Mariotti absolutely RIPS into the Cubs

[bc2k]

Jay really does need to take a course of "creative writing" cause there isn't anything creative about what he writes. Same verse, different day.

 

Maybe if Mariotti wasn't too busy getting his eyebrows waxed, he'd find the time to take that class.

[Keener98]

Is it possible for Jay to write an article without using the word "tribsters"?

 

Or the word "Cubdom" I hate that word and I dont really know why. But Mariotti is entertaining on ATH.

[Derwood]

The only real point he has is that the Cubs are a top 5 payroll who never seems to land the top 5 payroll players. They underbid or weren't interested in A-Rod, Piazza, Hampton, Randy Johnson, Thome, Guerrero and JD Drew just to name a few. How this payroll adds up to $100 million is baffling. Yes, they pay well to keep their own guys on the roster (a la the Yankees), but they really haven't made a major free agent splash since I don't know when (unless you count Maddux, which came at the 11th hour in 2003)

[NewUserName]

to be honest free agency is usually a bad deal. You are usually paying higher value for declining talent. Of all the guys listed who is really worth the money he is making? Probably only Vlad and Arod and they are making 18 million and 25 million.

 

Paying frucal 13 mill would be ridiculous. I would rather have cedeno. I would bet that about 28 other teams would rather have cedeno at league minimum than frucal at 13 mill.

 

Maybe Mariotti ought to ask what big time free agent that the White Sox brought in last year? It isnt always about landing a big time free agent it is about building a better team. Are the Cubs a better team right now than they were last year. I would say yes. depending on who they add in RF they could be substancially better than last year. Also the Cubs already have superstars, what they really need to do is fill in the gaps better, which I feel they have done pretty well this off season so far.

[Sec 511 Die-hard]

The only real point he has is that the Cubs are a top 5 payroll who never seems to land the top 5 payroll players. They underbid or weren't interested in A-Rod, Piazza, Hampton, Randy Johnson, Thome, Guerrero and JD Drew just to name a few. How this payroll adds up to $100 million is baffling. Yes, they pay well to keep their own guys on the roster (a la the Yankees), but they really haven't made a major free agent splash since I don't know when (unless you count Maddux, which came at the 11th hour in 2003)

 

What's wrong with the Cubs not landing the top guys? It seems to me that Houston, St. Louis, and Atlanta spend just about every October playing baseball WITHOUT ridiculous contracts. Instead, they spread the wealth around the roster and get solid teams year in and year out.

 

But Marrioti wants the Cubs to be like the Mets, Orioles, Dodgers, and Rangers and pick up a "Superstar" so that you have payroll problems later.

 

I am ECSTATIC the Cubs didn't give DUI Furcal $13 Million a YEAR! All that does is make every other player on the team wonder when their raise is coming. The Cubs are in position to make some good moves - and whether they do it by Christmas, or by St. Patrick's Day - I Don't Care, so long as this team improves.

[goonys evil twin]

What's wrong with the Cubs not landing the top guys? It seems to me that Houston, St. Louis, and Atlanta spend just about every October playing baseball WITHOUT ridiculous contracts. Instead, they spread the wealth around the roster and get solid teams year in and year out.

 

If the Cubs showed any ability to do something similar, I'd be happy. But we've seen over and over that they don't know how to spread the wealth and create a great team at the same time. They are an inefficiently run ballclub.

 

 

 

oh, and the contracts of Chipper, Andruw, Rolen, Pujols, Roger, Lance and others are very similar to some of the deals HEndry refuses to give.

[Sec 511 Die-hard]

Hendry already has given too much to Maddux (making ace money for 4th starter numbers).

 

Just who did you want the Cubs to go get that they didn't?

[KatJ]

I am ECSTATIC the Cubs didn't give DUI Furcal $13 Million a YEAR!

 

I also think that in the long run this will have proven to be a good non-signing, but it pains my gut to wonder if the Cubs spent 2 mil on Perez to babysit the guy.

 

Regardless, Mariotti doesn't know good sports commentary from a bag of baseballs. OTOH, perhaps "good sports commentary" is a contradiction in terms to begin with. But we keep complaining, and it's Marotti that's laughing all the way to the bank, his mock-sanctimonious diatribes against the Tribune aside. It's a cult of personality in reverse, but it still keeps him popular and well-off.

[Soul]

Mariotti was dead wrong about the White Sox, pretty much all year.

 

And he was dead wrong about the Bears (although not much to blame here, few people saw that coming).

 

But here it's tough to argue. All I will say is, there's plenty of time before the season so let's hope the team shapes up. Because right now it's looking pretty sparse.

 

Hendry painted himself into a corner when he put all his offseason eggs in the Furcal basket. This was the player who could save the Cubs, he declared, and if he was going to pay around $10 million a year over a longer period, why not front-load more money over a shorter period if he thought that highly of Furcal?

 

Pretty much true. Pierre was the backup plan, but let's face it: in a weak, weak F.A. class, Furcal was one of the few decent players available and Hendry needed to acquire him to start the offseason right. Didn't happen.