Mark Polishuk's NL Central comments

[mikechamp]

These comments came from a chat with MLB Trade Rumors' Mark Polishuk that occurred on April 26.

This might be the least number of questions for a 2-hour chat. There are 2 bonus questions to help: one about the value of a draft pick and one about records. Enjoy the read!!

The link to the entire chat can be found here: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/04/ ... t-123.html
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Why doesn’t Ballesteros play every day? He can hit all pitchers.

Mark Polishuk
His numbers are getting absurd enough that he might be forcing the issue, but the Cubs’ “problem” is that pretty much the whole lineup is hitting well apart from PCA and Busch.

Ballesteros is also limited to the DH spot, which further cuts back on his opportunities to get at-bats if the Cubs want to give someone else a rest day.
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The Cubs have an entire bullpen on the IL and have suffered significant long-term starting pitcher injuries of late (Justin Steele last year, Cade Horton this year). Is this just typical bad pitcher health luck or is there something in their organization, whether that’s personnel, coaching, training and development philosophies, facilities, etc., they should be looking at that could be fixable?

Mark Polishuk
It’s surely a question the Cubs are asking themselves in the wake of all these injuries. Teams routinely review and overhaul their medical and training procedures, but as you noted, sometimes it’s just really bad luck.
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Reds in good shape considering their top two pitchers are out?

Mark Polishuk
Their top two pitchers are out, and nobody’s hitting except Elly and Stewart, AND Pagan’s been shaky. Francona might be a miracle worker.
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Who is your game 7 WS starter current or past?

Mark Polishuk
As a Jays fan who may never get over Game 7, I should probably say Yamamoto. But, I’ll go with Bumgarner or Bob Gibson.
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What is the value of a MLB draft pick if they were allowed to be traded? Give a player a qualifying offer and that will dampen his market. Teams are basically saying that they don’t want to lose the draft pick to sign the player. The pick is too valuable.

The Phillies tried all offseason to unload Nick Castellanos‘ contract and couldn’t find any takers. Are you going to tell me that if they were able to attach a third-round pick that half the league would all of a sudden been interested in him… even teams like the A’s and Rays?

Mark Polishuk
The qualifying offer only tends to impact free agents whose markets were a little tenuous in the first place. Likewise, attaching a draft pick to a bad contract wouldn’t do a ton to improve the trade value of that player of his deal.
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If ever broken, do you think the hits or HR record would be first?

Mark Polishuk
The HR record is much more likely to be broken, of the two of them. That isn’t to say that Bonds’ record is likely to fall anytime soon or even ever, but so much extra longevity would have to go into anyone topping Rose.
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