ESPN.com’s Wright Thompson provides a worthwhile profile of Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein. While it’s mostly an interesting look at the veteran executive, the piece also contains an intriguing look behind the scenes in the Cubbies’ front office and a few bits of information on the team’s recent maneuvering.
Here’s more from the central divisions:
- The Cubs are aware of, but not particularly concerned over, a decline in Jake Arrieta’s fastball velocity (and recent predilection for surrendering long balls), ESPNChicago.com’s Jesse Rogers writes. Skipper Joe Maddon suggested that Arrieta was looking to dial in his command in exchange for some velo, and noted that Arrieta’s exceptional movement made him difficult to hit regardless. As for the bigger heater, Maddon says that he “really believe[s] it’s in there” for the postseason.
- Across town, White Sox slugger Jose Abreu says that the difference between his club and the Royals is less about talent than it is “desire,” as Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago tweets. Abreu took responsibility for that assessment, saying that he needed to improve his on-field approach and help lead the team in that regard. It’s certainly an interesting and candid observation from a player of Abreu’s stature.
- With Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar sidelined, the Indians are considering utilizing a three-prong postseason rotation mix, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets. Corey Kluber and Trevor Bauer would take the ball as traditional starters, with Josh Tomlin and Mike Clevinger piggybacking to make for a third rotation piece. That approach may be necessary given the team’s sudden and stunning lack of depth in what had been a huge area of strength, but it seems like the organization will be forced to push its two best remaining starters rather hard.
- The Pirates aren’t willing to commit at this point to giving righty Ryan Vogelsong another start, as Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. GM Neal Huntington says that the team is weighing his recent span of four awful outings against the quality showing that Vogelsong had made immediately upon returning from his injury. “Ryan feels there’s a mechanical adjustment that he can and will make moving forward,” Huntington said. “It’s hard to walk away from his first stretch of starts for us.” While that won’t have much of an impact on the Bucs’ fortunes this year, continued opportunity to work from the rotation could impact Vogelsong’s upcoming free agent case.
IronLung
Yeah Jose Abreu forgot to mention another difference between the two clubs are the front office and the manager. Advantage Royals
BoldyMinnesota
Barely, they’re both mismanaged badly now
Dock_Elvis
Ned Yost singlehandedly bungled games during the 2014 season that cost the Royals a central title. Then he bungled the playin game with Oakland. Had the team not made a miraculous comeback late…he’d not have made it out of the parking lot. Lets not even mention his handling of the Brewers during their pennant chase a few seasons before.
bucknerforhall
Hey Jeff – FYI
they are not the “Cubbies” – not 1 single – Cubs fan in Chicago – calls them that
get it straight.
They are The Cubs.
period.
As a season ticket holder & life long fan that annoys the *hit out of me.
psan
I forgot you were forced to download this app and read this article
digimike
Go Cubbies go. Go Cubbies go. The Cubbies are going to win today. Go Cubbies Go!
Dookie Howser, MD
Don’t think Jeff was claiming to be a Cubs fan, so I guess your hypothesis that not a single Cubs fan calls them the Cubbies can still hold true.
Robertowannabe
What Dookie said….Just about everyone else around baseball refers to the Cubs as the Cubbies at least every once in a while.. Now that you made your post bucknerforhall, you will have more people call them the Cubbies just to irritate die hard Cubs like yourself.. Get over it.
stl_cards16 2
If you’re a season ticket holder, you’ve certainly heard the “Let’s Go Cubbies” chant that is at every Cubs game.
Priggs89
Lol no kidding. Literally multiple times every game.
staypuft
Maybe he meant to say MLB.tv season pass holder?
pd14athletics
What do you mean? Isn’t Cubs short for Cubbies? If not then what is Cubs short for? Please don’t tell me it’s short for Cubicles, that would be way to depressing.
Frank Richard
Cubs isn’t short for anything. It references a bear cub. The Chicago Cubs and Bears shared wrigley field for a long time and the Cubs got their nickname for being the smaller of the two teams. Many diehard fans and especially avid season ticket holders are out off by the Cubbies monicker and are adamant that they should be called the Cubs. While many fans will say cubbies because they know that what they are called is less important than how they play.
Ully
The Bears actually got their name from the Cubs!
bsteady powers
Cubs would be plural for Cub.
Priggs89
“they are not the “Cubbies” – not 1 single – Cubs fan in Chicago – calls them that”
That could not be any further from the truth
Dock_Elvis
Love the designation that there are no “Cubs fans in Chicago that call them that”. Given the yuppie tourist nation that is the Cubs experience…that leaves about 96% or their fanbase up for grabs.
citizen
lots of people call them the cubbies.
stick a fork in arietta.
hes done.
rickcwik
Apparently he was accused of Roids. He denied it…but then immediately went back to being the average pitcher he has always been. So the theory is once accused, he got off them.
Frank Richard
A 17 game winner that has thrown a no hitter this year and has an era in the low 3s in average? His stuff still has lots of movement it’s his location that has changed and that can usually be explained by a tired arm. The guy threw a ton of innings last season and if anyone thought he was going to repeat that second half dominance from last year they were delusional.
higuys
Agreed. He threw something like 80 more innings last year than he ever had in his career, plus a huge workload this year. A decline in velocity, command, overall production was obviously going to happen.
KP23
Yes not to mention he is still top ten in weak contact percentage, meaning he is still throwing nasty stuff, and is unhittable, he is just walking more guys, likely fatigue in some respect. The time off, and the six man rotation should ease that up a little bit… No one should be worried about him, he’s essentially the third starter on a very strong playoff rotation, sign me up… Even if he’s average Jake he’s still better than most ones on playoff teams… Save for the dodgers, giants, and maybe one other team, he’s right with scherzer in terms of performance this season, with more walks but way less homers
gmflores27
Epstein has a potty mouth
bucknerforhall
If your an out of towner
or the new 24 year old sports caster from Ames Iowa you call them
the Cubbies.
otherwise people dont
Harry died on Feb 18th 1998
he was the last person – that could say Cubbies with credibility.
Jeff Todd
Maybe I picked up the term watching the WGN broadcasts in the 90s.
stl_cards16 2
No, they are still widely known as the Cubbies and chant “Let’s Go Cubbies” at every game at Wrigley. This guy is just grumpy his team sounds like a teddy bear and sings a song that sounds like it was wrote by Barney. He should be enjoying the best them in baseball.
Kayrall
Whenever I hear anyone criticize ‘Go, Cubs, Go’ I always conclude that “Haters gonna hate.”
swissvale
Yeah, I’m sure you’ve been hearing the “haters hate” since 1908.
chesteraarthur
That’d put him at an impressive 108 years old.
As a cubs fan, I also hate “cubbies”, but you’re not gonna change people using it, especially not by posting on MLBTR.
rickcwik
No, its a crap song.
pullhitter445
Go Cubs go is awful. Most baseball teams songs are pretty bad. Just my opinion though.
tylerall5
People come here to talk baseball, not personal preferences. I don’t like when people call the Pirates the “buccos,” but you don’t see me on here complains about it.
Robertowannabe
CUBBIES, CUBBIES, CUBBIES, CUBBIES!!!!!!!!
–Billy the Goat.
Pedro Cerrano's Voodoo
I do and I’m people.
bosox3415
Cubs, Cubbies, Cubbys…you should be ok with any of these because at least they’re not being called losers anymore! (like most of the last 108 years)
rickcwik
Well when you tank for 5-7 years you eventually get top picks in draft and can build. The key is Cub fans will pay for a subpar product (no one has ever called Cub fans smart) and allow management to be on their 18th rebuild. Most other franchises don’t have fans that spend their hard earned money on inferior products…you know, smart people. So those franchises cannot tank 5-7 years.
KP23
Well I guess fans on most teams are not true baseball fans. Maybe fans of the cubs will go to games regardless of the team performance just to see the sport of baseball played… That would be the purest definition of a true fan. Anyways you highly exaggerated the amount of time they actually tanked, Theo took over in the 2011 offseason, they stayed tanking in 2012 and last year they were in the playoffs, so by my count it only took till 2015, so that’s 3 years. And what does patience buy, a brand new organization, with loads of talent to sustain competitiveness for a long time, which btw many many teams will be following and are currently following that exact same plan… And Theo and co still had to make the picks, they picked Bryant, they could have had gray, who had high velocity and high ceiling, no one on the planet had them taking schwarber, drafting wasn’t the only thing that helped them get where they are, trading netted them arrieta and strop, from the Feldman trade (signed on a 1 year cheap deal), Hendricks, Russell, rizzo, grimm, edwards, etc etc were all trades, and Rondon was a rule 5, so in essence it was a little everything that put them in a position to win, and not just now, over the next 5-7 years (see what I did there) so 3 years of tanking equals a really really good chance to win it all multiple times over the next several years… As far as management’s 18th rebuild, that’s also wrong, again, tribune used to own the cubs, in which since cubs fans showed up whether they won or lost, because simply most love baseball just being played, as mentioned earlier, there was really no pressure to spend gobs and gobs of money on a winning team, then the ricketts bought the team, and this is really their first go at a rebuild, any true baseball fan would know these things. But my guess is your a fan of another team with limited success this year… And jealousy is not a good look…. So if you want to bash the cubs, at least know some of the elementary facts while bashing them… Thanks for the educated opinion then i guess?
rickcwik
Look, I know baseball. I admit I was just trolling on Cub fans there. Here are my facts: rebuild has been 3-5 years since Theo got here. 2-obviously have rebuilt 18 times…but have on some occasions. 3-cubs organization from Tribune to now has been blessed with fan support other organizations just don’t get when their teams are losing. I do disagree with you on this point. Cub fans were not supporting team when they were bad, they were going to Wrigley to drink and enjoy the weather. That park, for whatever reason, is loved by many. 4-winning the regular season is not winning the playoffs. See Cubs team last year. 5-finally, Cubs window is not as large as you may think. At some point all these youngsters become arbitration eligible. That is s ton of money. My guess is that bill comes due around the year 2020. So the window is more like 4-5 years. And if the owners ever have the balls to lockout for a salary cap, then it gets even harder for them
mike127
Please note that when the bill comes due in 2020 the Cubs will have their own TV network and the ability to have a Dodger like payroll of $230M or so. The current TV deals end in 19. Don’t worry about money.
bsteady powers
MIC DROP!! Bam !! My man laid it down!!
bsteady powers
Nice work KP23
rickcwik
Dont discount a salary cap. They said it would never happen in the other three major sports, and it did.
KP23
Anyone who prefaces a phrase with “look I know _____” (and it really basically works with anything, not just baseball) doesn’t know jack…. But anyways, sure to an extent fans go to games when they are drunk, but you cannot actually believe that it speaks for the whole revenue stream, fans still need to watch, and more importantly be interested in said team in order to make the kind of cash you are talking about… Fans still need to buy jerseys, hats, and other merchandise, they need to buy into the team… Fans on all teams go to games drunk and drink there, if that was the sole stream of revenue, then all teams would be making money in down years, and simply that is not the case…. Plus Everytime you say by my count, I cringe, you are very poor with math sir, you might need to get that looked at… WebMD is just a few doors down on the left..
rickcwik
Where did I ever say “by my count”? You may need to learn to read. Lets just all hope the Cubs get smoked again in the playoffs. Year 110, baby.
pullhitter445
A ton of cub fans everywhere. Fan base travels well. Only true knock on many of them is the large amount of fans who know very little about who’s on the team and the people who talk out of there you know what’s. This isn’t meant to troll cub fans or aggravate the fans who really know there team from front office to there system and it’s players.
Dock_Elvis
I only read the first part of your comment..but Ill say that of all teams…the ones that attend Wrigley on a yearly basis have the lowest percentage of actual baseball fans in attendance. Wrigley is a tourist attraction. They would sell out June-august if they never lost fewer than 100 games. While I believe every team has about the same percentage of true fans…the Cubs have much more casual padding than fo most teams…in fact I’d argue all…more than thr Yankees or Red Sox even. The Yanks and Red Sox can atleast claim decent play for their fan base and have valid justifation. This isn’t speculation on my part…its the basic m.o. on the Cubs and their fans and has oft been discussed even among those in the media and sociology
One Fan
Does anyone know LESS about baseball then rickcwik? Wow Rick some say ignorance is bliss ….
swissvale
Now I’m trying to think of different names for each team that aren’t just abbreviations or a play on the actual nicknames (i.e. Cubbies).
Bucs, Redbirds, Brew Crew, Halos, Tribe, Pale Hose, Fish, okay now I’m tired, somebody else will need to finish.
chesteraarthur
friars, “atlanta baseball team” (by those who refuse to call them the braves), twinkies, snakes, bronx bombers
Frank Richard
Yanks, jays, sawks, nats, phills or fightens, stros, and d-backs.
dust44
I used to frequent baseball stadiums a lot prior to a wife and kids. And I heard ppl walking into the Cubs games call them the cubbies. Just as I heard fans call the Reds the Redlegs and the Yankees the Yanks. Also heard a few metropolitans. So to blow up over a nickname for a team is kinda wind baggish. But what do I know.
rickcwik
Wife and kids have that effect of stopping all fun. I’m with kids and have no clue why guys get married.
pullhitter445
And rick you find yourself next to your labtop, a box of tissues, and sucking on a ring pop in your parents basement at the age 42.
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
After the season is over they gotta re-sign Chapman. Edwards jr strop rondon and Chapman 6th-9th is scary good. Chapman will test ‘s market but he needs to stay with Chicago they can offer him the most $ then give Arrieta a 5 year deal for 150mil. With incentives and bonuses as well. Cy young . no hitters etc.
pullhitter445
I like Edwards a lot. Not sure chapman returns. I believe they will let arrieta walk, especially with the emergences of Hendricks. Hendricks should be right in the mix for the cy young.