While it’s not a major concern in my book, many following the Cubs believe rookie third baseman Matt Shaw is all that stands between the Cubs and a World Series is his offense. Amazingly, Rockies third baseman, Ryan McMahon has been linked to the Cubs. I have no idea why because he’s the only guy in Rockies history who apparently hasn’t benefited from the friendly air in Colorado. Currently, he’s slashing .209/.312/.373 with 12 homers and 26 RBI. Those numbers don’t warrant a trade to the Cubs, they’re lousy especially for Colorado. The guy’s career .418 slug is awful. Incidentally, I’ve neither read nor heard of any other team being interested in McMahon.

Numbers and stats may not lie, but they certainly can mislead if used improperly. Before he went on the IL, Luis Robert was among the leaders in stolen bases. Actually, that was a long time ago before his power surge. People pretended that his speed was an asset when in reality it spoke to his lack of power. At the time, he was able to steal 21 bases because he was never in scoring position. Conversely, Pete Crow Armstrong’s plateaued when his power surged. How many of Roberts’ earlier season stolen bases were anything more than fluff?