Wrigley Renovation Thread

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I'm not going to grade them on a curve for a rebuild they chose to do.

 

Then again, I don't want to grade them against Hendry, either.

[NOLA]

I'm not going to grade them on a curve for a rebuild they chose to do.

 

Then again, I don't want to grade them against Hendry, either.

Exactly. It reminds me of the moronic Razorback fans who are comparing Bielema to Houston [expletive] Nutt after 1 season.

[jersey cubs fan]

I'm not going to grade them on a curve for a rebuild they chose to do.

 

Then again, I don't want to grade them against Hendry, either.

Exactly. It reminds me of the moronic Razorback fans who are comparing Bielema to Houston [expletive] Nutt after 1 season.

 

It hasn't been one season.

[Ryne Ween]

I'm not actually comparing to Hendry. I'm just refusing to give these guys a 5 year pass because of the existence of Hendry.

[NOLA]

I'm not going to grade them on a curve for a rebuild they chose to do.

 

Then again, I don't want to grade them against Hendry, either.

Exactly. It reminds me of the moronic Razorback fans who are comparing Bielema to Houston [expletive] Nutt after 1 season.

 

It hasn't been one season.

Also more than one squad. It's an entire organization that was needing an overhaul.

And I don't think anyone is giving a pass. People have had patience when they look at the improvement organizationally, although that has an expiration date.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

An expiration date that seems to have a way of getting pushed back every time it starts to get close.

[Guest]

An expiration date that seems to have a way of getting pushed back every time it starts to get close.

Where exactly are we on that date? 2019?

[MWV]

Thats not entirely fair. The actual instruction in the minors is most likely improved

 

I wish i rooted for a team thats only success over the last 4 years was a potential improvement in minor league instruction.

 

Jokes aside, I think it is easy to forget what a [expletive] show our MiLB system was. A few cases in point from past threads:

A telling blurb from Arizona Phil about how backwards the Cubs are:

 

Hunsicker did the majority of the "minors" stuff.... he sure took Hendry to the wood shed last January, though. This is the first time the Cubs made a splash in the draft since the Prior signing. Was it just the ownership's lack of committing resources to signing bonuses that's been the system's problem, or were Fieta and/or Wilkens the problem? It would be interesting to know what Ricketts thinks about that.

 

==============================================

 

TRN: One thing I have noticed about the Cubs Player Development Dept that does not reflect favorably on Oneri Fleita is the apparent disinterest in using technology to help assess player development.

 

For example, most every other team out here has a qualified tech-geek in charge of video-recording the pitchers and the hitters at Minor League Camp, Extended Spring Training, AZL, and Instructs, but the Cubs only do it occasionally (they were video-recording Hayden Simpson a couple of weeks ago), and when they do employ video, it's usually done by one of the minor league pitchers equipped with a camera phone.

 

A coach from one of the other teams thought that was a real hoot.

 

Also, several teams out here use a system where the pitcher "charting" the game from behind home plate inputs the pitch-by-pitch information (type of pitch, velocity, outcome) directly into a lap-top using software that is specifically designed to analyze the pitcher's outing, and the Player Development staff can immediately access the info from anywhere in the world.

 

The Cubs pitchers keep pitching charts by hand (pencil & paper).

Link

 

Interesting:

 

The Boise Hawks officially landed in Boise at 12:55 p.m. this afternoon, as 21 players, skipper Mark Johnson, trainer Bob Grimes, and the newest addition to the Cubs staff, a video intern made their debut in the Treasure Valley – getting hounded by reporters from KTVB (NBC) and the Idaho Statesman.

Pretty sure there was an article shortly after we signed up the new regime that they were implementing an organizational wide video system to record every players ab/pitch/defensive play for scouting/player development/evaluation and they were building some sort of huge video database off of those videos. We were also like 1 of only a handful of teams that didn't have a system like this in place yet up to that point.....

Link

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't think that is easy to forget at all because the focus has been strictly on the minor leagues for years now.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I just don't see modernizing the baseball operations as some sort of massive achievement to be lauded. It was a bare minimum requirement of whomever they hired.

[MWV]

I just don't see modernizing the baseball operations as some sort of massive achievement to be lauded. It was a bare minimum requirement of whomever they hired.

 

My post was more in response to the sentiment (put forth by you, among others) that this organization was somehow better poised for success under Tribune ownership. The trib FO failed to meet that "bare minimum requirement" long after it was standard practice in baseball. I don't know that anyone should be lauded for it, but "modernizing baseball operations" is a rather glib shorthand for completely tearing down and rebuilding a dysfunctional baseball operation, which by all accounts was an accurate representation of the organization in 2011. I'm no more pleased with the state of the MLB club than anyone, but it isn't as though the baseball operations people have spent the past several years playing free cell and cashing checks.

[KingCubsFan]

I just don't see modernizing the baseball operations as some sort of massive achievement to be lauded. It was a bare minimum requirement of whomever they hired.

They've seemingly gone from one of the worst to one of the best in about two years. I think it's pretty impressive. But yes, I know, modernizing baseball operations could have been done within 2 weeks of being hired, and then they should have focused on free agency to raise their star-studded roster from 71 wins to 82 wins.

 

I love that, amidst all this angst, the 2011 Cubs won 71 games, and the 2013 version won 66 with their two best players crapping the bed. But hey, that 5 win drop says everything about the state of the organization.

[Guest]

I just don't see modernizing the baseball operations as some sort of massive achievement to be lauded. It was a bare minimum requirement of whomever they hired.

 

My post was more in response to the sentiment (put forth by you, among others) that this organization was somehow better poised for success under Tribune ownership. The trib FO failed to meet that "bare minimum requirement" long after it was standard practice in baseball. I don't know that anyone should be lauded for it, but "modernizing baseball operations" is a rather glib shorthand for completely tearing down and rebuilding a dysfunctional baseball operation, which by all accounts was an accurate representation of the organization in 2011. I'm no more pleased with the state of the MLB club than anyone, but it isn't as though the baseball operations people have spent the past several years playing free cell and cashing checks.

There was nothing to tear down. They accomplished the build up job a long time ago. They get credit for that. They also chose to focus solely on that. Now we have yet another year of terrible baseball in front of us. It's well past time for them to try to compete. Other teams seem to be able to walk and chew bubble gum at the same time. Why not them?

[jersey cubs fan]

I just don't see modernizing the baseball operations as some sort of massive achievement to be lauded. It was a bare minimum requirement of whomever they hired.

They've seemingly gone from one of the worst to one of the best in about two years. I think it's pretty impressive. But yes, I know, modernizing baseball operations could have been done within 2 weeks of being hired, and then they should have focused on free agency to raise their star-studded roster from 71 wins to 82 wins.

 

I love that, amidst all this angst, the 2011 Cubs won 71 games, and the 2013 version won 66 with their two best players crapping the bed. But hey, that 5 win drop says everything about the state of the organization.

 

No, the 66 win games won 5 years into the Ricketts, the $80m payroll and the never ending rooftop saga says everything about the state of the organization.

[SouthSideRyan]

Eh, he wasn't approved until October 2009. Though, we'll likely win about 66 games this year too. Should also be able to get attendance down to right around 1M dropoff since he acquired the team to go with the 17 win drop.

 

But who knows what Don Levin would've done. He probably would've cut off Castro's head and moved the team to Delaware.

[Ryne Ween]

It's incredibly modern though.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

They've seemingly gone from one of the worst to one of the best in about two years.

 

What makes you think our baseball operations are one of the best?

 

Also, we keep bouncing back and forth between talking about ownership and talking about the front office.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

My post was more in response to the sentiment (put forth by you, among others) that this organization was somehow better poised for success under Tribune ownership.

 

That's not exactly what we were saying.

 

We were saying that if the Tribune ownership was terrible, and the best you can say about the Ricketts ownership is that it is better in some ways and worse in others, then it's probably in the vicinity of terrible as well.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I just don't see modernizing the baseball operations as some sort of massive achievement to be lauded. It was a bare minimum requirement of whomever they hired.

They've seemingly gone from one of the worst to one of the best in about two years. I think it's pretty impressive. But yes, I know, modernizing baseball operations could have been done within 2 weeks of being hired, and then they should have focused on free agency to raise their star-studded roster from 71 wins to 82 wins.

 

I love that, amidst all this angst, the 2011 Cubs won 71 games, and the 2013 version won 66 with their two best players crapping the bed. But hey, that 5 win drop says everything about the state of the organization.

 

No, the 66 win games won 5 years into the Ricketts, the $80m payroll and the never ending rooftop saga says everything about the state of the organization.

 

Not to mention we're going to threaten 1 million in lower attendance this year, and that's not even including the epic no-show totals.

[MWV]

My post was more in response to the sentiment (put forth by you, among others) that this organization was somehow better poised for success under Tribune ownership.

 

That's not exactly what we were saying.

 

We were saying that if the Tribune ownership was terrible, and the best you can say about the Ricketts ownership is that it is better in some ways and worse in others, then it's probably in the vicinity of terrible as well.

Fair enough. At this stage in the Rickett's ownership, that's tough to argue with.

At least we have smart people on the baseball side of things. It could be worse.

[pitchcs]

Bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch.

[Sammy Sofa]

Bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch.

 

Reading over the projected opening day lineup?

 

HIGH FIVE ME, BRO.

[Ryne Ween]

Section 6.6, every season is precious and The Cub Way!

[davell]

Theo had no clue we'd still be waiting on renovation money at this point. If our payroll has been as high as he's been given allowance for it to be, each year until now.....The rebuild was unequivocally forced, whether he wanted to or not. Darvish wasn't even a realistic option, if you look at our season opening payroll in 2012, versus the moves we made that offseason to hit that number.

[Ryne Ween]

Why do people bend over backwards to shield epstein from criticism. You are essentially saying that while you realize epstein sucks ass, he is being forced to suck ass and you know this unequivocally. Quit it with the [expletive] that the cubs need a [expletive] videoboard and some signs to make payroll. You are brainwashing yourself.