ConstableRabbit

[giant image of Len and JD] yeah, but a turd can only be sweetened so much before you just have to accept that it's a turd and flush it down the [expletive] toilet. Why would you sweeten a turd? dunno, why would you polish one? Mythbusters did it.

[giant image of Len and JD] yeah, but a turd can only be sweetened so much before you just have to accept that it's a turd and flush it down the [expletive] toilet. Why would you sweeten a turd?

Is there an echo in here? :D

Bernstein is a jackass hack writer who has no ability to comprehend anything that does not come out of his mouth. Really, how hard is it understand that a team CAN build for the future while doing their best to field a competitive team? https://twitter.com/LenKasper/status/464066514048409600

Tinyface doesn't hit against the shift in the clutch, brah.

You can still DFA him. It's working!

...which is why the White Sox signing one guy (who btw is outperforming his peripherals and will likely not be a long-term cornerstone) does not "expose the fallacy" of the Cubs' plan. Wait, why is Abreu unlikely to be a long-term cornerstone? I don't think he's nearly as good as he's been playing, and I'm not the only one who feels that way.

[expletive], I did. My bad.

...which is why the White Sox signing one guy (who btw is outperforming his peripherals and will likely not be a long-term cornerstone) does not "expose the fallacy" of the Cubs' plan.

Maybe it's the stomach flu.

Who should we have signed? Outfielders under 32, last offseason: + Chris Coghlan (30) -- signed + Ellsbury (30) -- NYY 7/$153m + Chris Young (30) -- Mets, 1/$7.25m [i probably would have taken that] + Jeff Francoeur -- "Could anybody be this good?" + Sizemore (31) -- Bos, 1/$700k [coming off injury, but worth it for that $] + Choo (31) -- TEX, 7/$130m + Franklin Gutierrez (31) -- SEA 1/$1m [interested at that price, but not sure what the hometown situation was] Our OF is horrendous, but would Chris Young have made the difference? Or were you hoping to back up the Brinks truck to end up paying dudes into their late 30s... ETA: wasn't cherry picking the ages -- 32 year olds were Kelly Johnson, Sam Fuld, David Murphy, David Kubel, Nate McLouth.

Of course not. Look, the Cubs have some sort of budget constraints. The Cubs have also tried to get free agents that would have been productive for the major league club. The Cubs missed on those free agents because of budget constraints. Jose Abreu was a free agent who wasn't as good as the ones the Cubs targeted. He was had at a reasonable price due to his lesser abilities and older age. There was no place for him on the Cubs. Had the Cubs needed a first baseman, they may have made a run at him. And the end of the day, I don't think that is Abreu the case study for how to build at the major league level via free agency. It smells of media meatballery and gushing over a pleasant surprise at the beginning of the season. Would this article would have been written if Abreu weren't outperforming his peripherals? He's not the case study, but he is a perfectly reasonable example that plays for a team in the same city as the Cubs and happen to be playing them the day it was written. there's nothing wrong with this. So, if Abreu were a RF instead of a poorly fielding 1B, do you think that the Cubs would not make a serious run at him? The FO isn't being criticized in that article so much as ownership. It's not about making a serious run. They need to have the resources to actually get these guys when they come available. Yes, I agree. But I also think that the Cubs had what it took to get Abreu if he played at a position of need. If we had enough to sign Jackson, and make a huge (albeit short) bid for Tanaka, we could have afforded Abreu. I guess this is (unintentionally) devolving into another "speculation about the baseball budget" discussion...

Of course not. Look, the Cubs have some sort of budget constraints. The Cubs have also tried to get free agents that would have been productive for the major league club. The Cubs missed on those free agents because of budget constraints. Jose Abreu was a free agent who wasn't as good as the ones the Cubs targeted. He was had at a reasonable price due to his lesser abilities and older age. There was no place for him on the Cubs. Had the Cubs needed a first baseman, they may have made a run at him. And the end of the day, I don't think that is Abreu the case study for how to build at the major league level via free agency. It smells of media meatballery and gushing over a pleasant surprise at the beginning of the season. Would this article would have been written if Abreu weren't outperforming his peripherals? He's not the case study, but he is a perfectly reasonable example that plays for a team in the same city as the Cubs and happen to be playing them the day it was written. there's nothing wrong with this. So, if Abreu were a RF instead of a poorly fielding 1B, do you think that the Cubs would not make a serious run at him? Like if his name was Jacoby Ellsbury or Shin Soo-Choo? ETA: And to be fair, I didn't like Choo at what I expected him to get. A worse, cheaper version? Yes.

Of course not. Look, the Cubs have some sort of budget constraints. The Cubs have also tried to get free agents that would have been productive for the major league club. The Cubs missed on those free agents because of budget constraints. Jose Abreu was a free agent who wasn't as good as the ones the Cubs targeted. He was had at a reasonable price due to his lesser abilities and older age. There was no place for him on the Cubs. Had the Cubs needed a first baseman, they may have made a run at him. And the end of the day, I don't think that is Abreu the case study for how to build at the major league level via free agency. It smells of media meatballery and gushing over a pleasant surprise at the beginning of the season. Would this article would have been written if Abreu weren't outperforming his peripherals? He's not the case study, but he is a perfectly reasonable example that plays for a team in the same city as the Cubs and happen to be playing them the day it was written. there's nothing wrong with this. So, if Abreu were a RF instead of a poorly fielding 1B, do you think that the Cubs would not make a serious run at him?

Of course not. Look, the Cubs have some sort of budget constraints. The Cubs have also tried to get free agents that would have been productive for the major league club. The Cubs missed on those free agents because of budget constraints. Jose Abreu was a free agent who wasn't as good as the ones the Cubs targeted. He was had at a reasonable price due to his lesser abilities and older age. There was no place for him on the Cubs. Had the Cubs needed a first baseman, they may have made a run at him. And the end of the day, I don't think that is Abreu the case study for how to build at the major league level via free agency. It smells of media meatballery and gushing over a pleasant surprise at the beginning of the season. Would this article would have been written if Abreu weren't outperforming his peripherals? Does it matter? Yes, because we're talking about rebuilding, not being hot for a month.

Of course not. Look, the Cubs have some sort of budget constraints. The Cubs have also tried to get free agents that would have been productive for the major league club. The Cubs missed on those free agents because of budget constraints. Jose Abreu was a free agent who wasn't as good as the ones the Cubs targeted. He was had at a reasonable price due to his lesser abilities and older age. There was no place for him on the Cubs. Had the Cubs needed a first baseman, they may have made a run at him. And the end of the day, I don't think that is Abreu the case study for how to build at the major league level via free agency. It smells of media meatballery and gushing over a pleasant surprise at the beginning of the season. Would this article would have been written if Abreu weren't outperforming his peripherals?

I don't see how it's misguided at all, and I think Wittenmyer is a hack who is only slightly less troll-like than Sullivan. There are 2 points he's making. 1. The way the Cubs are choosing to rebuild is not "the only way" to do so. 2. Jose Abreu is proof of the above. I think we can all agree that #1 is correct; I disagree with #2. I think Jose Abreu absolutely is evidence. He wouldn't have fit with the Cubs, but it's the type of player we should be going after aggressively and acquiring when available. I mean, the Cubs have tried to go after guys who they thought would have fit with the Cubs. Now, some thing that those efforts were for show, but if you take the team at its word, we did make the effort. I don't think Abreu is a good example because: 1. He's a flawed hitter (which was widely discussed on this board in the offseason) and is currently outperforming his peripherals 2. (Related to 1) He's not a bad-to-the-bone difference-maker

I don't see how it's misguided at all, and I think Wittenmyer is a hack who is only slightly less troll-like than Sullivan. There are 2 points he's making. 1. The way the Cubs are choosing to rebuild is not "the only way" to do so. 2. Jose Abreu is proof of the above. I think we can all agree that #1 is correct; I disagree with #2.

Oh he was agreeing with me? http://media3.giphy.com/media/2KHcV9MTdSGaI/200.gif

so, why exactly are you against him being welcomed back? i'm just asking because it appears that you can't put your finger on it either. Why welcome him back? He walked out on his team and organization. For all we know (and we all know he wasn't clean) he is the symbol of what was wrong in the game during the steroid era, shaming himself by acting as if he couldn't speak English. Sure, he was the "heart and soul" of the Cubs and the only bright spot for so many seasons. I enjoyed the PED Era as much as all of you, but I'm just not ready to let go of my disgust at what was done to MLB. Owners, players, and Selig - all garbage. Sosa and everyone else did it for the money. They ruined the history of the game, which some of us respect. Damn, he was fun to watch play, though. I don't care if they "reinstate" him to the inner circle of Cub Glory. I doubt he'd be accepted by that body - but what the hell did they do? I just like to rant - who gives a f$#% what I think. I still love Sammy, but what the hell is he doing to himself? For the last [expletive] time. Speaking [expletive] broken English to the media is a hell of a lot different than when you're in front of a Congressional hearing. When legal wording is involved and perjury is a very real outcome, it's in one's best interests to understand what the [expletive] is being said. Everyone needs to remember that Sammy was a non-American included in that group to appear before that panel. What is the significance of him being a non-citizen? Perjury is still a felonious and deportable offense, and Sosa still maintains residences and business interests in the US.

Yeah that made no sense.

Different strokes I guess haha!

I'm not sure that Kelly Crull is wearing enough makeup...

Pic?