Road Trip

The Cubs come home 5-5 on their most recent road trip.  They played pretty well most of the time, winning the last two series after dropping three of four in Pittsburgh.  If only they could play in the NL East all the time.

Valbuena and Castro have been hot lately, though it is really the pitching that is carrying the team.  One of the upsides of losing Bonifacio to injury is that Renteria cannot find a spot for him to play.  This puts Valbuena in the leadoff spot where he gets on base and Barney at second base more often than not where he stabilizes the defense.  Of course, the downside is that Sweeney plays more often.

As far as the pitching goes, we are now in a situation where all the starters with the exception of Travis Wood are on the trade block.  Weird, to say the least.  Samardzija has apparently rejected an extension worth $85MM over five years.  The Cubs need to up the ante a little and they can probably reach a settlement.

The idea of flipping Arietta, who seems to have come into his own, is really idiotic.  I mean, they got this guy in exchange for Feldman with the idea he was younger and had a substantial upside.

As far as Hammel goes, I can see a case for flipping him.  He is only signed for this season.  He has had a career year so far.  He is showing signs of coming back to his normal mid-level performance.  Keeping him on a multi-year extension is probably not a justifiable move, especially given his history of injuries.

Jackson, however, is the real guy who needs to go, so if there is any market for this guy, the Cubs should jump at the chance.

The Cubs promoted Kris Bryant to AAA Iowa.  He seems like the real deal for a change.  It will be interesting to see what position he winds up playing.  The Cubs have a ton of third base prospects in the system as well as Mike Olt who probably needs a stint in the minors to straighten himself out.

The problem there is that will give Iowa three third basemen, although Villanueva has, by and large, proved a disappointment in AAA.  I think it is likely the Cubs will try to move Bryant to right field, especially if they think Olt has a future.  It's not like he is a professional glove man at third, having made fourteen errors already in AA.