Tarver

And as I said above, a key thing to point out is that Soriano's contract would come off the books 4 years into Pujols' deal. Even if Pujols all the sudden started breaking down and turned into the later part of Griffey's career, the Cubs would not be strapped for cash. The only reason the Cubs had such a dire situation the previous couple of years is because of a flurry of high priced 30-some players the Cubs signed back between 2006-2008 where Zambrano, Dempster, Soriano, Fukudome, Lee, Ramirez, Lilly were all signed to 3+ year contracts all making 8 figures annually. And out of all those contracts, there is not one ace quality pitcher or one dominant .950+ OPS hitter gained from all that money thrown out. Assuming the Cubs don't go 0% in spending money for premiere talent, and assuming the Cubs space out the handing out of huge contracts, hypothetically there should never be an issue where the Cubs are both crappy and cash strapped at the same time. But then again, these are the Cubs we're talking about. I wouldn't include Demp, Lee, or Lilly in that list. Those contracts were all at or below market and pretty much turned out in our favor. The point about timing stands. The lack of cost-controlled contributors outside of Soto and Marmol killed us.

I think it would take the Cubs paying 46 out of the 50 million for someone to take Soriano from them. I'd say, "Hey, the Jays pulled it off with Wells." But he was at least coming off a decent season. Soriano can still hit for power but that's about it. Toronto also has one of the best GMs in the league while Anaheim has one of the worst. Hendry would probably feel too guilty about fleecing a fellow "baseball man" to even contemplate not kicking in at least 50%. (please don't bring up Hundley)

It's more than his twitter shenanigans. He's been taking shots at Hanley Ramirez, and skipped a season ticket holder meet and greet the day he was demoted to AAA. After the team fucked him over on his own charity event. This is yet another exhibit in the case against Jeff Loria. Can't have any sass talk from the proles, no sir. This scumbag is right up there with Dan Snyder and Don Sterling.

I was actually referring to Logan Morrison and Sidney Ponson. Consensus at the time was the Orioles were looking for any reason to get out of the contract because of his poor performance, and the dui was a convenient excuse. Not completely analogous, but close enough. I don't doubt for a second this would've been handled differently if his numbers were better.

This is unfortunate if true. Its nice to see us spend on the farm but its seems all for naught if we cant mix in some top free agent talent. The chances of us pulling off what the marlins did in 03 and 97 with almost all home grown talent is slim, especially for an organizational without any legitimate philosophy on player development. In think we may be reading this wrong though. It might not be the cubs going cheap. there is a chance that the cubs now realize that they cannot fix this teams problems with a single big acquisition. With Ramirez's option to pick up, possibly two starting pitching spots open, first base, and maybe outfield there just isnt enough money to go around. Plus signing Fielder suggests that we are losing out on Ramirez because we still need help in other areas. Getting fielder and playing Baker and Flarhety at third is also (approximately) only equal to retaining Ramirez and Pena offensively. Clearly the preference is to keep Ramirez, sign Fielder, and a starter. That would really improve our team. But I dont think the money is there to do all of that. 03 was mostly homegrown, but Huizenga paid top dollar for the '97 team, hence it's immediate dismantling.

I'll wait to see how the offseason plays out before I pull out my noose and pitchfork. The retention of Hendry and Pena would be an absolute PR nightmare for the Cubs. Someone amongst the Ricketts family has to know that.

it kind of has. 125-81 record, 123 era+, etc. Trending down. ok, so by switching topics, you implicitly admit you're wrong that it hasn't worked out before now? I wasn't clear enough. Z's #s are certainly trending down, but I meant the failure of previous efforts to reform/discipline him. How many more chances can they give him?

Hendry is a joke, but your position on this is laughably naive. Awful as they are, Hendry and Quade are still in management. You can't let your employees run roughshod over you like this, or you run the risk of everyone doing it. I'm sure both of them still aspire to work in baseball after we sack them; letting Z have his way again would only undermine whatever respect they've earned in MLB over the years. Not that I care, but Z instigated this, not the FO. And Z isn't worth the trouble anyway. You and JR act like it's still 08. His #'s suck. So what you're saying is that the other 29 teams in baseball not only constantly discipline players who aren't actually breaking any major rules, but that they do it so often that Hendry and Quade would be laughed out of baseball for not doing so? That's interesting, because I can't think of a single instance by a team other than the Cubs... at least not at the major league level. Oh, and Z's numbers don't suck as badly as you think they do... especially when compared to his likely replacements for the rotation next year. That's not what I said, it's what you typed. And again, this incident isn't bad in a vacuum. But Z's history warrants discipline. He had to know he's on a short leash after last year. And we don't know who's replacing him yet. That argument can wait until we do. I'm failing to see the part where I was wrong in my interpretation of what you wrote. I said we're the only team in baseball that does this. You said I was being "laughably naive" and implied Hendry/Quade would have trouble getting jobs if they didn't do this. I asked for examples of other teams doing this. What am I missing? The Marlins, Orioles, and Mariners recently. Our management sucks, but I don't have many complaints about how they handled this. Z's been given more than enough rope.

it kind of has. 125-81 record, 123 era+, etc. Trending down.

Hendry is a joke, but your position on this is laughably naive. Awful as they are, Hendry and Quade are still in management. You can't let your employees run roughshod over you like this, or you run the risk of everyone doing it. I'm sure both of them still aspire to work in baseball after we sack them; letting Z have his way again would only undermine whatever respect they've earned in MLB over the years. Not that I care, but Z instigated this, not the FO. And Z isn't worth the trouble anyway. You and JR act like it's still 08. His #'s suck. So what you're saying is that the other 29 teams in baseball not only constantly discipline players who aren't actually breaking any major rules, but that they do it so often that Hendry and Quade would be laughed out of baseball for not doing so? That's interesting, because I can't think of a single instance by a team other than the Cubs... at least not at the major league level. Oh, and Z's numbers don't suck as badly as you think they do... especially when compared to his likely replacements for the rotation next year. That's not what I said, it's what you typed. And again, this incident isn't bad in a vacuum. But Z's history warrants discipline. He had to know he's on a short leash after last year. And we don't know who's replacing him yet. That argument can wait until we do.

Sure, they should've just allowed him to have his way as always. It's worked so well to date.

Hendry is a joke, but your position on this is laughably naive. Awful as they are, Hendry and Quade are still in management. You can't let your employees run roughshod over you like this, or you run the risk of everyone doing it. I'm sure both of them still aspire to work in baseball after we sack them; letting Z have his way again would only undermine whatever respect they've earned in MLB over the years. Not that I care, but Z instigated this, not the FO. And Z isn't worth the trouble anyway. You and JR act like it's still 08. His #'s suck.

I'm hoping for him to come back and then retire during the offseason. Save the $18 million for a different GM to use. On that we can agree. If Z's stubborn as he is talented, we might've just hit the lottery.

Yes, what's the headache? That he had a temper tantrum after a bad game was over with? If he shows up again today, it was just him blowing off steam. If he doesn't, and actually retires, then you guys get your way and the Cubs save money. It don't see a headache here. I see drama, but that's what you've always gotten with Z. Byrd's got it right on this one. How did Zambrano make any of his teammates look like fools? Who's "you guys"?

Hollandsworth will always hold a place in my heart having been a key piece in one of the worst Cub outfields I've ever seen. Dubois/Holly, Cpatt, Burnitz. Our entire opening day OF rotation had a collective .09 WAR. If it weren't for Lee, Aram, and Barrett that team would've lost 100+ games.

I love that the first sentence of the post is calling other posts ridiculous. He had a temper tantrum. He'll apologize and be back. He didn't leave during the game, or do anything that was so awful that he can't come back. Silly overreaction. It was an overly emotional post, but your response isn't much better. He's had too many temper tantrums. He's not worth the headache anymore. What's the headache here? Presuming he comes back today and says "Hey guys, sorry. Lost my head last night. Was pissed off that I had a [expletive] game."....what's the damage? Last nights nonsense isn't bad in a vacuum, but this is par for the course with him. If he was producing like he used to I'd agree with you. Put it this way: our FO needs to pore over his contract looking for any possible way to get out of it, because he isn't worth the money or the drama. If we end up on the hook, I'll amend my position.

I love that the first sentence of the post is calling other posts ridiculous. He had a temper tantrum. He'll apologize and be back. He didn't leave during the game, or do anything that was so awful that he can't come back. Silly overreaction. It was an overly emotional post, but your response isn't much better. He's had too many temper tantrums. He's not worth the headache anymore.

That's ridiculous. I've defended Z here and elsewhere for his BS over the years, but he's just not worth it anymore. If he was still a TOR guy, it'd be one thing. But his peripherals have plummeted and the guy's as big an [expletive] as ever. If they don't exercise the proper discipline now, how can anyone ever take Ricketts seriously? Keeping Z is bad for business.

Ricketts should render all of this moot, for his sake.

Don't see any way Zambrano stays a Cub after this. The team's gone above and beyond what most other clubs would have to work with Z's problems. His poor performance this season makes it an easy decision.

He rated the John Tudor/Pedro Guerrero trade as the worst in MLB history. No way I can take this guy seriously.

No, the funny part is taking anything on Bleacher Report this seriously. This "article" was a troll post worked to perfection. This guy's laughing his ass off somewhere because of all the fuss he's caused. I disagree. He's trying, rather poorly, to defend his positions in the comments section. The better trolls will always attempt a defense. Sauce for the goose. I'd be pissing my pants after writing this: or this: I give this guy credit. I wish I'd written it.

No, the funny part is taking anything on Bleacher Report this seriously. This "article" was a troll post worked to perfection. This guy's laughing his ass off somewhere because of all the fuss he's caused.

You want the Cubs to make major decisions about the direction of the franchise based upon media frenzy? And you don't even agree with the frenzy, or think it's fair? Surely I'm missing something here. Yeah, I just now decided Hendry needs to be fired. Harold Reynolds convinced me. My point is how far the knowledge of Hendry's failings has trickled down. Before last season, you'd be in the minority of fans if you wanted Hendry gone. Now, Al Yellon and Mike Murphy are leading the charge. Keeping him around would be a huge PR hit, as well as a terrible operational decision.