Today is Tuesday March 25th and we’re now just two days away from our domestic opening day against the Diamondbacks.
If you didn’t hear, first pitch this Thursday is at 9pm and that’s absolute fuckin bullshit in my household. So much that this now marks the 7th time I’m complaining about the Cubs start times in a blog on CarlsBlogs.com. And quite frankly it feels good to have an outlet like this to get shit off my chest.
Hell yeah
With that, let’s round up our daily Cubs items with the express understanding that we’re a little light on the big ticket stuff.
Don’t believe me?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETE CROW ARMSTRONG
You know it’s a slow news day when I’m wishing you a happy birthday. And to be honest nobody really cares about anyone’s birthday except their own. Not even your precious quincenara you drama queen.
In PCA’s case, he’s now 23 years old which is the exact number of triples + home runs I’d like to see PCA hit this season. Ideally that mix is like 10 triples and 13 homers, which could be pretty conservative given his power in spring training.
I think you can say at least 30 doubles with most of those being of the classic Podsednik variety.
Obviously a lot of bunt singles and infield singles and punch & judy hits.
But the most important thing for PCA to be a 5+ WAR player is to outperform his slug projections and I very much think that’s on the table for a number of reasons he’s showed us in Arizona. Only question now is if he has the mental side to translate that success in the regular season and of course I say yes.
This Is A Good Hypothetical
And my answer is clearly Kyle Tucker without much debate. So if anything, it’s a good hypothetical for me to hammer that point home and I suppose some people still need to hear it.
The #1 to #1,000 most important things the Cubs do to become a contender again are all the same: extend Kyle Tucker on a long-term contract.
Otherwise you just traded away 8 years and maybe 25.0 bWAR to get one good outfield season for a marginally decent ball club at one of the few positions we didn’t even need to upgrade.
So in hindsight, there’s so much pressure in this one Kyle Tucker season that we should just extend him now and be done with the ensuing contract discussions. The mere value of not taking questions or distractions on the topic should be well-worth whatever premium comes with a late-March extension like that this. So just do it already and be done with it Tom. Otherwise we’re gonna call you a big pussy until the day die or sell team.
As for Steele and PCA – there’s just no logical sense to an extension.
For Steele – the club wants him pitching with a chip on his shoulder and extra motivation. That’s when he’s at his best. There’s only a few starters that get better on a long-term deal and I unfortunately don’t know if Justin Steele is one of those guys. Sucks to say that out loud but I’m just being honest that I don’t see the value in guaranteeing him a lot of money when his entire value proposition is being this tough lefty that wants to get paid. I think we need to keep him in that state as long as possible if have the club’s best interests in mind.
For PCA – he’s just too young to do a deal. I don’t know his upside and equally we don’t know his downside. He looks like a $100M player but what if he’s closer to a $50M guy because of injuries or a weaker-than-expected bat? Now we’re pigeon holed into him at centerfield because we got overzealous on a contract extension when he’s got two full seasons of the league minimum left on the books. At least give me one full 162 before we start handing out pay raises. And with that comes the same shoulder chip that we like out of Justin Steele. So for both of these guys, hard pass right now.
Kyle Tucker though?
Give him an unlimited amount of money so we can move on with our lives and the rest of the roster.
But I Also Said This?
10:51 AM so I could’ve had a dozen beers by the time this one went out. But as of right now we’ve checked a lot of these boxes:
- Sponsorships and revenue
- Talked a lot about free agency
- Fired a number of coaches
- Signed Carson Kelly (only 30 years old)
- Officially brought back Sammy Sosa as a team ambassador
So let me clarify my PCA position.
If we extend PCA, then I want it at some stupid discount like Anthony Rizzo for 7 years and 40 something million dollars. Make it so completely one-sided then I’m okay with the extension.
But right now as a priority, I say it’s far behind Kyle Tucker’s deal and way outside the scope of the near-future needs.
In Other News...BAD NEWS
Nobody freak out.
I’m sure it’s just a coincidence…
Meanwhile:
Ben Brown Is The 5th Starter
That doesn’t surprise me because we’ve been kicking it around for a week now.
The big takeaway is that Ben Brown is by far and away the most talented pitcher on the team. He’s got the best fastball and the nastiest movement and filthiest split/change/whatever. Everything you want on paper can be found in Ben Brown.
My biggest reservation is his mental makeup which is why you have to give him the 5th spot to start the season. If you don’t, I think it’s much harder for him to ever get back into the starting rotation from the bullpen. I think he’s one of these pitchers that only sees himself as a starter and that forces the club to keep him away from the bullpen until he self-realizes it on his own.
For now, that means he gets an opportunity at the back of an extremely experienced rotation. Certainly the most seasoned in the NL Central and one of the more veteran 1-4 groups across the entire league. Ben Brown slides into the back as the young dumb animal that doesn’t fully understand his raw strength.
And with that comes this weird personality development that reminds me of Charlie Sheen in Major League 2 when Rick Vaughn is trying to master his offspeed stuff. That’s the same kinda feeling I get watching Ben Brown. Stop fucking around and just give em the heater Ricky.
The problem is Ben Brown needs a lot of bullpen help as a starting pitcher and that’s going to add up pitching behind Matt Boyd. That’s probably why I’d flip Brown with Boyd to start the year so you can let a veteran in Matt Boyd pick up the bullpen after Ben Brown start without always turning it over to Justin Steele. Or at least I think there’s some intelligent discourse worth having around the topic and it would be nice to hear Jed talk about that.
But first Ben Brown needs to make a couple decent starts and I sincerely hope that’s the case.
He gets a little momentum and he’s off to the races.
Momentum the opposite way though and I think he’s back in Iowa working on towel drills and dry mechanics.
Either path, it’s entirely up to Ben Brown.
And that’s why exactly I’m hesitant.
PS Palette Cleanser
Royals fan here – good LUCK with Brad Keller in that bullpen. Woof.