Good morning! Or, if you’re me, good late, late, late, late night! It’s the second set of Bullets during the BN Blogathon, which runs for 37 hours straight from 5am CT yesterday morning until 6pm CT this evening. Unsurprisingly, I am a little tired, and unfortunately, my cognitive functions are starting to slip (I can tell the memory is a little touchy, my analytical thinking is softened, and my typing is downright terrible). I hope that I’ll pick back up in a couple hours, because if I deteriorate from here, the last five hours of the Blogathon could be a disaster.
In any case … now it’s Trade Deadline Day! It’s actually here. Based on everything we were hearing yesterday (and the stuff that actually happened), you can expect a busy day today, right up until and through the 3pm CT Non-Waiver Trade Deadline.
Dave Kaplan spoke to a variety of big league sources about the Cubs’ prospects and the organization’s near-term future. It’s a very interesting read. Among the takeaways: accumulating prospects is not easy, but it’s easier than transitioning them successfully to the big leagues and surrounding them with the right veteran talent. That’s what comes next.
The Cubs picked up 26-year-old lefty Felix Doubront from the Red Sox yesterday, but it looks like they’re going to wait until after the deadline stuff has shaken (shaked? shook?) out before deciding/revealing what the plan is for his immediate future. He’s made no secret that he wants to start, but the Cubs may not have a rotation spot for him right now – and they may also not be able to get him down to AAA Iowa, as it looks like he’s out of options. There’s talent there, but there are clear performance struggles, a possible shoulder issue, and possible “drama” issues. It’s going to be a very interesting post-deadline storyline.
I’m glad to hear that Travis Wood’s take on his outing last night was the same as mine: it was good. Yeah, the Rockies scored four, but a couple of those came on pitches that weren’t too bad, and his stuff was working for him. The command was generally very good, too, something that Wood absolutely needs to succeed (and had been absent for a while).
It doesn’t sound like the Cubs are ready to bounce Edwin Jackson from the rotation just yet (CSN).
As part of the Blogathon, I’ve been doing live streams, because who doesn’t want to see me LIVE in action during the Blogathon!? The fourth and final live stream will begin at 10am CT, and it’ll be here at the site. So, set your alarms and what-have-you.
Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here.
Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.
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NEWSLETTER
Good morning! Or, if you’re me, good late, late, late, late night! It’s the second set of Bullets during the BN Blogathon, which runs for 37 hours straight from 5am CT yesterday morning until 6pm CT this evening. Unsurprisingly, I am a little tired, and unfortunately, my cognitive functions are starting to slip (I can tell the memory is a little touchy, my analytical thinking is softened, and my typing is downright terrible). I hope that I’ll pick back up in a couple hours, because if I deteriorate from here, the last five hours of the Blogathon could be a disaster.
