NSB Community Forum

My grandparents lived in Arizona my entire childhood until they passed while I was in college. We visited them every summer and often on X-Mas break. We went hiking all the time. My grandpa’s property backed up to a big stretch of state park and we’d go quartz hunting. He eventually had a whole gard...

I'm not very impressed with Roberts the tactician(although admittedly that's in the playoffs which are a slightly different animal), but if I'm going to live up to my words about caring the most about player development, I can't ignore that the Dodgers have been the absolute gold standard at it. Ye...

Also, how many of the players at AFL/Short-A are viable prospects? How many warm bodies are floating in the minors? No other sport (outside of hockey, which has its own convoluted system of Junior/Minor league teams) has so many tiers of prospects below the big leagues Football and basketball hide ...

How much would a Jake Odorizzi/Wade Miley/Ivan Nova/Tanner Roark type really cost for a couple years? 2 years, $25MM? I’m frankly more concerned with Lester than I am with the Chatwood/Mills/Alzolay slot. Over the last three seasons he’s gone through stretches where he just didn’t have it. And with ...

This is.... interesting. https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cubs/ct-chicago-cubs-joe-maddon-theo-epstein-20190928-quhoehqcwjfdtd6fktgb5cyf2m-story.html What a horsefeathers city to be in to find out you’re canned. There’s a shot bar on Laclede’s Landing within stumbling distance to the casino. S...

Your current 2020 bullpen pitchers under contract... Kimbrel, Ryan, and Wick. Whichever of Chatwood or Mills that isn't starting. Probably picking up Phelps' option. Then about 250-ish combined innings from some assortment of Webster, Maples, Wieck, Underwood, Norwood and random other AAA guys I'm f...

Imagine what would have happened if the 650 PAs that went to Almora, Russell, and Descalso went to someone who didn’t subtract value offensively. If anyone’s curious, you won’t want to look up the wRC+ numbers of those guys. ETA: let's make it 725 PAs and add in Tony Kemp. Brutal. Zobrist and Happ ...

Betances was going to be the top free agent reliever on the market this off season until these injuries. Now, he might not even get a contract offer until he can show he's healthy.

I think there's zero chance that nobody in baseball knew what was up with Mel Hall, or at least heard rumors/gossip/etc.. A picture of Mel Hall and one of his victims at the victim's high school prom appeared in the Yankee's 1991 yearbook, per this story... https://www.sbnation.com/2014/7/15/588359...

Fun (and a little concerning) stat: Of the top 40* active leaders in pitcher fWAR, the Cubs have 6 of them on their staff. 7. Cole Hamels 51.4 8. Jon Lester 45.5 16. Jose Quintana 28 25. Yu Darvish 20.9 37. Kyle Hendricks 17.9 39. Craig Kimbrel 17.6 * I had to manually add Hamels because he didn't ...

I hate defending Yadi, but Fangraphs added framing to their defensive WAR and he's now the #1 defensive catcher of all time in fangraphs value, and over 50 career WAR, which is 13th best in MLB history for a catcher (3rd amongst his peers, less than 2 WAR behind both McCann and Martin). That's at l...

... an HOF catcher... I know it’s going to happen. I’m resigned to it. But does average bat, great glove get you in the Hall now for catchers? What’s the difference between Molina and Jason Kendall, AJ Pierzynski, Benito Santiago and a half a dozen other similar catchers who aren’t in the Hall and ...

NonProfitCow wrote:Brewers released vaunted opening day starter Jhoulys Chacin.

They listened to Kato!!!

Derwood wrote:

Sammy Sofa wrote:Man, I wish I could find a clip of the hilarious anguished wail he unleashed earlier this season when he (shocker) weakly popped out in a key RBI situation. He sounded like such a dork.

Like the one Heyward makes three times per game?

Yeah. Heyward is Carlos Boozer-esque.

TomtheBombadil wrote:Some more suggested trades Theo should make happen unless He feels something better is there:

Cubs get: Blake Treinen RHRP

A's get: Kyle Schwarber LF/DH

I wouldn’t want to give up any actual resources to acquire Treinan.

OPS rising in each of the last two months = “going in the wrong direction?”

David Wright was paid $115MM to play 211 MLB games from 2014 to 2018 and would still have another $27MM left over this season and next if he hadn’t finally given up the ghost and retired. Prince Fielder had $96MM left on his contract when he broke his neck. If he hadn't been forced to retire, that o...

At the risk of engaging, even if you ignore all the off-field stuff and the not knowing the signs despite being in the organization for five years stuff, Kemp is a better fit for this roster right now than Russell is. I’m somewhat curious to see if they bring him back after rosters expand, but unles...

Jim Frey managed the Cubs, led them to a spectacular 1984 season, and was fired in 1986. He hung around the booth and then was named GM in 1987 after Dallas Green was fired. He quickly named Zimmer manager and almost as quickly sent Smith to Boston. It really felt like old school GM and Manager set...

That the Brewers are where they are with a pitching staff held together with chicken wire and masking tape makes me angrier that it should.

Random question RE: Lee Smith. His tenue with the Cubs was a few years before I started actively following the team so I don't know a ton about him other than the basics. In the video tribute WGN showed in the pre-game yesterday, they mentioned that the Cubs traded him to Boston in 1987 per his req...

Since the Giants are apparently never going to lose again, Pillar and the relievers might be coming off the table. I don't get all the interest in Pillar. 30 yrs. old with a career slash of .260/.295/.400/.695 making about $6 million. Almora is making next to nothing is 25 yrs.old and has career nu...

Since the Giants are apparently never going to lose again, Pillar and the relievers might be coming off the table.

Maldonado gets the start tonight I would assume he’s going to start most games until Contreras gets back. It’ll be more interesting what happens when Contreras gets off the IL. As for this trade... I would have wanted something sexier than 60 or 70 games of a defense-first backup catcher for Montgo...

One of the problems Maddon has making up a lineup is that he simply does not have anyone who can play centerfield and hit lefthanders. So looking at non-contending teams for center fielders who hit lefties better than Heyward and Almora do, it looks like Kevin Pillar is the only guy that remotely fi...