Hairyducked Idiot
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Everything posted by Hairyducked Idiot
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But by the late 2000s, they still had a strong farm system, and it was built during a time when they were winning WS. I don't see why we need to be bad to build a farm system.
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People specifically argued that the $130-140 million from the late Tribune years was unsustainable. That's not Boston/NY/Dodger money. The Cubs also sold 2.8+m tickets with the highest average ticket price in the NL, scalped their own tickets, owned part of the TV station making money off their broadcasts and got ticket revenue from people not actually sitting inside the park.
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The most recent Forbes estimates was from 2011 and had the Cubs at No. 3 in revenue. I look forward to seeing what the 2012 estimates bring. Ownership cries poor across all of sports, and it's almost universally horsescrotum. Revenues might be top in the league but the Cubs have to have some of the largest debt in all of MLB due to the recent purchase. As we talked about in the other thread, who really knows what that debt service is but what if the initial intention was for the added advertising/signage to take care of the debt service on the loans required for purchase while the exisitng revenue would continue to fund the baseball operations? It's possible that debt service is robbing the Cubs of spending power, but that doesn't mean that the old payrolls were unsustainable. That just means that Ricketts can't sustain them.
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If you are trying to make the playoffs a bunch, I don't think passing on several seasons is a good idea. That's ultimately my criticism of "the plan." The math just doesn't add up. Epstein has talked about "8 in 10" or whatever, and I just don't see how he gets there without convincing the rest of the division to stop trying. There's only one bad GM in the division at this point, the Brewers. It looks to me like we're going to miss the playoffs in 2012-2014 and then go on some sort of 5-in-10 run that gives us a total of 5-in-13, which puts us like half a playoff appearance ahead of Hendry's tenure (adjusted for the same number of seasons).
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Sure there is. The Marlins and Braves both had a goal of winning a WS in the 90s. They had different plans for doing so. Both were effective. You can argue which was more effective or which is more likely to be effective, I suppose. I know which I prefer for the Cubs. I've already seen the Cubs try to implement the 1990s' Braves plan. I was hoping for the 2000s Red Sox plan (we're going to build an awesome farm system and almost outspend the Yankees at the same time because we can).
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The most recent Forbes estimates was from 2011 and had the Cubs at No. 3 in revenue. I look forward to seeing what the 2012 estimates bring. Ownership cries poor across all of sports, and it's almost universally horsescrotum.
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I wonder if Theo plans on being out of here by the time the Cubs might win the World Series because of his machinations. There was that rumor that he wants to wait out the ownership there for a few years and go back to Boston after they sell, which they are rumored to want to do. (Rumor upon rumor, I know).
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I think Theo made it very explicit why he wouldn't do those things: He was burnt out from that approach in Boston and wanted to try something new. If Ricketts had told him he was under pressure to win immediately in Chicago, I doubt he would have taken the job.
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My plan is to become rich and handsome and popular and successful. That's the plan.
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I maintain that Cubs fans have remarkably short memories and are suffering under some sort of Stockholm Syndrome. When Dave Kaplan used to suggest the Cubs go with this plan in 2011, he was roundly and thoroughly ridiculed.
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If we're insisting on describing it in such overly simplified terms, then I would say that was Rickett's plan in hiring Epstein. I think Epstein's plan is to find out how good of a farm system he can build when given the resources and free reign to focus on it, and to hope that wins a World Series at some point.
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I think describing the "plan" merely in terms of the goal is an attempt to gloss over the more problematic elements of the plan.
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Probably not. Doesn't seem like the Cubs are. Maybe passively trying. So the plan is to be a strong contender for the WS, just not on your schedule. At best, that's an incomplete description of the plan.
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Probably not. Doesn't seem like the Cubs are. Maybe passively trying.
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The 2012 Offseason Thread
Hairyducked Idiot replied to ctcf's topic in MLB Draft, International Signings, Amateur Baseball
With regard to the draft rules, I don't think the new CBA hurts any market size specifically. -
You know what I've noticed? Nobody panics when things go "according to plan." Even if the plan is horrifying! The plan is to win the World Series, just not on Kyle's schedule. Truly horrifying. That's a goal, not a plan. Every team has the goal of winning the World Series.
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Which should have been unacceptable from the outset.
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The 2012 Offseason Thread
Hairyducked Idiot replied to ctcf's topic in MLB Draft, International Signings, Amateur Baseball
lolBrewers. Their window is closed. Time to start acting like it. -
I think there could have been something between cutting payroll by $30 million and Dodgers money.
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You know what I've noticed? Nobody panics when things go "according to plan." Even if the plan is horrifying!
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I'm surprised the voting is so positive. We're several years past due for a stadium deal, the MLB payroll is down by a third, and we've lost more games than the year before every single year he's owned the team. I'd definitely take another spin at the wheel.
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It's been a little more than four years since the Ricketts' bid was accepted to buy the Cubs. Do you wish the Cubs had been bought by different ownership?
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2013 Draft Discussion
Hairyducked Idiot replied to seattlecub's topic in MLB Draft, International Signings, Amateur Baseball
Don't talk about him. -
Soriano/DeJesus/Schierholtz (Hairston, Sappelt) Valbuena/Castro/Barney/Rizzo (Lillibridge, ????) Castillo (Navarro) Samardzija/Jackson/Wood/Feldman/Villanueva Marmol/Fujikawa/Russell/Camp/Rondon/Bowden/????? 15-day DL: Stewart, Garza 60-day DL: Baker, Vizcaino The last bench spot is probably Clevenger. There's a couple guys still in camp for the last bullpen spot, but Takahashi has the inside edge because he's a lefty.
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Meh. At that point he'll be 32 with consecutive seasons of elbow problems. I'd rather just not throw good money after bad on this one. Shrug it off and move on. Sometimes you get Baker, sometimes you get Maholm.