The "It's about time" and "What took so long ?"......days have past considering they have launched three seasons down the shitter for two months of Jorge Soler ? *WRITE* I am not standing behind a FO that sucks and an owner that doesn't even try because it's the now and what is happening. Fuck that. Looks like we have another one that's prepared to slash their nuts off holding them high in the air under the Wrigley marquee, while the words "Committed" are up in lights. [video]http://youtu.be/oewrmB-MHkg[/video]
And how do you know that the front office sucks when they haven't made a single move yet? All they have done is clean house and build up a good farm quickly, plus dropped an average aged team from 31, down to 24. You don't do that in a year. Sorry! So this colossal failure that bottomed out in year one but has steadily improved ever since, and despite the many who were wrong about their win totals (including myself) this year, and the fact that they have done it with NO moves whatsoever in free agency doesn't spell failure to me. It actually proves that you can suck even worse like they did under the last two years with Hendry because he had FAR superior talent. If you think that the Cubs are going to go with nothing but homegrown boys in every position of the line-up, well you are sadly mistaken my friend. And just because they haven't plunged head first into the free agent market, doesn't mean that they won't pick up the necessary pieces to compliment the players they have now, and the ones that are coming. Do you really think they are trying to build a loser in Chicago? If yes, then I have no answers for you. *SCRATCH*
I wouldn't say that, I'd say he's a failure if prospects he passed on become stars and prospects he took busted. Clearly, the intent was to build the farm, not field a competitive major league team (even though he said 'the goal every year was to win the world series.') So I'm going to judge him on farm products and progression. This year he saved his bacon because Castro and Rizzo rebounded. I still think he has done much wrong, but its easy to play Monday Morning Quarterback. Winning records, or in this case the 3 going on 4 year worst records in history do play a role, but not as big as some think. Definitely needs more emphasis going into 2015, as now something needs to happen. He can't cop out behind 'no/bad farm.' To be fair about judging Theo in his body of work, this has to be the year of progression. Prospects are up, and will continue to come up. The 'cornerstone' players are playing like they're supposed to, and pitching is above average overall. Next year, 80 wins is a must. I stood behind Hendry, but both had different circumstances. Hendry had a great team, then an unhealthy team, swindled some of my all time favorite cubs in recent memory for busted players, and made something exciting to watch. Its hard to, losing doesn't help; and penny pinching also doesn't help either. Its hard to follow a guy who says 'the goal every year is to win the world series,' then he subsequently goes and intentionally tanks without trying to sign anyone. He's doing it the long and hard way, and it will feel way better when this team has something to excite me. I don't give a shit about the Daytona Cubs, South Bend affiliates, Tennessee Smokies, or Iowa Cubs. Watching Baez play is nice, I want him to succeed the most, because as you said--fans that criticized Hendry (who usually have no fucking clue what they're talking about) are all fair weather. If Theo decided tomorrow to change the cubs colors to pink and purple, these fans (better known as slurpers) will slander my opinion that I like the current jerseys (not the ugly new away greys with 'CUBS' on them) because I'm wrong and Theo's right. They're diehards, and there's nothing wrong with that. Just don't be a fucktard. Have an open mind about possibilities. If the cubs want to make me happy, go get a solid FA (we agree on Markakis), ship off Pierced Johnson, Baez, Hemmoroydys, Castillo and Almora for Chris Sale and Tyler Flowers, and go get Russell Martin too. I believe it was KB or Boo who said this, but the cubs direction will be decided on this offseason. If the cubs are aggressive for Sale or Hamels, you know they're serious. If they sign more retreads in hopes of flipping them, 2015 will be just as useless as this year.
The PA went after them for their spending in relation to revenue because it was arguably too high. They're not penny pinching, most of the money is going somewhere, just not on the MLB payroll and certain other areas in the franchise (ground crew). I read comments similar to this on many sites, and I think the wording steers the conversation into things that are not and never were going on. We don't know if the money is being spent on debt service, paying up front for construction, other baseball ops activities, or golden statues of Bryant. They're spending, we just don't see it and I've seen nothing in Rickett's history to suggest he's interested in throwing away huge sums of money in taxes by pocketing revenue in the form of profit. The size and scope of the front office hires, random consultants brought in, the number of designers, engineers, architects, lawyers etc. involved in the renovation mess and overhaul of baseball operations also lends credibility to the idea that something is going on. Whether it's going to suck or rewl remains to be seen. I'm with Boo here. They just haven't really done much of consequence in terms of the MLB team. I have to wait before praising or bashing or both. I would also add that they didn't just build the farm, the completely restructured how baseball ops operates. In my opinion, that's much bigger than building up the farm, I think any franchise can do the farm thing with their eyes shut. What Theo and the gang are doing for the Cubs is far bigger with far larger consequences, it just sucks that it takes so long. I understand why fans say they need a good year or are willing to wait. I think Theo has the green light to ignore all the outside noise. I'm torn on what I want. As badly as I want an excuse to watching meaningful baseball instead of NFL camp coverage in Chicago, I think letting this play out completely may be the best course since the Cubs haven't tried anything like it before. Next year should be fun-bad in terms of boards and the media clowns. I'm going to be shocked if they shift gears to win and I think growing pains will still pile on the losses. They've done everything deliberately, and consistently, and painfully slow. I think they'll do the same in 15' and then it will take off or implode before they really start adding outside help. Maybe this ends up being accurate, I don't think so. I noticed in the interviews this month that they were quick to mention that they would add help this year OR next year, read like a hedge against media scrutiny even though I seldom read too much into quotes or interviews. Taken in full context of everything the FO has said (Not Tommy Boy and his PR and marketing fools), I think they've been pretty honest overall. I think the die was cast when Theo took the job and I don't think this offseason will be any more significant than what they've done each of the last 2 in terms of everything surrounding the baseball side of the franchise. Hatebreed is much more fun than almost every lame song written about the Cubs or Wrigley. Given all the misery and pain, it's much more appropriate. Better for the kids too, break the cycle of false hope early. I would happily trade Hatebreed for the happy fluffy songs. I digress. Whoops this is a Rizzo thread. Rizzo sukked last year. Rizzo rewled this year.
Welcome to Houston North. They have been building up a good farm quickly for seven years now and on their second GM. Nice young team there also. :-* I'm sure if you yell "fuck" during a home game in Houston you could hear it echo. That is the fan experience they bring to the table there. The front office sucks. They are a lame duck with mindless fans jerking off in a pool of sweat praising most every move as innovative and genius. Yes. To this point, that is exactly what their actions have shown. It doesn't appear to be a winner. I think we can all agree to that. Youth might provide some unknown glimmer of hope to some. We need to do the both thing here to win. Sign some key free agents to mix with the youth. Until that happens, then they are trying to lose.
True. And now, plus the next couple of years is the proper time to do that being that positions by the youth are being solidified and they are now settling in to their positions. This years free agent crop consists of a TOR pitcher that they could definitely use. The position players that are available on the other hand are a little limited. Not sure who they will target and for how long and how much, but I could easily see a trade of a SS between Castro and Baez looming to net another player that they could use. The Yankees could very well be looking, same with the Phillies and Dodgers, the Mets could upgrade, and the Orioles, depending if Hardy resigns might be in the mix as well. Of the free agent SS's available, you have H-Ram (figures to re-sign or go to the Yankees), Hardy, and A-Cabrera. Teams know the Cubs have a surplus at SS, and I think the Cubs know that Russell is the future, so the others to me are expendable, with the odd men out or ones not dealt taking over at 2B and 3B between Castro, Baez, and Alcantara. Bryant could be thrown in the infield as well for now, but I am not sure he isn't better suited for the outfield in the future with his tall frame, plus he did have 21 errors total this year so that would have to drastically improve.
So you're allowed to exaggerate my point on Rizzo on one year but then turn around and exonerate him for sucking because its Sveum's fault. Or was it Theo's fault for ignoring the offense because he wanted to stockpile top draft picks? Refresh my memory, champ. The Cubs did have Dioneer Navarro at the time, who was hitting for power. He could have hit behind Rizzo. Or, of course, Sveum could have experimented with Castro hitting cleanup the way Ricky made it work this year. *WALL* I loved Soriano's signing. Hindsight is 20-20. Had the cubs not offered him that deal he may have gone to another team. Now we're talking different stories, likely no playoffs in 2007 and 2008 without another big signing. This one you are actually 100% correct. The Cubs had to offer him the eight years in order to keep him away from the Phillies, who were hot after him at the time. Newsflash--great players are still gonna get big money on the FA market. ...And teams will still end up being forced to eat much of the back end of that said player's contract, like the Cubs did with Soriano and will eventually need to do with Jackson.
Pat, the fact that you're still sitting here hawking at your posts shows that you're unable to man up and accept reality. Take the diapers off and accept it for what it is. The fact is that Rizzo has proven to be a 30-homer stud while Soriano has proven to be nothing but a name from the past. The players Epstein liked as opposed to Hendry is irrelevant. This is 2014. I was wrong about Edwin Jackson. I've admitted it. I've accepted it.
I'm not even going to dignify this with a response. You think Dioner Novarro could have been better line up protection than Soriano? Pass whatever you smoking. You just agreed with me the post before this then say the opposite. The cubs HAD to offer Sori that much money and years to keep him from Philly. Yes they had to eat a lot of it. Thats what happens when you get the big time free agent. Post number 2 in this thread DJ. I believe I say something along the lines of "So I was wrong about Rizzo and he bounced back." And then I kindly layed off digging up your old posts. I'm still going to do that. You literally wasted X amount of time on your last two posts because you either didn't read my responses or you read what you wanted to read. Rizzo has proven to be a 30 home run power? He did it once. This year. You know who else hit 32 home runs in a year? Jacoby Elsbury back in 2011. Does he have proven 30 homer power? I like any cubs player that comes in and produces at the major league level, because that's all that matters. Soriano produced for this club in his 6 and a half years. Rizzo has for a year and a half of his 3 years here. I hope he continues his upwards trend. But that doesn't mean that last year around this time we should gloss over how much of a liability Anthony Rizzo was and how Soriano's bat leaving the line up affeced him by turning him from a .250 hitter to a .178 hitter.
Again Pat, whenever you become exposed for how ridiculous you sound, you turn to something else. I never said Navarro would have been an ideal cleanup hitter, just a better option than Schierholtz, who is strictly a lefty just like Rizzo. Renteria saw from day one that Rizzo/Schierholtz was not a logical 3-4 combination, Sveum didn't.
Again, DJ. You saw something that you wanted to see but wasn't what I said and decided to run with it. I never said you thought Novarro would be an ideal clean up hitter because of his above average hitting last year. Don't straw man. I simply, and quite obviously implied Soriano was the best option in 2013 to back up Rizzo, using Rizzo's stat line to back up my argument. And the fact that you brought up Novarro compared to Soriano as an ideal option batting 4th made your argument laughable to me and well, anyone who watches baseball...... Its over man, let it go. Stop going around in circles. Bring something to the table or don't post.
Well you were the one that asked why I blamed Sveum for Rizzo's 2013 struggles, and I gave you my answer - Because he often used back-to-back lefties at 3-4 after Soriano was traded. But, as you are famously known for doing - Once you look foolish in an argument, you turn to something else and hence changed the subject back to Soriano.
I never asked you that, actually. You just read what you wanted to, once again. I did ask you to pass whatever you were smoking when you implied Dionner Novarro was better suited to back up Rizzo in the line up than Soriano. Changed the subject? I brought up Soriano to talk about Rizzo's stat line in 2013. I don't know why you keep circling around something that was never said. Get some sleep, big guy. You need some fresh ideas. Putting words in my mouth to support your argument only works if I'm an idiot.......which I aint a genius, but I also wasn't born yesterday. As a poster here once said: "Thanks for playing!"
Well if I may chime in, Soriano was by far the best protector that Rizzo has ever had. Not that he struck fear into the opposing pitchers eyes, but his name alone from his past warranted great respect and the fact that he could at any time, literally carry a team for stretches at a time. The Cubs should have let his contract play out IMO, and I doubt Corey Black will be much more than trade bait, a reliever, or bottom of the rotation pitcher at best, but that's another argument. Soriano didn't have to put up lofty numbers in his retiring years, but he was far better than the Junior Lake experiment, and with the way the Cubs record had showed, and looked to show, they might as well have let him play out his days here. He was not a cancer to the team, and if nothing else, he was a great clubhouse guy and mentor to the kids. Junior Lake will never will be ANY of that.
He admitted he was wrong and frankly he didn't sound ridiculous doing it at all. What more do you want? Let it go. No one likes a nagging wife.
