*** Official 2025 Chicago Cubs Thread***
- Thread starter Cyforce
- Start date
I actually feel bad for some of our prospects like Long or Alacantara. There’s just no room in the foreseeable future for them and they likely wanted to be traded too to get a chance elsewhere to play in the majors. They are likely pissed at the FO just as much as we are as fans.
This front office over the past 5-10 years have supposedly been stockpiling prospects but we don't have much to show for it in results. Have passed on trades for guys on hot streaks that could have brought in an impact rental but instead we held tight. I saw that the Marlins released Mervis recently. He was a guy we thought could be the future at 1B and I bet we had some offers on the table we passed on when he tearing it up in the minors. I worry that we have guys in Iowa right now with no immediate path to play in Chicago that the front office could have traded by now for someone that could make a difference in a pennant race.
A player like a Suarez in the middle of lineup will make a huge difference for other players.
IMO there is room for Alcantara based on Tucker's free agency after this season and Suzuki & Happ's free agency after 2026.
Hoyer has ridden this offense basically since Covid and it's the same every year- inconsistent. Players like Suzuki, Happ, Swanson and Bellinger/Tucker seem to bat .280 or .200 in month stretches. It's time to move on from Happ after this season- even if the Cubs have to eat some or all of his contract. Go with an OF rotation of Suzuki, PCA, Caissie and Alcantara.
Long's path isn't as clear, but why not platoon him with Busch at 1B? Have a plan to give Long 40 starts.
One good thing, the prospects are cheap- so it should free up $ to go after a Schwarber, Alonso, etc to play DH.
The Cubs finally won a WS by acting like a major market team and aggressively building a championship roster. Signing Heyward and Zobrist almost seemed excessive at the time but turned out to be necessary. As soon as the Ricketts got that ring they took the franchise straight back to being a mediocre cash cow. Not really even trying to bring in Bryce Harper was the first sign that they weren’t serious about sustaining success. It’s truly disgusting.
Awe......ok, my fault then for just reading the transaction log without the full story.
That core roster was setup to compete for multiple rings too if they would have committed to maintaining the good thing they had going but they got cheap again and didn't have the farm system depth to replace aging players. They swung and missed in 2017 with Quintana and didn't replace Fowler with a viable leadoff hitter. I thought the selloff in 2021 and to some extent the smaller trades in 2022 was signaling a reset and restocked the farm system much like they did prior to the 2016 run. Now we are 3rd season in a row with a roster that is good enough to compete but is flawed and incomplete in some ways and also have a fully stocked farm system that we won't trade from but also are reluctant to call some of these guys up and give a meaningful look at too so what exactly is the vision the front office has with this roster going forward? If this team goes into a tailspin to finish out the season the Hoyer extension is going to look like a big mistake.
As much as I despise the Ricketts, I do think they'll open up the books quite a bit in 2026. There's a few things working for this
1) Many of the alleged debts that were handcuffing them are expiring
2) They were intentional about resetting the luxury tax this year
3) They want to be liked by fans and seemed perturbed that fans are calling them cheap.
1) Many of the alleged debts that were handcuffing them are expiring
2) They were intentional about resetting the luxury tax this year
3) They want to be liked by fans and seemed perturbed that fans are calling them cheap.
Slumps happen in baseball but my concern for this team coming into this season was the high volatility - Seiya and Happ have streaks where they look like potential MVPs, and then have streaks where they look like they don't belong in the minor leagues.Mix this with the unknowns of PCA and Busch, and I think you built a team that has a really high ceiling if they're all on at the same time, and a really low floor when they're all bad at the same time.Tucker's job was to limit the floor, but when he's playing the way he has, he's no better than the rest.
Tucker is costing himself a LOT of money since the ASB. It goes without saying the Cubs won't pony up the $300MM+, but given Tucker's performance, I question whether ANYONE will do so. I'm having a hard time seeing him get much north of $30MM/yr playing like this.
Rumors are he wants $500+ million and I don't see any way the Cubs give him that or anywhere close.
This happens every single year. They'll do their regular nonsense about "being aggressive" and going "all in". And then FA will come and go and they'll sign the 8th best guy at every need position.
They are pros at creating just enough intrigue and optimism that they keep the park full, but never actually investing in making a contending team. You see it every damn FA, and now it's bled over into the trade deadline.
This is especially true with the CBA coming up. I'm sure Tom is salivating and the possibility of a salary cap and probably wont do **** until that's figured out.
Feels similar to Bellinger's situation almost. Slumped at a bad time and could not cash in on the big long term contract he and Boras were seeking. Given that they held onto Caissie and Alcantara my gut feeling is they won't be resigning Tucker unless it's a friendly deal both in AAV and years if he keeps hitting like he has the past month. The next kick in the nuts is if Cam Smith turns into a stud. You'd think if you go out and get a guy like Tucker and give up what you did to get him you'd be all-in on competing but obviously even with the 2nd best record in baseball at the break they still went cheap trying to add the missing pieces.
Watching the interview with Kyle Tucker on Marquee. I thought maybe he didn’t like Chicago or being a Cub, but I think dude is just socially awkward as hell lol
