Sammy Sofa

[expletive], I have no clue who to pick for the wildcard. I am so damn out of the loop.

I'm a big enough wuss that just seeing people get hit by baseballs in the head made me stop playing. I was at the game where Dawson got beaned in the face, and that terrified me as a kid and I remember it being REAL hard to get back into the batter's box after that. I kept playing, though a kid right ahead of me in the lineup got nailed and concussed and then a couple years later a friend of mine was pitching and took a line drive right back into his teeth and the carnage of that kinda broke me.

Oh, well; glad that's settled.

Plus overall we're still in a position where things HAVE to go really, really, really right or else they're fucked. The farm basically HAS to produce multiple stars/above average players in short order, and regardless of the FO's reputation that is hardly an ideal position to be in. I'm not kidding when I talk about how my hopes are basically hanging on Olt right now, because a working Olt gives them at least somewhat of a cushion if Castro and Rizzo don't bounce back like they essentially need them to. I recognize a huge part of this is because I'm a giant pessimist towards this team right now and I don't really expect more than two of the Big Five or whatever they are to actually pan out. Maybe it's Battered Fan Syndrome, but the idea of a farm system actually producing multiple impact players in rapid succession just doesn't seem all that likely to me.

So the final product ISN'T the most important part? It's the thing that sustains the rest and what everything else is building towards. Who exactly was doing this and where? I just don't understand why the previous owners and FO were rightfully lambasted for only being focused on one aspect of the organization, yet the current group shouldn't be. We all wanted the farm system to be improved, but nobody except the most masochistic of stereotypical miserable Cubs fans wanted or thought that that tanking the major league team for years was the way to go. Yeah, that's the reality of the situation at this point and there's no turning back, but the current owners should get [expletive] for fostering an environment and plan that was so lopsided for so long.

How can anyone say a "legit deep organization is here?" A huge component of that is terrible right now.

I agree, it is strange how much of a relative pass the whole organization has been getting, even by the usually crappy standards of sports journalism. I'm not saying they should raked over the coals, but there's just so few people even simply questioning or mildly criticizing everything that's going on.

Da [expletive]; have we really sunk to the point of reposting Kyle's posts from other sites here?

HE STILL BETTER NOT SUCK.

Please don't die, Olt.

God, I hated it when we drafted him. Yeah. I did a Kyle Long-esque turnaround on him. It took me a little longer with Noah, though. Loved it just for the personality and the draft outfit alone, but hated it at the time in the idea of the Bulls getting better. Just felt like the aughts-Bulls being the aughts-Bulls.

He deserves all of the love...all of it. Everyone else in this city is a [expletive] bum in comparison.

Are you talking about the long term prospects of the ricketts family trust? Hey man, it's only 2010; taking a decade to actually fully own the team and to be able to just spend like they did...ten years prior...that.s just how it's done. Baseball works like a 401k, ah-doy.

And you're basing the bold on....what, exactly?

[expletive], if Olt is cured and Baez shows up this year...something bad has to happen, right?

How dare you use my trademarked creation "doom boner." Where was this "2015 general consensus" here? Seemed more like people were expecting/hoping for 2013-2014 to be showing signs of life or more. 2015 is by no means any kind of a sure thing for the team to be competitive. It's been a shitty time to be a Cubs fan; it's an amazing time to be a fan of minor league baseball and FO-watching. Hopefully the rest will be exciting soon, too.

Nice. The crowd almost seems appalled.

I'm not saying it was karma for making fun of Count Sosa...but I'm not NOT saying it was.

Fair enough. Like I said, I'm less inclined to think that that particular issue was something they were betting on getting, but given their overall crappy dealings with the city I think you can group it in under the general heading of "Chicago Sucks but Nobody Told the Ricketts."

I'm honestly completely lost with what you're trying to say here. Took me a few readings, probably the most overly worst thing I've ever seen tt post. Think he's saying that it's not a guarantee that they expected it rather than just taking a shot at it. He must've been watching football at the time Right. "Expecting" carries the connotation that not getting it put them behind schedule or caught them by surprise. Maybe that was the case, but anyone in that position would be crazy not to at least try to get public money. The delays that have come after that are due to the abject lunacy of the rooftops and Tunney, which I doubt anyone could speed up unless a different owner gave zero craps about a lengthy court battle or possible injunction on renovations. So the various broken deadlines and missed projected start dates have been...what? Ploys? Smoke & mirrors? Just wishful thinking? I don't think it's too much of a stretch to ultimately think that they've been over their head in some areas. Honestly, it often feels like some just don't want to admit that the idea that the Cubs' current owners might not be very good at owning the Cubs is a real possibility. I don't think that's something anyone can definitively say right now, but there sure seems to be some real defensiveness in terms of explaining away things where it seems like the Ricketts have either misjudged the situation, screwed up or just plain dropped the ball.

Nice. Or maybe he was in a bar.

I'm honestly completely lost with what you're trying to say here. Took me a few readings, probably the most overly worst thing I've ever seen tt post. Think he's saying that it's not a guarantee that they expected it rather than just taking a shot at it. He must've been watching football at the time That I agree with; I've stated several times I doubt the Ricketts were hinging on getting outside money, but I do think it was something they were really hoping to get, and their overall dealings with the city seem to a betray a...naivety (if that's the right word) in what they were hoping to get done. I agree that the answer is more of a middle ground, but it's still a pretty shitty place to be, whether they actually tried or were just expecting it.

I prefer Kalish if only because his name makes it sound like they have a [expletive] Kilingon death-god manning the OF.

I'm honestly completely lost with what you're trying to say here.

Yeah, how is anyone at this point denying that they didn't expect to get some kind of city and/or state assistance? Plus they clearly expected to have been able to get underway with the major renovations and advertising changes and the like based on their own deadlines that they have no missed several times over. It's not a stretch at all to think that Ricketts miscalculated their hand badly.