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Well, the Cubs have their fate in their hands with so many head to head matchups left with STL. I think they get in the playoffs (the Nationals are fading a bit), but it will be an interesting off season. They cannot let Castellanos go, Schwarber and Heyward have had good bounce back years .. I think 2B is where they look .. Russell has to go one way or another. They have a few contracts falling off this year (Zobrist, Strop, and Morrow .. but I am guessing all that gets eaten up by arbitration raises)
 
They need to retain Castellanos, whatever it takes. Heyward is the definition of the word average, but we’re stuck with him. Schwarbs has been crushing it lately, so retain him unless there’s a great return offer on a trade. Everyone is high on Bryant but I think he is overrated and would rather see the Cubs let him go if they can sign Anthony Rendon.

Zobrist has been great for the Cubs, but he is 38 and may not even want to play anymore. Second base is an issue, but this Nico Hoerner kid has been pretty solid thus far. There’s no reason he can’t play 2B next season. I don’t ever want to see Addison Russell in a Cubs uniform again. They have a solid bench in Bote, Happ, and Almora (as a late-inning defensive replacement).

The pitching is a huge issue. It’s clear that Lester is past his prime and is just hanging on by a thread, but he has one year left. Hamels has been awful following his mid-season injury (which he was rushed back from), so he’s gotta go. The other three starters are solid, but the pen needs to be completely retooled. Strop is trash, Cishek is wobbly, and Kimbrel was a massive overpay for what we’ve seen thus far.

One thing is for certain: If the Cubs miss the playoffs (it’s looking likely), Maddon is gone.
 
I think the main change is Maddon is gone after this year anything short of winning the WS, Theo seems to think they need a new manager/voice in the clubhouse. After last night, the division hopes are pretty much gone. Wild Card or bust now.

How expectations have changed though, not that long ago we would be having a parade for a .500 team

I have hopes that Kimbrel will bounce back having a full season.
 
bearfan said:
Wild Card or bust now.

I have hopes that Kimbrel will bounce back having a full season.
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I don’t think the Cubs will grab a Wild Card spot.

Maddon just sealed his fate with today’s loss. Thursday night saw the Cubs battle back in the 9th from a 3-run deficit only to see them lose after Kimbrel gave up a 10th inning homer. In Friday’s game, the Cubs scored their only run on a Cardinal error (more proof that this offense has no idea how to play fundamental, small-ball baseball). Just now, the Cubs lost a seesaw game in grand fashion after blowing an 8-7 lead in the 9th. Maddon put Kimbrel in again, who literally gave up two homers on back-to-back pitches.

Kimbrel is far past his prime, and it was a major mistake for Theo to sign him. However, Maddon had other pitchers to use and somehow his thought pattern led him to Kimbrel. This is why Maddon will be sent packing. You don’t put a reliever in a tight situation to build their confidence when they are struggling. Joe has simply made more bad moves in his time with the Cubs than good ones, and yes - the final few World Series’ games were littered with them.

Finally, am I the only one who can’t stand Kris Bryant? The guy plays with zero passion and is about as anti-clutch as you can get. Today he struck out three times in a game that we needed his bat badly, while Rizzo went 3-for-5 while playing on one leg. Get rid of this apathetic bum for a solid starting pitcher and sign Anthony Rendon to play third.
 
Detective Beauregard said:
I don’t think the Cubs will grab a Wild Card spot.

Maddon just sealed his fate with today’s loss. Thursday night saw the Cubs battle back in the 9th from a 3-run deficit only to see them lose after Kimbrel gave up a 10th inning homer. In Friday’s game, the Cubs scored their only run on a Cardinal error (more proof that this offense has no idea how to play fundamental, small-ball baseball). Just now, the Cubs lost a seesaw game in grand fashion after blowing an 8-7 lead in the 9th. Maddon put Kimbrel in again, who literally gave up two homers on back-to-back pitches.

Kimbrel is far past his prime, and it was a major mistake for Theo to sign him. However, Maddon had other pitchers to use and somehow his thought pattern led him to Kimbrel. This is why Maddon will be sent packing. You don’t put a reliever in a tight situation to build their confidence when they are struggling. Joe has simply made more bad moves in his time with the Cubs than good ones, and yes - the final few World Series’ games were littered with them.

Finally, am I the only one who can’t stand Kris Bryant? The guy plays with zero passion and is about as anti-clutch as you can get. Today he struck out three times in a game that we needed his bat badly, while Rizzo went 3-for-5 while playing on one leg. Get rid of this apathetic bum for a solid starting pitcher and sign Anthony Rendon to play third.
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I disagree about Bryant, but yeah. They are toast now for this season and I expect a new manager and some roster turnover

I am not incredibly bummed out though, this has been the the best 5 year run in franchise history with the possible exception of the very early 1900s
 
Game 7 tonight. Surprisngly, the road team has won every game of the series so far. I don't believe that's ever happened before. I'd like to see the Nationals keep it up, and come away with the victory tonight.
 
I'm also rooting for Washington. I don't dislike Houston, but they just won it all two years ago. The Nationals are a more likable team, and definitely the underdogs. After what happened in Game 6, I expect the Nats to be fired up enough to pull this one out.
 
Pretty big penalties for the Astros from their sign stealing

The penalties, according to sources with knowledge of Manfred’s decision, include:

• A one-year suspension for general manager Jeff Luhnow.

• A one-year suspension for manager A.J. Hinch.

• The forfeitures of first- and second-round draft picks in both 2020 and ’21.

• A fine of $5 million, the maximum allowed under MLB’s constitution.

• The placement of former Astros assistant GM Brandon Taubman on baseball’s ineligible list.
 
LooseCannon said:
Sign stealing?
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Using electronic means to find out what pitch is about to be thrown and relay that to the hitter. Teams have always tried to do this by non electronic, which is why you will see a more convoluted set of signs when a runner is on second base and can see the catcher.

The Astros were using cameras in center field to "spy" on the catcher and relay that to the dugout, where a staff member would relay it to the hitter. This was done in the playoffs and in the World Series (which they won)

To edit, there was speculation at least one Dodger pitcher was tipping his pitches (something like putting his glove in a certain position when he was going to throw a curveball, fastball, etc). At least in the case of Yu Darvish, his poor playoff performance in the World Series against the Astros probably cost him some money when he was a free agent right after that. Turns out, he was not tipping his pitches. Many opposing pitchers are pretty pissed.

There is an investigation ongoing now that the Red Sox were doing the same thing, their manager was an Astros coach when this happened.
 
Thank you! Some pretty sneaky stuff going on here, then. Really sad to hear about the Astros possibly stealing a World Series.
 
LooseCannon said:
Thank you! Some pretty sneaky stuff going on here, then. Really sad to hear about the Astros possibly stealing a World Series.
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It is, I am glad MLB threw the book at them, I think they gave the almost the maximum penalties they could. Too bad they did not void the World Series win ... and just declare no winner that year.
 
LooseCannon said:
Thank you! Some pretty sneaky stuff going on here, then. Really sad to hear about the Astros possibly stealing a World Series.
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As a Dodgers fan, it's particularly galling, because the Red Sox did it to them the following year too. Look for the Sox to face a similar punishment.
 
Cornfed Hick said:
As a Dodgers fan, it's particularly galling, because the Red Sox did it to them the following year too. Look for the Sox to face a similar punishment. Of course, the Astros stealing signs wasn't nearly as harmful as the Dodgers' Yu Darvish tipping his pitches and basically losing the World Series singlehandedly. That's on him, not the Astros.
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Did he really tip them though or were they stealing the signs when he pitched?
 
So now the Astros owner has now fired both Hinch and Luhnow.

From what I've seen, the reactions to the penalties seem to be pretty mixed, with many people believing that they aren't harsh enough. I'm kind of on the fence, myself. You can't really punish the players for something like this, I'm sure not every player there was completely in support of what was going on, but you can't expect them to rat out their own teammates and coaches while it was going on and put their own careers at risk. The loss of draft picks will definitely hurt, but at the same time, they still won the World Series that year, so one could argue that all the cheating was still worth it in the end.

The biggest question is will these penalties be harsh enough to deter every other team from even thinking of doing something like this again in the future? I truly hope so.
 
"Flags fly forever" is used to justify a lot of bullshit in professional sports, and there's a big argument to do what @bearfan said, which is essentially, take the flag away.
 
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