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Post by 2mileshighillini on Aug 19, 2023 18:30:11 GMT -5
I’m on break right now. So I’ll have to get back later.
But the Cubs didn’t open up these roster spots for nothing.
Something is going to happen. And it’s going to happen soon. Let’s talk about it.
What YOU doing with these spots?
If you bring a Pitcher up, you have to lose a Pitcher on the 25 man.
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Post by batman66 on Aug 19, 2023 19:41:07 GMT -5
I think that they will add Luke Little to the 40 man and call him up and send down Cuas , I mentioned recently that I think Little will be called up soon he's been excellent in his last 6 outings in Iowa and eventually PCA and Wicks when the rosters expand.
Wisdom with the call up of Mastro might be in jeopardy of being DFA'd soon , if not newly added Uceta probably will be to clear another spot.
Skokiejoe mentioned Burdi is about ready to come off the 60 day , so one spot is probably his , but I'm still going with those other moves I mentioned.
I don't think Hawkins would be saying PCA is in the conversation for a call up and then not have it happen.
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Post by bryzzobrist on Aug 19, 2023 22:57:44 GMT -5
Time to go all in on carlos correa next season. Maybe he opts out and we can sign him for like 350m.
This seasons a dud. We cant reach the promised land without top free agents.
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Post by batman66 on Aug 20, 2023 9:58:29 GMT -5
Possible indication they are readying PCA for a Sept call up , I read he's supposed to be playing some corner OF this week with Iowa , although he's played right on occasion before it seems like they want him to get some fresh reads on how the ball comes off the bat for corner spots.
I don't think it's just to let somebody else play some CF in Iowa, lol.
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Post by bryzzobrist on Aug 20, 2023 13:45:20 GMT -5
Possible indication they are readying PCA for a Sept call up , I read he's supposed to be playing some corner OF this week with Iowa , although he's played right on occasion before it seems like they want him to get some fresh reads on how the ball comes off the bat for corner spots. I don't think it's just to let somebody else play some CF in Iowa, lol. Playing pca at corner spots is a strong indicator imo that he's coming up soon. Gonna be fun. |
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Post by foolforthecity on Aug 20, 2023 15:50:18 GMT -5
Possible indication they are readying PCA for a Sept call up , I read he's supposed to be playing some corner OF this week with Iowa , although he's played right on occasion before it seems like they want him to get some fresh reads on how the ball comes off the bat for corner spots. I don't think it's just to let somebody else play some CF in Iowa, lol. Playing pca at corner spots is a strong indicator imo that he's coming up soon. Gonna be fun. Yes it will be fun. But I’m not getting too excited yet. Remember Mervis struggling? |
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Post by cfin on Aug 20, 2023 15:59:26 GMT -5
Playing pca at corner spots is a strong indicator imo that he's coming up soon. Gonna be fun. Yes it will be fun. But I’m not getting too excited yet. Remember Mervis struggling? I think you bring up PCA while almost flat out telling him - without flat out telling him - that they are expecting him to struggle against major league pitching. He's not going to be viewed as a savior for this season. Come up, face some major league pitching and see what you need to work on in the offseason.
Like I said with Mervis, the organization and the fanbase seemed to put all hopes and dreams of this season on Mervis. Mervis was going to do the same thing in the majors that he'd done in the minors. Then when he didn't... he was viewed as a failure.
Don't make that same mistake with PCA.
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Post by kfidd on Aug 20, 2023 16:42:42 GMT -5
Yes it will be fun. But I’m not getting too excited yet. Remember Mervis struggling? I think you bring up PCA while almost flat out telling him - without flat out telling him - that they are expecting him to struggle against major league pitching. He's not going to be viewed as a savior for this season. Come up, face some major league pitching and see what you need to work on in the offseason.
Like I said with Mervis, the organization and the fanbase seemed to put all hopes and dreams of this season on Mervis. Mervis was going to do the same thing in the majors that he'd done in the minors. Then when he didn't... he was viewed as a failure.
Don't make that same mistake with PCA.
I still don’t recall anyone ever believing Mervis was the savior or that he wouldn’t struggle. Mervis made sense to promote based on two things: - He thrashed minor league pitching - The other options were guys like Hosmer and Rivas Nobody ever expected him to come up and mash, but we were all hopeful he would. Doesn’t mean expectations were there that he’d be a superstar right off the bat. Ross batted him in the bottom third of the lineup and that would have likely been fine, but the problem was the rest of the guys, all established MLB players, weren’t hitting their weight so now the rookie gets put under the microscope because you can’t demote guys like Happ and Suzuki. The expectations not for PCA, but for the front office, should be different for how they handle PCA’s eventual promotion. Whenever the time comes that he is up as a full time regular, it’s on the front office to make sure the rest of the lineup is rock solid and filled with solid contributors. You do that and PCA can also bat in the bottom of the lineup without expectations on the offensive side. They need a good offseason ahead to make sure the offense is bulked up to allow for that. Otherwise you enter big mistake territory which is promoting PCA and batting him leadoff, NEEDING him to succeed in order for the Cubs to succeed. The Cubs didn’t do that with Mervis and I don’t think they’ll do it with PCA either. |
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Post by irishcubfan on Aug 20, 2023 17:52:19 GMT -5
I think you bring up PCA while almost flat out telling him - without flat out telling him - that they are expecting him to struggle against major league pitching. He's not going to be viewed as a savior for this season. Come up, face some major league pitching and see what you need to work on in the offseason.
Like I said with Mervis, the organization and the fanbase seemed to put all hopes and dreams of this season on Mervis. Mervis was going to do the same thing in the majors that he'd done in the minors. Then when he didn't... he was viewed as a failure.
Don't make that same mistake with PCA.
I still don’t recall anyone ever believing Mervis was the savior or that he wouldn’t struggle. Mervis made sense to promote based on two things: - He thrashed minor league pitching - The other options were guys like Hosmer and Rivas Nobody ever expected him to come up and mash, but we were all hopeful he would. Doesn’t mean expectations were there that he’d be a superstar right off the bat. Ross batted him in the bottom third of the lineup and that would have likely been fine, but the problem was the rest of the guys, all established MLB players, weren’t hitting their weight so now the rookie gets put under the microscope because you can’t demote guys like Happ and Suzuki. The expectations not for PCA, but for the front office, should be different for how they handle PCA’s eventual promotion. Whenever the time comes that he is up as a full time regular, it’s on the front office to make sure the rest of the lineup is rock solid and filled with solid contributors. You do that and PCA can also bat in the bottom of the lineup without expectations on the offensive side. They need a good offseason ahead to make sure the offense is bulked up to allow for that. Otherwise you enter big mistake territory which is promoting PCA and batting him leadoff, NEEDING him to succeed in order for the Cubs to succeed. The Cubs didn’t do that with Mervis and I don’t think they’ll do it with PCA either. Mervis also had very inconsistent to non existent playing time. Hoping the Cubs call up Wicks for a soft landing against the likes of Detroit, Pitts, other AAAA team. |
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Post by bryzzobrist on Aug 20, 2023 19:49:15 GMT -5
Wicks, pca, mervis. I'm ready for all'um
I have a hunch that mervis will feel more comfortable next call up and produce. He too consistently crushes in the minors to not translate at some point.
Pca has elite defense and would be a perfectly good backup outfielder regardless of the bat, which may very well surprise us anyway.
I see some combo of smyly/assad/wicks doing piggyback starts.
No need whatsoever to get players at bats anymore, imo. We just need them when we need them.
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Post by bryzzobrist on Aug 20, 2023 23:43:57 GMT -5
Yonathan Perlaza though...
Crush baseballs much?
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Post by kfidd on Aug 21, 2023 7:14:30 GMT -5
I don’t follow the minor leagues too much, but from everything I’ve read and heard it sounds like both Little and PCA make the most sense as callups for whenever the time comes. With the rotation so iffy right now help there seems plausible as well. Wicks name has been tossed around, anyone know anything about Brown’s injury status and whether he’s in play as well?
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Post by batman66 on Aug 21, 2023 8:03:37 GMT -5
Playing pca at corner spots is a strong indicator imo that he's coming up soon. Gonna be fun. Yes it will be fun. But I’m not getting too excited yet. Remember Mervis struggling? Some struggle , some don't , remember Morel when he first came up , they all aren't like Mervis . But there more than likely will be an initial struggle , he has with most promotions , he did at Iowa . He hit something like .150 in his first 25 at bats in AAA and then started having multiple hit games like crazy. PCA can also give you the electric baserunning and fielding late in a game where all Mervis was hopefully going to give you was the bat , so even if he doesn't come out of the gate hitting he could still help the team. |
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Post by batman66 on Aug 21, 2023 8:10:31 GMT -5
Yes it will be fun. But I’m not getting too excited yet. Remember Mervis struggling? I think you bring up PCA while almost flat out telling him - without flat out telling him - that they are expecting him to struggle against major league pitching. He's not going to be viewed as a savior for this season. Come up, face some major league pitching and see what you need to work on in the offseason.
Like I said with Mervis, the organization and the fanbase seemed to put all hopes and dreams of this season on Mervis. Mervis was going to do the same thing in the majors that he'd done in the minors. Then when he didn't... he was viewed as a failure.
Don't make that same mistake with PCA.
The organization didn't seem to put all the hopes and dreams in Mervis , we did. The Cubs went out and signed Hosmer and Mancini to handle 1b and Mervis started the season in AAA and we all were pissed. None of them ended up working out but Mervis wasn't given enough time to adjust. They should have given him atleast another month and also let him face lefties . Picking and chosing who he started against and not letting him even face a lefty if one came in a game later that he started wasn't allowing him to progress. I realize he looked over matched at times, but he also hit into a lot of bad luck , he actually smoked a lot of balls right at guys. |
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Post by batman66 on Aug 21, 2023 8:16:15 GMT -5
Yonathan Perlaza though... Crush baseballs much? I wish he was doing this last season in AAA in a rebuild year he may have gotten a look. Poor guy deserves a call up but it probably won't happen and he may never see the Cubs OF Season numbers are excellent 34 doubles 3 triples 19 homers 64 rbi's mostly , leading off 11 stolen bases .294 avg .388 obp .557 slg .945 ops But probably gets pushed aside and traded because of PCA |
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Post by cfin on Aug 21, 2023 10:07:20 GMT -5
The organization didn't seem to put all the hopes and dreams in Mervis , we did. The Cubs went out and signed Hosmer and Mancini to handle 1b and Mervis started the season in AAA and we all were pissed. None of them ended up working out but Mervis wasn't given enough time to adjust. They should have given him atleast another month and also let him face lefties . Picking and chosing who he started against and not letting him even face a lefty if one came in a game later that he started wasn't allowing him to progress. I realize he looked over matched at times, but he also hit into a lot of bad luck , he actually smoked a lot of balls right at guys. Well, the organization cut Hosmer while Mervis was still struggling. Now to be fair, Hosmer wasn't lighting the world on fire. But perhaps a better move would have been to send Mervis back to AAA at that time and retain Hosmer for a little bit longer. But that's the reason I got the impression that the organization put a lot of hopes and dreams on Mervis. It's true that Mervis didn't get a lot of consistent playing time... but he really didn't take advantage of the playing time he was given. It's all conjecture to argue that he would have gotten out of his funk had he gotten consistent playing time. Because the fan base seemed to dismiss the other side of the argument - that he would continue to struggle with more playing time - just aides that the fan base put their hopes and dreams on Mervis. Don't get me wrong. I'm not anti-Mervis or anything. I do kind of tend to agree that he may be more comfortable the next time he comes up (which is a reason for my argument of calling him up last year - and coincidentally my argument for calling up PCA this year). I'm certainly rooting for him. But I'm also trying to stay level-headed and I do believe in AAAA players. Bryan LaHair being one from recent memory. By not calling up Mervis last year (I realize the reason why they didn't, to keep a 40 man spot, but if you just look at it from a pure performance standpoint) then you put an enormous amount of pressure on Mervis to produce at the same level coming into this season and then more pressure to duplicate that at the major league level. I'm more of a fan of calling up prospects early - with the expectation that they are probably going to fail. That failure acts as a pressure release, so that they can go back to the minors or the offseason and work on where their failures were. Occasionally you are able to catch lightning in a bottle, as was the case with Morel and Amaya - neither player had a lot of experience at AAA (Morel had none) and came up and instantly hit. I don't think that's likely to happen with any particular prospect, but if it does, then so be it - that's a good thing. |
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Post by batman66 on Aug 21, 2023 11:08:06 GMT -5
The organization didn't seem to put all the hopes and dreams in Mervis , we did. The Cubs went out and signed Hosmer and Mancini to handle 1b and Mervis started the season in AAA and we all were pissed. None of them ended up working out but Mervis wasn't given enough time to adjust. They should have given him atleast another month and also let him face lefties . Picking and chosing who he started against and not letting him even face a lefty if one came in a game later that he started wasn't allowing him to progress. I realize he looked over matched at times, but he also hit into a lot of bad luck , he actually smoked a lot of balls right at guys. Well, the organization cut Hosmer while Mervis was still struggling. Now to be fair, Hosmer wasn't lighting the world on fire. But perhaps a better move would have been to send Mervis back to AAA at that time and retain Hosmer for a little bit longer. But that's the reason I got the impression that the organization put a lot of hopes and dreams on Mervis. It's true that Mervis didn't get a lot of consistent playing time... but he really didn't take advantage of the playing time he was given. It's all conjecture to argue that he would have gotten out of his funk had he gotten consistent playing time. Because the fan base seemed to dismiss the other side of the argument - that he would continue to struggle with more playing time - just aides that the fan base put their hopes and dreams on Mervis. Don't get me wrong. I'm not anti-Mervis or anything. I do kind of tend to agree that he may be more comfortable the next time he comes up (which is a reason for my argument of calling him up last year - and coincidentally my argument for calling up PCA this year). I'm certainly rooting for him. But I'm also trying to stay level-headed and I do believe in AAAA players. Bryan LaHair being one from recent memory. By not calling up Mervis last year (I realize the reason why they didn't, to keep a 40 man spot, but if you just look at it from a pure performance standpoint) then you put an enormous amount of pressure on Mervis to produce at the same level coming into this season and then more pressure to duplicate that at the major league level. I'm more of a fan of calling up prospects early - with the expectation that they are probably going to fail. That failure acts as a pressure release, so that they can go back to the minors or the offseason and work on where their failures were. Occasionally you are able to catch lightning in a bottle, as was the case with Morel and Amaya - neither player had a lot of experience at AAA (Morel had none) and came up and instantly hit. I don't think that's likely to happen with any particular prospect, but if it does, then so be it - that's a good thing. At the point they cut Hosmer I think they also wanted to try to get Mancini more at bats to try to get him going , and hoped Mervis would come around so Hosmer was kind of a spare part that they felt the roster spot could be better used . I think they should have nrought up Mervis last season. I got the 40 man thing and fear of losing guys they didn't want to in the rule 5 , but they read it wrong , a LOT of teams were in the same boat and the rule 5 really wasn't as active as predicted so I think they would have been better off giving Mervis some time last season when they did not care at all about winning , and they could also get a better read or atleast a head start on how he might fare against major league pitching which could have given them a better idea what to do last winter with 1b. Instead they went in with the mindset they needed to have some veteran stop gap insurance when they could have either passed on it if Mervis did well , or went after a more longer term guy if they felt he might not be the answer. To me that was more important to the teams future than losing a prospect they were on the border with protecting or not in the rule 5 . |
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Post by irishcubfan on Aug 21, 2023 12:16:44 GMT -5
Well, the organization cut Hosmer while Mervis was still struggling. Now to be fair, Hosmer wasn't lighting the world on fire. But perhaps a better move would have been to send Mervis back to AAA at that time and retain Hosmer for a little bit longer. But that's the reason I got the impression that the organization put a lot of hopes and dreams on Mervis. It's true that Mervis didn't get a lot of consistent playing time... but he really didn't take advantage of the playing time he was given. It's all conjecture to argue that he would have gotten out of his funk had he gotten consistent playing time. Because the fan base seemed to dismiss the other side of the argument - that he would continue to struggle with more playing time - just aides that the fan base put their hopes and dreams on Mervis. Don't get me wrong. I'm not anti-Mervis or anything. I do kind of tend to agree that he may be more comfortable the next time he comes up (which is a reason for my argument of calling him up last year - and coincidentally my argument for calling up PCA this year). I'm certainly rooting for him. But I'm also trying to stay level-headed and I do believe in AAAA players. Bryan LaHair being one from recent memory. By not calling up Mervis last year (I realize the reason why they didn't, to keep a 40 man spot, but if you just look at it from a pure performance standpoint) then you put an enormous amount of pressure on Mervis to produce at the same level coming into this season and then more pressure to duplicate that at the major league level. I'm more of a fan of calling up prospects early - with the expectation that they are probably going to fail. That failure acts as a pressure release, so that they can go back to the minors or the offseason and work on where their failures were. Occasionally you are able to catch lightning in a bottle, as was the case with Morel and Amaya - neither player had a lot of experience at AAA (Morel had none) and came up and instantly hit. I don't think that's likely to happen with any particular prospect, but if it does, then so be it - that's a good thing. At the point they cut Hosmer I think they also wanted to try to get Mancini more at bats to try to get him going , and hoped Mervis would come around so Hosmer was kind of a spare part that they felt the roster spot could be better used . I think they should have nrought up Mervis last season. I got the 40 man thing and fear of losing guys they didn't want to in the rule 5 , but they read it wrong , a LOT of teams were in the same boat and the rule 5 really wasn't as active as predicted so I think they would have been better off giving Mervis some time last season when they did not care at all about winning , and they could also get a better read or atleast a head start on how he might fare against major league pitching which could have given them a better idea what to do last winter with 1b. Instead they went in with the mindset they needed to have some veteran stop gap insurance when they could have either passed on it if Mervis did well , or went after a more longer term guy if they felt he might not be the answer. To me that was more important to the teams future than losing a prospect they were on the border with protecting or not in the rule 5 . The Rule 5 draft is an absurdly overrated draft. Very minimal impact for most of its history. Sure there are outliers such as Santana. |
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Post by irishcubfan on Aug 21, 2023 12:18:13 GMT -5
Well, the organization cut Hosmer while Mervis was still struggling. Now to be fair, Hosmer wasn't lighting the world on fire. But perhaps a better move would have been to send Mervis back to AAA at that time and retain Hosmer for a little bit longer. But that's the reason I got the impression that the organization put a lot of hopes and dreams on Mervis. It's true that Mervis didn't get a lot of consistent playing time... but he really didn't take advantage of the playing time he was given. It's all conjecture to argue that he would have gotten out of his funk had he gotten consistent playing time. Because the fan base seemed to dismiss the other side of the argument - that he would continue to struggle with more playing time - just aides that the fan base put their hopes and dreams on Mervis. Don't get me wrong. I'm not anti-Mervis or anything. I do kind of tend to agree that he may be more comfortable the next time he comes up (which is a reason for my argument of calling him up last year - and coincidentally my argument for calling up PCA this year). I'm certainly rooting for him. But I'm also trying to stay level-headed and I do believe in AAAA players. Bryan LaHair being one from recent memory. By not calling up Mervis last year (I realize the reason why they didn't, to keep a 40 man spot, but if you just look at it from a pure performance standpoint) then you put an enormous amount of pressure on Mervis to produce at the same level coming into this season and then more pressure to duplicate that at the major league level. I'm more of a fan of calling up prospects early - with the expectation that they are probably going to fail. That failure acts as a pressure release, so that they can go back to the minors or the offseason and work on where their failures were. Occasionally you are able to catch lightning in a bottle, as was the case with Morel and Amaya - neither player had a lot of experience at AAA (Morel had none) and came up and instantly hit. I don't think that's likely to happen with any particular prospect, but if it does, then so be it - that's a good thing. At the point they cut Hosmer I think they also wanted to try to get Mancini more at bats to try to get him going , and hoped Mervis would come around so Hosmer was kind of a spare part that they felt the roster spot could be better used . I think they should have nrought up Mervis last season. I got the 40 man thing and fear of losing guys they didn't want to in the rule 5 , but they read it wrong , a LOT of teams were in the same boat and the rule 5 really wasn't as active as predicted so I think they would have been better off giving Mervis some time last season when they did not care at all about winning , and they could also get a better read or atleast a head start on how he might fare against major league pitching which could have given them a better idea what to do last winter with 1b. Instead they went in with the mindset they needed to have some veteran stop gap insurance when they could have either passed on it if Mervis did well , or went after a more longer term guy if they felt he might not be the answer. To me that was more important to the teams future than losing a prospect they were on the border with protecting or not in the rule 5 . Don't believe Mervis will be part of the Cubs org next year. |
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Post by batman66 on Aug 21, 2023 12:35:52 GMT -5
At the point they cut Hosmer I think they also wanted to try to get Mancini more at bats to try to get him going , and hoped Mervis would come around so Hosmer was kind of a spare part that they felt the roster spot could be better used . I think they should have nrought up Mervis last season. I got the 40 man thing and fear of losing guys they didn't want to in the rule 5 , but they read it wrong , a LOT of teams were in the same boat and the rule 5 really wasn't as active as predicted so I think they would have been better off giving Mervis some time last season when they did not care at all about winning , and they could also get a better read or atleast a head start on how he might fare against major league pitching which could have given them a better idea what to do last winter with 1b. Instead they went in with the mindset they needed to have some veteran stop gap insurance when they could have either passed on it if Mervis did well , or went after a more longer term guy if they felt he might not be the answer. To me that was more important to the teams future than losing a prospect they were on the border with protecting or not in the rule 5 . The Rule 5 draft is an absurdly overrated draft. Very minimal impact for most of its history. Sure there are outliers such as Santana. I agree , not many end up being big losses and there is enough depth in the system where losing 1 guy that they didn't want to would kill them. Worrying about who you might lose in the rule 5 should have very little affect on your off season or previous late seasons call up plans like it did . I hope they don't do that shit again with PCA. Not that I feel he absolutely needs or should be called up now because there really isn't the playing time he should warrant , but I don't want to see it be used as an excuse as to why he wouldn't be called up. |
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