6/26 Mets (Gee) @ Cubs (Wells), 7:05 PM, WCIU

[UMFan83]

The 2010 and 2011 teams were for the most part bad, underachieving teams partly made up of aging remnants of the 2008 team. As a fan, I was increasingly losing what little faith I had left in Hendry to right the ship, the team seemed to have no long term plan, the farm system was mediocre to poor, and there were numerous bad contracts clogging up the payroll limiting what we could do in the near future.

 

So no enjoyment of the present, no trust in leadership, bleak future prospects = uninteresting teams.

 

This year we have leadership we feel good about, we have a real long term plan, the number of bad contracts are down to 1 after this year, the team is partly made up of players who have at least some level of potential and for the most part a ceiling that hasn't been hit yet (Castro, Barney, Rizzo, LaHair, Shark, Russell, Garza, even Stewart although hopes are dwindling pretty low right now), and the farm system has made a decent leap over the last year and although almost all are in low minors, they give legit hope for the future.

 

So while the team might be bad, its not because Aramis is declining, Zambrano is throwing tantrums and gifting black guys to Milton Bradley, etc. It's bad because its a young team that is collectively not talented enough but has individually talented parts that are worth watching grow.

 

It's also been interesting watching Dempster become an increasingly valuable trade piece, Castro improve his defense, Barney hitting well enough and playing great defense, Shark (at least to start the year) look like a legit piece, LaHair's power surge to start the year, Garza throwing to first base, the persuit of Solar, the rise of Rizzo in the minors and the anticipation for his first game, the June draft. There's just been a lot to be interested in IMO.

 

There's hope for the organization but the team itself hasn't been the least bit interesting. Lahair has a ceiling he hasn't hit? Garza? I'll give you Castro, and now Rizzo, as well as Shark. But 2 of 3 of those guys were here last year and Rizzo just showed up. Recent teams weren't bad because Zambrano was throwing tantrums. This team is bad because they have a bunch of bad baseball players, not a bunch of guys who just aren't at their peak yet.

 

The product on the field has not been interesting. There's hope for the future because of the people who are in charge and some of the talent they have brought to the system, but you are deluding yourself if you try and pretend this baseball team has been interesting. They just suck at baseball.

 

I'm not deluding myself of anything. I find this team interesting. I know it to be true because last year I didnt have any desire to watch any games, I would occasionally check the scores on my phone but never had a desire to put on the game. This year, I am finding myself waiting for the games to start and watching a pretty good amount. Nothing about it is forced, its just a natural desire to watch the games due to the team being interesting.

 

LaHair has probably hit a ceiling but its also his rookie season essentially and after a great start has fallen back to earth. The odds are against him being as good as he was in April over a full season, but its still interesting to watch him as the season evolves. Garza has probably hit his ceiling, i'll give you that, but it's interesting to watch him increase/decrease his trade value each game. And yes I agree that the team is bad because we have a bunch of bad baseball players, but there are several individual parts that aren't bad and actually have the chance to be good, so its been enjoyable watching them.

 

I dunno I tried to put it into words why the team has been interesting to me but maybe its just hard to say exactly what has held my interest for so long, because last summer I was internally debating whether I was still a Cubs fan, and this summer I can't get enough of the team.

[jersey cubs fan]

LaHair has probably hit a ceiling but its also his rookie season essentially and after a great start has fallen back to earth. The odds are against him being as good as he was in April over a full season, but its still interesting to watch him as the season evolves.

 

What the hell? He's 29 freaking years old. This is not essentially his rookie year. He's been garbage for well over a month now.

[UMFan83]

LaHair has probably hit a ceiling but its also his rookie season essentially and after a great start has fallen back to earth. The odds are against him being as good as he was in April over a full season, but its still interesting to watch him as the season evolves.

 

What the hell? He's 29 freaking years old. This is not essentially his rookie year. He's been garbage for well over a month now.

 

Relax, I'm not saying he's an all star. It's been interesting to watch to see if he can rebound into a decent player after a great April. You might not find that interesting but that's you.

[jersey cubs fan]

LaHair has probably hit a ceiling but its also his rookie season essentially and after a great start has fallen back to earth. The odds are against him being as good as he was in April over a full season, but its still interesting to watch him as the season evolves.

 

What the hell? He's 29 freaking years old. This is not essentially his rookie year. He's been garbage for well over a month now.

 

Relax, I'm not saying he's an all star. It's been interesting to watch to see if he can rebound into a decent player after a great April. You might not find that interesting but that's you.

 

Seriously, you are just stretching to find excuses for using the word interesting. You're Peter King.

[UMFan83]

LaHair has probably hit a ceiling but its also his rookie season essentially and after a great start has fallen back to earth. The odds are against him being as good as he was in April over a full season, but its still interesting to watch him as the season evolves.

 

What the hell? He's 29 freaking years old. This is not essentially his rookie year. He's been garbage for well over a month now.

 

Relax, I'm not saying he's an all star. It's been interesting to watch to see if he can rebound into a decent player after a great April. You might not find that interesting but that's you.

 

Seriously, you are just stretching to find excuses for using the word interesting. You're Peter King.

 

 

Here lets end a jersey discussion the only way its possible to:

 

You were completely right and I was completely wrong. I am sorry for making you waste your valuable time having to explain something that is now so blatently obvious. This Cubs team is not interesting at all and all those hours I thought I've been watching them has actually been a morphine induced dream-like state.

[jersey cubs fan]

I am sorry for making you waste your valuable time having to explain something that is now so blatently obvious. This Cubs team is not interesting at all and all those hours I thought I've been watching them has actually been a morphine induced dream-like state.

 

Ignoring the douchy tone for a moment the fact that you've watched them doesn't really mean anything. I watch hours and hours of Cubs baseball every year but it doesn't mean any one of those teams were particularly interesting. The organization as a whole is interesting. But the product on the field has not been. There's only a couple guys here who are likely to be around for the long haul. There's a whole bunch of leftover garbage from recent garbage teams. And you know, they've lost a hell of a lot of games. They look like crap. Rizzo is fun. Castro is Castro. But the rest of the team is a hot mess of dull.

[UMFan83]

I am sorry for making you waste your valuable time having to explain something that is now so blatently obvious. This Cubs team is not interesting at all and all those hours I thought I've been watching them has actually been a morphine induced dream-like state.

 

Ignoring the douchy tone for a moment the fact that you've watched them doesn't really mean anything. I watch hours and hours of Cubs baseball every year but it doesn't mean any one of those teams were particularly interesting. The organization as a whole is interesting. But the product on the field has not been. There's only a couple guys here who are likely to be around for the long haul. There's a whole bunch of leftover garbage from recent garbage teams. And you know, they've lost a hell of a lot of games. They look like crap. Rizzo is fun. Castro is Castro. But the rest of the team is a hot mess of dull.

 

My "douchy tone" is because I've said my viewpoint and you've said yours, there is no reason to continue to talk about this, but you keep finding ways to keep this pointless discussion going. I'm watching the Cubs because they are interesting. That is a fact. 2 other people agreed with me. You don't, you gave your reasons and I gave mine. This is obviously not something we are going to convince the other on at this point. I like you in general and enjoy your posts, but you need to let things end sometimes. Onto the next discussion.

[ChiCubsFan]

I find this team more interesting than teams over the past couple years. Probably just because I like the direction of the organization as a whole and believe this will get turned around in the next few years, where as the past 2 years I didn't have that hope.