The Cubs must be living right or else the Mets are not. Whatever the case, the epic confrontation between two of the coldest offenses in baseball right now has thus far swung in the Cubs favor. Actually, the Mets have been shut out for twenty innings by the Cubs and I think they were on a scoreless streak before the Cubs came to town. Tonight's game was exciting down to the wire, mainly because of the various base-running blunders by both sides, as well as some curious plays like Rizzo's magic slide.
People have been critical of Bryant's gaffe on the Coghlan hit. He should have picked up the coach. But then again, he probably assumed Rizzo would be sent on the play. Stopping him was an eccentric move on the Cubs part. Worst case scenario, he is out at home and the Cubs have men at second and third. Actually, the throw was off-line, which is why the Mets cutoff guy was able to catch Bryant in the first place. If Rizzo is running and the throw is still caught, then Bryant draws the play and assures the Cubs scoring one run. In any case, the whole controversy became moot when Castro was able to beat out a roller to score what became the winning run.
The rumor mill is full of stuff about the Cubs and Mets swapping needs, hitting for pitching I guess. Personally, I do not think the teams match up all that well. Based on their recent meetings, neither team is exactly hitting the cover off the ball. The Mets are still in contention and they need real help right now to stay there, which is not something the Cubs are likely to surrender for second line pitching. The Cubs are most likely willing to surrender AAA and AA prospects for a veteran starter, but none of these guys are going to step in and lift a team like the Mets. Actually, the Mets are a pretty mediocre team that is only still hanging around because they had a ten game winning streak early in the year. Since then, they have been pretty bad despite their solid pitching.
The Cubs match up a lot better with teams that are out of it and need a rebuild like the Phillies or the A's, for example, maybe even the White Sox. The Cubs might be able to pry a decent veteran starter from teams like that for AAA and AA players who have shown promise, guys like Vogelbach or Villanueva. Baez still might buy them better players in a package deal. I don't think the Cubs are prepared to part with any of the players on the current roster who are any good with the possible exception of Castro, in which case they would need to be certain they had someone to step in and play second base or shortstop in his absence.
On the plus side, the Cubs have picked up two of the games they dropped in the standings at St. Louis, as the Cards unaccountably dropped two straight to the lowly White Sox.
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