Hairyducked Idiot

Well, there's a counterexample. I guess my theory is busted.

Age has nothing to do with it. Of course not. It's just a big coincidence that a very sizable majority of the people in this thread were between 13 and 25 the last time they really felt the Cubs' fire for multiple seasons.

You guys are just growing up. The older you get, the harder it is to care about baseball in the same way you did in your teens and early 20s.

"inconsistent" offense is right up there with "can't hit with runners on base" and "never get the run home with a runner on third and less than two outs." It might be true, but fans of almost every team seem to believe it every year regardless.

maybe. honest question: how many guys that were as elite as pujols fell out of elite status quickly upon turning 30? and just how far, how fast would pujols have to fall to not make a huge impact on the cubs ws chances? boy, it's certainly possible that we'd look back on a 10-year pujols deal as an albatross that tanked the team. but i think it's more likely that we look back on not signing pujols as a huge mistake b/c he continued to be elite well into the 2010s while the cubs played mediocre baseball for another decade. I don't think it's going to be an albatross, I just don't think we're going to get late 20s Pujols for five more years. Doing this the completely lazy way, his top-10 comps on B-R through age 30: Foxx started to slip after age 31 Frank Robinson kind of depends on how you define it. His best seasons in his 30s were a step behind his best seasons in his 20s, but he still hit a 150+ OPS+ for while. Griffey was definitely done being elite after 30, but he had CF innings on his legs so that's a tough comparison Gherig started to slow down at 35. Aaron was a machine right up through 39 Mantle's last really great season was at 32 Ott posted a 160+ OPS+ five times in nine years up to 30, then 1 in 6 after. He was still productive but not what he had been Juan Gonzalez cratered in his 30s Eddie Matthews' last great season was age 31 Manny Ramirez was awesome in his 30s, though his 20s were better. I know "elite" is a vague term, but I think it's very likely that his best years are behind him. Expecting elite seasons through age 36 is a lot to ask.

How crazy is it that I don't think it's quite over yet. Get healthy, get lucky, get hot, and we could still squeak out this awful division.

I think 5 years is on the outside of how long you can expect Pujols to be elite. It's possible, but it's also possible he's got 1-2 years, if that. I think we're vastly understating how fast 30+ players can slip.

The variable most closely correlated with attendance is previous season's record. The 1999 Texas Rangers were a 95-win playoff team. The 2000 Texas Rangers were a 71-win fourth-place team. For the 2001 attendance to increase at all over 2000, when they should have been due for a massive decline, is amazing.

If anything, I'd say big-time free agents are underpaid relative to the revenue they bring in. It's not as simple as polling fans and seeing who bought tickets to see that player, but the increased revenue that comes from winning baseball games is clear.

If a 25-year-old A-Rod were on the FA market this coming offseason, I'd give him 8/35 without a second thought.

They are a huge part of those gaudy WARs he posted many years.

Last year was the 4th best of his 10 MLB seasons. By what measure?

There's a huge, huge difference between signing a 27-year-old as an FA and a 32-year-old. I'm not going to say never give a guy his second FA contract, but I will say you should limit it to extremely rare circumstances. Second FA contracts are almost always going to be a case of paying prime dollars for non-prime years. Unless you are at a point where the marginal value of a few extra wins is huge to you, it's not worth it. If the Cubs plan on adding a couple of other pieces, then they'll be a team that is right on the cusp with a big hole at 1b, so Pujols would be one of thoses cases where those marginal wins really will be huge. Just sayin, though: He's got 911 PAs of .301/.397/.551 since turning 30, and the defensive metrics have nosedived on him the past few seasons.

Are we counting the possible increase in the value of the franchise if it becomes more prestigious because the team is better?

Hypothetically speaking, what's the year/dollar combination where you'd say "No thanks" to Pujols.

Given the injuries and performance thus far, you can just as easily say it's wins 83 through 88 or something like that. And those marginal wins above .500 are the most valuable. Also, BA's top 5 prospects in the system(Jackson, McNutt, Jackson, Carpenter, Vitters) are all at AA or AAA, and none of them have their position blocked by a long term guy on the MLB roster. I'd like to see Pujols kick it in gear soon to assuage some lingering doubts, but if there was ever a player worthy of making that gamble with, it's him. Adding Pujols and making a smart decision with a rotation slot and 3B could make the team a NL Central favorite quite reasonably. It's the second two parts of that that worry me. If the plan is to sign Pujols and two more good players to put together a mega-team that cruises to the next 5 NL Central titles, then of course it's worth it. If the plan is to sign Pujols for the PR aspects and then stop, I'm not as sure.

With the team on the field now, adding Pujols is paying a lot for wins 79 through 85. If you are going to do it, I think you need to be willing to pay for the next 5-7 wins worth of marginal talent over what we have. I'm not an expert on our farm system, but I get the impression most of it isn't ready to step in and be major-league average in the next couple seasons.

And he's going to turn 32 this offseason while looking for a massive deal, possibly 10 years long. I have trouble believing that doesn't make more people at least pause and think a little bit before getting out the spray charts. If you do it, you better be prepared to add a few other pieces and go for it all-out in the next 3-5 years.

Good things happen when Darwin Barney is in the game, or around, or even thinking about you.

The Cubs sucking is a bigger reason.

Good things happen when he's in the game. Or even in the area.

I just realized that most people are probably interpreting the second answer as "KyleJRM is an idiot" and not voting for themselves as idiots.

Should the Blackhawks try to salary-dump Brian Campbell in the offseason and use the savings to add depth and grit to the team.

full NTC Plus 10% stake in the Cubs ownership after retirement... You are missing a zero.

First-place Cubs, amirite?