4/20 Postgame: Team sucks, enjoy the holiday

[Tracer Bullet]

I don't have a problem with Lou bashing, per se, but I'd prefer if everybody directed their hatred toward Jim Hendry.

 

i've got plenty of hatred to go around. Hendry and Lou don't have to fight over it.

[Sammy Sofa]

I don't have a problem with Lou bashing, per se, but I'd prefer if everybody directed their hatred toward Jim Hendry.

 

I'm diplomatic: I dream of them both getting the boot at the same time.

[woodchip2153]

What holliday? ;)

 

Administrative Professionals Day?

[inari]

I'm already apathetic. I didn't expect that to happen so fast, but for my sanity, I'm glad it did,

[soapy]

The biggest problem for this team right now is probably the offense, but there probably isn't much that can be done at the moment to address that. Obviously another problem early on is the bullpen, which can at least in part be addressed immediately, and should be.

[Pushfrog98]

What holliday? ;)

 

Administrative Professionals Day?

4:20

[jersey cubs fan]

The biggest problem for this team right now is probably the offense, but there probably isn't much that can be done at the moment to address that. Obviously another problem early on is the bullpen, which can at least in part be addressed immediately, and should be.

 

Only if by addressing it you mean calling up arms from the minors. There's no good reason to trade any assets for the unreliable short-term fix of adding a reliever, especially when the far more glaring need is the atrocious lineup.

[E.J.]

I had no expectations coming into this season and am not surprised that they've sucked so far. Our big-named players are old and the bullpen is terrible. I just hope Hendry isn't allowed to trade away the farm for some band-aid fix.

[hardcorecubfan]

Momma always said if I have nothing nice to say, it's better to say nothing............

 

so here I am saying nothing.

 

She also said," life is like a box of chocolate." I am still trying to find out what the heck we have bitten into this year.

[soapy]

The biggest problem for this team right now is probably the offense, but there probably isn't much that can be done at the moment to address that. Obviously another problem early on is the bullpen, which can at least in part be addressed immediately, and should be.

 

Only if by addressing it you mean calling up arms from the minors. There's no good reason to trade any assets for the unreliable short-term fix of adding a reliever, especially when the far more glaring need is the atrocious lineup.

 

Calling up (the correct) arms is exactly what I meant. I'm still pretty convinced with that, Lilly's return, and letting everyone settle in, the bullpen can still be adequate.

 

ETA: I mean, Grabow isn't great (and is horribly over-paid), but he's not 2.294 WHIP and 15.9 H/9 bad.

[erik316wttn]

There's no good reason why they would need to, let alone should, wait 4-5 years to try again.

 

That's when all of Soriano's money is finally off the books and we're not tied down (theoretically, anyway) by any albatross contracts.

[SouthSideRyan]

There's no good reason why they would need to, let alone should, wait 4-5 years to try again.

 

That's when all of Soriano's money is finally off the books and we're not tied down (theoretically, anyway) by any albatross contracts.

 

If you subtract Soriano's contract, we still have the highest payroll in the division.

[Exile on Waveland]

There's no good reason why they would need to, let alone should, wait 4-5 years to try again.

 

That's when all of Soriano's money is finally off the books and we're not tied down (theoretically, anyway) by any albatross contracts.

 

If you subtract Soriano's contract, we still have the highest payroll in the division.

 

The Cubs payroll is $145 million. The next highest payroll in the NL Central is the Cardinals at $94 million. Soriano makes $18 million annually. If the Cubs can't field a competitive team with the remaining $127 million -- and that figure will potentially increase -- something is seriously, seriously wrong. In sum, Soriano's contract may be an albatross but it's certainly not prohibitive.

[Sammy Sofa]

There's no good reason why they would need to, let alone should, wait 4-5 years to try again.

 

That's when all of Soriano's money is finally off the books and we're not tied down (theoretically, anyway) by any albatross contracts.

 

If you subtract Soriano's contract, we still have the highest payroll in the division.

 

The Cubs payroll is $145 million. The next highest payroll in the NL Central is the Cardinals at $94 million. Soriano makes $18 million annually. If the Cubs can't field a competitive team with the remaining $127 million -- and that figure will potentially increase -- something is seriously, seriously wrong. In sum, Soriano's contract may be an albatross but it's certainly not prohibitive.

 

Yeah, I never understand the idea that Soriano's contract somehow cripples the team even if they shed other contracts.

[Guest]

it's getting easier and easier to see why vegas had the win total so much lower than 95% of the people on this board, including me.

 

What was it?

[Cubswin11]

it's getting easier and easier to see why vegas had the win total so much lower than 95% of the people on this board, including me.

 

What was it?

83 1/2, I believe. I was out there a month ago and that's what it was about a week before the season started.

[SouthSideRyan]

84.5 during the 1st week of the tournament

[Lefty]

I visit the board to check out the minor league threads. As for the major leaguers, I have watched a few innings this year, but I am looking forward to having a lot of extra time this summer.

 

I had the Cubs winning 79 games and finishing behind the Reds and took some (deserved) abuse when I didn't put my money where my mouth was. It's interesting to see that in two weeks my pessimism seems to be the norm.

[SouthSideRyan]

I wouldn't say the Cubs being a game behind the Reds after 14 games really proved you right. The Reds aren't good.

[fromthestretch]

The Reds aren't good.

 

You could make the argument that they just got worse by hiring Joe Morgan as a special adviser.

[Lefty]

I wouldn't say the Cubs being a game behind the Reds after 14 games really proved you right. The Reds aren't good.

 

I didn't say I was "right" just yet. I was remarking on the broad pessimism in this thread. Whether I am right about the Reds, we'll see. What I had mentioned as a way to play it at the time was to go under on Cub wins and over on Red wins in equal dollar amounts. That would have given me a cushion.