I decided to sit down and look at the Cubs' 2022 schedule. And, I noticed a few things of interest, so I'll point them out.
- The Cubs' Opening Day is in Cincinatti verses the Reds. They play a three-game series against them, then go home to Wrigley for their home opener vs the Cardinals. The volume and level of excitement during that game should be pretty high.
- The Cubs face all four of their division rivals during the first four series of the year. It goes Reds-Cardinals-Brewers-Pirates. So, a lot of great first games for the season, and also a good indication of how the Cubs will do in the division.
- The Cubs will be facing every single team from AL East (Rays, Orioles, etc.), but not a single team from AL West. Also, the Cubs will only face one rival from AL Central, the White Sox. Of course, you have your usual Marlins, Giants, etc. matchups, but the Cubs do see a lot of time playing the Reds and Brewers in 2022.
- The Cubs will play the Reds in the authentic Field of Dreams game, which will definitely be a highlight of the year. Last year, the Yankees and White Sox played there, and it is a pretty awesome field.
- And, on the final game of the year, the Cubs will once again, face the Reds. I'm kind of thinking these two teams are going to be sick of each other...(Opening Day, Field of Dreams, Closing Day, etc.)
It looks like the Cubs have an overall average schedule, not overly challenging (it's not like the Reds are dominant), but of course they do play some tough teams (Dodgers, Yankees, Braves, etc.) The Cubs will also likely be either helping or hindering their two division rivals that are looking to make the playoffs in 2022 (Brewers and Cardinals). Let's hope they hinder them.
Since there aren't really many trade rumors going around (something to do with being in a lockout?), I decided to play around a little bit with Trade Simulator » Baseball Trade Values, where you can simulate trades and see if they are reasonable or not.
I found some Cubs trades posted by some other people, so I'll mention a couple here just for fun.
- Rays and Cubs trade:
- Rays trade RHP Tyler Glasnow, Tommy Romero, and Ryan Yarbrough.
- Cubs trade Adbert Alzolay, Alexander Canario, Alec Mills, and Alexander Vizcaino.
- I like the Cubs getting Glasnow and Yarbrough, and trading Mills is fine with me, but losing two pretty good prospects and Alzolay seems like a pretty pricey trade for the Cubs.
- Guardians and Cubs trade:
- Guardians trade RHP Peyton Battenfield, RHP Tanner Burns, 3B Nolan Jones, and C Bryan Lavastida
- Cubs trade C Willson Contreras and OF Ian Happ
- Getting four prospects from the Guardians, including a catcher, a really good third baseman, and two pretty good pitchers seems like a win for the Cubs, even with trading Contreras (who I don't want to lose) and Happ.
- Padres and Cubs trade:
- Padres trade C Luis Campusano and SS Ha-Seong Kim
- Cubs trade CF Rafael Ortega and 1B Bryce Ball
- I think both the Cubs and Padres would hesitate to get rid of good prospects like Ball and Campusano, but I think the Cubs would get the better end of the deal.
I'm not really serious about these actually happening, but it's fun to think about potential, and trading for Glasnow or top prospects is definitely something I want the Cubs pursuing.
The Cubs' top prospects list has been revised and debated, but there is a consistent group of players that keep appearing. This includes Davis (obviously), Kilian, Triantos, Cassie, Alcantara, Wicks, Crow-Armstrong, Marquez, Canario, and Preciado. Some of these might even make their MLB debut in 2022, like Davis and Kilian.
The Cubs' farm system has undoubtedly become stronger and headed into the future with a good minor league system is important. Looking forward to seeing Marquez and Davis especially in 2022.
That's all for today, so have a great week and keep hoping for the lockout to be over!
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