Bryant's ceiling really has a hard cap because of how little contact he makes and how, at best, he will be a neutral contributor on defense. FanGraphs called Giancarlo Stanton his ceiling and that makes sense. Giancarlo is a great player, but chances are he'll never be the best because his bat has to outperform guys like Trout's and McCutcheon's AND their defensive and baserunning contributions. So the excitement is certainly justified--who wouldn't want Giancarlo?--but there is a realistic chance of failure, especially if failure means he becomes a mere pretty good (~3 WAR/season) player.

Well if Q is done like I have been reading in the gamethread based on his numbers after 3 starts, Theo has a lot of explaining to do about Lester's contract.

Just like many predicted, the Padres defense is awful.

8-5 so far, so at least it's not murdering them. 2/3 from the Cubs and only one they lost was on a blown save by Kimbrel.

Well if Q is done like I have been reading in the gamethread based on his numbers after 3 starts, Theo has a lot of explaining to do about Lester's contract.

 

Being from New England, I've seen Lester pitch maybe 150 times. He had many dominant games and he had many average and bad games. Overall he was a good pitcher, but certainly not a great one. I could never understand what was so insulting about Boston's initial offer of 4 years for $70 million. He was never in the class of Kershaw, Sale, Wainwright, or King Felix of today, or Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, or Schilling of a short time ago. He came along at a time of a limited number of quality free agent pitchers and inflated contracts and lucked out by John Henry trying to drive his price up as pay back to Theo. Time will tell if I have a clue or if the professional analysts are who thought he was such a stud.

Castro hit a foul ball straight back and it nailed a lady right the head standing behind the net. She went straight down, been working on her for ten plus minutes, scary stuff.

Castro hit a foul ball straight back and it nailed a lady right the head standing behind the net. She went straight down, been working on her for ten plus minutes, scary stuff.

 

That's too bad. It's on Twitter and everything. Tough to watch.

 

She had her back to the screen, and got clocked in the back of the head.

 

Carried out on a stretched after 22 minutes.

 

Hope she'll be ok.

fathom is right. The Cubs are coming and they're coming soon. Russell isn't even up yet.

fathom is right. The Cubs are coming and they're coming soon. Russell isn't even up yet.

 

Rumors he might be up to play 2nd as soon as this weekend. What they really need to have happen is Baez boost his stock again in AAA so they can deal him for young pitching.

 

As for this year, they play with an amazing amount of confidence for a team that hasn't won anything before.

Edited April 21, 201511 yr by fathom

Now they need Lester to actually pitch like he's paid to do.

 

Maybe it would help Baez if they converted him to OF and left the INF Bryant, Castro, Russell and Rizzo.

 

That would give you an OF of Fowler, Soler, Coghlan and Baez (and eventually, McKinney/Almora/Alcantara).

 

 

Of course, they're probably going to have to trade Baez, Alcantara and another one of those outfield prospects to open up LF for Schwarber eventually...

Somebody needs to sue that netting should stop the ball dead in it's track.

Russell getting promoted....just have to hope some of these guys flop

Edited April 21, 201511 yr by fathom

I've been waiting to see Russell in the majors since he was in Oakland. I think this kid is going to be real good. The good thing about the Cubs being good is the White Sox management always seems to try harder to put out a better team than the Cubs (like all the moves this offseason). Jerry and KW will never sit back and let this team suck while the North Siders are surging.

Rodon got called up and I saw NOTHING on MLB Network about it. Russell gets called up today, and it's the first segment I see when I flip on MLB Network and it's scrolling on the ticker as BREAKING NEWS. I always wished MLB Network would be able to stay away from the bias that ESPN is deep in to.

Rodon got called up and I saw NOTHING on MLB Network about it. Russell gets called up today, and it's the first segment I see when I flip on MLB Network and it's scrolling on the ticker as BREAKING NEWS. I always wished MLB Network would be able to stay away from the bias that ESPN is deep in to.

 

The Cubs hype is unreal in Chicago right now. The Bryant stuff was out of control over the weekend.

fathom is right. The Cubs are coming and they're coming soon. Russell isn't even up yet.

 

Jinx!:Ye ask and Ye shall receive.

The Cubs hype is unreal in Chicago right now. The Bryant stuff was out of control over the weekend.

And he's already living up to it. It's not out of control if it's deserved.

I wouldn't expect much from Russell this year. I see him as a guy whose bat may not really pan out, and even if it does I don't see major upside in it - though it's high upside for a legitimate SS. I think they've rushed him, considering how his BB% dropped from 12% in A+ to 4% in AA last year. Hasn't been remarkable in AAA this season. Very, very young though, lots of time to get better.

I Agree that I wouldn't expect a ton from Russell this year.

I Agree that I wouldn't expect a ton from Russell this year.

 

 

They don't need a ton from him to be an improvement over their current poo-poo platter at 2B.

So now that their elite prospects are with the big leagues, where does the Cubs farm system rank? 10-15?

I flipped on Quick Pitch at 10pm PST tonight, and Rodon was the first story up, then the walkoff win.

 

Yep. I was just coming back here to post that.

So now that their elite prospects are with the big leagues, where does the Cubs farm system rank? 10-15?

 

Dayn Perry tweeted out right after Russell got called up that the Cubs system sure does suck. lol. They "lost" Bryant, Russell, Soler so far. Then again, Sox also lost Rodon. But as we know, the draft will help repopulate that system for both teams, since we are picking at #8 and #9 respectively.

Russell getting promoted....just have to hope some of these guys flop

 

Yeah, looks like Alcantara, Almora, and Baez will be those guys.

Yeah, looks like Alcantara, Almora, and Baez will be those guys.

 

They can also package those 3 guys for some decent pitching.

Schwarber's lighting it up again this year, right?

 

What about CJ Edwards?

 

McKinney? P. Johnson (P)?