Backtobanks

I don't know why he would necessarily be any different than what he is now. They saw his potential when they signed him and he still shows that potential.

You keep throwing this out there like it's some kind of key rebuttal. It's not plus for the old GM when the new GM has to clean up their mess. If you read the post carefully, it's not a rebuttal about cleaning up the mess. It's a rebuttal to the notion that "cupboard was bare" mentality that was being passed around in these discussions. Well it wasn't literally empty, but there wasn't all that much either. He left the team in a pretty [expletive] spot, and saying that there was a non-zero number of assets left isn't the positive statement you seem to think it is. Hendry was pretty bad man. There was Baez, Castro, and enough to trade for Rizzo, Russell, Wood, Grimm, Ramirez, Hendricks, Villanueva, Torreyes, and Black. Theo deserves the credit for having a plan and trading players that didn't fit in his plan, but apparently those players were valuable enough to acquire the players listed above.

You keep throwing this out there like it's some kind of key rebuttal. It's not plus for the old GM when the new GM has to clean up their mess. If you read the post carefully, it's not a rebuttal about cleaning up the mess. It's a rebuttal to the notion that "cupboard was bare" mentality that was being passed around in these discussions.

And the interesting thing is that I moved on from Hendry years ago, while many of you can't seem to stop bringing up his name.

I know AZCubs guy gets abuse for really being a Cardinals fan. But in the time I've been paying attention, BanktoBanks also seems like a candidate for a long-term troll. I'm sure he likes some stuff about the Cubs, but I just don't think I've ever read any of it. He's a Cubs fan, he just hates Theo. Gotcha. So before he was hired was Banks a pretty normal fan who would actually say good things about the team or was he always more on the side of negativity? And is this why people often talk about Hendry with him, because he was pro-Hendry? Since you're new to the site, I'll explain who I am and what I believe. I've been a Cub fan for over 60 years (hence the name). I enjoyed some of the years under Hendry (like most Cub Fans). Often I've "defended" Hendry when posters exaggerated "the cupboard was bare" mentality since Theo has taken over. I've pointed out that Theo traded many of the ML players left over from Hendry to restock the minor leagues. Many posters were so excited to have Theo that they refused to acknowledge anything that came from the previous FO. I've also pointed out that the situations are completely different - Hendry was a GM who was ordered to buy a winning team by his bosses, while Theo has complete autonomy to put his plan into place. I don't hate Theo (as some posters believe) and the "Boy Genius" was taken from one of the posters who was fawning over the fact we got him. I wasn't happy with tanking 3 seasons, but this year made up for a big part of that. I'm not into sabermetrics as much as most of the NSBB posters and I think you need a combination of sabermetrics and good old fashioned scouting. I was happy to read the article the other day where Theo complimented the scouts for all of the foreign signings. I have confidence in Theo improving the team over the winter and hopefully getting us a WS win. Hope you have a better understanding of who I am and what I believe.

I'm guessing you don't have a source for that bs. Jim hendry is still in baseball and has plenty of sources. When you have nothing to say, you can always bring up Jim Hendry. Hey, you logged in. You waited until the Cubs were playoff hopes were diminished, but you logged in. I've been logged in and posting for weeks now. Thanks for noticing.

I'm guessing you don't have a source for that bs. Jim hendry is still in baseball and has plenty of sources. When you have nothing to say, you can always bring up Jim Hendry.

So what? The lengths of his previous contracts had nothing to do with how well he did as a pitcher. And before you jump to your usual position, no I'm not trying to defend it as somehow working out; it turned out to be a terrible signing. But at the time there was little indicate that the Cubs weren't likely to get relative value to the rather modest deal they signed him to. And off of that, what the hell accounts for the drastic difference in his season value between Fangraphs and BR for his 2013 and 2014 seasons? Fangraphs has him at a 2.0 WAR (and 0.5 in 2014) and BR has him at -1.3 (and -2.3 the next year). FG seems WAY off here. The point is that nobody was offering Jackson a contract that ran 4 years except the Cubs. We could have offered him 2 years at $13 million per year and he would have still signed with the Cubs.

Christ. That really was Epstein-Hoyer's worst move to this point. Hasn't been a crippling move, but it's still hurting the team. I worked with a GF and now wife of one of the Nationals and nobody on their team could believe the Cubs spent that much money on him. Why? Yeah, given his performance in the years preceding, it was pretty fair market value, but not really over. The money per year wasn't outrageous, but the number of years was. Jackson spent his whole career on 1 or 2 year contracts until he came to the Cubs.

I don't have any scientific proof, but after watching over 60 years of baseball, it sure seems like the streakiest hitters are the sluggers with high strikeout rates. When they're hot they'll hit 4-5 HR in a week and then strikeout 10 times the next week.

Warning - Hyperbole Alert!

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'm going to come out and make the bold declaration i don't think Schwarber will be a -24 win defender as you're describing... The chances of him being a -24 win defender are greater than him driving in 324-486 runs in a season.

What would be the level of player, I assume you want a pitcher, you'd need to get for him?? Would it need to be like Kluber or Gray? I would do that in a second. Of course the deal would involve other players, but to get a TOR, young pitcher for a guy who is a born DH would be a great deal.

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.