Z on the 2011 Chicago Cubs: "We stinks!"

[Banedon]

In an interview on WSCR-AM 670, Brenly said, “Big Z is just expressing what a lot of fans feel, what a lot of us broadcasters feel, and as usual, doesn’t always choose his words properly, doesn’t always choose his forum properly, but I applaud the emotions.

 

“This has been, once again, another dead-ass team. You’ve got some guys that look like they’re just playing out the string, and we’re only in the first (week) of June here, and we know from past experience that Carlos is not on e of those guys that can sit by idly and keep his mouth shut and just let things continue to spiral downward. He’s going to express his opinion, he’s going to be emotional about it when he does it.

 

"I don’t view this as a suspendable offense or anything like that. I just think it’s a guy who is frustrated with the way the season has gone, he’s frustrated with the way his teammates have approach their daily business … I’m sure there are times when Carlos is just as guilty as anybody on that roster.

 

“For me, it’s time. It’s about time that somebody stood up and said ‘Enough is enough. I’m tired of watching this.’”

 

“He said some things that ultimately were meant to be for the good of the ballclub,” Brenly said. “But because of the circumstances, because of the timing, it’s going to come off as selfish once again. ... If Big Z maybe had a chance to calm down a little more, maybe 15-20 minutes after game-time, rather than 10 minutes, who knows? Maybe he would’ve settled down a little bit. But yeah, it’s not the right way to throw your teammate under a bus and divert attention away from the other shortcomings of this ballclub.

 

“Carlos Marmol has been as good as anybody on this team in his role. To single him out as the guy that cost the team the game is unfair to Marmol. But once again, I think it’s coming basically from a good place with Zambrano. But because of his past record, because of some of the things he said in the past, it’s not going to come off that way, But somebody has got to do it. For God’s sake, this team just can not continue to spiral the way it has been.”

[BeerHere]

I don't have a problem with what he said at all and I completely agree with him but.....did any of his teammates call him out when he was terrible last year? Did anyone question Z's pitch selection to the media when he was brutal? My biggest issue with Z is that he seems to be at his worst when the team is struggling.

[CubmanPi]

More triple A teams should be angry with Z.

[Men in Blue]

In an interview on WSCR-AM 670, Brenly said, “Big Z is just expressing what a lot of fans feel, what a lot of us broadcasters feel, and as usual, doesn’t always choose his words properly, doesn’t always choose his forum properly, but I applaud the emotions.

 

“This has been, once again, another dead-ass team. You’ve got some guys that look like they’re just playing out the string, and we’re only in the first (week) of June here, and we know from past experience that Carlos is not on e of those guys that can sit by idly and keep his mouth shut and just let things continue to spiral downward. He’s going to express his opinion, he’s going to be emotional about it when he does it.

 

"I don’t view this as a suspendable offense or anything like that. I just think it’s a guy who is frustrated with the way the season has gone, he’s frustrated with the way his teammates have approach their daily business … I’m sure there are times when Carlos is just as guilty as anybody on that roster.

 

“For me, it’s time. It’s about time that somebody stood up and said ‘Enough is enough. I’m tired of watching this.’”

 

“He said some things that ultimately were meant to be for the good of the ballclub,” Brenly said. “But because of the circumstances, because of the timing, it’s going to come off as selfish once again. ... If Big Z maybe had a chance to calm down a little more, maybe 15-20 minutes after game-time, rather than 10 minutes, who knows? Maybe he would’ve settled down a little bit. But yeah, it’s not the right way to throw your teammate under a bus and divert attention away from the other shortcomings of this ballclub.

 

“Carlos Marmol has been as good as anybody on this team in his role. To single him out as the guy that cost the team the game is unfair to Marmol. But once again, I think it’s coming basically from a good place with Zambrano. But because of his past record, because of some of the things he said in the past, it’s not going to come off that way, But somebody has got to do it. For God’s sake, this team just can not continue to spiral the way it has been.”

 

But, but, it's the injuries, we'll be fine. :roll:

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't have a problem with what he said at all and I completely agree with him but.....did any of his teammates call him out when he was terrible last year? Did anyone question Z's pitch selection to the media when he was brutal? My biggest issue with Z is that he seems to be at his worst when the team is struggling.

 

What are you talking about? This team has been terrible and he's been good.

[UMFan83]

Bruce Miles said this:

 

"Zambrano is right — partially. He's right in saying the Cubs should be embarrassed. He's wrong in saying the Cubs are playing like a Triple-A team. It's more like the Cubs are playing like a first-year expansion team, as they're on a pace to finish this season 65-97. Now, he's left looking like the bad guy again because he told the truth about a bad team".

 

 

Read more: http://dailyherald.com/article/20110605/sports/706059828/#ixzz1OVqmdDR1[/b].

 

Exactly. Sullivan and Woj on ESPN framing the issue as Z being an idiot again are dead wrong. How can anyone NOT be embarassed by this mess of a team? At least Z cares.

 

The issue is, those bozos have an agenda and Bruce doesn't. He may not like Z (or he may, I don't know) but he's not going to try to run him out of town. He indirectly admits that what Zambrano said wasn't a "safe" comment and he's gonna catch flack for it, but he's not writing an article saying that Z might never play for the Cubs again 20 minutes after he said it. No one really knows how the Cubs management and/or Marmol took the comments, so Bruce doesn't speculate. He just says "Z said something somewhat controversial, he's not really far off from the truth, but he's gonna look like the bad guy."

[BeerHere]

This team is going nowhere. Z and Marmol have the most value and the Cubs won't really be in a position to contend while their contracts are on the books so we might as well trade them for prospects that will be a part of the future.

 

Stop saying this like it's fact. With the money coming off the books the Cubs could very easily be competitive as early as next season. No, it's by no means a lock, but that so many people have this automatic assumption that the Cubs are going to so hopelessly suck and can do nothing about it for the next 3+ seasons is absurd.

 

It certainly isn't a fact but has there been any indication otherwise? The payroll was cut coming into this season. Attendance is WAY down this year and I think it is foolish to assume that the money coming off the books will automatically be put back into the payroll for 2012. What exactly has Ricketts done or said that makes you think he's committed to winning at all costs?

[BeerHere]

I don't have a problem with what he said at all and I completely agree with him but.....did any of his teammates call him out when he was terrible last year? Did anyone question Z's pitch selection to the media when he was brutal? My biggest issue with Z is that he seems to be at his worst when the team is struggling.

 

What are you talking about? This team has been terrible and he's been good.

I was referring to the first half last year.

[Men in Blue]

I was waiting to see how long it would take Brenly to go off a bit. I mean, he and Len have to watch this garbage on a daily basis and at the same time, try to stay positive with the viewers. Interesting that Hendry has not been heard from basically all year. Although he would just give the usually garbage talk.

 

My biggest issue is listeing to Quade. He acts like a tough manager but he is exactly the opposite.

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't have a problem with what he said at all and I completely agree with him but.....did any of his teammates call him out when he was terrible last year? Did anyone question Z's pitch selection to the media when he was brutal? My biggest issue with Z is that he seems to be at his worst when the team is struggling.

 

What are you talking about? This team has been terrible and he's been good.

I was referring to the first half last year.

 

So his struggles once coincided with the team's struggles, but he's pitching well while the team is nosediving. That doesn't add up to "he seems to be at his worst when the team is struggling." He was really good in 2005 and 2006, he was better than people care to admit in 2010.

[UMFan83]

This team is going nowhere. Z and Marmol have the most value and the Cubs won't really be in a position to contend while their contracts are on the books so we might as well trade them for prospects that will be a part of the future.

 

Stop saying this like it's fact. With the money coming off the books the Cubs could very easily be competitive as early as next season. No, it's by no means a lock, but that so many people have this automatic assumption that the Cubs are going to so hopelessly suck and can do nothing about it for the next 3+ seasons is absurd.

 

It certainly isn't a fact but has there been any indication otherwise? The payroll was cut coming into this season. Attendance is WAY down this year and I think it is foolish to assume that the money coming off the books will automatically be put back into the payroll for 2012. What exactly has Ricketts done or said that makes you think he's committed to winning at all costs?

 

Are you serious? Ricketts is going to respond to dwindling attendance by cutting the payroll by 25% and not put anything back into it?

 

Ricketts knew when he bought the team that the payroll was right up to the limit and actually a little more than he could handle. So yeah because of moves made before he was owner, we've been struggling to do anything that adds payroll to the team. But there has been nothing said or done to indicate that Ricketts is going to randomly cut the payroll down to 80M or whatever. That's insane.

[jersey cubs fan]

This team is going nowhere. Z and Marmol have the most value and the Cubs won't really be in a position to contend while their contracts are on the books so we might as well trade them for prospects that will be a part of the future.

 

Stop saying this like it's fact. With the money coming off the books the Cubs could very easily be competitive as early as next season. No, it's by no means a lock, but that so many people have this automatic assumption that the Cubs are going to so hopelessly suck and can do nothing about it for the next 3+ seasons is absurd.

 

It certainly isn't a fact but has there been any indication otherwise? The payroll was cut coming into this season. Attendance is WAY down this year and I think it is foolish to assume that the money coming off the books will automatically be put back into the payroll for 2012. What exactly has Ricketts done or said that makes you think he's committed to winning at all costs?

 

Are you serious? Ricketts is going to respond to dwindling attendance by cutting the payroll by 25% and not put anything back into it?

 

Ricketts knew when he bought the team that the payroll was right up to the limit and actually a little more than he could handle. So yeah because of moves made before he was owner, we've been struggling to do anything that adds payroll to the team. But there has been nothing said or done to indicate that Ricketts is going to randomly cut the payroll down to 80M or whatever. That's insane.

 

All he said was that we can't assume all the money coming off the books will go back into payroll. Not any of it. I think it's still up for debate, but my assumption would be something less than 100% will be spent on big league roster. He's on record as saying they will transition some of the total money spent away from big league roster toward prospect acquisitions.

[SouthSideRyan]

I don't have a problem with what he said at all and I completely agree with him but.....did any of his teammates call him out when he was terrible last year? Did anyone question Z's pitch selection to the media when he was brutal? My biggest issue with Z is that he seems to be at his worst when the team is struggling.

 

What are you talking about? This team has been terrible and he's been good.

I was referring to the first half last year.

 

Maybe the rest of the team realized how [expletive] stupid it was to demote him to the pen after 3 starts last year.

[Men in Blue]

And here comes the media. Rosenbloom chimes in below:

 

"The injuries aren't the problem. The injuries exposed the problem: Hendry's farm teams. Good teams have scouted and developed replacements for injured players. And then there is the Cubs. Hendry's call-ups are inadequate. Hendry is inadequate. The Fanboy Owner who continues to employ and support Hendry is inadequate.

 

The Cubs are doomed, like always, but Cubs management can't see it and won't hear of it. Typical. Cubs management wouldn't know the truth if Pujols hit it 50 rows up."

 

So, yeah, it would be so Cub for Zambrano to be forced to apologize. That's what idiots do when confronted with the truth. Just look at Ricketts (rhymes with "No one's buying tickets''). Last week, as his team was choking a home series to the worst team in the league, the Fanboy Owner was asked what was wrong with his team, and he answered, "Nothing. Just a lot of injuries.''

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/rosenblog/chi-rosen-cubs-20110606,0,2420334.column

[Sammy Sofa]

This team is going nowhere. Z and Marmol have the most value and the Cubs won't really be in a position to contend while their contracts are on the books so we might as well trade them for prospects that will be a part of the future.

 

Stop saying this like it's fact. With the money coming off the books the Cubs could very easily be competitive as early as next season. No, it's by no means a lock, but that so many people have this automatic assumption that the Cubs are going to so hopelessly suck and can do nothing about it for the next 3+ seasons is absurd.

 

It certainly isn't a fact but has there been any indication otherwise? The payroll was cut coming into this season. Attendance is WAY down this year and I think it is foolish to assume that the money coming off the books will automatically be put back into the payroll for 2012. What exactly has Ricketts done or said that makes you think he's committed to winning at all costs?

 

Again, why do people expect the Ricketts to spell out their plan for them going forward? Owners simply do not do that in the middle of the season, especially when it will inevitably involve FA signings. They can't just start talking like, "yeah, we suck right now, but just you wait until we sign Pujols!"

 

Go read the thread about the debt situation. It's clear you have little to no idea of the actual financial situation and wherewithal of the Ricketts and are just assuming the worst for no reason than to just be a pessimist. What's foolish is to assume that the Ricketts are severely constrained financially from improving this team or that they'd inexplicably do nothing significant to improve the team in the near future (the next 1-3 seasons).

 

Your expectations are unrealistic. Yes, as I have said, I wished they had cleaned house in terms of Hendry and co., but even if they had this season would still be awful. You're talking like they opted to not spend on a plethora of good FA players when in reality in the brief time they've owned the team little has been available FA-wise that would have significantly changed this team's fortunes for this season. The Ricketts have shown they are very, very serious about building this entire organization for the long haul instead of the penny ante approach that Wrigley and then the Tribune had. If you can't be patient and levelheaded in recognizing and dealing with that, then you're best served looking elsewhere.

[Sammy Sofa]

All he said was that we can't assume all the money coming off the books will go back into payroll. Not any of it. I think it's still up for debate, but my assumption would be something less than 100% will be spent on big league roster. He's on record as saying they will transition some of the total money spent away from big league roster toward prospect acquisitions.

 

Which is completely realistic. I certainly don't think all of the money is a lock to be put back into the team, but between this offseason and the next they have more than enough to make some big moves even if some of it isn't being put back into the team. BeerHere is obviously proposing the worst-case scenario of the Ricketts slashing payroll into the cellar and just staying there because nobody is buying tickets as if that's realistic.

[Sammy Sofa]

For BeerHere, from the debt thread:

 

Wrong. The deal for the Cubs was influenced by Sam Zell's desire that, for tax purposes, was heavy into debt. The "winner" for Zell was NOT the team that could come up with the most cash but the most financed cash. If Cuban had "won" then he would have landed on the same list--guaranteed.

 

The Ricketts family actually just plunked tens of millions more in AZ (a good chunk of the rebuid there was actually funded by them) and are able/willing to plunk 200M into the Triangle building (if they can get commitments for Wrigley). They are NOT strapped for cash. The family sold less than 20% of their shares of Ameritrade for over $400M to purchase the club.

 

They are, however, committed to rebuilding the team the way they have built their businesses--heavy commitments for infrastructure early on to pay dividends down the road. That has worked for Ameritrade (twice--first to invest in tele-trading and they purchased the first company to use the Internet for trades less than a year after the first online trade) and with TR's businesses (the one he owns and the one he ran prior to that).

 

Similarly, the Ricketts are investing in the Cubs (farm system, Mesa and, eventually, the Wrigley complex and CUBTV). For decades (under, essentially, two owners) the infrastructure of the Cubs was ignored. Now the team has ownership that is investing in the club's future (and willing to invest much more). That isn't bad ownership. That is very good ownership.

 

That (and the Latin American "academy" and expansion) is what you can point to if you wonder what the Ricketts' commitments are to this team being better down the line.

 

Again, I really want them to take another huge step and drop the deadweight that is Hendry, but the repeated insistence that they're doing "nothing" or idiots like Rosenbloom and his "fanboy" garbage are just ignorant.

[Men in Blue]

Z for Beckham and Dunn? :-)

[Brett]

I don't understand when all of these beat writers became editorialists.

 

(not talking about Miles, mind you, who's always injected his thoughts into articles - which, for him, is welcome)

[Old Style]

I say we take up a collection here (maybe have a few fundraisers), buy the team from Ricketts, and name Nuts&Gum General Manager. We'd HAVE to put up that damn Triangle Building in order to house all the World Series trophies we'd be collecting.

[NCCubFan]

And here comes the media. Rosenbloom chimes in below:

 

"The injuries aren't the problem. The injuries exposed the problem: Hendry's farm teams. Good teams have scouted and developed replacements for injured players. And then there is the Cubs. Hendry's call-ups are inadequate. Hendry is inadequate. The Fanboy Owner who continues to employ and support Hendry is inadequate.

 

The Cubs are doomed, like always, but Cubs management can't see it and won't hear of it. Typical. Cubs management wouldn't know the truth if Pujols hit it 50 rows up."

 

So, yeah, it would be so Cub for Zambrano to be forced to apologize. That's what idiots do when confronted with the truth. Just look at Ricketts (rhymes with "No one's buying tickets''). Last week, as his team was choking a home series to the worst team in the league, the Fanboy Owner was asked what was wrong with his team, and he answered, "Nothing. Just a lot of injuries.''

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/rosenblog/chi-rosen-cubs-20110606,0,2420334.column

So the secret is out. JeffH is actually Steve Rosenbloom. :D

[Little Slide Rooter]

And here comes the media. Rosenbloom chimes in below:

 

"The injuries aren't the problem. The injuries exposed the problem: Hendry's farm teams. Good teams have scouted and developed replacements for injured players. And then there is the Cubs. Hendry's call-ups are inadequate. Hendry is inadequate. The Fanboy Owner who continues to employ and support Hendry is inadequate.

 

The Cubs are doomed, like always, but Cubs management can't see it and won't hear of it. Typical. Cubs management wouldn't know the truth if Pujols hit it 50 rows up."

 

So, yeah, it would be so Cub for Zambrano to be forced to apologize. That's what idiots do when confronted with the truth. Just look at Ricketts (rhymes with "No one's buying tickets''). Last week, as his team was choking a home series to the worst team in the league, the Fanboy Owner was asked what was wrong with his team, and he answered, "Nothing. Just a lot of injuries.''

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/rosenblog/chi-rosen-cubs-20110606,0,2420334.column

So the secret is out. JeffH is actually Steve Rosenbloom. :D

 

I would very much like to see which teams out there can lose their starting LF, CF, and 2/5 (3/5 at one point) of the starting rotation, 2 valuable bench players and bring up adequate replacements for each from the farm system.

 

And yes, that article does sound like a meatheaded rant from an NSBB poster.

[rocket]

In an interview on WSCR-AM 670, Brenly said, “Big Z is just expressing what a lot of fans feel, what a lot of us broadcasters feel, and as usual, doesn’t always choose his words properly, doesn’t always choose his forum properly, but I applaud the emotions.

 

“This has been, once again, another dead-ass team. You’ve got some guys that look like they’re just playing out the string, and we’re only in the first (week) of June here, and we know from past experience that Carlos is not on e of those guys that can sit by idly and keep his mouth shut and just let things continue to spiral downward. He’s going to express his opinion, he’s going to be emotional about it when he does it.

 

"I don’t view this as a suspendable offense or anything like that. I just think it’s a guy who is frustrated with the way the season has gone, he’s frustrated with the way his teammates have approach their daily business … I’m sure there are times when Carlos is just as guilty as anybody on that roster.

 

“For me, it’s time. It’s about time that somebody stood up and said ‘Enough is enough. I’m tired of watching this.’”

 

“He said some things that ultimately were meant to be for the good of the ballclub,” Brenly said. “But because of the circumstances, because of the timing, it’s going to come off as selfish once again. ... If Big Z maybe had a chance to calm down a little more, maybe 15-20 minutes after game-time, rather than 10 minutes, who knows? Maybe he would’ve settled down a little bit. But yeah, it’s not the right way to throw your teammate under a bus and divert attention away from the other shortcomings of this ballclub.

 

“Carlos Marmol has been as good as anybody on this team in his role. To single him out as the guy that cost the team the game is unfair to Marmol. But once again, I think it’s coming basically from a good place with Zambrano. But because of his past record, because of some of the things he said in the past, it’s not going to come off that way, But somebody has got to do it. For God’s sake, this team just can not continue to spiral the way it has been.”

 

heck yeah, go bob brenly

[CubmanPi]

Ricketts - rhymes with "No one's buying tickets''

 

Awesome.

[Banedon]

Ricketts - rhymes with "No one's buying tickets''

 

Awesome.

 

I spy a flaw in this surely relevant reasoning though. It also rhymes with "Everybody's buying tickets".