2017 Game Thread for teams that aren't the defending World Series Champions

[JonJayCutler]

1.5 back. Tied in the loss column.

 

I was rooting for vaunted Brewers. The Pirates are a bigger threat.

 

If we get the lead, we aren't looking back. Apollo Creed once said "This man is dangerous? I'M dangerous"

[Aaron_Kennelly]

That's alright. They'll have the last laugh in 2022 when things start unraveling down here.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

I was listening to the Pirates radio broadcast early in the game and they kept referring to Josh Harrison as J-Hey and it was making me irrationally angry.

[Cubswin11]

I was listening to the Pirates radio broadcast early in the game and they kept referring to Josh Harrison as J-Hey and it was making me irrationally angry.

Outside of the Cubs and Brewers the NL Central has some of the worst broadcasters (both TV and Radio) in all of baseball.

Edited July 20, 2017 by Cubswin11

[Brian]

yeah I'm of the mindset of I want the Cubs to get in 1st ASAP and then just stay there.

[Cubswin11]

That's alright. They'll have the last laugh in 2022 when things start unraveling down here.

Throwing away the silly nonsense the Cubs shortened any sort of window with the Quintana trade.... The silliest thing the Brewer fans are thinking is there's a real chance they have any sort of competitive window on the horizon that's definitively better than us. They don't have a Bryant or Rizzo in their system or on the roster. Arcia (6-7 months younger than Russell) is nice but he's closer to a rich mans Alcides Escobar than a 5-6+ win player. They lack true impact player(s) anywhere and being in a small market they need to develop multiple Bryants/Rizzo's like they did with Braun/Fielder to capture any sort of multi year run. The flash in the pan seasons, or half seasons like this, may happen but there is nothing there that I see sustained success that we can't overcome even in 4-5 years.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

That's alright. They'll have the last laugh in 2022 when things start unraveling down here.

Throwing away the silly nonsense the Cubs shortened any sort of window with the Quintana trade.... The silliest thing the Brewer fans are thinking is there's a real chance they have any sort of competitive window on the horizon that's definitively better than us. They don't have a Bryant or Rizzo in their system or on the roster. Arcia (6-7 months younger than Russell) is nice but he's closer to a rich mans Alcides Escobar than a 5-6+ win player. They lack true impact player(s) anywhere and being in a small market they need to develop multiple Bryants/Rizzo's like they did with Braun/Fielder to capture any sort of multi year run. The flash in the pan seasons, or half seasons like this, may happen but there is nothing there that I see sustained success that we can't overcome even in 4-5 years.

 

Yeah. Their future sucks. What they are building may have been worth a horsefeathers in a non-Theo-run-Cubs division. But that horsefeathers ain't flying now. No player on their current roster will ever finish above the Cubs in the standings. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

 

And their farm system blows. (Nearly every farm system blows. Always. It's incredibly rare for a team to build what we did.) And the Brewers have no top-end, real impact guys, like you say. They have a bunch of Arismendy Alcantaras hitting .235 in high-A. Some might pan out. Others won't. Most likely they'll just be cheap 2-3 win players. And that ain't competing with us.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Perhaps the gulf will be more apparent to them when the two-time defending World Champs are 24 games up on them at this time next year.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

I guess there is always the Wild Card Game, though. They can become the new Pirates.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

They don't have two different prospects named Hader, right? Because I keep seeing them being so thankful they aren't trading Brinson and Hader for a Quintana/Gray/etc, but when I search for Hader all I see is some guy getting repeatedly torched in AAA.

[Cubswin11]

They don't have two different prospects named Hader, right? Because I keep seeing them being so thankful they aren't trading Brinson and Hader for a Quintana/Gray/etc, but when I search for Hader all I see is some guy getting repeatedly torched in AAA.

They have one and he's the next Sale, or worst case scenario Andrew Miller....

[Transmogrified Tiger]

They don't have two different prospects named Hader, right? Because I keep seeing them being so thankful they aren't trading Brinson and Hader for a Quintana/Gray/etc, but when I search for Hader all I see is some guy getting repeatedly torched in AAA.

They have one and he's the next Sale, or worst case scenario Andrew Miller....

 

Now I get it, Hader will follow Miller's career path and take 5 years to be worth anything, that's why they're targeting 2022.

[Cubswin11]

That's alright. They'll have the last laugh in 2022 when things start unraveling down here.

Throwing away the silly nonsense the Cubs shortened any sort of window with the Quintana trade.... The silliest thing the Brewer fans are thinking is there's a real chance they have any sort of competitive window on the horizon that's definitively better than us. They don't have a Bryant or Rizzo in their system or on the roster. Arcia (6-7 months younger than Russell) is nice but he's closer to a rich mans Alcides Escobar than a 5-6+ win player. They lack true impact player(s) anywhere and being in a small market they need to develop multiple Bryants/Rizzo's like they did with Braun/Fielder to capture any sort of multi year run. The flash in the pan seasons, or half seasons like this, may happen but there is nothing there that I see sustained success that we can't overcome even in 4-5 years.

 

Yeah. Their future sucks. What they are building may have been worth a horsefeathers in a non-Theo-run-Cubs division. But that horsefeathers ain't flying now. No player on their current roster will ever finish above the Cubs in the standings. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

 

And their farm system blows. (Nearly every farm system blows. Always. It's incredibly rare for a team to build what we did.) And the Brewers have no top-end, real impact guys, like you say. They have a bunch of Arismendy Alcantaras hitting .235 in high-A. Some might pan out. Others won't. Most likely they'll just be cheap 2-3 win players. And that ain't competing with us.

I think this is the thing that really gets overlooked on, "well the Cubs just tanked/traded away everything and got assets/high draft picks and boom World Series." What Theo did is so incredibly unlikely and improbable, it seems to just be a given now that if you just suck for a while and have "young guys" you can replicate what the Cubs did or what the Astros did/are doing (to a lesser degree, because they still are lacking).

 

It's not that easy and it takes a lot of luck and literal geniuses pulling the levers. We hit on everything and have the best person(s) in the world at the helm while no other team currently has the ability our FO has and basically is going to have to rely on pure luck to replicate anything close to what Theo pulled off. Especially now that there's multiple teams trying to pull a similar move(s) off, while Theo has already pivoted off of it to make it even more sustainable.

[Rex Buckingham]

I don't think the Astros can ever be lumped in with the Cubs because they blew two number one picks completely, including picking a pitcher over Kris Bryant.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

I think this is the thing that really gets overlooked on, "well the Cubs just tanked/traded away everything and got assets/high draft picks and boom World Series." What Theo did is so incredibly unlikely and improbable, it seems to just be a given now that if you just suck for a while and have "young guys" you can replicate what the Cubs did or what the Astros did/are doing (to a lesser degree, because they still are lacking).

 

It's not that easy and it takes a lot of luck and literal geniuses pulling the levers. We hit on everything and have the best person(s) in the world at the helm while no other team currently has the ability our FO has and basically is going to have to rely on pure luck to replicate anything close to what Theo pulled off. Especially now that there's multiple teams trying to pull a similar move(s) off, while Theo has already pivoted off of it to make it even more sustainable.

 

Bingo. There's the ephemeral moment before those prospects come up and fail that you can envision them all coming up and turning into stars and replicating what the Cubs did. It's why smart people expressed caution during our rebuild. The difference here being that, while Theo had a cache of, like, a dozen top-ten prospects over two or three years, they have about a half dozen guys that rank somewhere between 40-150. The difference between, say, the 3rd-best prospect and the 75th-best prospect is enormous. I don't think they understand that.

 

They are hoping these 23-year-olds with spotty records in the minors will come up and give us a run. Meanwhile we have a hoard of 23-25-year-olds with World Series rings, All-Star appearances, MVPs, and other hardware.

 

Fast forward three years and they'll realize Lewis Brinson is Keon Broxton redux, while Josh Hader ends up relegated to the pen. Maybe Corey Ray has a breakout when he is 27, by which point they'll have given up all hope. Meanwhile, everything that they have we can match and better. Oh and we also have a bunch of established star veterans in place, too.

[davell]

[Brian707]

Both the Brewers and Cardinals trail 1-0 early in their games today.

[bukie]

Both the Brewers and Cardinals trail 1-0 early in their games today.

Unfortunately, though, the Pirates lead 1-0

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Both the Brewers and Cardinals trail 1-0 early in their games today.

Unfortunately, though, the Pirates lead 1-0

 

http://gifrific.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Ron-Swanson-Says-Dont-Even-Care.gif

[Brian]

4-2 Pirates mid 6

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Cards lose. Time to knock them way back.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

lol. Rosenthal forgot to cover first base on what would have been the third out in the 9th. Walk-off loss instead.

[NonProfitCow]

lol. Rosenthal forgot to cover first base on what would have been the third out in the 9th. Walk-off loss instead.

That's the 11th or 12th loss this year when leading after 8.

[Schwarber Fan]

The scoreboard watching gods are smiling on us lately.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

News break: Sucky team has lost more games than the Cubs.