Is Wrigley the problem?...

[kevigre]

I've always been against the argument that as long as the Cubs play at Wrigley the Cubs will never win the World Series. After the last two years I am beginning to have a change of heart.

 

There is no way in hell that the Cubs will win a World Series with MacPhail/Hendry at the helm. Hendry is a disaster (no brainer) and MacPhail is a corporate man who is doing a great job for the Tribune ($$). As long as Wrigley continues to pad the Tribune's pockets why would they ever fire MacPhail. The fact that Hendry received an extension proves that winning doesn't matter to MacPhail.

 

What I love about Wrigley is what I am beginning to despise because all I see now is the Tribune's cash cow. If the Tribune really cared about winning our payroll would be up towards the Yankee payroll. As long as Wrigley keeps drawing the Tribune/Cubs have no motivation to win. Thus our lives are miserable.

[gflore34]

I don't believe payroll is the problem, I believe the people who spent the money are the problem. Even with infinitely deep pockets, Hendry still would have not pursued, for example, a Brian Giles this last off season.

[indycub]

I've always been against the argument that as long as the Cubs play at Wrigley the Cubs will never win the World Series. After the last two years I am beginning to have a change of heart.

 

There is no way in hell that the Cubs will win a World Series with MacPhail/Hendry at the helm. Hendry is a disaster (no brainer) and MacPhail is a corporate man who is doing a great job for the Tribune ($$). As long as Wrigley continues to pad the Tribune's pockets why would they ever fire MacPhail. The fact that Hendry received an extension proves that winning doesn't matter to MacPhail.

 

What I love about Wrigley is what I am beginning to despise because all I see now is the Tribune's cash cow. If the Tribune really cared about winning our payroll would be up towards the Yankee payroll. As long as Wrigley keeps drawing the Tribune/Cubs have no motivation to win. Thus our lives are miserable.

 

Great post; and unfortunatly you are right. As much as I hate Steinbrenner, he actually spends his money for the good of winning, therefore they are always contenders. I wish our ownership had the same intentions.

[Wild_Cubs04]

I've always been against the argument that as long as the Cubs play at Wrigley the Cubs will never win the World Series. After the last two years I am beginning to have a change of heart.

 

There is no way in hell that the Cubs will win a World Series with MacPhail/Hendry at the helm. Hendry is a disaster (no brainer) and MacPhail is a corporate man who is doing a great job for the Tribune ($$). As long as Wrigley continues to pad the Tribune's pockets why would they ever fire MacPhail. The fact that Hendry received an extension proves that winning doesn't matter to MacPhail.

 

What I love about Wrigley is what I am beginning to despise because all I see now is the Tribune's cash cow. If the Tribune really cared about winning our payroll would be up towards the Yankee payroll. As long as Wrigley keeps drawing the Tribune/Cubs have no motivation to win. Thus our lives are miserable.

 

We don't need their payroll, we need good players and a coaching staff that has a clue.

[indycub]

I've always been against the argument that as long as the Cubs play at Wrigley the Cubs will never win the World Series. After the last two years I am beginning to have a change of heart.

 

There is no way in hell that the Cubs will win a World Series with MacPhail/Hendry at the helm. Hendry is a disaster (no brainer) and MacPhail is a corporate man who is doing a great job for the Tribune ($$). As long as Wrigley continues to pad the Tribune's pockets why would they ever fire MacPhail. The fact that Hendry received an extension proves that winning doesn't matter to MacPhail.

 

What I love about Wrigley is what I am beginning to despise because all I see now is the Tribune's cash cow. If the Tribune really cared about winning our payroll would be up towards the Yankee payroll. As long as Wrigley keeps drawing the Tribune/Cubs have no motivation to win. Thus our lives are miserable.

 

We don't need their payroll, we need good players and a coaching staff that has a clue.

 

How do you think they got good players and coaching staff?

 

Its all about the Benjamins.

[bleedcubbieblue]

I've always been against the argument that as long as the Cubs play at Wrigley the Cubs will never win the World Series. After the last two years I am beginning to have a change of heart.

 

If George Steinbrenner or Mark Cuban owned the Cubs for as long as the Tribune has, they would have won, or at least gotten to a WS. The difference is that the Tribune is always worried about bottom line. Yes, there are teams that have won WS championships on less money, but your chances are greatly more improved if you have a larger payroll, which usually translates into having better ball players, unless of course, you have Jim Hendry and Andy MacPhail running the team in a fiscally responsible way. As you can see, even with a 100 million dollar payroll, they seem to have assembled a team that resembles a team closer to the Pirates or the Royals, which, when you think about it, is almost impossible to do, but they seem to keep proving it. I never thought that any GM hired after Ed Lynch could ever make him look like a genius, but Hendry seems to have done that.

 

Wrigley itself has nothing to do with the Cubs not winning a WS championship in the last 98 years, but everything with the way the team has run.

 

BCB

Edited June 19, 2006 by bleedcubbieblue

[J.R.]

Empty the third base dugout. Trust me, she'll be beautiful again.

[erik316wttn]

Look at our payroll. It's something like $95 million. In no way is a lack of spending the problem. The problem is how that money is spent.

[Wild_Cubs04]

I've always been against the argument that as long as the Cubs play at Wrigley the Cubs will never win the World Series. After the last two years I am beginning to have a change of heart.

 

There is no way in hell that the Cubs will win a World Series with MacPhail/Hendry at the helm. Hendry is a disaster (no brainer) and MacPhail is a corporate man who is doing a great job for the Tribune ($$). As long as Wrigley continues to pad the Tribune's pockets why would they ever fire MacPhail. The fact that Hendry received an extension proves that winning doesn't matter to MacPhail.

 

What I love about Wrigley is what I am beginning to despise because all I see now is the Tribune's cash cow. If the Tribune really cared about winning our payroll would be up towards the Yankee payroll. As long as Wrigley keeps drawing the Tribune/Cubs have no motivation to win. Thus our lives are miserable.

 

We don't need their payroll, we need good players and a coaching staff that has a clue.

 

How do you think they got good players and coaching staff?

 

Its all about the Benjamins.

 

And 95 million of them is more than enough....if you have the right people with a brain spending it.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

It's not about how much is spent, it's how it is being spent.

 

Exhibit A: Glendon Rusch- 2 years, 6 million dollars.

Exhibit B: Neifi Perez- 2 years, 5 million dollars.

 

Hendry doesn't spend the money where he should. Then he uses the surplus cash to sign replacement level players (or worse) to multi-year deals.

 

We need a GM that understands these things and we could easily build a WS caliber team on a 95-105 million dollar payroll.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Wrigely did not cause this team to suck. Too many important positions on this team were filled by players who sucked long before being acquired.

[Fro]

Lack of capacity isn't a problem with 41,000 seats+ in the park now (plus rooftop revenue). That puts us smack in the middle of the division in capacity. Miller, GABP, new Busch are very slightly larger (like 1-3k more), Minute Maid and PNC are 1-3k smaller.

 

Lack of TV money isn't a problem either (imagine if WGN actually had to pay fair market value for the national game broadcasts that basically keep them on cable systems across the Midwest). Lack of merchandise sales certainly isn't a problem.... you don't see everyone, men and women with Reds gear on at a Reds game.

 

The thing is, the Tribune has done an amazing job of selling the team to a generation of people in the Midwest (and nationally somewhat) and creating a huge fanbase for the team, so they don't have to field a good team every year to make a profit. You have to blame broadcasts on WGN when it was the only baseball on TV every day in many areas, Caray, etc for that as much as Wrigley.

Edited June 19, 2006 by Fro

[kevigre]

Nice replies...But I think some of you are missing my point. Firing Baker, emptying the players, firing Hendry are all symptoms of the larger issue, MacPhail, The Tribune and Wrigley.

 

The fact that we are owned by the Tribune and the Cubs are one of the most recognizable sports fans SHOULD be our advantage. There is no reason why the Cubs aren't on the same page of the Yankess on every level. The Tribune is just one big Corporation who cares about sending a positive Annual Report to shareholders. There isn't a Win/Loss column in financial reports.

 

Untill either the Tribune pulls an "Enron", sells the Cubs, or builds a new balpark where fans come to watch a winning team our chances of a World Series are far away.

[cubfan1955]

This team would suck (and have) in any ball park.

[erik316wttn]

Nice replies...But I think some of you are missing my point. Firing Baker, emptying the players, firing Hendry are all symptoms of the larger issue, MacPhail, The Tribune and Wrigley.

 

The fact that we are owned by the Tribune and the Cubs are one of the most recognizable sports fans SHOULD be our advantage. There is no reason why the Cubs aren't on the same page of the Yankess on every level. The Tribune is just one big Corporation who cares about sending a positive Annual Report to shareholders. There isn't a Win/Loss column in financial reports.

 

Untill either the Tribune pulls an "Enron", sells the Cubs, or builds a new balpark where fans come to watch a winning team our chances of a World Series are far away.

 

The Trib knows that a winning team is more profitable than a losing one (see: 1998, 2003). They're just clueless. They've been willing to spend the money, but have no idea how to do so.

[Hatman]

Nice replies...But I think some of you are missing my point. Firing Baker, emptying the players, firing Hendry are all symptoms of the larger issue, MacPhail, The Tribune and Wrigley.

 

The fact that we are owned by the Tribune and the Cubs are one of the most recognizable sports fans SHOULD be our advantage. There is no reason why the Cubs aren't on the same page of the Yankess on every level. The Tribune is just one big Corporation who cares about sending a positive Annual Report to shareholders. There isn't a Win/Loss column in financial reports.

 

Untill either the Tribune pulls an "Enron", sells the Cubs, or builds a new balpark where fans come to watch a winning team our chances of a World Series are far away.

 

The Trib knows that a winning team is more profitable than a losing one (see: 1998, 2003). They're just clueless. They've been willing to spend the money, but have no idea how to do so.

 

Concur

[Chocolate Milk]

Wrigley isn't holding us back. Bad players and management are holding us back.

 

Wrigley is just a building.

[kevigre]

I repectfully disagree with you that the Trib knows a winning team is more profitable than a loosing team. The Trib/MacPhail rewarded Hendry with an extention after a joke of a season last year. The reason that MacPhail still has a job has absolutely nothing to do with wins/losses. If the Tribune felt that wins bring profit they would evaluate MacPhail accordingly.

 

Again keep in mind that Tribune is not a person...who follows the ups and downs of the teams record. Only the ups and downs of the stock.

[bleedcubbieblue]

Wrigley isn't holding us back. Bad players and management are holding us back.

 

There was a time that this was true, when it was the person, not the building, but either way, both management teams were clueless.

 

BCB

[erik316wttn]

I repectfully disagree with you that the Trib knows a winning team is more profitable than a loosing team. The Trib/MacPhail rewarded Hendry with an extention after a joke of a season last year. The reason that MacPhail still has a job has absolutely nothing to do with wins/losses. If the Tribune felt that wins bring profit they would evaluate MacPhail accordingly.

 

Again keep in mind that Tribune is not a person...who follows the ups and downs of the teams record. Only the ups and downs of the stock.

 

I think this harkens back to the Trib being clueless. They saw us get to within 5 outs of the pennant in 2003, saw Jim Hendry at the helm, and figure "He's the guy to get us there again!"

 

The whole Cubs organization is of the "It worked once, so therefore it must work every time" philosophy.

[kevigre]

 

The whole Cubs organization is of the "It worked once, so therefore it must work every time" philosophy.

 

You are absolutely correct!! As much as I hate to admit it we need to learn a lot from the Sox. They could have have the Cubs attitude but they traded for Thome.

 

The only changes we make are bleachers and cell phones in the dugout.

[kevigre]

As a side note...the Marlins have a better record than the Cubs. $80M difference.

[SoonerCubFan]

Wrigley isn't holding us back. Bad players and management are holding us back.

 

Wrigley is just a building.

 

There seems to be multiple separate issues discussed here, with a partial overlap.

 

As for the issue of Wrigley Field being at least aprt of the problem, I think it definitely contributes - but only because of the issue about poor decision making. To me, the inconsistency of how the park plays on a daily basis makes it very difficult to build a consistent team. If they assemble a team that on papaer looks to have plenty of power, those very teams tend to struggle on cold days and on the road. When they try to emphasize speed and D and pitching, those teams get clubbed to death on warm days such as this past weekend.

 

The approach that is rarely undertaken is to assemble a team of just plain good ballplayers - guys that hit can hit the ball hard in any conditions who can also play D, run the bases well and catch the ball and let the power come as it will. Which gets to the other issue - the way that the money is spent. While a $90-100M budget seems adequate, it is the goofy method of first establishing a budget to which the GM must adhere, instead of starting with a sound strategy (especially when that GM eats of a lot of the available $ to first resign very questionable role players) that results in perpetually losing out on the top notch FAs and settling on second tier players that better fit the budget as the roster gets filled out. The paradigm should be to target All Star talent at as many positions as possible, based on an overall team makeup standard (high OPS, good D, smart, high inning starters, etc.), and then spend what it takes to get it done.

 

And, don't let the current position in the standings dictate what moves you make for future years. In what at the time was the most insane reasoning I've heard a GM use (and has since served as a marker of his lousy approach overall), Hendry declined to pursue a trade for Rolen when he was known to be long-hanging fruit in 2002, based solely on the reasoning that the Cubs were not in contention at the time, despite knowing full well Rolen wanted to come to the Midwest and sign a long-term deal. This same mindset prevents us from even trying to get a long-term answer such as Miguel Cabrera now, as we'll sit by and watch him go to a smart GM like Schuerholz, Epstein, or Jocketty.

[A New Era]

No, Dusty Baker is the problem. .

[Warren Brusstar]

I've always been against the argument that as long as the Cubs play at Wrigley the Cubs will never win the World Series. After the last two years I am beginning to have a change of heart.

 

There is no way in hell that the Cubs will win a World Series with MacPhail/Hendry at the helm. Hendry is a disaster (no brainer) and MacPhail is a corporate man who is doing a great job for the Tribune ($$). As long as Wrigley continues to pad the Tribune's pockets why would they ever fire MacPhail. The fact that Hendry received an extension proves that winning doesn't matter to MacPhail.

 

What I love about Wrigley is what I am beginning to despise because all I see now is the Tribune's cash cow. If the Tribune really cared about winning our payroll would be up towards the Yankee payroll. As long as Wrigley keeps drawing the Tribune/Cubs have no motivation to win. Thus our lives are miserable.

 

We don't need their payroll, we need good players and a coaching staff that has a clue.

 

How do you think they got good players and coaching staff?

 

Its all about the Benjamins.

 

Which is why the Yankees have won the last 6 World Series.

 

Oh, wait a minute!