Sammy Sofa
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Everything posted by Sammy Sofa
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I say we just give the Red Sox Eddie Vedder altogether.
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I wish she had her own thread for actual news that the rest of us could't gum it up with our rehashing and analysis. Yeah, stupid talking baseball on a baseball site. How dare he not want to wade through countless pages of your deeply fascinating baseball discussions for actual news. That's a rough life. The thread title changes when the news actually changes.
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I wish she had her own thread for actual news that the rest of us could't gum it up with our rehashing and analysis. Yeah, stupid talking baseball on a baseball site.
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davearm2, you have to officially shut up for right now. Harsh my buzz and I will kill you.
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=D> http://www.csnchicago.com/baseball-chicago-cubs/news/Kaplan-Epstein-blown-away-by-Ricketts-lo?blockID=576086&feedID=661 Holy crap, I love all of this so damn much. Except for Kaplan. And his creepy new goatee.
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[NCCf]With all these ticks someone is going to get Lyme disease.[/NCCf]
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Likely.
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Off the top of my head I'd say they were above average at 3B, SS, C, and 2-3 SP spots (Garza for sure and maybe Dempster and Z). Add Wilson and Pujols/Fielder to that (if you can obviously) and hopefully a 3B platoon can stay above average (shouldn't be hard given what we have in-house) and this team can be above average at most of its positions. Then add in that the Cards and Brewers will fall off significantly without Pujols and Fielder and things get even better looking. What about the fact that the Brewers will have Greinke for a full year (and not as unlucky) and the Cardinals will have Wainwright back? Not to mention the Reds. And calling Z "above average" is generous given his performance and the fact that he'll likely never pitch for the Cubs again. The Cubs may have a chance to be competitive next year, but a lot of things need to go right. Wainwright is by no means a lock to come back as effective as he was pre-injury, you're essentially offsetting his optimum WAR by losing Pujols, plus Carpenter is a year older has plenty of injuries behind him, too.
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OK, awful is exaggerating it, but we have substantial money tied up in mediocre to OK players and have a good amount of guys who are overpaid and don't have bright prospects of getting better. The level of denial regarding the Cubs' current major league roster is really quite amazing to me. They are above average at maybe 2 or 3 spots. The mediocrity runs deep. The upside potential is modest, at best. Theo or whomever has his work cut out for him, and those expecting a contender next year are going to be disappointed IMO. There's few here expecting a contender. Most are saying there's reason to hope for a contender given how weak the division is, the FA class available and that it doesn't require the Cubs to make a huge leap to be in the mix for at least most of the season. There's a huge area between going from 2011 to winning 90+ games. The Cubs can have a relatively successful season next year if they just get back around .500 and stay competitive within the division for a good chunk of the year. It gives them the off chance to actually win it (certainly not a forgone conclusion) but also, more importantly, sets them on the right path for the seasons to come.
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Where is the next Mark Prior and healthy Kerry Wood at now? If you want a more recent example look at 2007 after a horrendous 2006.
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The Cubs aren't going to set the world on fire next season, but given how bad the division will be it won't take much to actually be competitive, and there's a banner FA class out there that can fill gaping holes that the Cubs have. An actual "good" team is likely still at least a season away, but 2012, can easily be a huge step in the right direction. 2003 and 2007 both showed that rebounds can be pretty sudden in the craptacular NL Central.
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Yeah, you think the guy in the $4000 suit is going to be wasting his time with such paltry matters? COME ON.
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OH GOD I'M [expletive] IN EVERYONE'S BOOTS.
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You will be kicked in each ball many, many times.
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what.cd
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[expletive] you humps. Go jump in a fire. Or go hug Kyle. This thread is for JOY.
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They got where they are by pitching, which seems to have collapsed aside from Gallardo and of course, Braun and Fielder. Even after their red hot August, they're still a sub .500 team on the road 24-16 road record in the 2nd half, 14-6 in the final 20 road games.
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I am humping you with karma right now.
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He's a big circus fan.
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One fourth of that would be, yeah.
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Actually, they do need to be in the top 10 teams in terms of spending, ideally the top 5. It makes it much, much easier to deal with the mistakes and catastrophes that can and will happen. They don't have the farm system in place that can bolster a sub-$100 million payroll and will not for quite some time. They need to maintain a higher payroll while they work to achieve the latter instead of just wallowing in the doldrums as a team that can maybe compete if the division sucks and they can hover around .500. I think we all realize that the transition we're discussing here is going to be phased in over several years. The payroll is not going below $100M immediately, nor is the farm system going to be fixed overnight. It shouldn't be phased into reality ever. Not for the Cubs. They don't have to go cheap, even relatively speaking. They can have both.
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Doug Glanville book excerpt - being eliminated from playoffs
Sammy Sofa replied to David's topic in Chicago Cubs Talk
Glanville for manager? -
Actually, they do need to be in the top 10 teams in terms of spending, ideally the top 5. It makes it much, much easier to deal with the mistakes and catastrophes that can and will happen. They don't have the farm system in place that can bolster a sub-$100 million payroll and will not for quite some time. They need to maintain a higher payroll while they work to achieve the latter instead of just wallowing in the doldrums as a team that can maybe compete if the division sucks and they can hover around .500.
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He's right, though. Most of those acquisitions have been more of a hindrance than a help. Yes, they at least managed to get production out of some of them, but they could've gotten similar or better production for less money (that's not to say that every major FA signing they've made has been a flop, but most have). I never said he wasn't right; the Red Sox have had plenty of FA flops. But their success this decade has also been based in part on big FA signings that WEREN'T busts. Again, it's not the either/or situation he's trying to make it out to be. Plus there's no really no reason for the Cubs not to be a team like the Yankees or Red Sox that can absorb bad contracts instead of playing the pauper. Why can't the Cubs be a team that says "OK, yeah, Dice-K sucked, but [expletive] it, we're still signing Adrian Gonzalez to a huge contract"?
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The thing is, he doesn't owe a large part of his success to being able to spend money. He owes a large part of his success to drafting and developing better than everyone else. You can't with a straight face sit here and tell me that the main reason the Red Sox have won is because of the huge free agent money they've thrown around. The truth is, the return they've gotten on those players is pathetic, and they've won more despite them, than because of them. Yes, I am telling you that one of the main reasons they won was because of the big FA money they spent. Again, it's not an either/or proposition for them nor is it for the Cubs, so stop pretending like it is.
