Yankees Sign Masahiro Tanaka

[gscool89]

[expletive]. I did not think Hal would do it.

 

I never thought the Cubs would be the mess they are when the Ricketts family bought the team. [expletive] it, I'm still going to watch or listen to every game.

We're a mess? I think there are a lot of teams that would like to be in the position the Cubs are in. A great minor league system and big TV dollars about to come in.

[Guest]

[expletive]. I did not think Hal would do it.

 

I never thought the Cubs would be the mess they are when the Ricketts family bought the team. [expletive] it, I'm still going to watch or listen to every game.

We're a mess? I think there are a lot of teams that would like to be in the position the Cubs are in. A great minor league system and big TV dollars about to come in.

Have you not watched this team in the last four years? They are a hot mess. They still haven't started the renovations among other things.

[gscool89]

[expletive]. I did not think Hal would do it.

 

I never thought the Cubs would be the mess they are when the Ricketts family bought the team. [expletive] it, I'm still going to watch or listen to every game.

We're a mess? I think there are a lot of teams that would like to be in the position the Cubs are in. A great minor league system and big TV dollars about to come in.

Have you not watched this team in the last four years? They are a hot mess. They still haven't started the renovations among other things.

Have you followed the minor league system? It's jumped from among the worst in the league to among the top 3 in just three years. It sucks that rebuilding doesn't happen overnight but I'd much rather go through this process than spending stupidly like they did under the Hendry regime while having no minor league system.

[davell]

Kaplan tweeted we came in second, non contention kept us from offering higher.

 

[expletive] it, just trade Shark now. 2015 pretty much just went out the realistic window.

 

Man, if there was some sort of participation trophy for effort we'd have it on lock. Unfortunately who gives a [expletive] if we "finished second". Stunning that a terrible team wasn't able to convince a guy to play here instead of in NY for the same money and a somewhat decent team.

 

Apparently our wave after wave of prospects pitch wasn't convincing.

 

We'll win more games over the life of Tanaka's deal than the Yanks will. Even with us sucking in 2014.

 

And 2015. If Tanaka opts out after 4 I'd bet on the yankees

I agree with that, but Tanaka will have to be very, very good to opt out of 3/67 at 29. If he's a 4 WAR type, it'll be an interesting decision.

 

If Javy and KB are day 1 starters and we added one of Scherzer, Homer, or Masterson, plus get an OFer with a package starting with Vogelbach and Alcantara, I think we're a .500+ team in 2015, which I'd say puts us in the same win area as the Yanks.

[treebird]

[expletive]. I did not think Hal would do it.

 

I never thought the Cubs would be the mess they are when the Ricketts family bought the team. [expletive] it, I'm still going to watch or listen to every game.

We're a mess? I think there are a lot of teams that would like to be in the position the Cubs are in. A great minor league system and big TV dollars about to come in.

 

we're a mess if you care in the slightest about winning games the next two years.

[Guest]

Can we put in big letters on this site somewhere that this false dichotomy between signing good major league players and developing a good minor league system isn't a real thing?

[Guest]

I agree with that, but Tanaka will have to be very, very good to opt out of 3/67 at 29. If he's a 4 WAR type, it'll be an interesting decision.

 

If Javy and KB are day 1 starters and we added one of Scherzer, Homer, or Masterson, plus get an OFer with a package starting with Vogelbach and Alcantara, I think we're a .500+ team in 2015, which I'd say puts us in the same win area as the Yanks.

 

I think he'll have to be pretty bad to not opt out of the deal.

[treebird]

Kaplan tweeted we came in second, non contention kept us from offering higher.

 

[expletive] it, just trade Shark now. 2015 pretty much just went out the realistic window.

 

Man, if there was some sort of participation trophy for effort we'd have it on lock. Unfortunately who gives a [expletive] if we "finished second". Stunning that a terrible team wasn't able to convince a guy to play here instead of in NY for the same money and a somewhat decent team.

 

Apparently our wave after wave of prospects pitch wasn't convincing.

 

We'll win more games over the life of Tanaka's deal than the Yanks will. Even with us sucking in 2014.

 

And 2015. If Tanaka opts out after 4 I'd bet on the yankees

I agree with that, but Tanaka will have to be very, very good to opt out of 3/67 at 29. If he's a 4 WAR type, it'll be an interesting decision.

 

If Javy and KB are day 1 starters and we added one of Scherzer, Homer, or Masterson, plus get an OFer with a package starting with Vogelbach and Alcantara, I think we're a .500+ team in 2015, which I'd say puts us in the same win area as the Yanks.

 

i am very excited to learn that if a bunch of things that won't happen happen we might win 80 games two years from now

[apete6]

[expletive]. I did not think Hal would do it.

 

I never thought the Cubs would be the mess they are when the Ricketts family bought the team. [expletive] it, I'm still going to watch or listen to every game.

We're a mess? I think there are a lot of teams that would like to be in the position the Cubs are in. A great minor league system and big TV dollars about to come in.

 

we're a mess if you care in the slightest about winning games the next two years.

 

And nothing is guaranteed with any of the minor league prospects. You could say the same thing, to a lesser extent, about Tanaka as well, I guess. Either way, losing out on the 1 FA that they actually put an effort into telling us to [expletive] off because he doesn't think we can win. Fun stuff.

[gscool89]

[expletive]. I did not think Hal would do it.

 

I never thought the Cubs would be the mess they are when the Ricketts family bought the team. [expletive] it, I'm still going to watch or listen to every game.

We're a mess? I think there are a lot of teams that would like to be in the position the Cubs are in. A great minor league system and big TV dollars about to come in.

 

we're a mess if you care in the slightest about winning games the next two years.

And you think signing a guy for $150 million who has never pitched in a Major League game will suddenly make everything better?

[SouthSideRyan]

You guys still don't deserve Theo. None of you are invited to the WS parties.

 

Is it because I'll be dead?

[Tracer Bullet]

No one has ever confused me for happy go lucky. But I can't imagine every step I take in life thinking to myself "welp, one step closer to the grave." It sucks to have a FA decide to play for another team but [expletive] a people. We were driven into the ground by bad ownership and a bad GM for a long time. We've shown a willingness to spend on big FAs. We're in a better place and will be much better before long but Theo can't just flip the switch to on and fix the franchise.

[Guest]

[expletive]. I did not think Hal would do it.

 

I never thought the Cubs would be the mess they are when the Ricketts family bought the team. [expletive] it, I'm still going to watch or listen to every game.

We're a mess? I think there are a lot of teams that would like to be in the position the Cubs are in. A great minor league system and big TV dollars about to come in.

Have you not watched this team in the last four years? They are a hot mess. They still haven't started the renovations among other things.

Have you followed the minor league system? It's jumped from among the worst in the league to among the top 3 in just three years. It sucks that rebuilding doesn't happen overnight but I'd much rather go through this process than spending stupidly like they did under the Hendry regime while having no minor league system.

 

Yes, top farm systems tend to happen when you have three straight top 10 picks, sign the second most expensive international prospect free agent of the time and trade away all your good players for prospects.

 

The Cardinals and Red Sox deserve credit for having successful farm systems with none/one top 10 pick (while winning big league games).

[Guest]

While some people put too much stock in prospects and assume success at too high a rate, I think just as many here overstate the likelihood of busting.

 

There are too many really good to great prospects/young players right now for all of them to bust or disappoint. Some of them are going to be really, really good players. It would take awful luck for that not to be the case.

[SouthSideRyan]

Makes me wonder who would have won the old way, can we throw this on the list that the Cubs were one year late to the party on?

 

1. amateur draft spending sprees

2. uncapped international spending (though they seemed to have created the work around)

3. uncapped international posting fee

 

 

 

Still i'm not too upset, because I never thought it was going to happen.

 

If we came in hilariously far under the winning bid for Darvish what makes you think we would have won this one?

[jersey cubs fan]

Makes me wonder who would have won the old way, can we throw this on the list that the Cubs were one year late to the party on?

 

1. amateur draft spending sprees

2. uncapped international spending (though they seemed to have created the work around)

3. uncapped international posting fee

 

 

 

Still i'm not too upset, because I never thought it was going to happen.

Doesn't that alone make you upset?

[treebird]

There are too many really good to great prospects/young players right now for all of them to bust or disappoint. Some of them are going to be really, really good players. It would take awful luck for that not to be the case.

 

famous last words

[SouthSideRyan]

No one has ever confused me for happy go lucky. But I can't imagine every step I take in life thinking to myself "welp, one step closer to the grave." It sucks to have a FA decide to play for another team but [expletive] a people. We were driven into the ground by bad ownership and a bad GM for a long time. We've shown a willingness to spend on big FAs. We're in a better place and will be much better before long but Theo can't just flip the switch to on and fix the franchise.

 

Thank God we got rid of that bad ownership

[KingCubsFan]

Got a reminder in my email to hurry up and secure my 10-game or 14-game pack ASAP right after news of Tanaka broke. Good timing there.

[bukie]

Depressing article from Jonah Keri on what the next move for the runners up should be since they missed out on Tanaka: http://grantland.com/features/well-they-couldnt-all-have-him/

[Hairyducked Idiot]

The Cardinals went from the 29th system in 2009 to the 1st in 2013. They didn't need to lose 450 games to do it.

 

Do I think we're going to be terrible forever? No.

 

Do I have any reason to like out 2015-2017 more than the Cardinals or Pirates? No. And the Reds aren't bad.

 

That's not a recipe for sustained success.

[USSoccer]

While some people put too much stock in prospects and assume success at too high a rate, I think just as many here overstate the likelihood of busting.

 

There are too many really good to great prospects/young players right now for all of them to bust or disappoint. Some of them are going to be really, really good players. It would take awful luck for that not to be the case.

 

The problem is that our plan now is all-in on hoping that most of them at least hit the upper quarter of their ceilings. As promising as those guys are, it's not a sure thing, and if it doesn't work out, then where are we?

[jersey cubs fan]

No one has ever confused me for happy go lucky. But I can't imagine every step I take in life thinking to myself "welp, one step closer to the grave." It sucks to have a FA decide to play for another team but [expletive] a people. We were driven into the ground by bad ownership and a bad GM for a long time. We've shown a willingness to spend on big FAs. We're in a better place and will be much better before long but Theo can't just flip the switch to on and fix the franchise.

 

They've been much worse for much longer than they were under previous ownership.

 

 

Don't blame the tribune for Ricketts mess. They have owned the team outright for 4 full seasons now and nearly 5 total offseasons. This entire organization is a Ricketts organization, and the losses are on them.

 

We're in a better place than what? Nobody asked him to flip a switch, but we are well past flip switching time.

 

 

All this nonsense about how this team isn't a mess is a joke. The team is a mess. There is no argument to be made otherwise. They have won job, win major league baseball games, and they are terrible at that.

[Brian]

Makes me wonder who would have won the old way, can we throw this on the list that the Cubs were one year late to the party on?

 

1. amateur draft spending sprees

2. uncapped international spending (though they seemed to have created the work around)

3. uncapped international posting fee

 

 

 

Still i'm not too upset, because I never thought it was going to happen.

 

If we came in hilariously far under the winning bid for Darvish what makes you think we would have won this one?

 

I don't know, which is why I wonder how it would have went down under the old system.

[davell]

I really, really wanted Tanaka, but we can get Scherzer, Masterson, or Bailey, trade for an OFer, while still trading Shark, and be a playoff possibility in 2015.

 

Even with Tanaka, 2014 was not going to happen anyway, in all likelihood. It is what it is, but I'll take another top 5 pick, trade Shark, Veras, Schierholtz at the deadline, and add bigtime next offseason. Playoffs are a realistic possibility in 2015, in my opinion.