UMFan83

The one thing to be happy about is that the names we are discussing all represent a positive step for the Cubs franchise. I no longer feel as negative and without hope as I've felt in recent years. But maybe I should shut my mouth until we actually make a hire.

lol I'm reading comments from that article, and pretty much everyone expects at worst they get Garza for Theo. One guy said he'd want more than Garza because "the Rays gave up on him so that tells you a lot". Another guy thinks that negotiations for Epstein should START with Castro as the centerpiece in a larger compensation package. Sure guys, we're going to trade our 21 year old all star SS for a GM.

Ryan Theriot in the playoffs as a Cub: .261 .320 .261 .581 6-23 with 0 XBH and 2 BB Ryan Theriot in the playoffs as a Cardinal: .666/.666/.889/1.555 6-9 with 2 2B

I would say someone like Theo has obvious warts because he runs a big market team and can afford to gamble a bit more when signing FAs. If they have to pay JD Drew $15 million a year to be their 4th OF so be it. If the Rays signed JD Drew for $15 million a year, it would cripple the team and leave them unable to compete. I imagine being a small market GM is almost a different job from being a big market GM. Friedman's most important responsibility is to ensure that there is always an influx of cheap talent coming into their system because they constantly allow talent to leave the organization when they get too expensive. Theo's biggest issue is using his plentiful resources upgrading the level of talent on the team and making smart decisions to lock up the highest end talent long term. Obviously on paper, what Friedman does seems like it can translate to a larger market. Do the same thing but here's an extra $100 million to play with. But who knows if it actually as simple as it seems in concept.

You legitimately don't want Epstein? As in, you'd be disappointed if he were hired? Not absolutely disappointed. I do think he is a bit over-hyped though. His record isn't as shiny as people would have you believe of course. Out of all the candidates, I like the fact that Theo has experience winning in a pressure packed big market city. I'm not saying Friedman would suddenly fail when given more money to spend, but I just worry that his style is most successful when he's running a small market club. Reminds me of Andy MacPhail's tenure here when he came over after success with a small market club and, whether it was his own decision or the Trib limited what he could spend, implemented a small to mid market approach for the Cubs. Again, I am not saying Friedman is likely to end up this way, its just something that crosses my mind when I think of the pros and cons of Epstein and Friedman, my 1 and 1a choices for GM. When it comes to other names like Cherington, Hahn, etc. Epstein wins hands down IMO because again, he's proven capable of doing the job, whereas the other guys you can only speculate on how well they'd do, even if you 100% agree with their philosophies.

Guess I could get behind a Rangers-Tigers ALCS, but I really wanted to see the Rays extend their run. It was a better story to get behind.

You legitimately don't want Epstein? As in, you'd be disappointed if he were hired? I could understand wanting someone more than Theo, but to not want him at all would be silly.

Geez, I am trying to put together a top 5 from that list factoring in how they performed with the Bears, as well as the overall NFL resume. Meaning Brandon Lloyd won't make my top 5 even though he led the NFL in receiving yards last season because he didnt do much of anything in a Bears uni. But Marcus Robinson also won't make the top 5 because he never really did much beyond that one great season for the Bears. 1) Marty Booker 2) Muhsin Muhammad 3) ok whoops Marcus Robinson made it afterall 4) Bernard Berrian 5) umm.. Johnny Knox?

Only put guys on that actually caught a pass for the Bears

Just for fun, here is a nearly comprehensive list of WRs in the Jerry Angelo era (aka 2001-present) Marty Booker Dez White David Terrell D'Wayne Bates Ahmad Merritt Marcus Robinson Justin Gage Bobby Wade Bernard Berrian Muhsin Muhammad Mark Bradley Devin Hester Rashied Davis Brandon Lloyd Earl Bennett Devin Aromashodu Johnny Knox Roy Williams Dane Sanzenbacher Sam Hurd

I don't see any way the Bears are gonna get a big name WR while Angelo is around. He did sign the biggest name on the free agent market one year. He has spent a number of 2nd and 3rd round picks on WR. I think he would, I just don't think he knows what he's doing on offense. Are you referring to Moose? And if so, he was the biggest name that year? I remember that he was coming off a really nice year and a decent career, but that's crazy.

My original comment was in response to the "well earned" notation about the extension. He was already signed for 2 more seasons. I would have been very happy to see how this season played out before thinking he needed an extension. OK that's fair. I don't think you can give Bowman any credit for the core Tallon built, but I don't think you can blame Bowman at all for taking a step back last year because he was literrally put in a position where he had no choice but to dismantle the team. Tallon would have had to do the exact same thing, although who knows how he would have chosen to do it. The main thing I give him credit for is he identified the 6 most important players (to me at least - Kane, Toews, Sharp, Hossa, Keith, Seabrook) and 2 other key pieces (Bolland, Hammer) and managed to keep them all on board while stocking the farm system and putting us in a great financial situation. If you had told me in June 2010, knowing the dire cap situation we were in, that we'd be able to keep those 8 guys and have financial flexibility, I'd have been thrilled, and I am thrilled. I didn't think we'd make it through this without having to get rid of Sharp, Seabs, or both and to hold on to both of this guys, get them extended, and still have a healthy amount of money left over it makes me call this a success so far. Yeah that's a concern. I was more concerned about the cap hangover last year, and that was justified. The whole team save Toews pretty much took a step back. You'd like to think they've learned from that, and may or may not be embarrassed at how much the team dropped off because of that. But then again, Keith tells the media days after the season ends that he didn't give it his all this year and basically admits a Cup hangover and the media doesn't really make much of it at all. There should be some accountability there and there wasn't.

I think all you pointed out was that Bowman had a lot of work to do, but it's still very far from certain how it will all turn out. The fact remains he took over pre-Stanley Cup with a team built by the previous GM (with his assistance of course), and the team took a step back. Granted, it was a necessary step back. And on the surface I like what he has done, but they've got a long way to go before we can praise Bowman as some sort of super genius who actually retooled one Cup winning team into another. They aren't there yet. I like the direction and I have hope in the short and intermediate term. Whats the point in mentioning that the team took a step back after he took over when you acknowledge that it was necessary? In my book, its foolish to judge last year's team against the one before it. I think what I originally said was that what he's done in getting the Hawks to where they are now - one of the best cores in hockey, a great farm system with high end prospects, and financial flexibility was an amazing job. That's all we can really evaluate him on at this point, but that's enough for me to say a 3 year extension is warranted. Although it was disapointing to see the team take a step back last year, I expected some degree of step back. Whatever happened last year in terms of playoff success was just a bonus. Now if we are in a position where we are needing teams to lose on the final day of the season to make the playoffs in the next couple of years, then I might start to change my opinion.

That's Acebubbie's website. Ah, ok. I couldn't remember which one that was.

Does anyone know anything about the blog "Bleacher Nation"? Are they legit? They post a couple of interesting nuggets from a "tipster". Regardless, its something to discuss: http://www.bleachernation.com/2011/10/04/obsessive-cubs-gm-watch-tipster-says-well-probably-know-one-way-or-the-other-on-theo-epstein-this-week/

I really want to see a Game 5 in that series because I'm assuming Moore will take the bump for the Rays again

David I don't think Sandberg is that obscrue. I'm pretty sure he was honored as the Cubs "Diamond King" by Donruss one year. Fake Edit: Yeah see: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51gqOU4-rEL._SL500_AA300_.jpg We'll give you another shot though.

It's not even that the "joke" is that stupid, its that every Red Sox fan that I've talked to or read has made that joke and they all seem to think they are the first person to make that joke. We get it Lackey sucks and you are mad at Theo for signing him.

Someone did mention him in this thread, but only when discussion the 1Dog, McRae, etc trade.

I like what he's done and think he's got them pointed in the right direction, but I'd hesitate to call any of it magic or go overboard thinking about where they are at right now. Guys were sold at highs, but it's not like they acquired any gems out of those deals. They are still completely reliant on all the players that were acquired during Tallon's tenure to have success. Traded: Barker for Leddy - currently Hawks #1 prospect and #28 NHL prospect according to hockeysfuture.com while Barker is barely on the crappy Oilers roster. Generally considered Bowman's best move as Hawks GM so far. Byfuglien/Eager/Sopel for Morin - Hawks #2 prospect and #48 NHL prospect). Huge salary dump but gained a really nice prospect out of it Kopecky for Montador - Not bad to get a top 6 defenseman and save money. Ladd for a 2nd round pick - Another necessary salary dump, but got decent value considering the position we were in. Skille for Frolik - Maybe a lateral move but Frolik has more scoring upside which we needed at the time and probably now as well. Fraser for a 6th rounder - I mean it's Colin Fraser Versteeg for Stalberg - Not a huge fan of the move. Another (probably) necessary salary dump. Got basically a poor man's Versteeg in terms of scoring output. Not bad 4th line depth. Campbell for Olesz - Not bad considering Florida was taking on $5 million in the deal. Saving that paved the way for us to be fairly well under the cap after Sharp and Seabs extensions. I also think Bowman in FA this year got a really undervalued scorer in Brunette, albeit a short term answer. And I think he rightly identified that we needed a more physical 4th line as it was an issue all year and forced us into playing John Scott way too much because he was our "enforcer". So we signed a couple of really good guys in that department, most of them for next to nothing. We don't quite have the depth of the Cup winning Hawks, but I at least feel like we can produce with our 3rd line this year, which is huge. The best part is we have over $3 million in cap space to make a move midseason when we can identify an area to improve.

Si. What he did the last 2 offseasons was pure magic. He was able to take a talented but unsustainable team, identify the core of the team and sell mostly high on the rest of the guys. Now we have our "core" of Toews, Kane, Sharp, Hossa, Bolland, Keith, Seabs, Hammer (missing anyone?), are in a great cap situation, and have a stocked up farm system among the best in the NHL. We'll have to see this season if we are a cup contending team this year, but even if we're not we're right there in striking distance with money to spend. I wonder what a lesser GM would have done after the Cup season. Might they have felt sentimental to fan favorite Buff for his playoff contributions and kept him instead of keeping Sharp? Would they have not been able to find a decent return for Campbell and instead have to let Seabrook go in FA? Would they have made the decision to keep Niemi instead of Hammer? (not that hammer was great last year but it was still the better choice).

Red Sox fans are so annoying. Everytime I read ANY Red Sox fan perspective on Theo leaving they make the "har har har they can have theo...as long as they give em lackey har har har" OK we get it you don't like Lackey. Have some self-awareness and realize that you aren't being original when you say that. Mostly joking here but would anyone bite on this: Epstein and Crawford for Soriano and Garza, contracts are taken straight up. Yeah me neither.

one more: Jeremi Gonzalez thought that dude was gonna be a stud until he got hurt.

So one of the other WRs would magically have 200+ yards by now with the Bears? Cutler has sucked since Atlanta (the one game where Williams looked decent) and the problems with the line are well-documented. You imply that Bradford and Jackson have sucked this year as if Cutler hasn't. No they wouldn't magically have 200+ yards. They would have 200+ yards from cutler throwing them the ball and them catching it. Bradford has a 49% completion percentage, 839 passing yards and a 70.8 passer rating this year. Jackson has a higher rating than Cutler but has thrown for even less yards than Bradford despite completing 14 more passes. Jay Cutler has had a below average start but still has noticably better numbers than those bozos.

Turk Wendell