Sammy Sofa

Look upon it, Epstein. Look upon your works and despair.

Glanville basically saying as diplomatically as possible that Darvish was obviously tipping his pitches yet again.

Should have figured finally watching these clods again would result in nothing but high blood pressure and sadness.

BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.

Jacked up the strikeouts...still same ol' dongable Darvish.

Darvish is somehow both really good and still terrible.

I guess for someone who’s been as good as him. Using garbage after literally one inning is excessive and over the top. Even for you. “Struggled” might be more accurate. 1 inning seems like too short a period to bust out “garbage” but whatever. He’s been good for a significant period of time now, I agree. But we also saw a long stretch of time where he’s gotten into dong trouble, which is always a concern to resurface.

Big ol' dong.

I guess the Giants are looking at sexy pirates as starting pitchers as the new market inefficiency.

So I'm back up in the game Running things to keep my swing Letting all the people know That I'm back to run the show 'Cause what you did, you know, was wrong And all the nasty things you've done So, baby, listen carefully While I sing my come-back song

Yeah call me crazy for not wanting to kick him to the curb after an injury riddled 95 win season. I trust his track record and his general intelligence. He has built at 3 to 4 phenomenal cores in 17 years. Even if this one tanks I would give the dude another shot to build another core. Well I think the bigger picture that was touched on briefly is that people around here have grown a lot less fond of the guy who has brought in Chapman, Murphy, and kept Russell around. Beyond that, you can't really point to a lot that he's done in the last couple years that have added to the short term or long term success of this club. The Darvish signing remains a miss, as was the Chatwood signing, as was the Morrow signing. Going into this season with that bullpen, with that bench, was a miss. He came through and got Castellanos, which is looking like a big pickup, but we're going to have to keep the pedal down through the end of September just to make the playoffs. Hell, even something like trading for Castellanos should have been something they looked to do before this season. IMO, going into the season with this OF is almost as bad as going into it with the bullpen and bench. Trading for him and signing Kimbrel should be the type of moves we expect them to do earlier, and not scrambling to just stay alive.

The dongs are appreciated, but spoiler those bad boys so this thread can be SFW.

Yes, again, I'm saying Epstein is in a position where he can't effectively just ride out his success to the end of his tenure with the Cubs. Sure that isnt how you phrased it.

So you need a few more years AFTER the last two years? And I thought we were the idiots talking about him being terrible for five years in a row. Yeah call me crazy for not wanting to kick him to the curb after an injury riddled 95 win season. I trust his track record and his general intelligence. He has built at 3 to 4 phenomenal cores in 17 years. Even if this one tanks I would give the dude another shot to build another core. Who was saying fire him after last year? Though that said, you put the caveat of last season being the result of injuries, and now they're cruising in for about an 88 win season. And the guy is signed with the Cubs for, what, 2 more seasons? All of his talk is how he's likely outta here after 10 years. He's going to need to stumble on a LOT of good picks and international signings in short order to right the ship before he goes.

Well you have plenty of goofy takes so why would I assume otherwise. Also considering Laurel is synomous with past achievements and awards, aka legacy in baseball.. it would seem your quote was in direct argument to his overall legacy? Yes, again, I'm saying Epstein is in a position where he can't effectively just ride out his success to the end of his tenure with the Cubs. The moves his FO have made have left the team and farm system in shaky positions where they're seemingly constantly having to patch holes and fill pretty urgent needs and work off of their heels. All of their talk was like they were setting up a player drafting and development system that was going to keep them flush, and that has most certainly not even remotely come to pass after the main surge that led to the WS win. Couple that with some key bust/disappointing trades and FA signings and we're looking at an org that is on a downward trend without much relief in sight.

Because I was pretty obviously talking about him being more likely to leave Chicago a la his flaming parachute jump from Boston as opposed to him being able to spend the rest of his time with the Cubs in a victory lap or resting on his laurels; the state of both the team and the farm system are clearly demonstrating that the former are obviously not the case. The Cubs haven't been operating from a position of strength for some time on either level, so to trot out that they're still run by a "top 3 FO" just because someday people will look fondly on Old Man Boy Genius going into the Hall doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot right now. This whole, "I don't care how things go going forward because of the past" shtick is pretty goofy. That you think anyone here was arguing against Epstein's overall legacy or that it needed defending is even goofier.

It wasn't a debate or discussion anyone was actually having; it was an odd non-sequitur reply to people pointing out that the job Epstein and co. are currently doing is looking pretty shaky at best. Let's not ignore the weirder part that multiple people would apparently be fine with their favorite baseball team being terrible for years because their favorite baseball executive is HoF-worthy.

Jesus horsefeathering Christ.

Because who gives a damn what his reputation is going to be down the line? I mean, besides you and the two guys who liked that confounding post. Like, why would Epstein's reputation when he finally retires have anything to do with taking a long hard look at the pricey declining team and terrible farm system he's presiding over right now? Who looks at the current state of the Cubs organization and gives themselves comfort by thinking, "well, at least Theo's rep is safe and secure when he finally calls it a day, who cares how the rest of it goes?" It's weird.

Oh god; just punch out before you shoot your other foot off, too.

He can leave in a gorilla suit and rest on his laurels easily. He is a hall of famer if he loses 100 games the next 5 years and retires. Well, that's certainly one way to stan for this guy. A weird one, IMO.

Theo's much closer to making yet another costumed getaway than being able to do some laurel-resting.

Stuff like this baffles me. Like, how can the manager and coaches AND the FO not act on this very obvious and very easily obtained info. They absolutely must know about it, so....why? It's so interminably meatball-y.