Re: New GM/Cubs Future News Articles

[mookie]

Guys, Dan Johnson started off as the opening day first baseman for the Rays. Look how that turned out.

[Sammy Sofa]

 

Frankly I'm surprised at anyone who isn't grossed out by the idea of LaHair as the starting 1B for the Cubs.

 

Make no mistake, I am. Thoroughly.

 

But I'm not going to get apoplectic over fluff comments. If the Cubs enter camp with LaHair as the 1B, I'll not be so forgiving.

 

I'm not apoplectic. It's a thing that was said and I'm responding. No, I don't expect him to cater his comments to me but it would be nice if he did.

[davell]

Theo has intentionally set the bar so low, an elephant with gout and a torn ACL could jump over it. It's better to underpromose and overdeliver than the opposite.

Theo hasn't "intentionally set the bar low".

 

What he's done is he's committed to following what he believes is the proper path to building a perennial powerhouse.

Telling people we'll err on the side of the future, if we have to make a choice and mentioning signing bigtime contracts only make sense when we have a team that's ready to compete is EXACTLY that. Setting the bar low. I'm not disagreeing with it either. It's smart. Tempering expectations, while still giving out some hope is what he should be doing. But, it's not us, he's worried about, it's the meatball guy. The guy who either doesn't or can't see the big picture. That's who Theo has to convinve he's doing the right thing, for revenue purposes.

[davearm2]

Yeah, people were pissed because Hendry ran down Kevin Orie.

 

Yeah, if Jim Hendry was known for anything it was how he shredded the reps of the Cliff Floyds and Jake Foxes of the world.

 

Oh, right; davearm2 is no doubt talking about Zambrano. Yup, that sure was a "constant criticism" about Hendry across the board.

Oh my lord. You don't recall the mountain of crap Hendry took over the Sosa situation? The Milton Bradley situation?

 

People constantly complained about how Hendry killed guys' trade value by airing the dirty laundry, and making clear that he had to trade the player.

 

Please tell me you haven't completely lost your mind, and want to challenge me on this.

[davearm2]

Theo has intentionally set the bar so low, an elephant with gout and a torn ACL could jump over it. It's better to underpromose and overdeliver than the opposite.

Theo hasn't "intentionally set the bar low".

 

What he's done is he's committed to following what he believes is the proper path to building a perennial powerhouse.

Telling people we'll err on the side of the future, if we have to make a choice and mentioning signing bigtime contracts only make sense when we have a team that's ready to compete is EXACTLY that. Setting the bar low. I'm not disagreeing with it either. It's smart. Tempering expectations, while still giving out some hope is what he should be doing. But, it's not us, he's worried about, it's the meatball guy. The guy who either doesn't or can't see the big picture. That's who Theo has to convinve he's doing the right thing, for revenue purposes.

I just disagree with the notion that Theo is actively trying to manage expectations one way or another. He's being asked questions, and he's answering them as honestly as he can, without revealing more than he wants to about his strategy.

 

The idea that his comments are somehow scripted to appease meatballs or protect revenues or somesuch just strikes me as unlikely.

[davearm2]

 

Frankly I'm surprised at anyone who isn't grossed out by the idea of LaHair as the starting 1B for the Cubs.

Curious, what sort of OPS do you think LaHair would put up if given the bulk of the starts at 1B this year?

[XZero771679666304]

Theo has intentionally set the bar so low, an elephant with gout and a torn ACL could jump over it. It's better to underpromose and overdeliver than the opposite.

Theo hasn't "intentionally set the bar low".

 

What he's done is he's committed to following what he believes is the proper path to building a perennial powerhouse.

Telling people we'll err on the side of the future, if we have to make a choice and mentioning signing bigtime contracts only make sense when we have a team that's ready to compete is EXACTLY that. Setting the bar low. I'm not disagreeing with it either. It's smart. Tempering expectations, while still giving out some hope is what he should be doing. But, it's not us, he's worried about, it's the meatball guy. The guy who either doesn't or can't see the big picture. That's who Theo has to convince he's doing the right thing, for revenue purposes.

 

I really just don't agree with the notion that Theo is going out of his way to temper expectations. I think he says what he says because he means it or because it serves the best interest of the team, provided the former doesn't conflict with the latter.

[mookie]

.680-.700, and that's me being really optimistic.

[SouthSideRyan]

 

Frankly I'm surprised at anyone who isn't grossed out by the idea of LaHair as the starting 1B for the Cubs.

Curious, what sort of OPS do you think LaHair would put up if given the bulk of the starts at 1B this year?

 

.620

[XZero771679666304]

.680-.700, and that's me being really optimistic.

 

LaHair is gross, but I think that's a tad low. .700-.725, still awful for a 1B.

[Guest]

 

Frankly I'm surprised at anyone who isn't grossed out by the idea of LaHair as the starting 1B for the Cubs.

Curious, what sort of OPS do you think LaHair would put up if given the bulk of the starts at 1B this year?

 

Low enough that the team realizes what a horrible mistake LaHair at 1B is and replaces him before he gets the bulk of the starts. Or rather, .037 or so.

[UMFan83]

I know this is something I should care very little about, but how odd is it that he keeps doing work for the Chicago Cubs at his old Fenway Park office? It just seems rather odd. If Walt Jocketty is in St. Louis and needs to make a conference call, does he call up his old friends at Busch Stadium and ask them for an office to conduct a conference call?

 

While I acknowledge that its not a big deal, I'd rather Theo sever all his ties with Boston and get an office in his house to do that stuff when he's in Boston.

[sneakypower]

.775 for LaHair

[bukie]

.850 for LaHair. Just enough to annoy everyone.

[CubColtPacer]

I'd say between .725 and .775 for LaHair this year. His power has been big enough the last 3 years that it would be hard to not project 15-20 HR for him over 600 PA. That with a pretty good walk rate will be enough to get him that high even with a very high strikeout rate and a low batting average.

[XZero771679666304]

I'd say between .725 and .775 for LaHair this year. His power has been big enough the last 3 years that it would be hard to not project 15-20 HR for him over 600 PA. That with a pretty good walk rate will be enough to get him that high even with a very high strikeout rate and a low batting average.

 

This is what I figured. He's got too much power to slug under .400 and he takes enough walks to keep his OBP at or above .300. I think .700 is the probable floor.

[Mark Priors Calves]

Thanks for the recap, treme.

[davell]

I know this is something I should care very little about, but how odd is it that he keeps doing work for the Chicago Cubs at his old Fenway Park office? It just seems rather odd. If Walt Jocketty is in St. Louis and needs to make a conference call, does he call up his old friends at Busch Stadium and ask them for an office to conduct a conference call?

 

While I acknowledge that its not a big deal, I'd rather Theo sever all his ties with Boston and get an office in his house to do that stuff when he's in Boston.

His wife and kids are still in Boston. Probably didn't want to uproot during school year. He goes back for 2 days a week, I think is what I read. If anything, I'm glad he's working, rather than taking time off.

[Guest]

I know this is something I should care very little about, but how odd is it that he keeps doing work for the Chicago Cubs at his old Fenway Park office? It just seems rather odd. If Walt Jocketty is in St. Louis and needs to make a conference call, does he call up his old friends at Busch Stadium and ask them for an office to conduct a conference call?

 

While I acknowledge that its not a big deal, I'd rather Theo sever all his ties with Boston and get an office in his house to do that stuff when he's in Boston.

His wife and kids are still in Boston. Probably didn't want to uproot during school year. He goes back for 2 days a week, I think is what I read. If anything, I'm glad he's working, rather than taking time off.

 

His son turned 4 like 3 weeks ago. They don't want to uproot him from preschool?

[SouthSideRyan]

I'm interested to hear what sort of OPS people would predict for the following players:

 

Chris Davis

Wily Mo Pena

Josh Fields

Brett Lawrie

Anthony Rizzo

Mike Carp

Cody Ransom

Ian Stewart

Taylor Teagarden

Jai Miller

Jerry Sands

[davell]

I know this is something I should care very little about, but how odd is it that he keeps doing work for the Chicago Cubs at his old Fenway Park office? It just seems rather odd. If Walt Jocketty is in St. Louis and needs to make a conference call, does he call up his old friends at Busch Stadium and ask them for an office to conduct a conference call?

 

While I acknowledge that its not a big deal, I'd rather Theo sever all his ties with Boston and get an office in his house to do that stuff when he's in Boston.

His wife and kids are still in Boston. Probably didn't want to uproot during school year. He goes back for 2 days a week, I think is what I read. If anything, I'm glad he's working, rather than taking time off.

 

His son turned 4 like 3 weeks ago. They don't want to uproot him from preschool?

Well crap, maybe he's super advanced and a sophomore in high school? He is Theo's spawn, after all. At any rate, his wife hasn't moved yet.

[Lefty]

Guys, Dan Johnson started off as the opening day first baseman for the Rays. Look how that turned out.

 

Great. Another first round exit.

[davell]

I'm interested to hear what sort of OPS people would predict for the following players:

 

Chris Davis

Wily Mo Pena

Josh Fields

Brett Lawrie

Anthony Rizzo

Mike Carp

Cody Ransom

Ian Stewart

Taylor Teagarden

Jai Miller

Jerry Sands

Out of that group, the only 4 I can see being legit players are Lawrie, Sands, Rizzo, and Stewart. Maybe Carp? I think Lawrie WILL put up an OPS north of .800 this year. I think Sands and Rizzo, if in the right situation, meaning they've got a nice lineup around them COULD put up OPS's around .800. That said, I'd expect closer to .750ish out of them. Stewart is a wildcard, but I'm expecting .725ish personally. Carp, probably about the same as Stewart. I wouldn't think anyone else on that list could break .650, given a full seasons worth of at bats.

[UMFan83]

I know this is something I should care very little about, but how odd is it that he keeps doing work for the Chicago Cubs at his old Fenway Park office? It just seems rather odd. If Walt Jocketty is in St. Louis and needs to make a conference call, does he call up his old friends at Busch Stadium and ask them for an office to conduct a conference call?

 

While I acknowledge that its not a big deal, I'd rather Theo sever all his ties with Boston and get an office in his house to do that stuff when he's in Boston.

His wife and kids are still in Boston. Probably didn't want to uproot during school year. He goes back for 2 days a week, I think is what I read. If anything, I'm glad he's working, rather than taking time off.

 

That's fine that he works out of Boston. I just find it weird that he feels the need to occasionally do work for the Cubs at Fenway Park. It can't be that hard to make an office in your house or rent out a furnished office somewhere in the Boston area for a couple of months at a time. Ricketts would probably pay for it.

 

Like I said, its not really that big of a deal and it doesn't effect anything at all, its just something that doesn't sit well with me. I'd rather him make a clean break with the Red Sox and not continue to linger around there.

[SouthSideRyan]

Yeah, he's probably a spy