This Cubs season was a D-minus time for me

[Javy Is Still A Cub]

Blecch to this team....

What ugly baseball it was in May and June - blown saves or only getting 3 hits. 

The only truly exciting thing was PCA (Shota is too old to be exciting). 

If you didn't boo this team at Wrigley you offended the gods of baseball.

My uncle was right: a manager is only there to keep 25 grown men from killing each other over a long season (I assume players were more testy when they weren't making tens of millions of dollars). At least Ross was amusing. 

The only positive of 2024 was: At least we aren't Sox fans, with their F-double-minus season. 

Entering their final series, I say that this team will not be missed and give them a hearty and lusty, "Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

[CubinNY]

I don't know if I'm getting older and it matters less to me, but this was the least enjoyable Cubs season I can remember since 2010-2013. Absolutely no reason to enjoy after April. The worst part for me is that it was by design.  

The Ricketts have drained almost all of my fandom. 

[BigSlick]

Agreed. Theres just no excuse for this team to wallow in mediocrity for so long. They should be clear easy playoff contenders year in, year out, not eliminated more than a week before the seasons over. It’s embarrassing. 

[Derwood]

The clear difference between the Cubs and other big market teams (Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, etc) is that once we got that ring in 2016, everyone took their foot off the gas and patted themselves on the back. Those 90’s Yankees (and current Dodgers) want to win ten WS in a row. Cubs got the curse off their back and said “meh” to sustaining a dynasty. 

[NorthsideAvenger]

Could be worse....the White Sox has not done anything since 2005. 

[jersey cubs fan]

It was a pretty enjoyable season for me although that has nothing to do with the cubs, just had a generally pleasant March - September with family and friends. 

[Outshined_One]

1 hour ago, Derwood said:

The clear difference between the Cubs and other big market teams (Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, etc) is that once we got that ring in 2016, everyone took their foot off the gas and patted themselves on the back. Those 90’s Yankees (and current Dodgers) want to win ten WS in a row. Cubs got the curse off their back and said “meh” to sustaining a dynasty. 

The other problem they had was, 2016 happened due, in part, to luck.  The Cubs hit on multiple high quality prospects (Baez, Schwarber, Contreras, Almora), had a generational talent falling into their lap in the draft (Bryant), and won on trades that critically bolstered the team (Rizzo, Russell, and Hendricks).  There was a bit of arrogance from the organization, like they could sustain this success and just have an assembly line farm system churning out one great player after the other.

However, while they deserve credit for identifying and developing those guys, they also got lucky.  Schwarber was the only major injury to come out of that group in 2016, and he somehow managed to come back for the World Series.  Everyone hit on the high end of their development curve.  The Astros could have easily drafted Bryant over Appel.

Since then, most of their top flight prospects have suffered injury setbacks (Howard, Horton, Wicks, Marquez, Alzolay) and/or hit developmental brick walls (B. Little, Jensen, Lange, Howard and Marquez again).   It seems like they've finally turned a corner, and they managed to develop solid pieces like Happ, Hoerner, Busch, and Steele in the interim, but it's taken nearly 8 years to get the farm to where they thought it would be.

[Derwood]

Waves and waves...

[Cuzi]

15 minutes ago, Outshined_One said:

The other problem they had was, 2016 happened due, in part, to luck.  The Cubs hit on multiple high quality prospects (Baez, Schwarber, Contreras, Almora), had a generational talent falling into their lap in the draft (Bryant), and won on trades that critically bolstered the team (Rizzo, Russell, and Hendricks).  There was a bit of arrogance from the organization, like they could sustain this success and just have an assembly line farm system churning out one great player after the other.

However, while they deserve credit for identifying and developing those guys, they also got lucky.  Schwarber was the only major injury to come out of that group in 2016, and he somehow managed to come back for the World Series.  Everyone hit on the high end of their development curve.  The Astros could have easily drafted Bryant over Appel.

Since then, most of their top flight prospects have suffered injury setbacks (Howard, Horton, Wicks, Marquez, Alzolay) and/or hit developmental brick walls (B. Little, Jensen, Lange, Howard and Marquez again).   It seems like they've finally turned a corner, and they managed to develop solid pieces like Happ, Hoerner, Busch, and Steele in the interim, but it's taken nearly 8 years to get the farm to where they thought it would be.

During a 180 game season, there's a little luck involved every year for every winner. The Dodgers have probably been the best overall team in baseball since 2017. They've won 1 WS in a shortened season.

The Cubs back then, run by Theo, still went out and signed the best in FA. They made bold trades for the best available. The Cubs today wait for the best to sign and the market to crash then pick up the scraps on average deals.

[JunkyardWalrus]

57 minutes ago, Cuzi said:

During a 180 game season, there's a little luck involved every year for every winner. The Dodgers have probably been the best overall team in baseball since 2017. They've won 1 WS in a shortened season.

The Cubs back then, run by Theo, still went out and signed the best in FA. They made bold trades for the best available. The Cubs today wait for the best to sign and the market to crash then pick up the scraps on average deals.

“If it ain’t a bargain, you paid too much.” Jed, probably. 

[Rcal10]

I think the season was a C, tbh. They built a team that projected to win 83 games and that is pretty much where they finished. Now if we are talking about prior to the season and whatever they did in the off season, sure they should get and or maybe even an F. There is no excuse for the Cubs to not build a team what is expected to win 90+ games. But the players pretty much performed to a level expected out of them. Pretty average. Average means C to me. 

[Cuzi]

1 hour ago, JunkyardWalrus said:

“If it ain’t a bargain, you paid too much.” Jed, probably. 

It's time for Jed to stop settling for 80% at every single spot on the 26 man roster. He's worried about sustainability, but why worry about sustaining something that your vision wont achieve once?

[JunkyardWalrus]

Sustaining mediocrity may have been the goal, as I can see them running the same group back out there again next year, hoping the third time is a charm. 

[squally1313]

38 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

There is no excuse for the Cubs to not build a team what is expected to win 90+ games.

Teams projected to win 90+ games (per FG) going into the year:

1. Atlanta Braves
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. Baltimore Orioles

[UMFan83]

This season was super boring.  I didn't really pay attention a ton after the middle of June.  I kind of miss missing baseball when the season is over.  But as I get older it starts to feel like the next season is right around the corner anyways.

[Stratos]

5 hours ago, CubinNY said:

I don't know if I'm getting older and it matters less to me, but this was the least enjoyable Cubs season I can remember since 2010-2013. Absolutely no reason to enjoy after April. The worst part for me is that it was by design.  

The Ricketts have drained almost all of my fandom. 

The Ricketts have turned the Cubs into just another cold corporate product.   Complete with flashing LED stadium lights after a win and Clark the Cub for your kids private box suite birthday parties.  It makes me sad.

Edited September 27, 2024 by Stratos

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, squally1313 said:

Teams projected to win 90+ games (per FG) going into the year:

1. Atlanta Braves
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. Baltimore Orioles

Ok. So what is your point Do you not agree that every year the FO should strive to build a team that projects to win 90 games instead of 83 (and hope they get lucky and win 90)? 

[Rcal10]

2 hours ago, Stratos said:

The Ricketts have turned the Cubs into just another cold corporate product.   Complete with flashing LED stadium lights after a win and Clark the Cub for your kids private box suite birthday parties.  It makes me sad.

If you aren’t taking advantage of every way to bring in revenue you are a bad businessman. Worrying about advertisements, having concerts at the park, renting out Clark for parties, etc… is probably the last thing I concern myself with. I know you and many others feel this way. And I am not criticizing you for feeling as you do. I am just saying that stuff doesn’t matter to me in the least. 

[squally1313]

1 minute ago, Rcal10 said:

Ok. So what is your point Do you not agree that every year the FO should strive to build a team that projects to win 90 games instead of 83 (and hope they get lucky and win 90)? 

Sorry, was probably an unnecessary shot in your direction. It's hard to build that elite of a team and simply being in a big market doesn't automatically make that the baseline. Ultimately though, while moving in the right direction (FG projected 79 in 2023, 82 in 2024, I'm aiming for 87 or so in 2025), and while I think the franchise is generally pretty healthy at this point in time, at the end of the day it's 4 straight years without a playoff appearance, and that's too long. 

[Rcal10]

14 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Sorry, was probably an unnecessary shot in your direction. It's hard to build that elite of a team and simply being in a big market doesn't automatically make that the baseline. Ultimately though, while moving in the right direction (FG projected 79 in 2023, 82 in 2024, I'm aiming for 87 or so in 2025), and while I think the franchise is generally pretty healthy at this point in time, at the end of the day it's 4 straight years without a playoff appearance, and that's too long. 

No problem. And I agree with you that large market doesn’t automatically make 90 wins a baseline. But this FO does need to focus on building a top end team instead of an average one that if they get some breaks can made it into the playoffs. 

[Stratos]

6 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

If you aren’t taking advantage of every way to bring in revenue you are a bad businessman. Worrying about advertisements, having concerts at the park, renting out Clark for parties, etc… is probably the last thing I concern myself with. I know you and many others feel this way. And I am not criticizing you for feeling as you do. I am just saying that stuff doesn’t matter to me in the least. 

Clark the mascot doesn't matter to me.  The flashing LED lights are a bit tacky for a 100+ year old ballpark.

I don't mind Ricketts making lots of money, the Cubs are a business and not a charity.   But there's also a way to do and a way not.

There's just something so cold, calculated, corporate, uncaring and impersonal about everything now.  That's not what attracted me to the Cubs in the first place.  Just seems like every decision is made with the intent of sucking as much money out of my pocket as possible and its hard to root for that as a fan.  If you want brand loyalty then put the customer #1 or at least somewhere near it.

I feel the business side of the Cubs is tone-deaf and don't use the history of the ballpark and franchise enough for their business advantage.  If you want more night games I get that.  If you want to put up a giant scoreboard to show more advertisement then ok i get it, but don't turn Wrigley into an amusement park.  Flashing LED stadium lights don't bring in revenue and aren't why fans come to Wrigley.

Edited September 28, 2024 by Stratos

[Derwood]

Flashing stadium lights are annoying in every stadium in every sport. It's a trend that I hope ends soon

[Tryptamine]

9 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

I think the season was a C, tbh. They built a team that projected to win 83 games and that is pretty much where they finished. Now if we are talking about prior to the season and whatever they did in the off season, sure they should get and or maybe even an F. There is no excuse for the Cubs to not build a team what is expected to win 90+ games. But the players pretty much performed to a level expected out of them. Pretty average. Average means C to me. 

C is pretty much where I'm at. I didn't have particularly high hopes for them.   78-86 was kind of the range I was thinking. The emergence of PCA and Busch was nice. Seeing that Shota is more #2/#3 then #4/#5 was nice.  None of the veterans really exploded, they just kind of were who they have been. It took way way too long to get the pen straightened out and with Kyle looking done, at least one arm is going to need to get added to the rotation. Just no star power on the team. It's a team full of solid players. I'm honestly not sure what would need to be done to transform this team into a 95 win powerhouse that's even remotely realistic.

[CubinNY]

9 hours ago, Stratos said:

 

There's just something so cold, calculated, corporate, uncaring and impersonal about everything now.  That's not what attracted me to the Cubs in the first place.  Just seems like every decision is made with the intent of sucking as much money out of my pocket as possible and its hard to root for that as a fan.  If you want brand loyalty then put the customer #1 or at least somewhere near it.

I feel the business side of the Cubs is tone-deaf.

This is it. Cubs have among the highest concession prices in baseball. Everything they do is designed to drain the fan of money. Even their 50/50 “charity” is funded by their fans. Every square inch of Wrigley looks like a NASCAR vehicle. The food is below fast food standard quality and everyone knows how much a beer costs at the bar. 
 

There is making a profit and then there is gouging. It’s a decision on their part. 
 

Whatever, I don’t have to go so I don’t, but I wish I wanted to. I love Wriggle or at least I used to.

Edited September 28, 2024 by CubinNY

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, CubinNY said:

This is it. Cubs have among the highest concession prices in baseball. Everything they do is designed to drain the fan of money. Even their 50/50 “charity” is funded by their fans. Every square inch of Wrigley looks like a NASCAR vehicle. The food is below fast food standard quality and everyone knows how much a beer costs at the bar. 
 

There is making a profit and then there is gouging. It’s a decision on their part. 
 

Whatever, I don’t have to go so I don’t, but I wish I wanted to. I love Wriggle or at least I used to.

What am I missing here? Aren’t all 50/50 raffles funded by the fans? Or are you talking about something else? I do understand the prices for concessions are outrageous. But I never buy anything at a game. I go to a game to watch the game. PERIOD! It amazes me how people can buy an $11 bud. And buy 3-5 a game. But in fairness to the Cubs or any sports team, your ticket does come with a 2 drink minimum. You don’t have to drink or eat at the game. I go to too many games to then spend an extra $100 for me and my wife to eat and drink at it. We either go out after the game or before the game. 
As for Wrigley having advertising all around the park, it is no didfeeent than any other park. Again, if they aren’t doing it they are losing money they can make. 
I do understand Stratos comment in the LED lights. And I would prefer it wasn’t a thing. But then I have a couple I sell some of my games to that love them. Stay to sing at the end of the game and watch the light show. I don’t get it. It isn’t for me, but I honestly couldn’t care less if they were there or not. As I said, I go to the park to watch the game. During that time, nothing outside of the game matters to me.