Irrelevant Dude

It appeared to be fixed (prior to the ads being turned back off). The only issue is that it was still showing the "Become a Caretaker" banner, which it probably shouldn't for people who have already signed up.

Looks much better now! Nitpicking here, but the top group of forums is under a "North Side Baseball" category header and the group of forums all the way at the bottom is under a "North Side Baseball Forums" category header. Maybe that group at the bottom needs a different category name?

I was at the game last night with my older son and received the following text message from my wife, who had turned the Cubs game on the radio in our 5 year old son's room while getting him ready for bed: Son (unprompted after hearing the Nortshore ad): "Adults wear diapers?" Wife: "Yeah, some do." Son: *Laughing* "Do you think there's anyone at the Cubs game wearing a diaper?"

I was just coming here to post that I was at the game tonight and I thought the light show was awesome. The W's were a really nice touch.

And turns it into a double. I'm not sure what exactly Mastrobuoni is supposed to be doing here, but he certainly isn't doing it.

It looks like ads are back, and still not working properly. Ads are everywhere - one or more ads after each post, a footer ad, a side panel ad (and Caretaker status still does nothing).

I want the Cubs to do whatever it takes to sign Ohtani, and I don't care how much they have to spend to get it done. At the same time, I think it is a near certainty that he won't live up the value of whatever insane deal he signs. He will be 30 years old in the first year of his contract and we simply don't know how his skills are going to hold up as both a pitcher and a hitter. Teams will be paying for both, yet it only takes one injury for that team to lose both their best pitcher and best hitter. If a team like the Dodgers or Yankees were to sign Ohtani and the deal backfires, they would continue to spend and find ways to work around it. If the Cubs sign him, they likely won't go anywhere near another big contract for the duration of the deal. The whole Cubs roster for the foreseeable future would be a house of cards stacked on top of Ohtani. I absolutely want to take that risk, but I understand Heyman's logic. Obviously the Cubs will have the money to spend if they want to, but I'm not sure they have the appetite to set the market on a historically large contract.

For anyone who has been watching the Iowa games, is there any reason for optimism with Brennen Davis thus far? Based almost entirely on box scores, it certainly isn't the start I hoped to see him get off to.

I didn't see the game today. What happened with Torrens? Or was it just the fact that he is taking a roster spot that should be occupied by a legitimate major league infielder or outfielder? I know I read something from one of the beat guys this week suggesting that the expectation was for Torrens to stick with the team for awhile.

I thought the free trial for MLB games ended after last season. Doesn't it require a paid subscription now?

No Cubs baseball for 2 days, followed by an Apple TV+ broadcast, so it might as well be 3 days. That's not cool.

Regardless of what the Cubs can get in return for Happ, I think there are better ways to spend his money in 2024 and beyond. If he played a different position, I would likely think otherwise, but I struggle with the idea of a huge commitment to a near-30 year old left fielder with average to below average power.

Man, I love pinch hitting for the DH on a nightly basis.

But then how would they carry 3 extra catchers and 4 corner infielders?

Oh but I'm pretty sure I recently heard Sutcliffe gushing about how great Ross is at managing a pitching staff, so that must be true.

He got a hit!

Smyly is throwing batting practice right now.

I would argue that they are still trying to contend, but the definition of contending is much different in the modern era. All a team really has to do to contend is hang around .500 for most of the season to stay in the Wild Card picture. If enough things go right, they just might be able to squeak into the playoffs. The Cubs certainly aren't trying to win at all costs, but they are trying to contend within a certain set of self-imposed parameters. I do not believe that they spent money simply for cosmetic purposes. They are trying to straddle the line between building for the future, while throwing some darts at the present and hoping for the best. The reality is that this team has the potential to be stuck in baseball purgatory for awhile. They look like a middle-of-the-road team that might be good enough to get into the playoffs in certain years, but is never bad enough to draft the type of high-end talent that built the 2016 team. The minor league depth has certainly improved, but I'm not sold on anyone in the organization being the kind of player who can get the team to the next level. The Cubs have made it clear that they aren't going to spend their way out of this hole, and neither they nor the fanbase have the appetite for a continued tank. That leaves a lot of wishful thinking that they are somehow going to be able to evaluate talent better than anyone else and/or strike gold on minor leaguers outside of the Top 10 draft picks. As things currently stand, I just don't see a likely path that leads to this team being a consistent contender in the near or semi-near future. They are trying to win. They are just trying to do it in a very specific way that is unlikely to come together again in the way they seem to think it will.

I was out of town for the first series and got to listen to a lot of the radio broadcasts while in the car. The Cubs being sponsored by Northshore Adult Diapers and reading that ad multiple times per game feels like something straight out of Major League.

It is way more than that. I'm seeing the footer ad and then an additional large ad after every post. Add in the occasional "Chrome is not responding" error and the forums are borderline unusable on my Android phone.

I paid for a Caretaker subscription, but I still see the "Become a Caretaker" banner and lots of ads. Is the caretaker functionally not fully implemented yet?

You don't like the Hosmer-Madrigal-Barnhart murderer's row?

76-80 is definitely the most plausible range, but I think it is more likely they come in over than under. If a few things break right, I could see them hovering around the periphery of the Wild Card picture and finishing a few games above .500.

What was the criteria for being an Old Timey Member? And why are we keeping Social posts exclusive to this group?