So am I getting this right?

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

The Cubs really aren't going to be worth watching this year, are they?

[Guest]

The Cubs really aren't going to be worth watching this year, are they?

We'll see, according to some it is still early in the offseason.

[b_wiggy_66]

Assuming nothing else major happens to the roster (as most expect) before Opening Day I am interested in seeing what kind of impact a roster and manager with little name recognition has on ticket sales. I just don't know if the casual fan will have much interest in this team. If that's the case, and ticket sales drop off, it will be interesting to see if it has an affect on future payroll if attendance falls off more than it did already last year.

[XZero771679666304]

The Cubs really aren't going to be worth watching this year, are they?

We'll see, according to some it is still early in the offseason.

 

I'm pretty sure no one has said that in a few weeks.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I still plan on going to Wrigley this summer, but with the way things are going I will wait until the last minute and try to get some tickets on the cheap from people trying to get rid of them.

[TruffleShuffle]

Assuming nothing else major happens to the roster (as most expect) before Opening Day I am interested in seeing what kind of impact a roster and manager with little name recognition has on ticket sales. I just don't know if the casual fan will have much interest in this team. If that's the case, and ticket sales drop off, it will be interesting to see if it has an affect on future payroll if attendance falls off more than it did already last year.

 

i very highly doubt that. ricketts is no idiot, and epstein knows what kind of payrolls you can have with a big-market team and an iconic ballpark, provided that the team is performing well. epstein didn't come to the cubs to have ownership go cheap. the difference between him taking over the cubs and the red sox is that the red sox were already well positioned to win, with varitek, garciaparra, manny ramirez, damon, trot nixon, derek lowe and pedro all in or near their primes. the cubs don't have anywhere near that much talent on the big league squad, and the minor leagues are sorely lacking in players who could put up star-level production, so epstein seems to be "starting over" more than he did with the sox.

[UMFan83]

I've been thinking about it recently. I think I will be slightly more interested in this team than the last 2. The reason being is that the last 2 years, our team was a bunch of veterans with no upside. Once the team proved to be bad, there was just nothing interesting to follow outside of Starlin. At least this year there are new pieces and likely to be a lot of young faces in the lineup (and ones with upside, not the Campanas of the system). It will be somewhat interesting to see how the team progresses throughout the year.

 

Don't get me wrong, on a scale of 1-10, we're talking a 2 next year instead of a 1.

[TruffleShuffle]

The Cubs really aren't going to be worth watching this year, are they?

 

right now i'd say these are the things that will hold my interest in 2012, even if the cubs aren't contenders:

 

1. minor leagues. they spent a lot of money last year and hopefully some of the guys in the low minors will break out, plus they may get some good prospects in return for a potential garza trade.

2. ian stewart - can he be at least a league-average 3b? if so then the cubs made a very good trade. it appears he'll get an extended shot at the job.

3. travis wood - can he be at least a league-average starter? again, probably not a really high impact player but if the cubs can look forward to cheap league-average or better production from him, then that's a nice plus.

4. catcher - will soto be healthy and productive? if so, do they try to deal him with the idea of castillo becoming the starter for the next few years?

5. castro - really, he's fun to watch, but i'm hoping his power and patience continue to improve, and i hope he gets better on defense. if his defense doesn't improve then it could be time to start thinking about him as a 3b or 2b while finding a long-term answer at short.

6. can they find a taker for any of the high-salary guys (soriano, zambrano, dempster) that brings salary relief and/or good prospects? the salary relief is obviously soriano; zambrano and (moreso) dempster could bring back prospects if they have a nice first half.

7. bullpen - can marmol build up his trade value? also eager to see if some of the young guys like beliveau can stick in the bigs.

8. nsbb - how short will the game threads get if the cubs are lousy? how quickly will some people give up on epstein/hoyer? will da bum ever be freed?

[bcl412]

A rebuilding team could be fun in some ways though I completely see why one would not be intrigued.

[Gilby]

I think it's interesting how many people here hate Hendry, yet are pissed Theo and Co. aren't going about this offseason in a Hendry-like manner.

[Sammy Sofa]

Oh, for [expletive]'s sake.

 

WANTING GUYS LIKE WILSON OR FIELDER OR PUJOLS OR DARVISH OR THE CUBANS ISN'T WANTING A "HENDRY-LIKE MANNER."

[NOLA]

I've been thinking about it recently. I think I will be slightly more interested in this team than the last 2. The reason being is that the last 2 years, our team was a bunch of veterans with no upside. Once the team proved to be bad, there was just nothing interesting to follow outside of Starlin. At least this year there are new pieces and likely to be a lot of young faces in the lineup (and ones with upside, not the Campanas of the system). It will be somewhat interesting to see how the team progresses throughout the year.

 

Don't get me wrong, on a scale of 1-10, we're talking a 2 next year instead of a 1.

 

I agree 100%. The past couple of years have as uninteresting as I can ever remember. The past 2 Springs we haven't been close to really contending, yet we didn't identify that fact and didn't address the future. No hope for the present, nor any hope for the future either.

If we are going to be bad this year, then I will watch to see how our guys in the majors and minors develop. I'll get excited in July to see what young talent we could get via deadline deals. I want to see if we will be more fundamentally sound and a better team in August and September under Sveum.

BTW, if attendance really does drop off dramatically in the first year of the Theo regime, then Cubs fans ARE as bad as White Sox and Cards fans say we are. I am getting a bit edgy about the lack of activity too, but [expletive], I am ready to see how a capable management team can build an organization that was in total disarray.

My apologies, rant over.

[b_wiggy_66]

The Cubs really aren't going to be worth watching this year, are they?

 

right now i'd say these are the things that will hold my interest in 2012, even if the cubs aren't contenders:

 

1. minor leagues. they spent a lot of money last year and hopefully some of the guys in the low minors will break out, plus they may get some good prospects in return for a potential garza trade.

2. ian stewart - can he be at least a league-average 3b? if so then the cubs made a very good trade. it appears he'll get an extended shot at the job.

3. travis wood - can he be at least a league-average starter? again, probably not a really high impact player but if the cubs can look forward to cheap league-average or better production from him, then that's a nice plus.

4. catcher - will soto be healthy and productive? if so, do they try to deal him with the idea of castillo becoming the starter for the next few years?

5. castro - really, he's fun to watch, but i'm hoping his power and patience continue to improve, and i hope he gets better on defense. if his defense doesn't improve then it could be time to start thinking about him as a 3b or 2b while finding a long-term answer at short.

6. can they find a taker for any of the high-salary guys (soriano, zambrano, dempster) that brings salary relief and/or good prospects? the salary relief is obviously soriano; zambrano and (moreso) dempster could bring back prospects if they have a nice first half.

7. bullpen - can marmol build up his trade value? also eager to see if some of the young guys like beliveau can stick in the bigs.

8. nsbb - how short will the game threads get if the cubs are lousy? how quickly will some people give up on epstein/hoyer? will da bum ever be freed?

 

Kind of sad that 2-3 are hoping that players will be at least league average. #-o

 

At least there will still be Old Style at Wrigley and we can watch Theo start building from the bottom up.

[Sammy Sofa]

BTW, if attendance really does drop off dramatically in the first year of the Theo regime, then Cubs fans ARE as bad as White Sox and Cards fans say we are.

 

Why? Most people don't want to pay to watch crappy baseball.

[XZero771679666304]

I'm disappointed that more hasn't been done, but I can't fault the FO for not handing out the contracts that have been thus far.

 

Fielder and the Cubans are still on the board, so there's still the possibility of an exciting move. Even if those don't happen, all is not lost. In contrast to years like 2006, 2010 and 2011, there is at least a direction, some sort of method to the madness.

 

As far as my active interest in 2012, the next two weeks or so will dictate that. I'll be pretty engaged if Fielder or Cespedes are signed, and probably still actively interested if Garza is dealt and some young ML-ready talent is on the field.

 

I mean I watched virtually every game when the Cubs were hopelessly awful in the 90's, so there's really no way I'm just going to ignore next year.

[b_wiggy_66]

BTW, if attendance really does drop off dramatically in the first year of the Theo regime, then Cubs fans ARE as bad as White Sox and Cards fans say we are.

 

Why? Most people don't want to pay to watch crappy baseball.

 

Yeah just because Theo is sitting in a suite at Wrigley doesn't mean people will come watch a team that isn't good.

[bcl412]

BTW, if attendance really does drop off dramatically in the first year of the Theo regime, then Cubs fans ARE as bad as White Sox and Cards fans say we are.

 

Why? Most people don't want to pay to watch crappy baseball.

 

Yeah just because Theo is sitting in a suite at Wrigley doesn't mean people will come watch a team that isn't good.

 

I never understood thinking like this either. People only have so much money and time, why can't they spend it on what they wish without having their fan hood and what not being question?

[b_wiggy_66]

BTW, if attendance really does drop off dramatically in the first year of the Theo regime, then Cubs fans ARE as bad as White Sox and Cards fans say we are.

 

Why? Most people don't want to pay to watch crappy baseball.

 

Yeah just because Theo is sitting in a suite at Wrigley doesn't mean people will come watch a team that isn't good.

 

I never understood thinking like this either. People only have so much money and time, why can't they spend it on what they wish without having their fan hood and what not being question?

 

Also, I could care less what Cards and White Sox fans think of Cub fans.

[XZero771679666304]

BTW, if attendance really does drop off dramatically in the first year of the Theo regime, then Cubs fans ARE as bad as White Sox and Cards fans say we are.

 

Why? Most people don't want to pay to watch crappy baseball.

 

Yeah just because Theo is sitting in a suite at Wrigley doesn't mean people will come watch a team that isn't good.

 

I never understood thinking like this either. People only have so much money and time, why can't they spend it on what they wish without having their fan hood and what not being question?

 

Also, I could care less what Cards and White Sox fans think of Cub fans.

 

As if Sox fans have room to talk about anybody.

[TruffleShuffle]

yeah considering that the sox were barely drawing 20,000 a game during all of september 2011, they'd be rather foolish in criticizing cub fans for not supporting a bad team.

[El Duderino]

they can't fill the cell when they have a winning team for christ's sake.

[TruffleShuffle]

If we are going to be bad this year, then I will watch to see how our guys in the majors and minors develop. I'll get excited in July to see what young talent we could get via deadline deals. I want to see if we will be more fundamentally sound and a better team in August and September under Sveum.

 

being more fundamentally sound is like 347th on my list of things i want to see from the cubs this year.

[Little Slide Rooter]

If nothing else maybe we can get another Joe Cowley rant about Chicago finally becoming Sox Town despite they couldn't even take over when they were fresh off a World Championship and The Cubs were one of the worst teams on earth.

[bcl412]

If we are going to be bad this year, then I will watch to see how our guys in the majors and minors develop. I'll get excited in July to see what young talent we could get via deadline deals. I want to see if we will be more fundamentally sound and a better team in August and September under Sveum.

 

being more fundamentally sound is like 347th on my list of things i want to see from the cubs this year.

 

Depends upon the definition of "fundamentally sound."

[TruffleShuffle]

If we are going to be bad this year, then I will watch to see how our guys in the majors and minors develop. I'll get excited in July to see what young talent we could get via deadline deals. I want to see if we will be more fundamentally sound and a better team in August and September under Sveum.

 

being more fundamentally sound is like 347th on my list of things i want to see from the cubs this year.

 

Depends upon the definition of "fundamentally sound."

 

yeah well i guess if you define it as "better defensively" then i do want the cubs do be fundamentally sound, but the cubs were lousy defensively because they had a lot of old, slow players, not because they didn't get behind the ball properly on grounders or know which base to throw to.