or maybe the outfield wasn't a priority because they had a surplus of mediocre outfielders, one being a guy he signed to one of the worst contracts in Cubs history.

The Cubs weren't confident in their minor league arms because they didn't do a good job at drafting them. That's what's really fucked them over. I guess Theo got the green light to spend a shit ton of money, so he went for Darvish instead of signing one of the 2nd tier starters in that FA class, somebody like Lance Lynn for 3 years/$30 million or Mike Minor 3 years/$28 million.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

It's going to suck seeing Castellanos next week in a Reds uniform.

Verlander for Schwarber and either Happ or Almora, with a couple of AA ball prospects coming back, would have gotten the Verlander rental deal done. Verlander wanted to pitch in Wrigley and almost certainly would have signed an extension.

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

This team has had the same problems the last 2/3 seasons that everyone identified but nobody @ the Cubs seems to address

1.No legitimate lead off hitter since Fowler left.
2.HR or nothing type offense.
3.Times where offense just doesn't score in long stretches.

Other than Hendricks and maybe Lester, the rest of the starters are not solid.

In their own division, I dont' think they are as good as the Reds,Cards. Maybe equal to the Brewers and I think better than the Pirates. So you're probably talking 3rd place here and let's see if that 3rd place gets them a #8 seed into the playoffs.


btw Bryant looks like shit but i am not blaming him. he's not a leadoff hitter and they're really fucking him over by putting him in that position.

really surprised Wieck got hit like that.

He was a tough guy last year.

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youre wrong. I think this team will be fine.

It's a more pure homegrown team this year. They got rid of some of the rental re-treads (Hamels, Castellanos).

The relievers are young and should be better with experience.

One thing I'll say is I was very impressed with Milwaukee's hitting today. They are a damn good team. Kinda strange to think they were shut down by the Professor.

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Are u kidding?

It helped the team. He clogged the outfield and forced everybody to move around or lose AB's. That makes everyone inconsistent.

I love that Happ out of the gate is playing everyday, and Schwarber, etc. Back to the 2016/2017 era.

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Heyward is killing us, bat this sucker 9th when he's playing..he needs to sit 30 games and play 30 games. King of double play grounder.

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The middle innings yesterday is where Quintana's injury really kicks in, because with a healthy Q then Ross sends out Mills in the 5th to go once through the lineup and get it into the middle of the 7th.

Norwood is the symbolic white flag. I expect that Wieck will end up on the IL at the roster cut to 28 as he doesn't have his velocity back after his heart procedure.

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