jersey cubs fan

Maybe a thread title change at this point? Fresh start

Also, FWIW, the off-season is ovah

I really don’t understand this sentiment, which is admittedly shared by many. This defense is incredibly mediocre. A 4-3 cover 2 defense without a legit 3 technique and no playmakers at any level is goi g to struggle. This would be like post Tommie Harris decline with no Urlacher or Tillman. There’s been quite a few out there who see this defense as a house of cards. I think there’s way more downside than upside. Definitely a chance for bottom 3rd of the league, and with an offense that will not sustain long drives, these guys will be dragging by mid season.

Jacob DeGrom has pitched 16 innings and the Mets are 35 games over .500, and no 6 pitchers in the cubs organization equate to him.

All the sudden? Those have been the storylines and common held beliefs for a year.

Very few guys have been handed both an awful line and receiver group. One or the other, fine, the great ones will find a way to make it work. This isn’t that situation. I'm just saying, I cannot come up with a great example of 1st round pick that failed with his first team and becomes elite. Okay? I’m not talking about his next team. I’m talking about his time with this team. The front office has sabotaged any chance for success this year and they have a hard on for dumping guys the previous regime drafted.

Right. The most likely scenario is that Fields won’t be the starting QB on the next Bears playoff team. The timing just doesn’t work out. They’re going to have to make a decision on his fifth year option before they even get a chance to see him behind a competent o-line. I feel like his talent should shine through if he's as good as we hope he is. Wouldn't be the first young QB that has been able to put it together despite crappy offensive infrastructure. It's not like very many elite QBs fail on their first team due to lack of talent surrounding them and then become an elite QB on their 2nd team. If he needs tons of talent around him to be successful, that's fine but he's probably a couple tiers below the elite QBs (think Ryan Tannehill or Alex Smith). If Fields is the guy, we'll have a pretty good idea by the end of this year unless he misses most of the season with injuries. Very few guys have been handed both an awful line and receiver group. One or the other, fine, the great ones will find a way to make it work. This isn’t that situation.

I get that he's doing a teardown and purging the previous FO's guys, but not sure how dumping talent for 50 cents on the dollar is helping the team long term. The Bears hired him to fulfill his vision of building a winning team and we just have to trust that he is doing that, or at the very least go along for the ride and hope it works out. I don't necessarily disagree with the strategy, but I think he's taken it quite a bit farther than most people would. The way he's stripping the team down, Fields is going to be at the end of his contract before they ends up putting anything competitive on the field. its better than even odds he won’t be on the team by then

Didn’t know Bob covered football

Smith messed up by saying maybe the McCaskeys can salvage this, weakening his hand. But this is what it comes down to. Poles wants to take advantage of an unrepresented player, and if he can’t he’ll move on from another Pace guy in the name of getting guys who buy in to another rah rah BS system.

For Jenkins?

Why are you capitalizing all the letters in Iowa?

That’s not a thing. Only 19 is a thing. Maybe only 20/21. A guy who hasn’t done anything and is 23 is just 23.

Do you think there's some huge demand for Wisdom/Ortega? Even if there were teams interested, what do you think you're getting for fringy/4A guys like that? And if they determined that they can get a guy at 70 in the draft next year that will be better than any package that they were offered for Willy, I'm going to defer to them knowing what they're doing over the paltry level of knowledge on this board in comparison. I also don't think you sign guys like Suzuki and Stroman to the deals they got if you're planning on a 5 year window before you're competitive again. As was laid out, you add one of the big SS FAs this offseason, someone like Rodon and a 1B who isn't a black hole, suddenly you're looking at a team that projects to win 85+ games and that's not a far fetched reality. I don’t get the “you don’t sign X and Y if you don’t plan on contending soon” theory. This team had no pitching. They needed Stroman or something like him just to field a team without requiring kids to press early. They still have to sell something to fans. Tribune era cubs did this every year, one or two names signed before individual tickets go on sale. You can convince the apologists that a 147 million payroll is at least kind of trying. You can’t do that with 110 million. They had cash burning in the pocket that needed to be spent. Everything this organization has done indicates there’s been no rush to contend in 2023. They aren’t pulling a Davidson and saying 5 years, because that is absurd. But it’s gonna be a while with this group. We’re already two years in to the decision to start cutting costs and 4+ years since they stopped spending. They’re in no position to really contend next year. You can make a list of moves they could, but won’t, make to get them to 85 wins. But why?

Jenkins still hanging around and not participating So is sulley

The same reason nobody talked about Jed when Theo was around. Nobody cares what the assistant GM does no matter what title they claim. Also, Jed is the one doing interviews and otherwise talking about the situation.

The QO pick and a top 5 selection will allow for a lot of draft dollars to spread around to high schoolers next year when they go under slot

I was at sheffields, after the game. I remember they played the Phillies because some Philly people I knew happened to be there. Good times.

“I am very confident” is a hedge.

The weird thing to me is Poles seemingly sided with Jenkins on that dumb penalty last year that resulted in a fellow offensive lineman berating Jenkins for the time/place of the offense. Poles said he was more or less disgusted with a lineman telling another linemen not to be a redass idiot defending his QB. Maybe something is going on communication wise with Jenkins not quite getting the pseudo support followed up by demotion to potential swing tackle.

Between his gutting of team, indifference toward Fields, and rumored shopping of Jenkins, it reads to me like Poles wants a clear reset from the Pace era. I think Fields has to win on his own to keep his job in 2023. I wouldn’t bet on a Smith extension (unless his self representation can be manipulated) and think Montgomery is probably dealt if they start slow. Wouldn’t rule out a Mooney trade. Poles seems to be doing what most other Chicago teams have done of late and is hoping to lose a lot this year and draft high next year.