Quote:
Originally Posted by jd1020
I dont for one second think that who Quintana is right now, no matter how much I dislike him being on the Cubs, is who he will be. Nor do I think that about Kyle Hendricks who is starting to come around.
The only one who I think is fading is Jon Lester.
So is the once thought of future ace in Carlos Martinez on the Cardinals.
The Cardinals position hasnt changed at all. Yadi is still getting older, Carpenter is still getting older, their current best pitcher is only on a 2 year deal and unlikely to see a long term extension, their LFer who they traded for to be their middle of the order bat is only around for 1 more year and he's been more like a #7 hitter.
With Gyorko being complete shit this year the Cardinals are looking at finding a C, 3B, LF, and RF really soon. Not to mention if Paul DeJong continues to have Diaz like declines at the plate they could probably stand to look for a SS.
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You might want to try speaking with some evidence. Gyorko, has not been a bright spot, but hardly complete shit. Playing part time for much of the year, he still has an OPS+ of 103, or just a tick above average. Paul DeJong and Diaz like decline? You might want to worry more about your own Russell who is checking in with a "dangerous" OPS of .679, or OPS+ of 78...ouch!
In fact your position player line up comes in with a current WAR of 18.8. That is complicated by Bryant of course who was at 1.4 (304 at bats). The Cards lineup? 20.7.
So yes, Molina is getting older, however we do have 2 ready to go prospects that are fairly highly touted. Carpenter is entering the down years of his prime.
Zobrist and Baez have been your two best players. How old is Zobrist? 47, 48 now? The luster and hype for Almora, Russell, and to some extent Haap and Schwarber has been tarnished to say the least. Face it your line up is closer to ours than you care to admit, and I will gladly admit that there are upsides on the Cubs that could still break big. Time will tell.
I feel a little more confident we can find an above average replacement at a corner infield position or outfield position than what it might cost to go searching the minefield of free agent starting or relief pitching that the Cubs will likely have to navigate again.
Not all of our pitching prospects will pan out. We might never get a #1 out of them, but nearly all of them have shown that they can make a staff, if 1/3 of them trend up, that is a nice place to be with controllable talent.