On the whole, the home plate umpires have been atrocious throughout the entire postseason so it wasn't like the poor little Cubbies were the victims.

What happened to the Cubs is that they had to face an actual pitching staff instead of facing John Lackey and a bunch of shit.

In 2017 the Cubs position players should be in peak form. I'm sure they have bought some top flight pitching by then. But, we should be okay with Wacha, Martinez and Reyes as the core pitchers in the playoffs.

Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox are expected to be interested in trading for Brandon Moss this winter.


With Chris Davis becoming a free-agent this offseason, many teams will be after his services. However, there will be a hefty pricetag associated with Davis, so teams may go after another option that would come at a cheaper option. According to a report from Nick Carfado of the Boston Globe, the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox are expected to have interest in trading for St. Louis Cardinals' outfielder/first baseman Brandon Moss this offseason.


http://www.scout.com/mlb/rumors/stor...V-DHKU.twitter


Do they have anything we need where we could do some kind of package deal?

I would trade Moss for a Brazzers log-in and a sixer of Nat Ice.

So would I but since someone is interested, what do they have that we need?

You could keep the Natty.

So, if reyes is what he appears to be, what would it take for you to trade him, player wise?

Pujols in his prime. You don't trade a Cy Young ceiling pitcher that is due in the majors next season for anything less.

I just don't think you can trade him because I don't think you'll be able to match up and even if you could, the financial implications will be enormous.

Let's say there's a minor miracle and the Orioles or Rockies offer up Machado or Arenado for him. On it's face you take that in a heartbeat but here's the problem, both of those guys are arb eligible in 2016. Machado is a FA in 2019 (Arenado is 17 days short so he's just super 2). Either of those guys end up being $250 million players when they hit FA, don't they? Machado will be all of 25 yrs old - you'll be talking about a bidding war we haven't seen since A-Rod.

Meanwhile in 2019, Reyes will likely be in his third full season and not even arb eligible yet. Can the Cards really responsibly make that kind of trade? Moreover, even if they could, does that help them get past the Cubs in October? I don't think it does - they're better off hoping Reyes goes superhuman against a stacked Chicago lineup twice during a short series. In October, the ace is going to be more valuable than a power hitting SS anyway.

I can't see a deal I'd make. I know you've been hard up on Goldschmidt for a long time but you've got the same problems there. It's just incredibly difficult for me to get to a point where I'd trade away a potential cost-controlled ace, especially when the Cubs have more financial resources than we do. We can't shop retail and hope to keep up.

In April my Cubs fan buddy assured me that Castro for Syndergaard was a fair deal and that I was being ridiculous when I told him the Mets would be getting fleeced for anything less than Russell.

He's kinda changed his tune since then...

I was essentially trying to get the point that you've gotta develop your own machado in today's baseball.

Basicallt, unless we can flip prospects for prospects, to allow the Financials to work out, we've gotta hope signing heyward means he turns into Bryce harper.

I'm not holding my breath

I love goldy, but he's unattainable I think.

If I'm swinging big, it's arenado, or I'm calling up Washington and seeing what it takes for harper. If he's as unhappy there as it looks, give them 3 players they name and move on

I love Harper; love his enthusiasm and pretty much everything about his game.

That said - how eager are you to get involved with the Scott Boras client and lifelong Yankees fan who, if he even sees FA, will pretty easily surpass the $300 million mark (and probably get an opt-out after about 4 seasons).

It sucks, but there's a pretty good chance that Bryce Harper simply isn't in a league the Cardinals can play in. We got insanely lucky with Pujols that he was willing to sign for so long at such a young age. Very few players are willing to do that.

Don't get me wrong, for Harper I'd make the deal and take my chances in 2019. That said, Harper's not among mere mortals when it comes to availability - it's like talking about trading for Trout or hitting Thor (not Syndergaard but rather the actual Norse God) at cleanup. It's not really a debate worth having.

I'd still have some fairly quiet but serious conversations with the Dodgers about Puig. Even if he were attainable it wouldn't happen because Matheny would never allow him in the clubhouse, but I'd friggen love to get our hands on that guy.

Like I said, I'd give any 3 players they ask for for harper, maybe 4.

Puig is interesting, what are your thoughts on what to do with other situations there? Re up heyward in that or no?