Cubs vs. Brewers Preview, Wednesday 7/31, 7:05 CT: A Deadline Passes, Quietly

So, we have reached the non-waiver trading deadline and the Cubs have made no further trades. Given the fact that they made three major deals involving two starting pitchers and a starting outfielder, this shouldn't be really surprising. Sure, there were rumors involving several Cubs, but that doesn't mean they had to be dealt; I assume Theo & Jed were holding out for real value in return. When they didn't get it, they didn't deal. They did get good value for the three deals made earlier in July.

You can stand down now from constant following of Twitter rumors. Or not, if you choose. I suppose it's possible that the Cubs will make a waiver deal in August -- or they could just stay put and start work on next offseason. I'll have some more thoughts on the trading season, likely tomorrow, after the dust settles.

Meanwhile, the Cubs continue this season; they're two games away from the two-thirds mark, and even with the poor results the last three days, still seem on pace for a mid-70s win total, which would be an improvement over last year.

I mentioned this in the recap to the Tuesday doubleheader, but really, what is it with this team and its own division? I can understand losing to the Reds, Pirates and Cardinals, all of whom look like they're in the postseason this year, but the Brewers? Without three of their best hitters? The Cubs are 15-31 inside the division, 33-27 against everyone else. That just makes no sense at all.

Another note: the Cubs optioned Jake Arrieta back to Iowa Wednesday afternoon. Some thought he might stick in the rotation. He'll be back.

Cubs lineup:

DeJesus CF, Borbon LF, Rizzo 1B, Schierholtz RF, Valbuena 2B, Castro SS, Castillo C, Ransom 3B, Jackson P

Hmmm. Another day off for Darwin Barney. (No, not a trade, obviously. Wonder what's up?) Also, Junior Lake gets a day of rest, probably just to clear his head. Julio Borbon hasn't started a game since July 10, so why not?

The Brewers lineup was not available at the time I wrote this post. Please check the BCB Twitter feed for the Brewers lineup.

Today's Starting Pitchers

Edwin Jackson Cubs vs. Wily Peralta Brewers vs. Mil -- vs. Cubs

Edwin Jackson has made two starts against the Brewers this year, both in Milwaukee. He gave up a bunch of runs in the first one, but most of them were unearned. The second one? You really don't want to look. (Don't say I didn't warn you.) The good news: Jackson in his last five starts has a 2.51 ERA and 0.983 WHIP and just two HR allowed in 32⅓ innings and has his season ERA below 5 (4.89) for the first time all year. Keep up the good work, Edwin.

Wily Peralta has faced the Cubs twice this year. He threw pretty well against them April 9 in Milwaukee; not so much June 27 at Wrigley Field. Peralta was having a really good July (one earned run in 29⅓ innings) until the Rockies hit him real hard in his last start. Let's hope the Cubs can keep that up.

Today's game is on WGN.

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Brewers site Brew Crew Ball. The usual caution is advised.

Here's the scoop on game threads for 2013. You'll find the game preview -- like this one -- posting as the first link in the StoryStream™, which will then contain all the overflow threads and the recap. The recap will also be on the front page as a separate post; once I post a game recap, the stream for each game will be retitled "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.

In general, game previews will post two hours before game time. Exception: for day games after night games, that will usually be 90 minutes.

You will also be able to find the First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). They will also appear in this StoryStream™. As I've done for each regular-season game for several years now, we'll have the First Pitch thread at five minutes before game time (moved up from actual game time per your requests), then an overflow one hour, two hours and 2:45 after game time.

Discuss amongst yourselves.