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The Cubs?

jitter77

Owes Jimmy $50
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I am confused by the Cubs. They traded Jeff Samardzija last year, but now acquire Lester for the highest starting pitcher salary ever. I would think if they had plans of getting Lester they would have kept Samardzija and have a good 1-2 combo. Seems like a Bi-lateral move at best. I do not follow baseball or the Cubs that much just seemed odd to me...
 
and they resigned Hammel as well
 
The Cubs are moving in the right direction imo... they are still looking to add more players... the NL Central is going to be a very tough division to make it out of over the next few years...
 
The Cubs have no pitching prospects, at all, and have a lot of money since their core group - Rizzo, Baez, Alcantara, Russell, and Bryant - are so young and affordable right now.

They think they can compete in 2016, once they shake out the middle infield situation, get a better defensive catcher, and add maybe one more top-line starting pitcher to go with Lester and Arrietta. They believe that Lester, [New Guy], Arrietta, and Kendrick will give them enough pitching.

However, my take is as follows:

  • The history for long-term pitching contracts is bleak.
  • Sabathia, Oswalt, Verlander, J. Santana, Cain, Zito, M. Hampton, K. Brown, and on and on - duds one and all, particularly later in the deal.
  • Further, the Cubbies have some incredible swing-and-miss guys: Baez, Lake, Alcantara, Castillo and Valbuena are all north of 20%, and the first 3 are north of 30%.
  • Until those guys prove they can get on base, their offense will struggle.
  • Further, having zero pitching depth and counting on all your starters to remain healthy is a fools errand.
 
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