New GM/Cubs Future News Articles

[Banedon]

Yeah, that's my site. I can't speak to whether it's legit (I like to think it is...), but I can say that this particular tipster is in another MLB front office. So, I suspect he's at least heard some things. The important point is that even he is quick to caution that this particular search has been incredibly quiet - Ricketts is good at keeping things from leaking, apparently - and the little bits coming out are mostly coming from the Red Sox side. And even those have to be taken with a big grain of salt.

 

Well at this point, the real mystery part of this is on the Red Sox side anyhow. It's really up to them what happens here. The "compensation" aspect seems to be fun message board fodder, but ultimately unimportant to the process. Either the Red Sox want Theo to stay, or they don't.

 

I don't think they'll make him available to talk to the Cubs, and then decide to keep him because the compensation is inadequate.

[Backtobanks]

I really wouldn't mind Lackey. He's playoff tested and approved, and getting out of the AL East is good for any pitcher's numbers.

 

Speaking of which...You guys know how many seem to assume the Yankees will chase CJ Wilson this offseason...if they are and say CC opts out...What about the Cubs going after CC? There's alot of wear and tear on that arm, but there's alot of body to take the wear and tear too. What could a Fielder/Sabathia offseason do for the Cubs? I'm asking because I'm bored and I want this whole offseason thing to start...while at the same time the playoffs are just getting good.

 

Add a ton of money to their budget because of salary and pregame food. All kidding aside, CC would be great except that he is the anti-Wilson - already very expensive and a lot of wear and tear on the arm.

[Elrhino]

Frankly, I'd be just as happy with Cherington. Epstein brings the sizzle and the celebrity, but the parts of the Red Sox organization that I admire were under Cherington's command. The Indians organization he came up in was filled with good people as well. He's been around a lot of good baseball people, should have a good idea what a good front office philosophy should look like and how it's structured. Edited October 4, 2011 by Elrhino

[mookie]

I don't want Epstein. I want Cherington from Boston. I really want Friedman, and hopefully any speculation on his behalf will end or begin shortly with the Rays looking prime for retirement in a few minutes.

[Guest]

I don't want Epstein. I want Cherington from Boston. I really want Friedman, and hopefully any speculation on his behalf will end or begin shortly with the Rays looking prime for retirement in a few minutes.

 

 

You legitimately don't want Epstein? As in, you'd be disappointed if he were hired?

[ctcf]

Well, I suppose they can start legitimately chasing Friedman now

[UMFan83]

I don't want Epstein. I want Cherington from Boston. I really want Friedman, and hopefully any speculation on his behalf will end or begin shortly with the Rays looking prime for retirement in a few minutes.

 

 

You legitimately don't want Epstein? As in, you'd be disappointed if he were hired?

 

I could understand wanting someone more than Theo, but to not want him at all would be silly.

[mookie]

I don't want Epstein. I want Cherington from Boston. I really want Friedman, and hopefully any speculation on his behalf will end or begin shortly with the Rays looking prime for retirement in a few minutes.

 

 

You legitimately don't want Epstein? As in, you'd be disappointed if he were hired?

 

Not absolutely disappointed. I do think he is a bit over-hyped though.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Epstein over Jim Hendry? Exciting

Epstein over any random candidate they might have considered? Awesome.

Epstein against the pool of awesome names that have been talked about? Disappointing, a little, imo.

[jersey cubs fan]

Epstein over Jim Hendry? Exciting

Epstein over any random candidate they might have considered? Awesome.

Epstein against the pool of awesome names that have been talked about? Disappointing, a little, imo.

 

that's so kyle

[UMFan83]

I don't want Epstein. I want Cherington from Boston. I really want Friedman, and hopefully any speculation on his behalf will end or begin shortly with the Rays looking prime for retirement in a few minutes.

 

 

You legitimately don't want Epstein? As in, you'd be disappointed if he were hired?

 

Not absolutely disappointed. I do think he is a bit over-hyped though.

 

His record isn't as shiny as people would have you believe of course. Out of all the candidates, I like the fact that Theo has experience winning in a pressure packed big market city. I'm not saying Friedman would suddenly fail when given more money to spend, but I just worry that his style is most successful when he's running a small market club. Reminds me of Andy MacPhail's tenure here when he came over after success with a small market club and, whether it was his own decision or the Trib limited what he could spend, implemented a small to mid market approach for the Cubs. Again, I am not saying Friedman is likely to end up this way, its just something that crosses my mind when I think of the pros and cons of Epstein and Friedman, my 1 and 1a choices for GM.

 

When it comes to other names like Cherington, Hahn, etc. Epstein wins hands down IMO because again, he's proven capable of doing the job, whereas the other guys you can only speculate on how well they'd do, even if you 100% agree with their philosophies.

Edited October 4, 2011 by UMFan83

[Guest]

Epstein over Jim Hendry? Exciting

Epstein over any random candidate they might have considered? Awesome.

Epstein against the pool of awesome names that have been talked about? Disappointing, a little, imo.

Please name the guys better than Epstein. I'll toss one defendable name out there in Friedman.

 

Now, please enlighten with the rest of these names.

[mookie]

Epstein over Jim Hendry? Exciting

Epstein over any random candidate they might have considered? Awesome.

Epstein against the pool of awesome names that have been talked about? Disappointing, a little, imo.

Please name the guys better than Epstein. I'll toss one defendable name out there in Friedman.

 

Now, please enlighten with the rest of these names.

 

I would say Beane and Epstein are on about the same level below Friedman. Beane and Epstein come with warts, and some of those warts are big enough to give a sizable pause when contemplating them taking over the reins of the Chicago Cubs organization. Personally, I would rather go with Beane over Epstein, but Beane scares me almost as much. Instead of hoping these seasoned guys overcome some of their shortcomings, I would rather take a chance on the pedigree of Cherington.

[mookie]

What happened to Thad Levine? I thought he was more interesting than Hahn.

[UMFan83]

I would say someone like Theo has obvious warts because he runs a big market team and can afford to gamble a bit more when signing FAs. If they have to pay JD Drew $15 million a year to be their 4th OF so be it. If the Rays signed JD Drew for $15 million a year, it would cripple the team and leave them unable to compete. I imagine being a small market GM is almost a different job from being a big market GM.

 

Friedman's most important responsibility is to ensure that there is always an influx of cheap talent coming into their system because they constantly allow talent to leave the organization when they get too expensive. Theo's biggest issue is using his plentiful resources upgrading the level of talent on the team and making smart decisions to lock up the highest end talent long term.

 

Obviously on paper, what Friedman does seems like it can translate to a larger market. Do the same thing but here's an extra $100 million to play with. But who knows if it actually as simple as it seems in concept.

[bukie]

I would say someone like Theo has obvious warts because he runs a big market team and can afford to gamble a bit more when signing FAs. If they have to pay JD Drew $15 million a year to be their 4th OF so be it. If the Rays signed JD Drew for $15 million a year, it would cripple the team and leave them unable to compete. I imagine being a small market GM is almost a different job from being a big market GM.

 

Friedman's most important responsibility is to ensure that there is always an influx of cheap talent coming into their system because they constantly allow talent to leave the organization when they get too expensive. Theo's biggest issue is using his plentiful resources upgrading the level of talent on the team and making smart decisions to lock up the highest end talent long term.

 

Obviously on paper, what Friedman does seems like it can translate to a larger market. Do the same thing but here's an extra $100 million to play with. But who knows if it actually as simple as it seems in concept.

Friedman with triple the budget is basically Friedman with more room for error. I'm hoping the Rays ownership does something silly that makes him want to leave.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Epstein over Jim Hendry? Exciting

Epstein over any random candidate they might have considered? Awesome.

Epstein against the pool of awesome names that have been talked about? Disappointing, a little, imo.

Please name the guys better than Epstein. I'll toss one defendable name out there in Friedman.

 

Now, please enlighten with the rest of these names.

 

Besides Friedman, I would prefer taking a shot at an "unknown" like Hahn or Cherington before Epstein. Another poster just said he likes Epstein because he's proven what he can do, but my worries about Epstein are because we've seen what he's done. I'd consider him at the bottom of the "awesome" pile, or next-to-the-bottom above Beane.

 

Almost everything that's happened for Boston during his run has been because of their awesome farm system. He's had a few nice, cheap MLB finds, mostly in the early years of his tenure, but otherwise it's been the farm system developing awesome talent and him either plugging that into holes or using it to trade for prime MLB talent.

 

But I think the analogy I made yesterday stands: He's a slugger with a ton of RBIs. Without more information, we don't have a good way of knowing how much of the farm system was his doing and how much was the Boston organization as a whole. Or more to the point: We have no way of knowing how much of it he can replicate here. And since the hope that he can replicate it here is pretty much the entirety of his candidacy, that uncertainty makes me rather bearish on him.

 

He'll still be a stat-minded general manager, which is awesome. But other than that, I look at him and see Jim Hendry's free agent signings combined with Andy MacPhail's winning pedigree.

[Guest]

Kyle assigns Theo all of the blame and some of the credit and completely ignores that Sox have averaged 90 wins a year for almost a decade; while playing in the AL East.

 

It's classic Kyle schtick.

[CubColtPacer]

I would say someone like Theo has obvious warts because he runs a big market team and can afford to gamble a bit more when signing FAs. If they have to pay JD Drew $15 million a year to be their 4th OF so be it. If the Rays signed JD Drew for $15 million a year, it would cripple the team and leave them unable to compete. I imagine being a small market GM is almost a different job from being a big market GM.

 

Friedman's most important responsibility is to ensure that there is always an influx of cheap talent coming into their system because they constantly allow talent to leave the organization when they get too expensive. Theo's biggest issue is using his plentiful resources upgrading the level of talent on the team and making smart decisions to lock up the highest end talent long term.

 

Obviously on paper, what Friedman does seems like it can translate to a larger market. Do the same thing but here's an extra $100 million to play with. But who knows if it actually as simple as it seems in concept.

Friedman with triple the budget is basically Friedman with more room for error. I'm hoping the Rays ownership does something silly that makes him want to leave.

 

It also means greater expectations. That impacts a general manager in a lot of ways: less chance of letting productive players go to get draft picks to build up a roster, less chance to play the kids and hope it works out. I agree with UMFan that a successful small market GM isn't always the greatest fit for a large market club. While managing a large market club is easier than a small market, they do take different skill sets. There is some overlap, but it requires a very different way of thinking when managing a large market club. You can't just take small market principles and apply some extra money and free agent signings on top.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Kyle assigns Theo all of the blame and some of the credit and completely ignores that Sox have averaged 90 wins a year for almost a decade; while playing in the AL East.

 

It's classic Kyle schtick.

 

I'm looking at the reasons for those 90+ wins a year and considering how likely they are to be replicated if he were hired in Chicago. I know that's a bit deeper than geeking out over 2 WS rings and a recognizable name, but try to keep up.

 

Boston's best assets have come through Boston's scouting and development system, of which Epstein has only been one part of a large whole. He won't be bringing that entire organization with him.

 

Boston's other best assets have come through trades when they were able to leverage the high-quality assets from that scouting and development system. He won't have that for at least a couple of years with the Cubs.

 

Boston's worst assets have come from the free-agent market. Especially pitching. The Cubs' best hope for the next few years is in trying to build a team through the free-agent market. Especially pitching.

 

It's worth considering that in the pantheon of awesome, stathead managers, Epstein might not be the Cubs' best fit.

[Backtobanks]

Any GM that we have to pay compensation for has warts. The list of "Plan B" candidates are fine if the other team is expecting compensation for the "short list/plan A candidates".

[Guest]

Kyle assigns Theo all of the blame and some of the credit and completely ignores that Sox have averaged 90 wins a year for almost a decade; while playing in the AL East.

 

It's classic Kyle schtick.

 

I'm looking at the reasons for those 90+ wins a year and considering how likely they are to be replicated if he were hired in Chicago. I know that's a bit deeper than geeking out over 2 WS rings and a recognizable name .....

you're not looking deeper at anything. You are the village contrarian.

 

And you know you love it.

Edited October 4, 2011 by CubinNY

[KingCubsFan]

I would say someone like Theo has obvious warts because he runs a big market team and can afford to gamble a bit more when signing FAs. If they have to pay JD Drew $15 million a year to be their 4th OF so be it. If the Rays signed JD Drew for $15 million a year, it would cripple the team and leave them unable to compete. I imagine being a small market GM is almost a different job from being a big market GM.

 

Friedman's most important responsibility is to ensure that there is always an influx of cheap talent coming into their system because they constantly allow talent to leave the organization when they get too expensive. Theo's biggest issue is using his plentiful resources upgrading the level of talent on the team and making smart decisions to lock up the highest end talent long term.

 

Obviously on paper, what Friedman does seems like it can translate to a larger market. Do the same thing but here's an extra $100 million to play with. But who knows if it actually as simple as it seems in concept.

Friedman with triple the budget is basically Friedman with more room for error. I'm hoping the Rays ownership does something silly that makes him want to leave.

 

It also means greater expectations. That impacts a general manager in a lot of ways: less chance of letting productive players go to get draft picks to build up a roster, less chance to play the kids and hope it works out. I agree with UMFan that a successful small market GM isn't always the greatest fit for a large market club. While managing a large market club is easier than a small market, they do take different skill sets. There is some overlap, but it requires a very different way of thinking when managing a large market club. You can't just take small market principles and apply some extra money and free agent signings on top.

I think the same principles can work, it's just that these philosophies often require some patience that big market owners don't have. GM's often come into a big market with the expectation that they'll be contending for a World Series next year. If Ricketts is honest when he talks about the organization, it seems like he would have more patience than the usual big market owner to make sure the organization is built "the right way," which may make the job even more attractive for candidates.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

you're not looking deeper at anything. You are the village contrarian.

 

And you know you love it.

 

Friedman/Epstein/Beane/Cherington/Hahn/Everyone else = acceptable.

Friedman/Cherington/Hahn/Epstein/Beane/Everyone else = Contrary just for the sake of it!

[Vinestal]

The Cubs have taken their first step toward Epstein: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2011/10/cubs_ask_permis.html