Backtobanks

More to the point, guys like Schwarber usually get moved away from Catcher to get their bat in the lineup at a less demanding position. Why not just fast forward to the part where he plays LF and hopefully out hits his mistakes? As long as he drives in 2-3 runs a game to balance out the 1-2 runs he gives up on defense.

I don't think they would trade Schwarber, but he was born to be a DH.

They've done the easy part, now comes the hard part.

What has he done to deserve his own thread? :lol:

I wish I could have had the kind of relationship that the author had with him so that I could spend time with him (lunch, listening to stories, etc.) those last few years.

A good read in the October issue of Chicago magazine: "The Last Years of Ernie Banks" by Ron Rapoport. Kind of sad ending to my all time favorite Cub.

My biggest surprise is seeing the difference a manager like Maddon can make. I knew he was good, but he's been amazing.

From MLBTR: Marcell Ozuna has been the source of some controversy this season, and that, paired with his disappointing offensive output, could have him on the trade block this winter. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that while many in the organization would like to hold onto Ozuna given his considerable upside, team owner Jeffrey Loria is “disappointed” in Ozuna and “very much open to trading him” in exchange for pitching help. Ozuna, still just 24 years old, broke out in 2014 when he hit .269/.317/.455 with 23 homers in 153 games. Ozuna coupled that above-average production with solid play in center field to deliver a season valued at roughly 3.5 wins above replacement, per both Fangraphs and Baseball Reference. Entering the season, he was expected to contribute to what many (myself included) regarded as the best young outfield in all of baseball. Not exactly a out trade chip abundance, but he might be an interesting trade candidate.

Actually I picked up that term (boy genius) from posters fawning over him.

I'm happy with the way things are going, but I think we ought to hold off on calling the Cubs a juggernaut until they actually win the WS or put up great totals over a few years. You must let go of the hate I don't understand how correcting the use of "juggernaut" translates into hate. It's your (seeming) complete inability to kick back and enjoy success under this leadership When I point out the hyperbole used to describe the "juggernaut" that Theo built from "zilch" left to him from the previous FO, it means that I'm a hater and not enjoying the team's success under Theo. I guess it's a case of semantics when juggernaut means the team has played very well for most of one season out of four and zilch means the assets that left/acquired Rizzo, Grimm, Ramierez, Hendricks, Villaneuva, Russell, Castro, and Baez. I've been a Cub fan through a lot of lean years through the 50's and 60's, so when they show any signs of success I enjoy it and certainly don't spend too much time worrying about who's running the FO. As for the (Hendry) haters, were they able to kick back and enjoy the team's success in 2003, 2007, and 2008?

I'm happy with the way things are going, but I think we ought to hold off on calling the Cubs a juggernaut until they actually win the WS or put up great totals over a few years. You must let go of the hate I don't understand how correcting the use of "juggernaut" translates into hate.

I'm happy with the way things are going, but I think we ought to hold off on calling the Cubs a juggernaut until they actually win the WS or put up great totals over a few years.

You aren't paying attention if you think Arrieta is our #2 starter.

In one sentence you're basically saying that Hendry left nothing in the system and the next you're saying that the "nothing (nickels)" left in the system magically turned into Rizzo, Edwards, Grimm, Ramierez, Hendricks, Villannueva, Wood, Castro, Baez, Russell, and Torreyes. I get the fact that most of you don't like Hendry, think he was a terrible GM, and consider Theo as God, but the facts are that a a good chunk of this team (and ml system) was acquired by trading players left from Hendry's regime. That doesn't mean I think he was a great GM or that Theo doesn't deserve credit, it just means those "nickels" apparently had some value in the eyes of other GMs. Let's make this extremely simple. If you want someone to blame for how terrible the Cubs were in 2012 or 2013, you'll want to blame Hendry for leaving an unacceptable amount of talent on the MLB roster and farm system. This does not mean there were literally no good baseball players in the Cubs organization, but rather that there were far too few at every level. You can also blame ownership for not maintaining/raising Hendry-era payrolls if that's your cup of tea. If you want someone to blame for the Cubs being bad in 2014, that's on Theo and Jed for only being very good instead of transcendent at their jobs. If you want to give credit for how good the Cubs are in 2015, there is 0.000% credit that belongs to Jim Hendry. Last place in 2014 and 17 games out of 1st, but Theo and Jed were only being "very good". I'm glad you're open-minded, fair, and honest. NL Central W L Pct. GB Home Road St. Louis Cardinals 90 72 0.556 — 51–30 39–42 Pittsburgh Pirates 88 74 0.543 2 51–30 37–44 Milwaukee Brewers 82 80 0.506 8 42–39 40–41 Cincinnati Reds 76 86 0.469 14 44–37 32–49 Chicago Cubs 73 89 0.451 17 41–40 32–49

In one sentence you're basically saying that Hendry left nothing in the system and the next you're saying that the "nothing (nickels)" left in the system magically turned into Rizzo, Edwards, Grimm, Ramierez, Hendricks, Villannueva, Wood, Castro, Baez, Russell, and Torreyes. I get the fact that most of you don't like Hendry, think he was a terrible GM, and consider Theo as God, but the facts are that a a good chunk of this team (and ml system) was acquired by trading players left from Hendry's regime. That doesn't mean I think he was a great GM or that Theo doesn't deserve credit, it just means those "nickels" apparently had some value in the eyes of other GMs.

Even I can agree that it was hyperbole for me to use the term zilch. But, the thought process behind that post was to stress just how little talent Hendry left behind on his way out, and certainly wasn't meant to be taken THAT literally. Just making a point that Epstein had much less to work with than Hendry. Which is why I post on this topic. When posters state that "the cupboard was bare" and they had "zilch in assets", I feel the need to point out that those statements are exaggerations. People respond that "all teams have assets", but the "assets" have netted a good chunk of this team. Theo deserves a lot of credit for having his plan and getting players through drafts, signings, and trades, but the trades couldn't have happened without the players he inherited. Theo is a technician, not a magician.

Yeah, I just added Castro to my post. My point in all of this is that that this team has been built/acquired over a period of time following a plan by Theo that involved draft choices and trades. Theo deserves credit for making the draft choices and trades, but Hendry deserves credit for leaving the assets necessary to make the trades and for drafting Baez and Castro.

I don't think Hendry had a completely different situation. There was absolutely zilch on the major league team when he inherited it, and they had one of the best farm systems in baseball. Epstein had to take it a step farther, because they had zilch on the major league roster and the farm system was weak, also. I gave Hendry credit for adding talent to the major league roster without giving up the best of the prospects in order to create the success he did in 2003-2004. However, the organizational philosophy on what will make the team succeed going forward took a horrific turn under Hendry and Baker's watch. Abusing pitchers and not understanding the value of a walk and valuing said walks in relation to line up construction was the beginning of the end of his future as a GM. Looking at the line ups Baker was throwing out there day to day was vomit inducing if you look back on them today. Neifi Perez batted 1st or 2nd more than 400 times in 2005. There is just no defending that. He traded Greg Maddux at the trade deadline for Cesar "[expletive]" Izturis. The list of bad decisions became comical at one point to the point we all thought he was purposely trying to sabotage his own career, which he basically did. I certainly don't see ever hiring him to be a GM again after that. My apologies for making anyone remember any of this. The zilch that Epstein inherited netted the Cubs (and their farm system) Rizzo, Grimm, Ramierez, Hendricks, Villaneuva, Russell, Castro, and Baez.

Whenever this kind of discussion comes up, some of you forget that the situation with Hendry was completely different. He believed in young players and deserves some credit for the farm system during his tenure, but the Tribune company gave him the money and pushed him into a "win now" mode. He never was given complete autonomy like Theo. Also, many of our young players now came from trading the veterans that Theo inherited from Hendry. The time came when there had to be a change and Theo stepped in to make the necessary changes. Three years later, everything is coming up roses. We'll never know whether it could have been done a different way or whether anyone else could have done it, so let's just enjoy it.

It's not a teen years thing or dumb [expletive], it's just fans being fickle. This player is great until we find a reason not to like him. Same with a manager, gm, or owner.

Well that's not necessarily true at all. I should have posted it in green.

From MLBTR: Padres closer Craig Kimbrel has been claimed on revocable waivers by an unknown club, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). However, a club official tells Rosenthal that the Padres have no intention of trading Kimbrel. We know it wasn't the Cubs because they just acquired Rodney.

B2B and SSR might have to find a new team I was a Cub fan long before Hendry, so that ain't happening.

Is that like Bette Davis Eyes?

Since there's quite a bit of money left on his contract, so I guess it all depends on what the Phillies will eat. Either way, I can't believe it would be anything significant.