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Most importantly, how many times did he just not play Michigan Football?

yeah, they made him pretty unrealistically good; when i played with Michigan, he broke all kinds of yardage records for the winningest program in NCAA history, and broke the all-time QB rushing record too and he was able to orchestrate comeback wins going 80 yards in 20 seconds with no timeouts Was he lined up at QB all the time when he broke the QB rushing record when you played the game? Did he attempt more passes than Navy's QB?

Jesus. Now we've got questions about the owners, manager, GM and our top 2 players. At least the sky isn't falling.

How good was denard on the last version of the game? It'd be hard to make him realistic without making him the best video game player since tecmo Bo. I mean, do they make his throwing power and accuracy negative values? Does he throw to Y if you push B?

I smell a streak coming

Denial?

Or he's been unlucky

Ideally the farm system wouldn't have been so bad or we could spend $200m every year on the ML payroll. But as much as it sucks knowing the team won't compete, I'm willing to spend a couple years letting the FO build a sustainable system. You may not be willing to give them that time without competing sooner. Yep, those are the 2 options. Be a sucky bunch of sucks, or spend 200M on payroll. ETA: Just because you're arguing against Kyle doesn't mean you're not being as Kyle as he is. Dude I'm not saying those are the only 2 options. I'm saying I understand that it sucks and I can understand if you aren't as willing to wait to be competitive. ETA (not really bc I didn't edit anything) Just bc you're a 1%er doesn't mean you need to be a jerk to everyone all the time. Save it for the guy who is a minute late with your afternoon tea. ETA (for reals) mostly I'm just tired of the argument as we disagree on the key issue so what's the point?

Ideally the farm system wouldn't have been so bad or we could spend $200m every year on the ML payroll. But as much as it sucks knowing the team won't compete, I'm willing to spend a couple years letting the FO build a sustainable system. You may not be willing to give them that time without competing sooner.

This stupidity is why I chimed in on Kyle's message about backup MIF The Cubs got ~ negative 1 bWAR from their 3B last year, and Ramirez put up 5.6. If you take the Cubs 69 win pace from when they stopped trying you've got a 75-76 win team. Amazing. He out ops'd zips by nearly 1.000. He was projected by pecota for a 2.2 WAR which he more than doubled. He even exceeded Bill James predictions. Look if Theo knew what ARam would do in 2012 he likely signs him last year. But hindsight is helpful here. Given the information available I don't think I would have signed him to that contract either. What do I know though. Those 76 wins would have jumped us up 0 spots in the standings last year. Guess I'm the dummy. Right, unless a move (even one that's a great value like ARam) puts you at 90 wins, you shouldn't make it. Again, I ask how furious you were over all those free agents we signed this offseason? Hoho, hehe, how stupid for us to sign a competent RF this year!! So glad we'll win 71 this year instead of 67!! We're again equating $12m per for 3 years for ages 34-36 - at least one and probably 2 years of which we just don't have the funds to put up the 85+ wins necessary to really make a run - we're equating that with $2m for one year of RF? Also, ARam would have had 10/5 rights making him untradeable whereas we can flip any or all of the FAs we signed for future assets. The bottom line is I don't think the Cubs had the wherewithal to compete in 2012 or 2013, so I'm ok with not spending big money to try to finish 10 games out of the playoffs instead of 20. You clearly disagree and I don't think either of us are changing our minds.

This stupidity is why I chimed in on Kyle's message about backup MIF The Cubs got ~ negative 1 bWAR from their 3B last year, and Ramirez put up 5.6. If you take the Cubs 69 win pace from when they stopped trying you've got a 75-76 win team. Amazing. He out ops'd zips by nearly 1.000. He was projected by pecota for a 2.2 WAR which he more than doubled. He even exceeded Bill James predictions. Look if Theo knew what ARam would do in 2012 he likely signs him last year. But hindsight is helpful here. Given the information available I don't think I would have signed him to that contract either. What do I know though. Those 76 wins would have jumped us up 0 spots in the standings last year. Guess I'm the dummy.

This stupidity is why I chimed in on Kyle's message about backup MIF Rawr

It's Epstein's fault that the team didn't have a good 3b already in place, along with a decent bullpen and some other parts, so that the games in September were being used for that purpose rather than to try to advance to the playoffs. No. It's Hendry's. And Vitters putting up -1.2 last year exemplifies that as much as anything. Why don't we have a very good 3b? Oh bc we don't have unlimited funds and Hendry didn't draft or acquire any for the farm system. If Theo was worried about your praise, he probably would have just signed ARam bc it would have netted a couple more wins and who cares about the future. Thankfully he's using these years of overhaul wisely instead.

I'm curious to see your math here. 2012: Valbuena +0.5 Baker -0.2 Cardenas -0.3 DeWitt -0.3 Lalli -0.3 Vitters -1.2 Mather -2.0 2013: Valbuena +0.3 Gonzalez 0.0 Lillibridge -0.6 You could probably quibble over some of these guys being counted as "backup infielders" or whatnot, but the the essential total is about -4 wins against replacement. You should throw in Recker last year and probably Clevenger this year, but that's really beside the point. I think the more important quibble would be that 75+% of your -4 WAR figure was allocated by an outfielder who played less than 20 games in the infield, and a prospect brought up after they sold off at the trade deadline and started a bunch of games down the stretch when there was nothing left to play for but evaluating players like said prospect. You're trying to tell me that Kyle included an OF that made up half of this atrocious number? I'll be right back. I'm going to fall off my chair in shock. Oh and another -1.2 comes from Vitters, which is of course Theo's fault for seeing if he was any good at the major league level and not the fault of the guy that drafted him third overall 5 years earlier.

Yeah, I didn't. The argument is the same argument that's been going since last December when people decided it was a good idea to continue to not spend money because we don't have a great chance at making the playoffs. So you decided that piggybacking on Kyle's complaining about RP and backup MI was a good springboard for that? Ok.

I take it you don't think we should spend money on the pen in 2014 either If Cots #s are right, the Cubs are spending just shy of $20m on the pen in 2013 and that doesn't include any of the 7 starters (assume not all of Garza, Shark, Jax, Wood, Baker, Feldman, and CV were expected to start). If 2 of those 7 are pushed to the pen, then the total is nearly $30m. Marmol takes half that off the books after this year but how much do you want this team to have committed to the pen in 2013? And if backup MI isn't a key position, why are you bitching about the Cubs not having respectable players to cover for Barney? I'm not sure what the argument is frankly.

Doesn't sound like UNC or another ACC team is looking to leave. http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/jeremy-fowler/22116192/acc-approving-grant-of-rights-deal

So backup MI is a key position?

Are you really arguing that if a team doesn't have a decent chance to make the playoffs they shouldn't bother putting anything respectable out there in key positions? How pissed off were you about the Fujikawa contract? What a [expletive] waste right? And don't get me started on wasting our time with Nate Schierholtz and Scott Hairston. Not to mention Scott Feldman God, we could've made even more money if we didn't bother with these guys. Don't they know our PECOTA had us at 73 wins? What the [expletive] was the point? And you whine about me picking literally the first non-cub RP that came to mind and citing his contract in my post. Off the cuff, none of those were bad deals. I'm supportive of trying to find some value at reasonable cost and haven't at all suggested we should be the Marlins. But using the depth at MI and RP as a strike against Theo in his first two years is ridiculous given all the issues that have been discussed over and over here. Extrapolating that to apply to the guys you listed above makes you look silly. I do not think a team as bad as the cubs were in the 2011 and 2012 off-seasons should spend much money on backup MIs and depth at RP, esp when there are a number of options in AAA that may or may not work as RPs. $4.5m per for 2 years for a guy that could be a closer? Meh. If he's healthy soon and closes some games he could be a valuable trade piece. What's not to like? The point was and is to collect assets that have some value in the future, can be flipped for future value, or, maybe, give us an inside track to re-sign them if it makes sense when we're ready to compete. Obviously there are players that don't fit in those buckets but those buckets capture the majority of the team's moves the last 2 years and I like it.

But every season is sacred. Of course your team has no chance of making the playoffs when you don't bother to bring in any cost certainty to highly variable spots. I HATE this logic which keeps getting repeated around here. Oh what, you wanted to sign that guy and improve by 4 wins? Whoopdee doo, now you won 65 games last year. You don't build a team by looking at your zIPS projection, and if win total < 75, don't try. ETA: And when arguing the point be sure to reference the worst contract at said position as your supporting evidence. I don't care what you hate and I'm glad Theo employs that logic. If the team he can reasonably field would require a miracle to compete, then the focus should be on the next year and thereafter even if that costs us some wins now. If that means you run out some scraps as backup MI when your 2b gets hurt in ST, then that's what you do. You definitely don't spend $4m to have a quality second baseman waiting in case the cheap starter gets hurt (I completely made up that number so you and kyle can attack it however you like-I truly don't care). I'm sorry but are you really arguing that a team severely lacking in homegrown cost-controlled talent shouldn't look at it's roster going into an off-season and determine whether it makes sense to spend heavily to hope to get a playoff spot instead of spend that money elsewhere in the org? You don't want your FO to project win totals based on players under contract? You don't what them making spending decisions based on that info? Then we'll just forever disagree on this.

So Kyle's concern is that Theo took bullpen and middle infield depth and turned it into a very good SP, a very good and controlled 1b, and a couple other long term assets with potential and dared not spend millions on the bullpen and middle infield depth in years in which we aren't going to win a title and had very little realistic chance of making the playoffs? If he weren't left with a roster and farm system (and FO) bereft of any talent at all, who knows what the short term plan was. Not spending $27m for 3 years of Heath Bell, for example, is a negative in your book? One of the problems we had with Hendry was the contracts he kept giving out to relievers and middle infielders. Why are we longing for those days? If the bullpen sucks when we're ready to compete, then that will be on Theo. Until then, it's a positive that we're not spending millions to have decent/good RPs.

Lol

Well, technically, Epstein could have non-tendered Garza, right? If we're counting those players, throw in Castro, Samardzija and Barney. Those seven in aggregate are worth what they are getting paid, I'd imagine. It's one thing to argue that we're bad because Epstein has decided it's worth it to be bad for some long-term plan. But we're far past the point where we can say that we're bad because the front office didn't inherit enough from Hendry. They've had two offseasons now to build a team that they wanted, and they've done so. [expletive]

With unrealistic, silly threats? And airing out in the media, as opposed to in the clubhouse. You don't suppose this came up in the clubhouse earlier?

I own him bc I think he'll be a SP soon and still has 2 exemptions left. I started him bc he had more points than Perkins the first 2 periods. Almost makes up for the -6.5 I got out of Cain + Ryu.