AlohaSpicoli

Which do you want?? Which do they want?? Are they the same?? BTW, they drew 3 million + fans last year. Don't go thinking they weren't pleased with that.

If the Cubs sign Zambrano, there will be a sense by some (from MacPhail on down) that this season was a success. And there hasn't been a single pitch thrown yet, so there is no basis to believe that. My point, simply, was that I don't get emotionally invested in this team to avoid arbitration with players. I get emotionally invested to win games, win division titles, and win pennants even. I want what the White Sox have. And since MacPhail and all of his minions have not, can not, and in all probablility will not give that to me, despite all of the advantages they enjoy in terms of resources, then why should I or anyone else be comforted by this no-arbitration thing of theirs?

We all hear about how MacPhail and Co. haven't gone to arbitration with a player since they took over in 1994. My question is why does this commitment to avoiding arbitration not seem to be equalled by the commitment to fielding a winning team? As a fan, I want to win games. That's all. I don't care if they go to arbitration with a player or not. As Al Davis says, just win, Baby. So in the No Arbitration era, which is into its second decade now, there has been one division championship, one wild card berth, and one winning season beyond that. And lots of losing seasons. If the Tribune valued winning ball games the way they apparently value avoiding arbitration, we would have seen much more success on the field over these past years.

You either want Hendry back or you don't. If, after 3 seasons, you're of the opinion he's done enough or can do more if given enough time, fine. That's your opinion. It's not mine, though. What Lee and the Marlins did when they took the pennant away from us in 2003 also proves the value of a big hitting first baseman to a team that wants to win. Lee did not carry that team (Pudge Rodriguez did that) but you would be hard pressed to say Lee did not contribute in a significant way. And who did we have at first? Nobody, really. And that hurt. Not the way Prior's 8th inning collapse or Gonzalez muffing the double play grounder did, but it hurt nonetheless. And it didn't have to.

You want to know why we're not owning the NL Central? Our management won't sign the kind of guys that put you over the top. They'll trade for up-and-comers (Lee, Ramirez), but they won't sign the premier names. And that's what I'm saying. If there's a need, and the club goes with a low-priced rookie rather than a big name free agent, is it wrong to point out when this does not work out well? Apparently it is to the pro-Hendry faction around here. Back around the time Thome was available (October of 2002) I was ranting and raving about the decision to go with Choi over Thome (much like I am now). And a poster at Cubs.com told me that Choi, Bobby Hill, Juan Cruz, and Corey Patterson would be the nucleus of the team over the next few years. And then, this sage predicted, Felix Pie would come along to take over for Patterson, who would be "ready for the big money" after a few years. Even typing that pronouncement now makes me chuckle. Since he 's been traded for two A-ball players, Patterson is lucky to still be in baseball. That's just a fan who's long on optomism, but short on reality. And prepared to defend the Tribune's reluctance to improve the team. Not even reluctance, really. It's more like refusal. And I've had enough of that.

No need for hostility. When you tell the world I have little baseball knowledge, you can expect hostility. Might I add you haven't refuted the point about the money going to Thome preventing the additions of Lofton and Ramirez later on. OK. Thome would have added more to the team than Lofton or Ramirez. They only needed to get them in the first place because the offense was lacking. therefore it would've been foolish to tie up so much money to an old declining player when the window of oppurtunity just didn't look to be there in '03. Two points there. If the payroll was one one of the top ones in baseball, as you claim it was, then how could the window of opportunity not be there? And, furthermore, the numbers Thome put up in 03 and 04 could have added much to the team. It was only in 05 that he got hurt. And, if they paid Thome $20 million in 03 and they got to the World Series (not a given, but not beyond the realm of possibility, either) would it have been worth it? My vote is yes. It's revisionist history to talk about Thome with regards to the '03 playoffs. At the time he was available, the Cubs had a big need at first base. Others saw this need too. They (meaning Hendry) thought Choi was the answer. Clearly, he was not. How can it be wrong to say this should be remembered and pointed out, now that some Tribune fool wants to give us two more years of Hendry?

You don't like what I say? Refute it, then. But I cannot let that comment pass. Here's some baseball knowledge for you: The Cubs passed on Jim Thome in 2003. They went cheap with Choi, and paid the price (figuratively speaking). 47 HRs and 131 RBIs help any and every team, even the 2003 Cubs. They needed that production, and instead they had to settle for Randall Simon and the rest down the stretch. But they had a chance to get more and they passed. Share some of your baseball knowledge with me, why don't you?

The fact that they didn't is dooming this team to failure already. So let's hold them accountable for it. How? An afternoon crowd of 30,000 or less would get somebody's attention, I would think.

Sammy's money (and there was a ton of it) + nomar's money + Burnitz' money is equal to Pierre, Jones, Eyre, Howry, John Mabry, and a few raises? Please show me the math on that one. And let's not forget Corey Patterson's money, which had to be much more than the 2 Single-A players they got for him are making.

I wish the 9 year old that I was in 1977 could have appreciated just how incredible he was that year. The Cubs were in first place into August, I believe. When he came into a game, that was it. And I haven't seen anything to equal it since.

Here's a few thoughts I had on this year's team. I also posted this on Cubsnet, but I wanted as many Cubs fans to read this as possible. This is it? Are you telling me, Jim Hendry, that the 2006 Chicago Cubs now in place? No other players to add, no other trades to make, nothing? Because, if it is, it’s not good enough. Trading Corey Patterson, and adding Jacque Jones in right field, Juan Pierre in center, two middle relievers and John Mabry is not marked improvement over last year. In fact, speaking strictly in terms of player salaries, it’s a large step backward. The Jones signing finally completed filling in the $8.25 million that Nomar received (and can we now admit that trade was a bust?) and some of what Burnitz was paid. I may be only a fan, but I can tell you that the way to improve a 79 win team is not to spend less on player salaries. And then there’s Sammy’s money. All $15 million dollars plus. Where did it go? Last year it went to Baltimore, because the fans were never going to take him back after he ran out on the team. I understand that. But that’s over now. Where does all that money go for next season? Apparently into the new bleacher seats, which will not help if winning a championship is on the to do list for the foreseeable future. Misery loves company. And the Cubs’ misery was shared, for way too many years, by the White Sox and the Red Sox. Now, in the course of two seasons, that’s all changed. So why is there no urgency to address this? Jacque Jones, Juan Pierre and the others do not say “urgency” to me. I’ll give you an example of what I mean by urgency. After the 2002 season, Jim Thome was a free agent. All those stellar years in Cleveland proved that he was a premier player. He’ll be a Hall of Famer some day. And even though he was commanding a high salary, the Tribune has the resources to write a big enough check to get him. I even remember talk of the “home town discount” he would give in order to play for the team he grew up rooting for. The reason the Cubs didn’t want him is because they were convinced that Hee Seop Choi was good enough at first base. So Thome followed the money and signed with Philadelphia. They rolled the dice. That says urgency to me. So what happened in 2003, Thome’s first season in Philadelphia? He hit 47 home runs and drove in 131 runs. Adding those numbers to the 2003 team means the Marlins do not clinch the pennant at Wrigley. Steve Bartman and all the other fans with tickets for Game 6 would have needed ticket refunds instead. And what did Hee Seop Choi do that year? After that scary incident in the Yankees game, where he was taken off the field in an ambulance, he was never really a factor. He had just 43 at-bats after the All-Star break that year, and batted a dismal .140. The acquisition of Derrick Lee after the 2003 season was a clear admission that Choi wasn’t the answer the organization thought he would be. Lee’s a very good player, maybe even a great player in the making, but the only reason he came to our attention in the first place was because of what the Marlins were able to accomplish that year. And they accomplished it, in large part, because the Cubs (meaning Jim Hendry) let Thome get away. I have been hearing that Jim Hendry will get a contract extension, and then Dusty Baker will get his extension, and all will be good on the North Side. But not in my mind, it won’t. One division title, one playoff berth, and no pennants (which, thanks to the White Sox, is where the bar will be set for the foreseeable future) is not enough to show after three years of Hendry/Baker. The Mets and Dodgers are adding players like they have the urgency. And both of them have already won championships during the Tribune’s era of futility (now at 23 seasons and counting). The Cubs, on the other hand, are content to upgrade the ballpark. That’s where their bread is buttered, after all. Not buying tickets for any home games next year is all I can do to say “enough.” By continuing to flock to the park, Cubs fans are feeding the beast that is the Tribune’s lack of interest in winning. They will deny this, of course, but what has Jacque Jones ever won? Or what about Dusty Baker? He burned out the Cubs’ pitching staff when he came here in 2003, and hasn’t had a whiff of anything since. I would not be surprised if Joe Girardi wins a World Series as a manager before Dusty Baker does. If something should happen next year and the Cubs start winning, I’ll become a bandwagon jumper for the first time. But this team won’t win the way it is now. And, upon minimal reflection, anyone who knows baseball can see that.