It’s All-Star week at BCB After Dark, the coolest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents, and Cubs fans worldwide. Come in and chill with a cold drink. We’re open late, and we still have a few tables available. Just let us know if you need anything, and feel free to bring your own beverage.
BCB After Dark is your place to chat about baseball, music, movies, or anything else on your mind, as long as you follow the site rules. Night owls can kick things off, but everyone else is welcome to join the conversation as you wake up and throughout the day.
There’s no Cubs game until Friday, but Teoscar Hernandez won the Home Run Derby, beating Bobby Witt Jr. by one home run in the final round. So, congrats to him, I guess?
Last week, I asked if you thought the Cubs would finish over .500. Most of you are still optimistic, with 64 percent believing they will.
Normally, this is where I talk about jazz and movies. However, with all the draft work I’m doing this week, I’m too exhausted to write a movie essay. I did watch a couple of films, but I was so tired that I could barely stay awake. Hopefully, they weren’t that great. I’ll resume the movie talk next week.
But I can still discuss some jazz, so if you’re not into that, feel free to skip ahead. No hard feelings.
Tonight we’re featuring a performance from just last week in France. This is saxophonist Chris Potter, pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Jonathan Blake.
Welcome back to everyone who skipped all of that.
Last week, I asked you what the Cubs would need to accomplish before the trade deadline to become buyers rather than sellers. You stated that they would have to go 12-5. Since then, the Cubs have gone 5-2, which implies they must go 7-3 the rest of the way to become buyers (according to you). That appears achievable, if not easy. It seemed that 5-2 was the minimum they could accomplish to keep their dreams alive. The Cubs’ loss in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader is particularly disappointing because it means they just need to win 6-4, which appears to be very probable.
According to Bob Nightengale (yes, I know), the Cubs have shown interest in trading for Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen. “Expressed interest” likely means they’ve contacted the Blue Jays to say, “Hey, if you’re open to dealing Jansen, we’re interested.”
Jansen, a 29-year-old veteran catcher, is known for his solid defensive skills. Offensively, he’s hitting .223/.316/.391 with six home runs in 57 games for Toronto this year, which is consistent with his career averages. Jansen is earning $5.2 million this year and will be a free agent at the end of the season, so he likely wouldn’t cost much in a trade. The Blue Jays won’t give him away, but he probably wouldn’t require more than a prospect ranked near the end of the Cubs’ top 30 or even top 40.
Jansen might not be the most exciting option at catcher, but he’s a reliable one. If the Cubs traded for him, they’d probably release Tomás Nido, as Miguel Amaya is out of options and the Cubs are likely not ready to give up on him yet.
Acquiring Jansen would probably take the Cubs out of the running for a more exciting catcher like Elias Díaz from the Rockies.
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