(07-30-2021 03:44 PM)B_Hawk06 Wrote:  As a life long Cubs fan, it's awful watching the trades today. Kris Bryant's career has been a lot of ups and downs, Baez is a strikeout machine, but also mashes balls. Rizzo, there's nothing really that makes me happy about that trade, I don't care what kind of prospects we received... because prospects hardly ever pan out. This just looks and feels like we're heading into decades of being back in the NL Central basement.

Jed Hoyer better hope he gets this right, or there's going to be a lot of Cubs fans wanting his head on a stick... a sharp one.

Part of the fun with this group is having been able to watch them mature as prospects, breakthrough and eventually win the WS. Obviously, I'm having a strong emotional reaction to this...it's gut wrenching, but the prospects absolutely matter.

Jed did a decent job getting prospects back to rebuild a system that lacked depth...we're looking at a top 10 system now and that excludes the return for Kimbrel since they're both young major leaguers. I'm not so worried about Jed as I am the Rickets. Willson wasn't dealt today, but he probably doesn't play for the Cubs in 2022. Their payroll should absolutely be top 5 in the league in team salary. We have very little committed beyond 2021 (like 60 million committed). It's time for the Cubs to operate like a major-market team.

2 more years of Heyward

Rotation: Hendricks & Alzolay, plus we have back end options. We'll see what Steele and Thompson can do this year. I'd love to see this team add an ace.

I think they'll extend Patrick Wisdom, plus Madrigal and Hoerner are starters in the MINF and Brennan Davis is their future CF. They should add via free agency and then use a strong farm system to add to it via trade the next two years.

I'm not happy, in fact I hate it, but I also understand that core hadn't won a playoff game since '17. Of the guys that they've traded this week, only KB hurts from a baseball perspective.