jersey cubs fan

I agree they didn't hatch a plan to purposely lose as many games as possible in 2022. Maybe Fields is too good to net them the #1 pick anyway. But that doesn't change the fact that Poles did nothing to help the 2022 team stand a chance at being competitive. It was all about 2023 and beyond. It's tanking.

yea, I dont know how anyone can look at what Poles has done (or more importantly not done) and think anything other than he doesn't believe in Fields I see it as one of 2 things: 1) They don't believe in Fields and/or putting him in a position where if he's elite he'll show enough despite being hamstrung by resources or he'll prove to be a bust in which case they can justify dumping him and picking their own QB 2) They do believe in Fields and/or are natural on him and think that having a superior coaching staff/offensive gameplan and their handpicked scrap heap guys they added will make a giant difference. If its the second one, then either they are really smart and have proven they have a strong ability to identify coaching and player talent, or they suffer from the same 'smartest guy in the room' syndrome that has been the downfall of so many other executives and coaches throughout the NFL. I don't believe they are outright sabotaging him though necessarily. If Fields sucks so they trade him off and he becomes a star elsewhere, all the sudden Poles looks like a moron and his seat starts getting warm. You can count on one hand the number of 1st round QBs that fail on their original team and then become a star elsewhere. Brees...Favre...probably 1 or 2 I'm missing. Technically Favre was in the 2nd round but he was one of the first few picks of that round. You can probably count on one hand the number of 1st round draft pick QBs who've been abandoned by a new regime. I think there's a 3rd option in there. They have some level of faith in Fields but not enough to carry this team in 2022, which is what they'd need to contend this year. They aren't giving him weapons because if they did he'd be expected to use them? So they are going into 2022 with the hopes of being a run first, second and third team, maybe throwing 18 times a game just to mix things up. Load up on young depth on the offensive line, pound the ball, create an identity on offense while not actually scoring points, let the defense keep you in the game and maybe you win a couple unexpectedly. There are enough bad teams on this schedule that they can beat a few just with competence and turnovers, and then you load up in the 2023 draft with all the talent you can give Fields to open it up. If Fields stumbles in 2023, you draft your QB in 2024 and hope that guys shows enough in his 2nd year to net everybody a contract extension. Or if Fields survives this gauntlet you get that contract extension even sooner. Because by then you should have the surrounding cast to help a young QB. The other issue though is I don't see how this defense can be anywhere close to dominant enough to keep this team in games this year.

What do you disagree with? Poles inherited a bad team and made no effort to make it competitive in 2022. They required bare minimum upgrades and didn't even try. yea, I dont know how anyone can look at what Poles has done (or more importantly not done) and think anything other than he doesn't believe in Fields I can squint and rationalize a way that he believes in Fields, I just don't see how you can think Poles isn't giving up on the season.

This must be the answer to the question: How to sound like the biggest a-hole while making obvious criticisms against the Bears offseason? Authors points: WR corps looks bad, TE corps not good enough to make receiver group as a whole satisfactory (I agree) Velus Jones not an ideal pick at 71 (I agree) Poles is giving up on this season and will blame Pace (I do not agree) Evaluating Fields is more important than BPA because it means a better evaluation of the most important position (I get it) I wish more had been done to the offense, too. Developing Fields is critical, and giving him more weapons/OLine help would be/would have been awesome. Poles deserves some criticism of, or at least opinions on, his offseason, no doubt. This clown took 1000 words of hyperbole and not very funny sarcasm to make his case. What do you disagree with? Poles inherited a bad team and made no effort to make it competitive in 2022. They required bare minimum upgrades and didn't even try.

just noticed the Cubs went back over .400 for the first time since before facing the white sox

Well then you just missed 2 runs lol Edit: 3 And 3 more

This is his dad https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1379164/ Definitely expected this to be Booger would have been better

This is his dad https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1379164/

Contreras is 30. Since 2017, his first year as a full time member of the Cubs, he's third in PAs for catchers, behind Realmuto and Grandal (who both put up roughly twice as much value in that time frame, but I digress). He's been catching in the organization since 2009. I love the guy, though realistically we're talking about a guy who maxed out at 2.6 fWAR and was not Kyle Schwarber in terms of postseason awesomeness. But someone is going to give him 4-5 years, and it should not be us. You can’t make team of replacement players. Maybe you make a bullpen out of them, but not an entire team. Jed disagrees.

I’m already getting multiple invites to games at MetLife this year in hopes of the bears being sacrificial lambs

There's a first time for every thing.

Because it's the Bears and between Packers, chance of Lions on thanksgiving, and the need to fill at least 2 primetime games every week, and often more, plus the limits on the best teams doing it every week, the league doesn't have many better options.

It can not be any more clear that the Cubs have no interest or ability to be competitive for the next few years. They were desperate for several starting pitchers this offseason and signed one, who is going to be traded. They got rid of several quality position players and brought back one. They had $100 million in disposable income they preferred to pocket. They aren’t interested in winning baseball games. There is no point in keeping a decent player like Happ when your roster is trash and have no hope for contending. They spent 40 million AAV on three new SP, but that's besides the point. Your assumption is that they spent right up to their limit which was too low because ownership are cartoon villains, and not because of the part that you clipped out of my post, which is that free agency is increasingly a terrible option for team building, especially when you need to make large improvements from the current roster like they did from October 2021. They signed the one real guy and then trash pickups. The actual dollar value is nothing to anybody who pays attention to the business of sports. I realize your predilection to licking the boot but my god son, wake up to reality.

The Cubs have to put their money to good use if they're going to get back to being competitive. . It can not be any more clear that the Cubs have no interest or ability to be competitive for the next few years. They were desperate for several starting pitchers this offseason and signed one, who is going to be traded. They got rid of several quality position players and brought back one. They had $100 million in disposable income they preferred to pocket. They aren’t interested in winning baseball games. There is no point in keeping a decent player like Happ when your roster is trash and have no hope for contending.

Needs got nothing to do with it.

I do not understand the hesitation at all. The guy is nothing special, hes peaked as a 2 WAR player in his prime years and this team isn’t close to contending. The roster is so devoid of talent and the organization has shown no inclination to fix it financially. The prospects are all very young. One way or another he probably won’t be on the next great Cubs roster, so you might as well. There isn’t an untouchable guy on the active roster. If the return is middling, then don’t bother, but anything good should be acceptable.

The report is he grabbed Hoge's throat.

https://twitter.com/thegeorgetwo/status/1521270331767468035?s=21&t=-Aq5Om241WwH2lMUVr7M5w Is this real or a publicity stunt for CHGO? Serious question. The tweet you quoted is fake. Olin getting physical and then getting fired seems real.

A meathead’s meathead

I would literally rather fold the franchise than sit through another run of "ok we snuck in at 10-6 thanks to our defense, oops we got rocked in the playoffs by a team with an elite QB" seasons I would be ecstatic if they lucked into the playoffs on defense and running with a competent Fields, as they don’t have any other options and winning is better than losing. That wouldn’t preclude them doing it the right way the following season.

He probably said some variation of “I believe he has all the potential in the world but he hasn’t shown it yet and we’ll evaluate as we go along and remain flexible “ He’s treating it like he doesn’t believe in him at all, but maybe he’s telling George that if he truly had “it” he’ll show progress even without weapons or strong protection.

He’s a change of pace back and special teams guy, no? There’s so few talented skill guys on this team and not ST depth, I’m sure it won’t be that hard for him to make it. The RB room is fairly bland and screaming out for a guy who can catch a pass and run with it.