Random Cubs Musings

[d_money]

@Enrique_Rojas1: Hey @CarrieMuskat Arismendy Alcantara just hit another homerun with #Licey. The kid can hit! @Cubs

I like it

[Guest]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=248Zi0mj7wI

[jersey cubs fan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=248Zi0mj7wI

weak

 

55 seconds showing us dead guys, 10 seconds of a Jake Arrieta postgame team handshake focused primarily on Valaika, no Lester and it ends with Maddon awkwardly putting on a jersey.

[Guest]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=248Zi0mj7wI

weak

 

55 seconds showing us dead guys, 10 seconds of a Jake Arrieta postgame team handshake focused primarily on Valaika, no Lester and it ends with Maddon awkwardly putting on a jersey.

 

whoops, i meant to link this one

 

 

neither are masterpieces but at least this one has arrieta and lester

[jersey cubs fan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=248Zi0mj7wI

weak

 

55 seconds showing us dead guys, 10 seconds of a Jake Arrieta postgame team handshake focused primarily on Valaika, no Lester and it ends with Maddon awkwardly putting on a jersey.

 

whoops, i meant to link this one

 

 

neither are masterpieces but at least this one has arrieta and lester

25 seconds of the bartman play.

 

 

nice work.

[Guest]

he's building up the drama don't you hear the dramatic music

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

http://i.imgur.com/7bbpHRF.gif

[jersey cubs fan]

he's building up the drama don't you hear the dramatic music

you mean the ominous batman is fixing his car music?

[Guest]

lmao

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

At least from now on, whenever I see some replay of the Bartman thing, I'm going to hear "People train runs outta...(snort)...Stubbville" in my head. Thanks NSBB!

[Guest]

just stumbled onto this

 

 

theo and beane, among others, on a panel on the business of baseball

[Sammy Sofa]

just stumbled onto this

 

 

theo and beane, among others, on a panel on the business of baseball

 

[Guest]

http://chicagocubsonline.com/archives/2014/12/jason-mcleod-talks-cubs-inside-clubhouse.php#.VJZrfl4Ac

 

On what was accomplished in the 200 at bats Javier Baez had in the majors at the end of last season

“I think you can look at a lot of different things. Just really when you look at the whole season that Javy [Javier Baez] had last year and certainly there were some struggles in the minor leagues and at the Major League level. I don’t think it’s as simple as glossing over it and saying it was a good learning experience for him. I think there was a humbleness factor that took place in Iowa and certainly when he got here to the big leagues. But at the same time I do believe that he understands that the approach certainly needs to be toned down, needs to be more consistent with what he wants to do when he gets to the plate. Everyone knows the tremendous bat speed and power is there. The simple matter is Javy needs to get to a place where there is a plan when he gets up there and it’s not just turn and burn and try to hit it 500 feet every single time up. I think he battled himself with that last year. He’s a prideful guy, certainly he wants to do well and he has a lot of confidence in himself. I think he just got into a rut where he would try to make up for maybe a prior at bat or a prior strikeout. He would go up to the plate and saying, ‘Okay I need to make up for that and I’m going to do two times better this time.’ And it just manifested itself throughout the year. To get back to your question, getting those at bats up here in the Major Leagues, I think served a couple of purposes. One, just seeing the level, seeing what these guys can do, what these pitchers can do to him in terms of expanding the zone and locating their pitches. And like I said, I think it was a definite humble experience that went on, a humbling experience and I think at the same time he learned a lot by being up here.”

 

On if the Cubs decided not to give Javier Baez too much instruction last season and try to let him figure out things himself or did the coaching staff work with him on a daily basis

“I think there was definitely the … okay let’s give him rope, let’s get him, put him out there and obviously to say that there was failure would be an understatement in terms of the strikeouts and so forth. So there definitely was that. I don’t want to speak for Billy Mueller [bill Mueller], who was obviously the hitting coach at the time. I think Billy was trying to get a good feel for him at the time as well. I think we tried, not to do a hand’s off approach, but not try to overwhelm him with information every single day. We understand that his game is going to be really aggressive and for us, we just want him to be aggressive on pitches in the zone that he can get to, that he can handle because he’s got so much power he can leave any part of the field. It’s really for us getting to that point. I think coming out of those 200 AB’s [at bats], having a couple of months away from it, now going down to Puerto Rico, and John Mallee [Cubs Hitting Coach] is going down there to spend some time with him as well. We’ve heard and talked with him and it’s easy to say while you’re in Puerto Rico a couple of months later, but I think that he’s in a positive frame of mind right now.”

 

On the value of having players that can play multiple positions, Joe Maddon in the dugout and if Kris Bryant will see time in the outfield during Spring Training

“We haven’t sat down and discussed that in length with Joe. We were just out in San Diego at the Winter Meetings obviously. Look, we obviously have a very good third baseman right now with Luis Valbuena up there. To get back to what you had said originally as an organization, I think both individually as a player and as an organization, when you have the athleticism and the ability and the skillset to move around the field it not only helps you and your career in terms of being valuable to the club, it’s going to help the organization especially when that player can provide average defense at multiple positions and certainly if he’s an offensive performer, more power to that team. So when you’ve got a young player like Kris [bryant] or Javy, who has already moved across the infield or on the other side of the infield, those open up the options for the Major League club. We’ve discussed internally the timing for Kris, when is that going to be? This is the team going into Spring Training and Kris gets off to a hot start and there’s a time and place where we feel like he can help the Major League team, I’m sure that there will be a time when he gets exposed to different positions which is probably going to be the corner outfield there. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him taking some fly balls during Spring Training but nothing has been set in stone yet.”

 

On where C.J. Edwards could begin the 2015 season and do the Cubs see him as a reliever or a starter

“I say the plan right now would be to see … if we feel like he is ready to lead in the rotation at Iowa. Right now on paper we’ve got three roster starters that might be there already. So there’s no need to push him up to that Triple-A rotation. He’s going to go into ’15 as a starting pitcher, no doubt about it. Like you said, last year he didn’t get the innings that we hoped he would, but he ended up finishing the year strong and the Fall League. It’s funny I was just talking to another writer yesterday. His breaking ball really came on. It’s really, really nice to see the spin and the shape and the snap of his curveball in the Fall League. The plan right now is to leave him in the rotation. Certainly with his frame and how tall and lean he is there’s always going to be some questions if he’s going to be able to handle that workload. But he’s got really, really good stuff coming out and we’re just hopeful for him that he’ll have a full year in 2015 and ultimately he’ll determine that and let us … he’ll decide where he’s going to eventually end up.

 

There's more at the link.

[Splendid Splinter]

So I got bored and was looking at some Cubs prospects in the late 90s/early 00s and I noticed that Felix Pie was in the top 100 prospects 5 straight years. That gotta be a record right??

[Cubswin11]

What is our payroll projected to be at after arbitrations with the additions of Lester, Hammel, Montero, Ross and Motte?

[SouthSideRyan]

What is our payroll projected to be at after arbitrations with the additions of Lester, Hammel, Montero, Ross and Motte?

 

Including Lester's year one bonus, something like 115M

[Guest]

Lauren Comitor ‏@laurencomitor 6m6 minutes ago

Theo Epstein taking in #Northwestern-UIC, because what else does he have to do? (USA Today Sports photo) pic.twitter.com/wpcIwniNjc

 

 

was theo wearing an american flag?

[ConstableRabbit]

Given the partnership between the Cubs-Northwestern, I don't find it THAT surprising that he'd be on campus with some free seats to a game or something.

 

I just hope for his sake that he was already in the neighborhood and decided to swing by, haha.

[Clem Fandango]

He was doing a one-man reenactment of the "Jeremy" video.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I'm going to be really annoyed (surprise!) if we're basically done and cruising through the rest of the offseason outside of dumping Castillo and maybe Wood.

 

We've had to suck for three years because of the stupid "there's no difference between 78 and 68 wins" success cycle mumbo jumbo. Now we've got a team that is right in the fattest part of the curve on the value of wins, and a huge pile of tradeable prospects, and we're just going to poke our heads up long enough to reward one of Epstein's Boston friends and then go back into conserving resources mode.

[NOLA]

Completely random but do any of you guys know a stocky bald guy around 50ish named Dan who used to work for Vine Line? He lives in Nola now and gives some inside info on occassion. Just curious.

[imb]

I'm going to be really annoyed (surprise!) if we're basically done and cruising through the rest of the offseason outside of dumping Castillo and maybe Wood.

 

We've had to suck for three years because of the stupid "there's no difference between 78 and 68 wins" success cycle mumbo jumbo. Now we've got a team that is right in the fattest part of the curve on the value of wins, and a huge pile of tradeable prospects, and we're just going to poke our heads up long enough to reward one of Epstein's Boston friends and then go back into conserving resources mode.

 

Hahahah holy [expletive] you are seriously the worst. What a miserable piece of garbage you are.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Hahahah holy [expletive] you are seriously the worst. What a miserable piece of garbage you are.

 

http://i.imgur.com/U8OEKzG.gif

[Geech]

I'm going to be really annoyed (surprise!) if we're basically done and cruising through the rest of the offseason outside of dumping Castillo and maybe Wood.

 

We've had to suck for three years because of the stupid "there's no difference between 78 and 68 wins" success cycle mumbo jumbo. Now we've got a team that is right in the fattest part of the curve on the value of wins, and a huge pile of tradeable prospects, and we're just going to poke our heads up long enough to reward one of Epstein's Boston friends and then go back into conserving resources mode.

 

Hahahah holy [expletive] you are seriously the worst. What a miserable piece of garbage you are.

 

The post pretty much reads like a parody of himself.

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/achewood_789.jpg