Cubs To Acquire Taylor Rogers

I would’ve really liked to see the Cubs get a front-of-rotation guy to replace Steele. Not having that extra one- or two-spot pitcher is gonna be a tough flaw to overcome in the post-season.

Hoyer seemed to go with an approach of adding extra insurance to the bottom of the rotation and relief corps, and it’s a useful approach for the regular season, but I want the Cubs thinking bigger than that.
To be fair, it was slim pickings in a seller’s market, and while I would’ve urged the Cubs to trade some decent prospects to find that starting pitcher, it sure seems like most teams were perfectly content to keep their ace starters unless they received an obscene wealth of an offer, and if that was what Hoyer was presented with, I”m okay with him holding back. Trade prospects, by all means, but don’t bankrupt the farm system, either.

I like the Castro pickup. It gives them the bench depth they were lacking with Turner (just too much on the downside; a couple years ago he would’ve been what they needed), Berti (not enough to give), and Brujan (not enough time to develop into someone who had something to give). I like that they’re being patient with Shaw, giving him time to develop, but now at least Castro will be a decent option to spell Shaw a bit, whereas with Turner/Brujan/Berti, it’s like, why bench Shaw for them?

Cubs have a solid team, and absent a plague of injuries, they are legit contenders for the post-season. Maybe a bit too streaky for my tastes, but some teams are like that, and probably most fans think that about their team. Hopefully they’ll come out the other side of the little offensive malaise that’s settled in, and they’ll need to, because the pitching has been out of this world, far better than they could have hoped for from Horton, Boyd, Rea, Palencia, and some mediocre middle relievers playing well above expectations and deserving of praise. But there’s gonna be some regression.

Taillon, Assad, and Hodge coming back should help, but none of them are the extra shutdown pitcher the Cubs needed. But, still, they’re more likely to make net positive contributions than not, and Hoyer hedged on that risk with the moves made at the deadline.

Being a Cubs fan is to never be free of despair and frustration and existential pain, but this year has been way more fun than most years, and the most since 2016. The team is in really good shape for the present season and future ones. Not many times I’ve been…