XZero771679666304

The more I think about this, the more it pisses me off. [expletive] fire Quade and let Listach finish out the year.

I think that one has been grinding on the undercarriage for a while. Now it's on fire.

Take it easy there, Kaplenbloom.

Yeah, Quade is certainly making the worst out of a bad situation.

It's no more foolish to assume payroll will remain the same than to assume it will go down. A big market team isn't going to respond to reduced attendance by slashing payroll, especially after raising ticket prices. If the team retains Ramirez, that leaves two, maybe three holes to fill. And we're probably looking at at least 40MM to fill those 2-3 holes. Retaining Ramirez next year won't handcuff the Cubs in any significant way. Trading him would create a hole even harder to fill than the others.

Yeah, the trib originally reported the denial. And really, why wouldn't Ricketts deny it, even if it's true?

Or buy out his contract and re-sign him to 2 year deal with a lower aav. If he's serious about wanting to wrap up his career in Chicago, he'd probably consider it.

It's not like teams were clamoring to get their hands on Hamilton at the time, given his recent history of being a hot mess. There is a whole lot of irrational second guessing and 20/20 hindsight going on with regard to that whole scenario.

Lol, WTFever.

I really don't care about winning or losing at this point, but man do I feel bad for Garza. And WTF is Quade thinking?

Good lord, that was painful to listen to. Damn.

God, our CF situation was just abysmal for the 5-6 years between Lofton and Byrd. I just kind of got used to it. Jimmy will cut you. Well yeah, him too.

God, our CF situation was just abysmal for the 5-6 years between Lofton and Byrd. I just kind of got used to it. I would say between '04 Patterson and Byrd.

Hiring Dusty was a bad move not because of the W-L record, but as others have mentioned, it was bad because Dusty significantly overused Prior, Wood and Z and probably had a huge effect on Prior and Wood having significant injury issues throughout their careers. Lou, on the other hand, never really abused his starting pitchers, he promoted a very solid approach at the plate and brought in coaches (Perry, Joshua) who believed in that philosophy, and generally stayed out of the way during games. He was actually a very good manager his first two seasons and his teams posted 85 wins and 97 wins in those years. Dusty won 88 and 89 his first two years and then tailed off, plus he had the negative effects after he left that Lou did not. I can blame Dusty for ruining Prior, but not Wood. Wood already had major surgery before Dusty arrived and already had bad mechanics to contribute to his many stints on the DL. Doesn't going 0-6 in two straight playoff appearances and mailing in his manager duties for half of 09 and all of 2010 have any significance? The only thing Lou did that had any tangible effect on the W-L record at any point was his refusal to remove Lee/Ramirez from the 3/4 spots when they were stinking out loud and everyone else was hitting last year. Beyond that he was pretty benign, as most managers are.

LaTroy Hawkins was not signed to close and had clearly proven he couldn't do it in Minnesota. He was signed to set up, which is what he did brilliantly. I do not blame him for what happened. It was just another example of Dusty Baker totally mismanaging his resources. I felt sorry for Hawkins, and I still do.

I gave up on hope a long time ago. Unless we get Fielder or Pujols there will be no reason to be excited about next year's team. They'll likely bring back a lot of the same cogs from this year but they'll be a year older. Whooptie doo. Also, if we don't get one of those two guys we won't have a guy capable of carrying an offense like Sammy did in 2001. And we won't have another Mark Prior to mow down batters at the front of our rotation. And we won't have....... an.... Alfonso Soriano? I don't know why 2007 was such a success. Point is, those teams had players on them that gave the Cubs clout and a reason for the fans to be hopeful. Without Pujols or Fielder what is there to look forward to except maybe the premiere of guys like Brett Jackson? We have a ton of money coming off the books, a good group of cheap young supporting cast, 3/5 of a good rotation and perhaps most importantly, we play in a mediocre division. If we totally whiff on the offseason, then I can see writing 2012 off. But to do so now is silly.

Apparently winning when you're the underdog epitomizes the American Spirit[tm], but losing when you're heavily favored is just something that happens aw shucks oh well That spirit was established in 1776, and never existed prior. Now other countries have to co-opt it to beat us. Well, we lend some of it out as an act of charity, which is why stuff like this happens.

This. The prospect of being saddled with a owner's manager would have to be a turn off for potential GM candidates. Ricketts let Hendry install Quade when everyone was expecting Ryno and he (Ricketts) obviously preferred him, so why would he change now?

Signing either one of Fielder or Pujols won't be "blowing it all", even if they flame out. Great scouting and development are the thing, but the simple fact of the matter is we don't have a potential impact player in the system, and even if one of the new draftees were to become one, it'll be 3-5 years before they get here. No one is "resigned" to anything. It's just that there is no reason whatsoever to wait for the system to produce a superstar or two. There is no perfect FA, but this situation literally screams out for the Cubs to sign Pujols or Fielder. We have cheap support players in place and more lined up, a hole at 1B and more than enough money to afford them for years, even if they under produce. I'm sorry, but to suggest the Cubs wait until they produce a home grown superstar and then build around him because we need to wait for some mythical ideal situation is just hogwash. The money is going to be spent. Better to spend it on one or two impact players than to spread it around on role players and filler, which is what has put the Cubs in the mess they've been in, not Alfonso Soriano. For the first time in years, the team can plug most of it's holes with decent/good homegrown talent. What they system can't give us right now is a Pujols or Fielder. To not spend now in a situation that calls for it and instead wait for a homegrown answer is absolutely a small market approach. This isn't Milwaukee, it's [expletive] Chicago.

You can't operate like you're scared of a contact turning into a burden, because that's a risk that's always going to be there. Well you can, by only signing good players to safe contracts and avoiding great players, but winners don't work that way. And we don't have any impact players in our system. Sure, we'd all like to develop superstars internally, but for a large market team there simply isn't any reason to sit around for five years or more waiting for one to pop up. The ability to take a risk is a luxury a team with the Cubs' means has. There are nice role players in the system now, but no one near the caliber of Fielder or Pujols anywhere. If the Cubs are going to be good anywhere in the foreseeable future, signing a big name free agent (and taking on that inherent risk) is going to have to happen. And again, a team with the Cubs' resources has no excuse to bide it's time until we draft and develop a superstar. To suggest that's the proper path for this franchise is lunacy.

That's why I said the DL is the only option. I expect to hear something along the lines of "he just needs to work through this" after the game. The DL should be the only option, but unfortunately it isn't.

I think you have to either sell Marmol or DL him at this point. Has to be DL. Trading him now is going to be at his least valuable, easily. DL him, hope he can come back strong to finish the year and move him in the offseason. DL preferably, but one or the other. If the Cubs keep running him out there, his value can go a lot lower. No, DL is really the only option right now. Trading him right now would be insanely stupid unless a team approaches the Cubs with a good offer, because they're not going to find [expletive] if they shop him. What I'm saying that the DL is the clear option, but keeping things as they are would be even worse than trading him for a mediocre return. There's something wrong with him, and if this is allowed to keep going, something's really going to give physically, and then we have nothing and have to pay for it.

I think you have to either sell Marmol or DL him at this point. Has to be DL. Trading him now is going to be at his least valuable, easily. DL him, hope he can come back strong to finish the year and move him in the offseason. DL preferably, but one or the other. If the Cubs keep running him out there, his value can go a lot lower.

Why not.

I think you have to either sell Marmol or DL him at this point.