7/25 Phillies (Hamels) @ Cubs (Arrieta) 3:05 CT ABC

[sontensei]

The "we're a year away anyways" excuse is really dumb when you look at what the Astros are doing.

 

That doesn't make any sense? Doing what exactly? I'd take our team over the next 10 years over theirs

I'd take the Cubs just based on the fact that Theo/Jed have been there before and the Cubs are going to be able to out-spend the Astros. But right now, the Astros are ahead of us while starting their rebuild right around the same time.

 

one difference is that the astro's are actually not bad at developing pitchers within.

[Guest]

The "we're a year away anyways" excuse is really dumb when you look at what the Astros are doing.

 

That doesn't make any sense? Doing what exactly? I'd take our team over the next 10 years over theirs

 

I bet Astros' fans would take their team over the next 10 years than ours.

 

The vague future of unending awesomeness as some magical trump card in all franchise comparisons is as tiresome as [insert whatever you find really tiresome, me included].

 

And they don't have the Cardinals in their division.

[jersey cubs fan]

I know this sounds super gay and cliche but we have to stick together. This franchise has a future.

Super gay?

[Little Slide Rooter]

I know this sounds super gay and cliche but we have to stick together. This franchise has a future.

Super gay?

 

Yeah, someone should probably lock this thread before a ginormous can of worms opens up and consumes us all.

[Little Slide Rooter]

The "we're a year away anyways" excuse is really dumb when you look at what the Astros are doing.

 

That doesn't make any sense? Doing what exactly? I'd take our team over the next 10 years over theirs

 

I bet Astros' fans would take their team over the next 10 years than ours.

 

The vague future of unending awesomeness as some magical trump card in all franchise comparisons is as tiresome as [insert whatever you find really tiresome, me included].

 

Vague future? We're 5 games over .500 and we're in year one. It's called take what we have, which is a lot, and build off it. And we have the resources to do it. We're not in a position to sell anything, but on the other side of that coin, I wouldn't go overboard for a rental, no matter how shiny. If we see the right fit for a deadline trade, we make it. If not, we don't. And there's a hell of a free agent class coming up, and we should be major players for a lot of these guys. And I can assure you that a lot of them are going to be attracted to go what we're putting together here.

 

Short answer: #wearegoodbutnotyetgreat

[UMFan83]

This is the second time I've read someone say we are 5 games over .500 today. Are we giving up on today's game already?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Vague future? We're 5 games over .500 and we're in year one.

 

This is year four. And it is the only year currently being contested.

 

We hope this is a long window of success. We have good reason to believe it has a good chance to be. But the idea that we're locked in and on cruise control is vastly overstated. People love easy-to-understand narratives like "We were bad, now we're OK and young, so tomorrow we'll be great." But it's never that easy.

 

We could be like the Rays, where our first good team was our best. We could see the 2016 Cubs knocked off-course by a couple of poorly-timed injuries. We could see the front office's magic touch on cheap pitching evaporate. Russell could never adapt to the big leagues. Schwarber could Richie Sexson his forearm. The Cardinals and Pirates could continue their excellence for five more years and lock us out.

 

The future looks good, but it isn't nearly enough of a guarantee to justify passing over the present entirely.

[UMFan83]

Vague future? We're 5 games over .500 and we're in year one.

 

This is year four. And it is the only year currently being contested.

 

We hope this is a long window of success. We have good reason to believe it has a good chance to be. But the idea that we're locked in and on cruise control is vastly overstated. People love easy-to-understand narratives like "We were bad, now we're OK and young, so tomorrow we'll be great." But it's never that easy.

 

We could be like the Rays, where our first good team was our best. We could see the 2016 Cubs knocked off-course by a couple of poorly-timed injuries. We could see the front office's magic touch on cheap pitching evaporate. Russell could never adapt to the big leagues. Schwarber could Richie Sexson his forearm. The Cardinals and Pirates could continue their excellence for five more years and lock us out.

 

The future looks good, but it isn't nearly enough of a guarantee to justify passing over the present entirely.

 

Yes and if the Cubs listened to you 4 years ago we'd likely be a less than elite team full of veterans and no payroll flexibility

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Yes and if the Cubs listened to you 4 years ago we'd likely be a less than elite team full of veterans and no payroll flexibility

 

With a non-zero chance of a pennant flying over Wrigley Field to console us.

 

I'm looking forward to the first time the Cubs struggle in 2016 and we get a round of "Well, this is just the first year of our true glory and these guys are all still so young. Wait until 2017, that's when it really matters."

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Yes and if the Cubs listened to you 4 years ago we'd likely be a less than elite team full of veterans and no payroll flexibility

 

With a non-zero chance of a pennant flying over Wrigley Field to console us.

 

I'm looking forward to the first time the Cubs struggle in 2016 and we get a round of "Well, this is just the first year of our true glory and these guys are all still so young. Wait until 2017, that's when it really matters."

 

But with all of your ifs, you could poke a hole in what would have happened had they not gone into a rebuild mode. It's a never-ending exercise.

 

If we hadn't gone rebuild, what if the last four years sucked and what if this was the fifth straight year of crap? What if?

[Andy]

Yes and if the Cubs listened to you 4 years ago we'd likely be a less than elite team full of veterans and no payroll flexibility

 

With a non-zero chance of a pennant flying over Wrigley Field to console us.

 

I'm looking forward to the first time the Cubs struggle in 2016 and we get a round of "Well, this is just the first year of our true glory and these guys are all still so young. Wait until 2017, that's when it really matters."

 

But with all of your ifs, you could poke a hole in what would have happened had they not gone into a rebuild mode. It's a never-ending exercise.

 

If we hadn't gone rebuild, what if the last four years sucked and what if this was the fifth straight year of crap? What if?

Our run differential is about to go into the negatives. This isn't the fifth straight year of crap, but it's not that far away from it.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Yes and if the Cubs listened to you 4 years ago we'd likely be a less than elite team full of veterans and no payroll flexibility

 

With a non-zero chance of a pennant flying over Wrigley Field to console us.

 

I'm looking forward to the first time the Cubs struggle in 2016 and we get a round of "Well, this is just the first year of our true glory and these guys are all still so young. Wait until 2017, that's when it really matters."

 

But with all of your ifs, you could poke a hole in what would have happened had they not gone into a rebuild mode. It's a never-ending exercise.

 

If we hadn't gone rebuild, what if the last four years sucked and what if this was the fifth straight year of crap? What if?

Our run differential is about to go into the negatives. This isn't the fifth straight year of crap, but it's not that far away from it.

 

Nah. It's pretty far.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

Besides, what if we hadn't gone into full rebuild and our differential was -30 right now. What if?