What in the name of Jose Cruz are the Cubs doing in adding a former Astro to their pitching ranks? Crap, the Cubs have done a nice job of poaching Brewers in Craig Counsell, Hoby Milner and Collin Rea, but why in good conscience choose some lousy Astro pitcher?

The most recent acquisition, Phil Maton, was a mistake from the get-go and they doubled down on their foolishness by signing him to a multiyear deal. The other day, they claimed Christian Roa off waivers from the underperforming and desperate Orioles. Thankfully, they optioned him to Iowa faster than you can say, Mark Lemongello, but he likely is being considered for the ML taxi squad.

If the Cubs feel the need to poach Astros, I’d prefer they get Bob Knepper, Joe Sambito and Mike Cosgrove. As Bears fans say, all are available and availability is a good part of ability. While the three haven’t pitched in over three decades, they couldn’t be any worse than any recent former Astro turned Cub pitcher. And until Bregman cracks the 25-homer plateau, I’d sooner sign Doug Rader. Wait, that’s ridiculous, Rader is 81 years old and has probably lost a step. The aforementioned pitchers are only in their 70’s.

Secretly I’m hoping the Cubs add pitchers that they’ve been developing, but I don’t have high expectations.