Wrong! Soriano was on a last place team, the Cubs took and ate most of his contract and netted Corey Black. Maybe not a big deal or that he will amount to much if anything at all, but they put another body into the farm system and Soriano was not going to help them win, and they freed up a little salary. When you have a Ryan Howard who could DH at worst in the AL like the A's did when they went with Dunn. Chase Utley who is an upgrade to most all teams at 2nd base. Jimmy Rollins who is still a great defensive SS, and Cole Hamels being Cole Hamels, surely they had to get calls on most of these players, and frankly, other than the remote possibility of Hamels being on any contending team in the future, the older ones you most certainly do take whatever you can get, even if it's lesser talent in the minors because you free up salary, and you can supplement the farm with more prospects than you get in the draft. It's called rebuilding, and the Phillies are in the same shape the Cubs were, only they have chosen to hang on to some veterans for whatever reasons. They are 3 years into poor records as were the Cubs, and I am not sure they have even bottomed out yet. The Cubs are on an uptrend after 3 years, they have gutted the team completely, have draft picks ready to play, and now have payroll flexibility to make roster moves. Now, who is in better shape from here on out, the Phillies or the Cubs? :-*
So we are back to the point of you having no actual facts on this and just reading from the fanboy handbook that the Phillies are dumb because you assume they turned down legitimate offers. And the clown car goes round and round.
I'll bet I am closer to the fact that they had offers on these players since they pulled Hamels off of waivers and a lot of big name players are put on there for feelers, than you are stating that the Cubs have an open checkbook because of what they spent for the 2007 and 2008 team and what you THINK they should spend now, and what you READ on a page of Forbes magazine to base your opinions as facts. Yeah! That tells the whole story. Clang, clang, clang goes the trolley........
Not sure anyone has ever stated the Cuphuz$ having an open checkbook. What has been stated is that FuckStein is a blundering idiot and totally inept without one. FuckStein has blown a lot of cash on garbage pickups and horrific shot in the dark signings instead of just getting proven players that have a good performance history. This adds up over time. If there is a budget he has no idea what he is doing with it, other than just taking pot shots while Jed soaps up his back in the showers. The best thing to improve the ballclub the fastest is to fire FuckStein. That needs to happen.
So your complete speculation based only on Hamels being pulled off of waivers is stronger evidence than a business sketch done by one of the worlds leading business publications?? Let's also ignore the facts that the Cub$ revenue is $69M greater than it was in 2007 and $52M greater than 2008 and $20M greater than 2010 and continue to believe it is impossible to maintain the same level of payroll. Wow. We are entering serious XXXXXXL clown shoes territory. I guess there was no chance that the Phillies got no real offers and just decided to pull Hamels off waivers instead of letting him go for nothing is there? Do you even know how the waiver trading period works? The Phillies could only negotiate a trade with the team that had the best waiver claim, not an open market. It could very well have been that a team claimed Hamels with no intention at all of actually trading for him but to block him getting traded to another team.
Of course no one has. But the fanboys like to exaggerate like teenage girls and make up ridiculous statements that no one has actually ever said. It is really fricking sad.
There is only one "significant" amount of money they have spent and that on Jackson. I don't think you can sit here and say they have blown a lot of cash when they've only given one player a significant contract. Yes, they've been signing placeholders - players on one or two year contracts that aren't that good. I don't know what this off season holds. It better be for some real players. But to say they've blown a lot of cash is bull shit. They've pulled a Marlins and gutted the team.
Wrong. They have also spend a significant amount of money paying players to play for other teams and getting garbage in return.
Fourty one million for Chris Volstad and Corey Black was a bargain. Five million for thirteen innings of Scott Baker was a bargain. Six million for Germhole Contraception was a bargain. Signing dozens of nobody's between four and one million hoping to get lucky is a waste of fucking time and is just busy work. Literally dropping one and adding another on a weekly basis. FuckStein is a shopaholic and is rummaging through the thrift stores for shit without the open checkbook. You can go broke doing that Mary. But it is justified because it takes longer to go broke buying a bunch of cheap shit everyday than it is to buy a couple of good things that last and stay home. Your husband probably knows about this kind of destructive behavior you are attempting to defend. :-*
Can't forget the great transaction where FuckStein gave Byrd and around five million to the Red Sox for Blowden. ....
Yeap! And they also have a really good farm system with Bryant, Edwards, Johnson, Schwarber, and Russell as notables, and players that they received like Hendricks, Edwards, Ramirez, Strop, Wada, Arrieta, and Grimm, plus hopefuls like Rondon, Baez, Soler, and Alcantara that can move the team forward also, and not to mention who they get via trade or free agency. But yeah, lets just focus on everything they do wrong as if no other teams do it.
But they didn't bring in Baez and Alcantara, they were already here. How about we just focus on actually knowing what we are talking about for a change.
How bout we just not mention the two players that you already consider failures, and ones you would like to trade instead of lumping them into Theo's moves. Whoops! :-X
And in other news you Italian Doucho baggo....................How bout them Royals? And to think what it took for them to even get into the ALDS, and now it seems they can't lose. I know they will eventually, but it does make for a good story. *WRITE*
The Royals are a great story and are playing nearly flawless. Great defense, base running and pitching the entire playoffs. Kansas City fans are very much deserving and should relish the moment. Let's see if FuckStein will get serious this offseason to give us a chance for a change.
I think they will. It will be nice to start rivaling the Cardinals in the division and being able to knock them out of contention instead of relying on San Francisco to always do it. On a side note, and I am not going to waste a thread on a rumor, but a good friend of mine who is a Dodgers fan and has ties in that area has said their is a rumor floating around there that the Dodgers are interested in trading (troublesome) Puig to the Cubs. I know, I know, I know. It is just a rumor and will probably never go anywhere from here. I know the Cubs want LH hitters to balance, but with Schwarber coming up and possibly catching, and if Kris Bryant can man 3B, it got me to start thinking that the Dodgers have an abundance of outfielders and lack SS/3B even though Seager is looming closer, and they could possibly re-sign H-Ram at either position. The Cubs have an abundance at SS/3B. I wonder if either Castro or Baez couldn't somehow make a trade work if either were somehow packaged? I do expect a surprise trade in the very near future, and this would definitely be one. Doesn't hold much if any water, but it would make for an interesting outfield with Puig, Soler, and quite possibly Manny helping to coach them. [:}
