BigbadB

Your point is well taken. But, if given a 150m payroll, do you think these dimwits would spend it on quality players, or would they just give the crap players they currently have more money? I can see it now. Neifi (6m), Rusch (6m), Jacque (10m), Bynum (2m), etc... Ludicrous assumption? Maybe. But it's also ludicrous to give Neifi Perez 2.5m. The Yankees and their nearly 200m payroll doesn't pay Miguel Cairo 2.5m. Boston doesn't pay Cora 2.5m. Heck, Chone Figgins doesn't make 2.5m and he's actually GOOD! There is no reason to pay over market price for someone. If Dusty is such a great guy to play for, wouldn't Neifi have come back for say 1m? 850K? If not, nice knowin' ya Neifi. Why? Because Ryan Theriot is probably equal or better and only costs league minimum. If you pay more than market value for 1 player, a team can probably absorb it. Several players? It's going to make an impact on your overall production. Because instead of affording GOOD players, you have to settle for mediocre players.

Whoa Whoa Whoa, easy killer! I wasn't for or against, just posting that we are the second highest charging team. Thats all. I have no idea if Fenway has parking BTW, but do they have a TV/radio revenue like us? I don't know that either. I know we spend and have been spending, albeit in the wrong places, I am not a "Trib needs to spend more" kind of guy at all. Sorry if you took it wrong. Heh! I wasn't quoting you when you quoted me. :D But, you did find the difference in ticket prices, which was something I was looking for. Thanks!

I might also point out that over the last several years, the Cubs ticket prices have steadily gone up, but so has the overall team salary. In 2000, I don't think the salary was much more than 65m. They are 30m more than that today.

Okay, now take $12 a seat x 38,000 seats x 81 home dates and what do you get? It's over 36m in extra revenue. Does Fenway have parking to draw revenue from? Wrigley doesn't. How much more is Boston's annual salary? It's not 36m more than the Cubs. What I outlined above was just an example of how the Cubs could have "wisely" spent money in the 2005 offseason. The point was that the problem is not that the Trib won't shell out the money, but rather how Hendry spent the money made available. Neifi's 2.5m, Rusch's. 3m, Hairston's 2m, Blanco's .5m, Pierre's 6m, Jones' 6m is 20m that could have gone towards good players instead of mediocre to below average players.

Exactly how much money would you like the Trib to spend? Would you like them to spend as much as Boston spends on their team? If so, would you also like them to raise their ticket prices to something that more closely resembles the Red Sox ticket prices? Take a look at how much Red Sox tickets are before you respond with a YES! The problem isn't the Tribune and how much they'll spend. It's who they employed to delegate how that money gets spent, which falls on the shoulders of Andy MacPhail and Jim Hendry. If you are shopping the papers for a used car, and a guy has the exact car you are looking for, and the blue book value is $1500, but the transmission needs some work, the engine warning light is on, the tires are bald and the interior is trashed. The guy is willing to part with this car for $200. Are you going to offer him $5000 for this car? Of course not. That would be foolish. But, that's basically what MacPhail and Hendry have been doing. They did it with Pierre, Jones, Rusch, Neifi, Hairston, Blanco, Mabry, etc.... With the money they could have saved by paying these players their actual value, they could have gotten at least another good player. With the money they would have saved by not spending that money at all on such crap players, they could have afforded good players. Blanco at 850K or Soto at 350K? That's a half a million. Would the team be worse with Soto? I suppose that depends on whether he could hit lower than .050. Neifi Perez at 2.5m or Ryan Theriot at 3.5K? That's more than 2m in savings. Boom. Between those two alone, that's enough to afford Kenny Lofton. Kenny provides depth off the bench and can spot start occasionally. Instead of trading most of the starting staff at Iowa for a slap hitting CFer, trade some of those guys (all of them if it takes that much) for Milton Bradley. Bradley makes 3m and Pierre makes 6m. Pierre is a free agent next year and Bradley is not. That's another 3m in savings. Take Pierre's extra money and the money spent on Glendon Rusch, and you actually have enough money to retain Nomar. Let's now pretend Brian Giles was available via free agency. Just pretending now, cuz I really don't want to get into this argument again. But, let's pretend that Giles was available. Let's also pretend that it would have taken 13m a year for 3 years to make it happen. The 6m saved by not signing Jacque Jones, the 6m they were supposedly saving for trade deadline moves and the little more left and any other left over gets the job done. Now, here's what you have going into 2006. Bradley (CF) Walker Lee Giles Aramis Nomar (LF) Barrett Cedeno Bench Murton Patterson Lofton Hairston Soto Theriot The starting line up has 7 guys capable of providing .340+ OBP. The bench has 3 guys capable of doing the same. Okay, Giles wasn't available and the pitching staff needs help. The money spent on Giles gets spent on Millwood instead. Anything left over could be spent on deepening the bench after Murton takes an outfield job. Fire whoever turned Patterson into such an out machine and get someone who can patiently work with him. Until he figures it out or at least builds up a respectable trade value, why trade him? Giving people away is not a good business practice. The team listed above with our current pitching staff is about 5 or 6m more than the team they are currently trotting out on the field. Every team in the Cubs division that has a better record right now than the Cubs has a smaller budget to work with. The Tribune is outspending them all. So, is the problem really that the Tribune won't spend the money, or is it that they employed idiots to spend the money? That they employed idiots to spend the money I do fault the Tribune for. The team I assembled above was realistic (unless anyone wishes to claim Giles was not available). So, you make a deal for a power lefty bat from somewhere else. Shawn Green, Cliff Floyd, or even Jacque Jones on a 1 year deal for 3 or 4m and you have a team with tremendous depth. When Derrek Lee goes down for 2 months, you have Nomar to stick at 1b. Instead, Hendry focused his energy and monetary resources with getting guys who are more famous for catching the ball, and that is why this team can't hit their way out of a wet paper bag.

I don't think anyone is saying blow up the whole team except the pitching staff. I think the finger pointing has been pretty much at everyone. Management has lost control of the team. The team wasn't very good in the first place, which is upper managements fault. I can still remember the quotes of the offseason so vividly. Hendry's smug little "we want guys who can catch the ball" references are proving that he really has no clue. Someone should sit down with Hendry and explain that leading the league in stolen bases, sacrifice bunts and team defense have no impact on who goes to the playoffs. Someone should point out to Hendry that the win/loss column is what determines who goes to the playoffs. It makes me absolutely speechless that they gave Hendry an extension during this freefall. For that, MacPhail must go as well.

July 5th? That's a long time to wait for something to happen.

I liked the "Fighting Cancer" one the best.

Bonderman had his share of deductions as well. But, he got me a win. Good starts for me this week. Bonderman and Verlander against the Royals and Hudson against the Cubs. Too bad I traded Smoltz on Sunday. He already kicked the Padres butt on Monday, and then he would have been facing the Cubs this week as well. I'd be over 200 points right now with starts from Verlander, Hudson, Smoltz and Moyer still to come. Madson threw 7 relief innings in one game the other day, so I really messed up that one.

So Fuzzy Logistics got hot out of the gates this week for what looked like it would be a sure win, which would be the first of the season. They still lead every team in points this week, but Alamo is now 2nd in points and closing in on me. I'm starting to feel like Jim Hendry. Everyone is gunning for the downtrodden.

Florida may alienate their fanbase by dumping players for prospects, but they understand very well how to get the most production possible from their most productive hitters. Marlins lead off hitters this year: .392 OBP/41 runs scored Marlins #2 hitters this year: .378 OBP/34 runs scored Marlins #3 hitters: 36 RBI I'll go ahead and toss in there that both Florida's regular 1/2 hitters currently sport OBP's above .400 Cubs lead off hitters this year: .265 OBP/24 runs scored Cubs #2 hitters this year: .314 OBP/21 runs scored Cubs #3 hitters this year: 21 RBI

Well tribune employee emails are; first initial last name @tribune.com I fired one off yesterday, while he did not respond, it also did not get bounced, and that is not to say it is manned, but I found it interesting that it did not bounce. I guess one could say, it is a publically traded company, and there is no reason not to have this kind of information available, especially if one would like to write or discuss scomthing with someone in this postion. The right thing to do would be to resign. BCB There's probably a catch-all account. In other words, you could in theory send a message to "FireJimHendry@tribune.com", and it would not bounce. FireJimHendry@tribune.com is not in the proper format. It would have to be: FJimHendry@tribune.com. :wink:

HA HA! The Cubs have played worse than 7 losses in a row and no team has felt the wrath of the Cubs "break out" moment. Next excuse, please! Edit. Whoops, I thought this was a real quote from today's loss. Please ignore.

That's a pretty incriminating list, right there.

And by some weird chance that all the pieces fell into place (stud RFer, Cedeno kicking butt, Lee and Aramis never hurt) and you had Nomar and no place to play him, do you think he would reject a trade to a team that had a place to play him? I surely doubt it. Do you think some team would pass on Nomar for a measily 5m contract? Nomar healthy for only half a season (or healthy for most of the season)for 5m on a 1 year deal>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Neifi and Rusch and their 2 year/5.5m per year deal. I might have missed a few >>>>>, but it's really a no brainer. And that wasn't hindsight, either.

Is it really hindsight? One can't speculate that a guy coming off a .326 OBP season might put another one just like it? I did. Couple that horrible .326 OBP for a lead off guy with getting picked off 17 times attempting to steal, and what does the OBP look like now? Even worse. The only positive I potentially saw in the Pierre deal is that he's in his contract year, and that he might put up respectable numbers with that added inspiration. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear as though that's going to happen. I've never been a fan of trading several prospects for a guy in his walk year. I suppose it might be alright if that player is the difference maker between being a winner and a loser, and Pierre is not that guy. All the Cubs can hope for at this point is that he'll bring his production level up prior to the trade deadline where they might net an equal return like the one they gave up to get him. I was perfectly fine going into the season with Walker hitting 1st and Murton or someone of equal OBP capability hitting 2nd. Maybe add Kenny Lofton as a 5th outfielder and part time CF, which not only gives the team even more respectable OBP from the top of the order, but gives you a solid veteran PHer off the bench. Lofton was certainly more fragile than Pierre, but he was 1/3 of the price, a free agent who wouldn't have costed any draft picks and likely just as effective or moreso than Pierre when he is in there. The saved money on Pierre could have been used towards a pitcher and more depth. I would have much rather seen the Cubs give those 3 prospects to the Dodgers for Milton Bradley. Once again, cheaper and better. The Cubs could have added Bradley AND Lofton for less than it costs for Pierre. The Cubs could have had Bradley and Lofton for less than it costed for Jones. Hindsight is signing on the dotted line that you were for a trade when it took place, and then claimed later when that player was lousy that they never should have picked him up. I was never in favor of it, therefore it's not hindsight. It's being right all along.

I'd much rather be discussing how awesome a job the Cubs brass did to make the team better each and every year under their guidance, but unfortunately for all of us, we have to sit here and analyze all the things that are wrong. They really couldn't get it much more wrong, IMO. I'm not one of those "I told you so" kind of guys. I don't get any satisfaction being right about something. In the case of the 2005 offseason, I could only hope that my theories on what is wrong with the organizational philosophy would be proven wrong. I definitely had my doubts, and it appears I was right on the money. I labeled the 2005 offseason as the worst offseason that I could ever recall. I ranted and raved about the direction this team was going. The emphasis was on guys who could catch the ball and had speed. Well, guys are catching the ball and many of those same guys are stealing bases at a pretty nice clip, but catching the ball and stealing bases don't do you a whole lot of good when you can't hit. Every aspect of this offseason (outside of beefing up the bullpen) was totally the wrong direction. If Hendry were to be publicly courting a ballplayer this past offseason with his undying affection, it should have been for Brian Giles and not Rafael Furcal. If Hendry's stalking of Giles proved unfruitful, then move on to someone else who fit the huge, gaping hole in RF. As nice as it might have been to stick Furcal at SS, we had a SS already in Cedeno. As nice as it might have been to have a bat like Furcal's at the top of the order, we already had a lead off guy in Todd Walker. As nice as it might have been to have Furcal on this team, his price tag didn't really fit when you take into consideration the Cubs should have been spending the amount of money that it would have taken to sign Furcal on a RFer instead. No back up plan. None. Nomar made for an excellent back up plan. He didn't cost any prospects in the next draft. He was fairly inexpensive. His production (when healthy) can't be mirrored by any player on the team outside of Lee or Ramirez. They just gave Patterson away. Who did we get for him? I don't even remember. The problems with Patterson are starting to look more and more as though it's the fault of the coaching staff that he struggled. Conveniently, every player on this team is struggling with this coaching staff. Coincidence? I think not. This tree needs to be uprooted and fresh seeds planted.

The quoted part above is another perfect example of why the entire management team needs to be kicked to the curb. A comment like this is supposed to net a huge return in trade? Ahem, that's Jayson Stark talking (guessing), not anyone within the Cubs' management. Sure, it's Stark talking. But it's not completely out of the question that he gathered this information from someone within the Cubs administration. And it wouldn't be the first time the Cubs have devalued a player and traded them for pennies on the dollar. :wink:

I vote LH batting practice pitcher.

If you were Baltimore, would you now trade your stud offensive player for a guy who hasn't pitched a single game this year? That would make the Baltimore GM twice as dumb as Hendry for making that deal.

we may be witnessing an historic season from albert. I'm not witnessing anything. I don't watch the Cardinals. :P

The quoted part above is another perfect example of why the entire management team needs to be kicked to the curb. A comment like this is supposed to net a huge return in trade? OTHER GM- "Uh, yes Jim, I'd like a pitcher than will never become the consistent innings eater that he was drafted to become." Jim-"Great! Got any Tony Womack's or Jose Macias' on your roster that you could give me for Prior? I'll pay most of Prior's contract if you do." And why just Prior? If you are going to trade Prior, trade everyone else too. Start all over again. But, if they do start over again, please start with a new management team that understands how to build a long term, successful team.

I gave Hendry the benefit of the doubt until this past offseason was over. Once the offseason was complete, I was done with him. Worst offseason that they could have possibly thrown together with over 40m of budget space and tons of trade commodity. WORST! He's got to go now.

Honestly, I'd rather watch a bunch of minimum base salary guys hustling their butts off and playing sound, fundamental baseball than watch a bunch of overpaid millionaires quit running half way down the first base line on a routine groundout or getting caught off base on a routine fly ball. There is certainly something to be said about trading your top players for a school bus full of minor league prospects. I like that option over trading your top player for a career platoon 2nd baseman and a couple of never were minor leaguers while paying his entire salary to play for someone else.

that's what it says on their world series trophies probably - you kids are a disgrace. this is a discussion about 2006. I wouldn't call the Marlins awful. And they are a whole lot more fun to watch than the Cubs right now. Those kids are playing for their major league careers and they are all getting quality major league experience that will be quite beneficial when Florida adds role players to turn the team into another potential World Series champion in a small handful of years. You wouldn't want Hanley Ramirez, Jeremy Hermida, Josh Willingham, Dan Uggla on your team? While the Cubs continue spinning their wheels in mediocrity, Florida will rebuild and crush the Cubs in a few years. Heck, they're crushing the Cubs now.