oh, i think that much of the fan base is already fully convinced of this, regardless of how the cubs handle felix pie. my problem with this type of thinking is that a lot of really good organizations are in "win now" mode and still manage to break players into the big leagues. dustin pedroia sucked ass for a few weeks at the beginning of last season, but he turned it around and won the AL RoY. Robinson Cano was lousy to start his career. the red sox and yankees are pretty much in perpetual "win now" mode. see, smart organizations understand that it's worth sacrificing a small handful of wins if at the end of the day, you manufacture a good player who will contribute to your team's success for several years. if the cubs play felix pie all year and he is a couple of wins worse than, say, reed johnson, i'm not going to be pissed if we miss the playoffs by a game. if the cubs help pie reach his PECOTA projections (roughly .290/.350/.490) then he'll be one of the better CF in the league and give you excellent defense at a relatively cheap price for the next few years. unfortunately, the mindset of piniella seems to be that they have to do everything possible to win every single game, and if reed johnson gives the cubs a better chance to win today's game than felix pie, then reed johnson is starting that game. regardless of whether pie would be successful or not, this type mindset - favoring short-term gains over long-term development - is a foolish one, and the cubs need to rid themselves of it.