BeerHere

Day game after night game replacing a catcher who has sucked this year. What's the big deal? Soto has spent a lot of time on the bench or injured this year. He has struggled and he's not going to dig himself out of it sitting on the bench. He has been bad but nowhere near the level of bad that is Koy Hill.

Why the hell is Koy Hill starting AGAIN???????????????? Dammit Quade, that is frustrating. What the [expletive] is this team's fascination with him? HE'S BRUTAL!!

Thinking out loud. Lots of high schoolers in this draft. At a minimum they wouldn't be ready for 4-5 years. I'm wondering if the philosophy isn't to build for the team 4-5 years from now. Be mildly competitive for a couple years but really focus on the 2015 team and beyond. If that were the case I would best that next year or the following year they go with guys that are closer to the majors. Like I said, just thinking out loud.

This is precisely what bothers me about The Score. ESPN1000 is terrible these days. My only option is to get XM.

Did the Cubs go cheap again?

That answers that

If Rendon falls to #9 do the Cubs take him?

According to this http://www.mesaaz.gov/bettermesa/pdf/cubs/FactSheetPlan.pdf the city of Mesa is paying for a lot of new ST complex. The Cubs, MLB and "other" private investors are also listed. The total price is $84M. The notion that the Ricketts family is paying "tens of millions" for the new ST facilities is most likely wrong. I'm sure they some of the private financing is coming from them but the majority is elsewhere.

That (and the Latin American "academy" and expansion) is what you can point to if you wonder what the Ricketts' commitments are to this team being better down the line. Again, I really want them to take another huge step and drop the deadweight that is Hendry, but the repeated insistence that they're doing "nothing" or idiots like Rosenbloom and his "fanboy" garbage are just ignorant. I'm not sure if I agree with you. Yes it seems like he is doing more, but in actuality the majority of this stuff was already in place under the tribune. We had already been scouting big in asia in 06,07, and 08. Before Ricketts owned the team. Guys like Dhee Eun Rhee and Hak Ju Lee were tribune(Sam Zell) signings. In Latin America nothing has really changed we still sign mid level guys and refuse to get into bidding wars for the top talents. We may have signed more of those guys last year, im not sure, but we also put up top dollar for guys like larry suarez with the tribune. Also dont forget, the cubs didnt decide to begin building a new latin america complex until multiple articles detailed the deplorable conditions and slave like quarters the kids were being kept in. The fight for a new spring complex has been going on for years and any owner would have been negotiating with Mesa to get a new stadium built as Ho Ho Kam was severely out dated and our contract was up. Plans for the wrigley complex and the triangle building have been in place since I think 05 or 06 when they first hit the papers. I guess my point is he is doing pretty much what the tribune already had planned or were in the process of doing. Sure thats an improvement off of the tribune in the 80's and 90's but its not what most expected a new owner to do. The only decisions that I have seen him make were concerning new revenue sources, increasing ticket prices, soliciting the state for more revenue (with really bad timing), overseeing the choice for a new manager. I think I speak for most when I thought a new owner would bring more to the table. And what exactly did you hope a new owner would bring to the table in a season and a half outside of getting rid of Hendry? And the Tribune was all talk. The Ricketts are actually laying the groundwork for improving this organization across the board. It's all well and good what the Tribune claimed it WANTED to do, but the Ricketts are already actually taking the steps to get these things done. Well its not like the tribune was going to get mesa done before the contract was up. That would be just sabotage their leverage. That really was the only thing Ricketts has moved forward on. Like I said the complex in latin america would probably have remained this same if it wasnt for the media pressure at which point they would have been forced to make changes as well. We can all agree he should have fired hendry and hired someone with a clear organizational philosophy. He probably should have fired a lot of our scouts and upper management with him. Some of these guys have been working for the cubs for 20 to 30 years (no joke read it in an article last year) contributing to a losing environment. Hire good experienced coaches in the minors, not just ex-players with some former cubs affiliation. Keep scouting in Asia, but commit even more to Latin America, not just the islands but central and south america, where more and more prospects are coming from. Moreover, I really expected him to be better equipped to handle the economic affairs of the cubs. Any serious fan could have told you that three ticket increases in a row in the midst of a recession and predictably poor play would lead to a dramatic decline in attendance. Or that political leaders would be apprehensive to divert revenue toward a stadium in the midst of a recession. The way he handled the Wrigley project was terrible. Going to the state requesting money given the recession, teacher layoffs, higher property taxes etc...that was bad. The only leverage he has he lost when he publicly said they would never consider leaving Wrigley. I would contend that we need a baseball person running the organization. Krane Kenney isn't the right man. Hendry needs to go and if the entire scouting department goes with him then so be it.

Then stop discussing Z's anger management. Of course. How silly of me. My apologies.

I stand by what I said. Zambrano picks the absolutely wrong media and timing for his tirades. The right time: after the game, in the clubhouse away from the cameras and reporters who will tear him (and his trade value) apart The wrong time: anytime you're in the dugout The right media: a discussion with the player or manager or water cooler the wrong media: the media Entirely too much time is spent discussing Z's anger management, breaking bats etc and not enough time pointing the many faults of this team, it's management and ownership.

I'll drop it

Quit playing the victim with this nonsense. Not playing the victim at all, just stating a fact. I gave my opinion about Zambrano's comments and I got attacked for not agreeing with everyone. I'm sure I'm not the only person to incur the wrath, I've come to expect it from this site.

Seems like a wasteful use of resources to try to be better on paper than the Yankees when you only need to be better than the Cardinals and Brewers. By being better on paper than the Yankees, you leave a lot less up to variance for a lesser Brewers or Cardinals team beating you out. Yeah, the Cubs should be in a position where they dominate this division, not just occasionally flirt with the leaderboard. If I made that comment someone would have responded saying that this isn't golf and eight others would agree.

So do I but I would trade him in a heartbeat for a package of 2 good prospects.

The funny thing is, recent good teams for the Cubs have mostly been rapid turnarounds. '97-98. '00-'01 '02-'03 '06-'07. Going back further, same thing for '83-'84 and '88-'89. Every postseason appearance during my lifetime (except for the repeat in '08) followed a losing season. '44-'45 as well. So everyone's lifetime but Fred's. I'll concede the point that turnarounds can happen quickly. Having said that of the Cub teams you mentioned, the following year were indeed good but none made the WS. Being good and making the playoffs shouldn't be the goal. Only one of those teams even won a series. Maybe my expectations are unrealistic but the Cubs should be competing with the best teams in baseball, not just the division.

The funny thing is, recent good teams for the Cubs have mostly been rapid turnarounds. '97-98. '00-'01 '02-'03 '06-'07. I am shocked that you think this team plus a couple FA's will be good in 2012. Pujols, maybe Felix Hernandez -- that would be great. Maybe the team finishes with 85 wins. That might be good enough to get the WC or win the division but that is not a WS winning team. Why are you "shocked?" What about this season makes it so inconceivable that the Cubs could have a turnaround like they did with pretty much every season they've contended in the last three decades? Explain why this season is so much worse than, say, 2006. Debating which season was worst is pointless. Do you honestly think this same team, plus a couple FA's will compete for the WS in 2012? Don't get me wrong, I would love to see it, but the organization needs deep changes.

The funny thing is, recent good teams for the Cubs have mostly been rapid turnarounds. '97-98. '00-'01 '02-'03 '06-'07. I am shocked that you think this team plus a couple FA's will be good in 2012. Pujols, maybe Felix Hernandez -- that would be great. Maybe the team finishes with 85 wins. That might be good enough to get the WC or win the division but that is not a WS winning team. You have no 3B, terrible defense, another year on Sori's legs, a declining Dempster, Colvin in RF, a rookie in CF?

Good choice, sir. The premptive "if you disagree with me, it's NSBB group think" is a classic. Anyone that has a dissenting opinion here is automatically a fool. Again..your point?

Good choice, sir. The premptive "if you disagree with me, it's NSBB group think" is a classic. Anyone that has a dissenting opinion here is automatically a fool. The irony here is that the general NSBB "groupthink" is that we would trade Z for the RIGHT prospects, but to railroad him out of town for nothing or a bad contract would be ludicris, especially considering the state of the team as is. And where did I railroad him out of town for a bad contract or nothing? Any trade of Zambrano needs to return players to build around.

Good choice, sir. The premptive "if you disagree with me, it's NSBB group think" is a classic. Anyone that has a dissenting opinion here is automatically a fool.

And you think that keeping this crap team around and spending $60M in the offseason willl fix this?

WTF are you talking about? I'm questioning the timing of his comment and the methods that he chose to deliver them. I completely agree with his statements. I hate that he called out Marmol through the media. Coming from Zambrano, it seems too "pot calling the kettle black". I fail to see your point. Are you calling me hypocritical? I'll ask you -- how do you feel about Zambrano and his comments?

I'll go on record right now - I would love to trade Zambrano for prospects. I would have said that a week ago, at the start of the season and after every good start he's had this year. This team is doing NOTHING this year, might as well try and turn him into a couple pieces to build around going forward. Commence NSBB group-think: "But he's a good pitcher. I love his passion. Etc Etc" His value is high right now. Trade him for good prospects and I'll be the first to say "see ya!"

WTF are you talking about? I'm questioning the timing of his comment and the methods that he chose to deliver them. I completely agree with his statements. I hate that he called out Marmol through the media. Coming from Zambrano, it seems too "pot calling the kettle black".