Wade Miley stood helplessly by as his Astros’ tenure crumbled behind a disastrous September. A rocky final month boiled over into his lone ALDS appearance, forcing Miley off the roster for the ALCS and World Series. The team supposed Miley was relying too much on his cutter and steering his changeup to the point of altering the arm action that makes the pitch effective. After the year was out, however, a former teammate reached out to alert Miley that glove position was tipping his pitches, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. That’s cold comfort for Astros’ fans, but those in Cincinnati can officially raise their expectations for the two-year, $15MM free agent signing. If the Miley that shows up to Great American Ballpark more closely resembles the guy who put up a 3.06 ERA through 156 innings prior to September (and if the offense rebounds), the Reds might finally live up to the dependable, high-quality performance the chamber of commerce had in mind when adopting the the nickname of the Blue Chip City.
- As much credit as Theo Epstein deserves for finally turning the Cubs into a winner, the blame falls at his feet as well for the current state of affairs. Something has clearly gone awry when the Cubs are so short of cash that they can’t even outbid the Brewers for low-cost free agents like lefty Alex Claudio, who signed for $1.75MM. The problem isn’t that the Cubs are cheap (they had the third-highest payroll last season), but Epstein hasn’t made the best use of their funds, per The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma. With one of the highest budgets in baseball, Epstein ought to have enough resources to maintain a winner in Chicago – instead he’s bargain hunting for the second consecutive offseason.
- The Twins finally made good on a decade-long courtship of reliever Tyler Clippard when they signed him to a one-year, $2.75MM deal, per The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman. He’s long been successful in this league, thanks largely to a north-south approach that’s come into fashion in recent seasons: a high-spin rising fastball set up by a splitter and changeup that move the opposite direction. The arsenal induces soft, airborne contact, especially against lefties. Besides being a reverse splits guy, he is also the rare pitcher who can be relied upon to consistently produce below-average batting average on balls in play. His career .239 BABIP is second-lowest all-time, Gleeman notes, and he’s only once let that number rise above .300, the average mark league-wide.
ChiSox_Fan
No, Cubs ARE cheap!
Pay the luxury tax.
DarkSide830
they just did
depressedtribefan
You don’t understand general financial management, do you?
redmatt
Neither do the cubs.
ChiSox_Fan
Cleveland broke, too.
I’d be interested in Lindor, but no room for him on the Sox. He couldn’t win a spot in our lineup.
CubsFan73
You must either be joking or smoke way to much of that SouthSide weed
Georgiajeff
You are not the brightest bulb in the pack are you?
DarkSide830
dont put tye Cubs in the same boat as Cleveland. one paid the tax last year, while one thinls they can contend without any talent.
ncaachampillini
Couldn’t win a spot in your lineup huh? The one whose ultimate dream outcome of a season would be getting to 80 victories for the first time in half a decade? Truth is you couldn’t take any two players off the 25 man roster and have that be enough to get Francisco dude.
cards04
Don’t think they would take moncada/Anderson and Jimenez.
christianponder
What you have just said, is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point, in your rambling incoherent response, were you even close to giving anything that is considered a rational thought. Everyone in this conversation is now dumber, having listened to it. I award you no points, and may god have mercy on your soul
Anthony Princeton
What? Moncada for Lindor straight up is an overpay by the Sox.
christianponder
What are you talking about? An established perennial all star shortstop lindor for an unproven prospect? That’s an awful trade.
ChiSox_Fan
Georgia, did u make that up, dimwit?!
jorge78
Ouch!
Yankeepride88
You know Lindor and Moncada had the same WAR last year, right?
TrueOutcomeFan
Even for you, ChiSox, this is pretty stupid.
joparx
Hahaha best comment on here, “duhhh the white socks are duhh dah best” I have to listen to these sox fans on a daily basis prove they know nothing about baseball
wordonthestreet
@ChiSoxFan
Lindor would be your starting shortstop and leadoff man. Stop embarrassing yourself
cards04
No I was commenting to the comment above me. How he said no one on the sox could be enough to get a trade done. So I was saying that that was a dumb comment and proposed an offer that would surely get it done to prove him wrong
eagle1105
Maybe he’s just an idiot…he is a Sox fan!
mohoney
The Cubs generate over $2 of revenue for every $1 of revenue that the Indians generate. The Cubs should be paying the luxury tax and taking 2 last bites of the apple with the 2016 core. After that, they can skimp all they want as they go into another rebuild with full knowledge the new CBA.
midway_monster85
The Cubs are in “how do we get to the playoffs” mode instead of “how do we win it all” mode. They aren’t going to go over the tax, their not even a playoff team. this article is dead on Theo started really strong signing Lester, trading for Rizzo and Arrieta etc. Then came a flurry of bad signings Heyward, Morrow, Chatwood, maybe even Darvish and Kimbrel we’ll see. Traded away top prospects for a 4th or 5th starter in Quintana. Traded a stud 2nd baseman for a Chapman rental. Had they resigned Chapman I would be fine with the deal we got the series. Never addressing the lead off spot after Fowler left. And maybe the worst part of all not having ONE SINGLE arm on your team that came up through their system. Not locking up any of their core players before they became all stars. Theo blew this window might as well tear it down and start over.
ChiSox_Fan
Exactly!
Post of the day!
Bronyaur111
I wonder how much of this was either Maddon’s preferences, or conversely, how much of this is why Madden left.
ChiSoxCity
Managers don’t make personnel decisions. If Maddon had his way, the cubs would probably still have a bunch of players Theo got rid of. They would have never signed Morrow, Kimbrel or Chatwood, either. That’s all on Theo, no one else.
Bronyaur111
Managers definitely have influence in personnel decisions, some more than others. It would be pretty strange for a GM to not heavily consult with the manager in constructing a roster.
ChiSoxCity
Not enough to pin the mismatched, poor performing roster on Joe Maddon. Give it a rest already with that nonsense already.
ChiSoxCity
True enough, been saying much the same about how Epstein screwed up. He fell in love with some marginal players, and missed many opportunities to improve the roster significantly. His lack of vision ended their window much too soon. The cubs really have one of the top rosters in the league right now. Presently, they’re not in the top 10 by my personal estimation. cubs fans should be livid, or at least, concerned about his comfort level with this soft, aging, less skilled, poorly matched rendition of the 2016 squad.
ChiSoxCity
*The cubs SHOULD really have one of the top rosters in the league right now.
robert-5
As annoying and lonely as you are, you are correct that Theo has $h!t the bed here. This is all on him and the Cubs are NOT in a position to contend for a WS, they’re barely in a position to contend for the division- we’ll see what the roster looks like compared to the NLC teams come March. Maxed out payroll w chumps like Darvish, Chatwood, Heyward and flamed-out Kimbrel.
The closer/Kimbrel situation pisses me off THE MOST. Theo trades away Gleybar Torres and Jorge Soler for 1year and 3 months worth of closers bc he wont give big contracts to relievers, then he gives Morrow $20+M over 2yrs to pitch for 2-3 months total. Then, as a panic move, he gives big money to over the hill, clearly in decline Kimbrel. Jesus, could have signed a top reliever back before all this and still had Torres and Soler on the roster and wouldnt need to be wishing we could sign a guy like Castellanos or the 2B we need now that Theo has let Russell implode and traded away LaStella who was on an absolute tear last yr w the Angels.
ChiSoxCity
Robert, I’m annoying for telling the truth to people who are deluded. Let that sink in for a moment.
Good luck trying to convince perennially downtrodden cubs fans that Theo Epstein, they’re hero, cost them a shot at multiple championships and deep playoff runs every year. As a fanbase, they’re satisfied with the one championship. This fact hasn’t been lost on the Ricketts, who’ve now lost any sense of urgency to win. It’s now up to the White Sox to make a few playoff runs for the city before they’re sold off like before. The cubs should be back in five or six years, when they’re done milking the cash cow and finally blow the roster up.
JoeBrady
Good luck trying to convince perennially downtrodden cubs fans
——————————————————————–
The Cubs have averaged 94.2 wins over the past 5 seasons. While the WS have exceeded 94 wins only 3x in the past 50 years.
If Cubs fans are downtrodden, I cannot imagine what it must be like to be a WS fan.
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
They’re not maxed out on anything. They have plenty of money to spend. Stop acting like the kimbrel deal was bad. He only pitched for 3 months and he had 10 days of spring training to get ready.
Bronyaur111
My experience during my 55 years of Chicago fandom during my 60 years on earth is that a very high percentage of Sox fans are unhingedly and jealously obsessed with the Cubs.
Conversely, the vast majority of Cubs fans barely pay attention to the Sox or their fans, thinking them irrelevant except when they actually play them, or when confronted with a Sox fan incoherent with envy.
ChiSoxCity
Joe, people like you are precisely what I’m talking about. You think the last five years means the cubs are in top of the baseball world?
They won A championship. One. Before that, the White Sox won a championship, and were a dominant club in the nineties. It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things when you put things into perspective. The cubs have two championships in the last 111 years. The Sox have won three in 114 years. Both organizations have been pathetic for generations. You don’t turn that around by winning one championship, nor do you win by what both organizations have fone recently.
The cubs seem hell bent on doing nothing, and just letting all the momentum of winning run its course. The White Sox are just doing what they do every 10-20 years: assemble a talented roster, make a little noise for a season or two, then sell the best players to the Red Sox or A’s or something. I’m 47 years old, and have seen this so many times it’s predictable. This is why I believe owners are in collusion as far as player movement and controlling outcomes. All the PEDs, cheating, sandbagging and point shaving? Yeah, the owners are in on that.
Anyway, the White Sox will win a lot of games the next few years, then blow the team up. The cubs will lose a lot of games, then blow the team up. I don’t either returning to the world series in my lifetime again, for different reasons.
its_happening
Not only would I not call the White Sox a “dominant” club in the 90’s, I’d say they weren’t even the best AL Central/West team of the 90’s. That belonged to Cleveland. White Sox had some nice teams between 92-98. Just nice, not dominant.
ChiSoxCity
Kimbrel is terrible. Why do you think Boston let him go? Why do you think he sat out so many months? He wanted closer money, and he’s toast.
ChiSoxCity
Bron, you’re a very deluded, biased cubs fans. Many White Sox fans are actually baseball fans who want the cubs to do well. cubs fans, by-and-large, are extremely provincial and spiteful towards the White Sox. They’re more hooligans than they are actual fans of the sport. Doesn’t matter what a Sox fans says online about the cubs, we’re immediately attacked with classeless, even racist comments. The snobbery about attendance figures is an especially tired act. Guess what cubs fans, nobody cares. Well, the Ricketts might. But nobody else does. You guys wanna act like Yankees fans, go ahead. The joke’s on you, however. And trust me, it IS a joke.
ABCD
You’re spinning this. The truth is in your second and third sentences but with Cubs replacing White Sox and vice versa.
Bron hit the nail on the head, correctly describing diehard older Cubs and Sox fans in general.
I do admit that some younger Cubs fans seem to think Sox fans are of a lower class, which is wrong. Both fanbases have fans from very diverse backgrounds.
wordonthestreet
Bron you nailed it
Prunella Vulgaris
I’m a Sox fan who was born on the South Side and went to my first Sox game in 1951. Moved to the North Side in 1973. I have to disagree with your opinion of Sox/Cubs fans.
Sox fans have always been blue collar workers who love to drink and fight; THEY’RE the hooligans. Walk into a Bridgeport bar and see what happens to you. At their very best, they could claim a HS diploma.
Cub fans are college educated, well-mannered, sophisticated, and successful. They’re not hateful — they’re happy and enjoy life. I know this because they’re my neighbors,
I’m still a Sox fan, but I won’t go to the South Side because the fans are worse than ever. They curse at the opposing players, and when someone asks them to stop because there are children listening, they curse at the children.
I go to Wrigley to see the Sox play the Cubs. It’s safer and I’m surrounded by friendly people who know how to comport themselves.
TwinCities
Yes, that was the bad part.
Mikel Grady
So if they kept Torres and didn’t trade for Chapman . no way they win the World Series in 2016. They now have Torres and Jimenez. No Quintana . They wouldn’t have won 2017 . Arrieta gone for 2018 once again wouldn’t have won . 2019 with the bullpen the way it is Torres and jiminez no Quintana no way they win . Be happy with 2016 World Series Theo gave you. How many gm’s have won World Series since Theo ? 3 , astros , Red Sox and nats . When Nats don’t repeat this year does he suck? How have Red Sox done since they won ? Astros lost last year . Dodgers can’t win the big one . They only hand out one ring a year . Baseball is tougher than any sport . Baseball GODs give and take .
robert-5
Its not just bc Cubs havent won the WS. It’s bc they have gotten further and further away since winning, meaning they are getting worse, AND the payroll is going UP, so there is less flexibility to make the necessary changes. Cubs missed the damn playoffs this year. Lost the wildcard game year before. Weak. The Cubs should be getting better as guys like Bryant, Baez, Schwarbs etc enter their prime and the team has played consistently worse each year.
midway_monster85
I would agree with you except the Cubs are a huge market team and expectations are a little higher then one and done.
Anthony Princeton
The Quiintana trade is already looking bad in retrospect, don’t forget Cease. Quintana has not been the pitcher he was with the Sox. The Cubs didn’t win anything in 2017. The real issue is the complete and utter failure of Cubs player development on the pitching side. They have not developed a single homegrown pitcher of note since Theo was hired in 2012.
Avory
@Mikel
Not the point, really. The debate really should be, how much credit should we give the Boy Wonder anyway? Or someone like Brian Cashman? These guys have halos over their heads…exactly why? Because they’ve always had immense resources to work with? What kind of challenge is that really?
I’m sorry, wake me up when Theo or Cash go to Cleveland and consistently win. Or Milwaukee. Or Kansas City. It’s a complete embarrassment when payrolls like Boston and the Cubs miss the playoffs altogether.
The scary thing is watching the Dodgers being run by a guy like Andrew Friedman who built the Rays into a winner. A guy like that–smart and with the resources–isn’t going to overspend or blithely trade away prospects for short run gain (yeah, I still think it was stupid for the Cubs to trade away 15 years of Gleyber Torres for two months of Aroldis Chapman. Sorry, no telling how many rings you surrendered doing that).
The astute way the Dodgers are run makes it unlikely Cleveland will be able to jam them in any Lindor deal. For Tribe fans, it’s unfortunate Theo Epstein isn’t running the Dodgers. No telling what they could get.
JoeBrady
The scary thing is watching the Dodgers being run by a guy like Andrew Friedman who built the Rays into a winner.
———————————————————
Temper your excitement with the fact that the LAD haven’t won a title in > 30 years. Friedman is a good GM, but I would discount the fact that Theo has 3 rings.
iml12
Prospects are great but titles are better. Friedman has been a day late and a dollar short every year.
lfcredsox
exactly no telling how many rings they traded away with Torres but you can say they did win 1 with doing it
Bronyaur111
The 2017 Cubs won 92 games, the NL Central title, and a NLDS series. Not exactly “didn’t win anything in 2017.”
CFS77
Theo drafted high floor types for years. Even Hendricks was a safe high floor type that exceeded his talent.
Just comes down to it is easier to develop hitting and sign pitching.
That said Marquez has the look of an ace pending.
wordonthestreet
Mikel very well said
wordonthestreet
Theo did not draft Hendricks nor did anyone on the Cubs
megaj
Sad, but very true. With a Bryant and Quintana trade they can still salvage this season. If Bryant can still bring back a decent starter and then you have enough money to sign both Ryu to fill out the rotation, and Shogo to fill the lead off role. Not sure why they can’t get Will Harris for 2yrs 8M though which would round out the bullpen nicely. If I was GM, here is my opening day Roster:
CF Akiyama
SS Baez
1B Rizzo
LF Schwarber
C Contreras
RF Heyward
3B Bote
2B Hoerner/Happ
Bench- Descalso, Caratini, Almora, Kemp/Perez
Starters- Darvish, Ryu, Hendricks, Lester, and Fried/or other return for Bryant
Relief- Chatwood, Alzolay, W. Harris, Ryan, Wieck, Wick, Kimbrel and either Morrow/Cotton/Winkler for the last spot
To me, this is not that hard to do and stays close to same budget as last 2 years. With this arrangement they have a chance. If things go bad, then start the firesale and trade everybody by the deadline that can help start the rebuild. If Theo can’t even do this, he should be fired
ChiSox_Fan
Cubs looking to cut budget, not keep the same.
megaj
I haven’t heard that they were cutting the budget, but it does feel that way. Look, if the Cubs do trade Bryant and Quintana- which makes perfect sense, then that is 30 million available for THIS season. Ryu isn’t going to get more than 4 years, with AAV of more than 17M. So that leaves 13 million to sign Harris who will not get more than 8 or 9M per year. The addition of top starter and premium reliever makes this a better team. Also, if Quintana performed similar to last season, pretty much any pitcher they get in the trade for Bryant will be a better option. I predict that Fried is going to be a very good pitcher in MLB at some point, worth taking a chance. So there you go, a better team with less payroll.
CFS77
Happ has more upside than Bote and both play equal quality 3B.
But Bryant is going nowhere until his case is resolved.
ABCD
The Braves would not trade Fried straight up for Bryant because Kris is going to cost over $40 million the next two years. The Cubs are better off playing out the string with him if they want to win now and trading Contreras because they have depth at the C position. That’s not going to clear payroll but it should be able to get a couple near ready MLB prospects.
I would not want Ryu -too injury prone.
ChiSoxCity
megaj, you should pay attention to the articles on this site and others. The cubs have been open for business on virtually everyone on their roster. Judging from how long they held on to Russell, I wouldn’t hold my breath. Theo’s too risk adverse (to his detriment) to cut a deal that significantly changes the roster, so I doubt it happens this upcoming year.
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
Bote isnt a good choice for everyday 3rd baseman.
They need pitching not to subtract it. Why trade Quintana then sign ryu? And Bryant will easily get 4 players minimum.
The braves is the best spot Max Fried and 3 of their top 30 would be a place to start talking.
megaj
I assumed that Fried would come along with at least one other prospect many times. Never said it was a straight up trade for Bryant, that would be weak.
paindonthurt
You have not heard they are cutting money? What planet are you on?
paindonthurt
Bote is not an everyday player. They probably should keep Q, but he is only signed for one year. If you can get a good return you should explore that.
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
Yeah it would be Bryant for Fried, Wilson, Waters and at least one other Any one or two of Anderson,Wright, Contreas ,De La Cruz, Trey Harris
redmatt
I agree with everything you said EXCEPT the homegrown arm comment. No one is going to develop enough homegrown, healthy arms to consistently contend. It’s better, in the long run, to let someone else develop them and baby them do you can buy them later.
Vandals Took The Handles
“No one is going to develop enough homegrown, healthy arms to consistently contend.”
–
Indians and Rays have been for more then 5 years now.
SeanStL
This is spot on. Lester only met expectations, but Rizzo and Arrieta were great. They feel like dumb luck though looking back on a longer track record. So many terrible signings. Remember Montero? They have had zero player development during the last half decade? Horner is the best we have. Really? No pitchers in the minors, which means we’re screwed for the next five years if they don’t go for it now. It’s so frustrating that they are not going all in knowing that we’re throwing in the towel for several years after 2020.
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
Rizzo is the best 1B in the NL. Montero had two hits the entire 2016 postseason. and he drove in 5 runs. He also clinched the NL Central in 2016 with a walk off home run. They gave up nothing for him. It was a great trade for the Cubs. Now they have a top 5 catcher in all of baseball in all categories. offensive,defensive, picking off runners on the back throw. His caught stealing %age in almost 4 full seasons is like 48% with the league average being at right around 40%
Yadi Molina and Salvador Perez are probably the only catchers that are better. Contreas by far is #3. No one comes close.
anthonyd4412
3rd highest payroll isn’t cheap.
JoeBrady
No, Cubs ARE cheap!
Pay the luxury tax.
—————————————
Says the WS fan. Who said ironing is dead?
ChiSox_Fan
No one said ironing is dead.
khopper10
Ironing is alive and well. Just did some this morning.
JoeBrady
Using ‘ironing’ when making a crack about irony, is an example of irony. Though, if you have to explain it, it loses some of its impact.
ChiSox_Fan
Do you even know the definition of irony?!
Look it up!
I thought Georgia is a dimwit…
JoeBrady
“using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.”
1-When you, as a WS fan, called the Cubs cheap, that was an example of irony.
2-When I used ‘ironing’ instead of irony’, that was an example of me trying to be funny, and making fun of you at the same time.
ChiSox_Fan
Nice try, Bobby Brady, but you are digging yourself a deeper hole. Just like the $hit hole the Cubs find themselves in. Haha!
WarkMohlers
First one is irony. Second one is you grasping at straws to justify a typo. Weird flex but okay.
desertbull
They did, genius. They had the 3rd highest payroll in MLB.
Fred K. Burke
It’s pretty clear to me that Ricketts doesn’t trust Theo with spending his money. The Ricketts Family didn’t become one of the richest organizations in the world for being foolish. Two more years and Theo…He Gone!
oldoak33
Miley faced 4 different teams in those five unfortunate September starts. Four different teams didn’t simultaneously pick up on a tip, and that’s not how it works.
DarkSide830
unless there is a rat
jd396
They get this stuff off of watching video, 4 teams can simultaneously go back picking through video for this kind of stuff.
Vandals Took The Handles
“Four different teams didn’t simultaneously pick up on a tip, and that’s not how it works.”
–
Wrong.
First off, while Miley’s September was awful, the rest of his year wasn’t all that good.
Next, with all the movement of players, coaches, scouts, FO analysts – most are concerned where they’ll be employed next year. People make friends and are in touch with one another all the time. This has always been a part of MLB, but never to the extent today. It’s the movement of people combined with electronic devices such as smartphones.
The big thing here is – the Astros are supposed to be so advanced with dozens of people looking at video showing thousand of frames a second. If the statement is true, how could they miss this?
phillyballers
It is not too hard to see why the Cubs are strapped. Yu and Lester are two bad contracts and Heyward is another. 60M+ of subpar performance. Either the find a trade partner or trade off other pieces to retool.
sjwil1
Yu may be a bargain going forward. Lester has actually lived up to his contract so far but if course they last few years he prob won’t be able to.
twentyforty
Lester can never be considered a bad contract. You may as well be one of those national media rubes who can’t discern the goings on of one particular club but assert they know everything about all 30.
mistry gm
Typical Philly judgment. Trade Bryant, sign Castellanos, dump Hayward even if you eat half his salary and pick up one starter and they will be back on top. Philly will not.
ChiSoxCity
Lester’s declining, be he’s earned his contract. Sooner or later, every pitcher signed to a longterm contract at or near their prime, falls off a table.
paindonthurt
Lester was a terrific signing. That signing was the begging of Cubs contention. Darvish of the second half of 19’ is a bargain contract. It remains to be seen if he can remain close to that level. Heyward is top 2-3 in worst contracts in baseball.
OtisSnord
Wait, when did the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce adopt “Blue Chip City”?
Just kidding. They tried that five years ago, because some members wanted to disassociate from the 200-year old nickname of “The Queen City” (a reference later repeated by Longfellow in a poem about the city). These Chamber bozos were perturbed by the modern use of “queen” in reference to gays. Yes, really, the attempt to brand Cincinnati as “The Blue Chip City” was driven by homophobia.
It didn’t catch on. Five years later, NOBODY calls it the blue chip city. It was a totally failed attempt at branding. So, maybe the writer above should drop it too.
chitown311
Theo got ran out of Boston after doing the same thing he is doing on the north side. He was gifted an organization with some talent(Báez and Contreras were part of the Jim Hendry regime) and threw it all away with poor FA signings and trading of blue chip prospects. He insisted on keeping and playing “his guys” like Almora, Schwarber, and Happ. The icing on the cake will be when Jose Quintana re-signs with the White Sox and is a dominant #3 on a roster that includes LF Eloy Jimenez and SP Dylan Cease
robert-5
Its extremely disingenuous to pretend Theo didnt build this winner and bring a WS to the North Side. Yes, Baez and Contreras were gifted to him by previous regime. However, Theo traded for Rizzo and drafted Bryant when nobody had KB going so early in the 1st round, traded for Hendricks, signed Lester, etc.
It certainly hasnt been pure gold, Theo & Co have made PLENTY of mistakes and have essentially closed their own competitive window, but that doesn’t mean they didnt also build a winner.
Maybe Theo should start rebuilding franchises and then GTFO before he ruins them w his top FA contracts and stupid trades…2-3 yr contracts only so he doesnt destroy his own handiwork.
JoeBrady
Virtually everyone on the 2016 Cubs was a Theo acquisition. 311 is an idiot.
chitown311
And virtually everyone on the ‘19 and ‘20 rosters are the doings of Theo. See what I mean?
JoeBrady
So? Your original opinion was that Theo was gifted an organization with some talent. He obviously wasn’t. The cubs sucked, and the minor league organization was ranked #26, IIRC.
mistry gm
Best post of the day
ABCD
It’s still is a competitive team. Yes, they have guys who will decline but others will improve or possibly breakout including your so-called dumpster pickups.
ChiSox_Fan
Sox can offer you Detwiler for Q if u won’t pay Q.
I welcome Q back and I am sure Q would like to be reunited with Coop.
ABCD
Theo was not run out of Boston. The Cubs actually had to trade players to the Red Sox in order to let him out of his contract.
Yes, Baez and Contreras were the only holdovers from the Hendry days. Willson was moved back to C under Epstein. Everyone else on the 2016 champions was brought in by Theo.
And yet the Cubs will probably have a better record than the Sox when 2020 is finished. Good luck to Eloy and Cease. It was a good trade for the Sox.
Dominant #3….where do you come up with this stuff?
JoeBrady
(Báez and Contreras were part of the Jim Hendry regime)
——————————————————
LOL! That’s all he inherited? That’s absolutely nothing! Every team in BB has that much.
megaj
His “guys” really were mismanaged under Maddon though. Schwarber is an absolute beast given the right coach and environment. If Ross lets both Happ and Schwarber play a full season you are going to get around 70 HR and 200 RBI. Almora declined last season, but has made some amazing play in CF and also has some big hits for the club. Sticking with Heyward is what killed the club the most.
JoeBrady
I agree. I like some flexibility, but Maddon seemingly tried to play every player at every position. That’s overkill. Except for 2nd, every player should be in their position for every game.
mistry gm
I agree 100% and if they trade Bryant and sign Castellanos they will win the central (at least) again.
mistry gm
Chisox fan and Chitown311 are always the experts. Keep going guys, I love humor.
megaj
It’s the same person.
ABCD
Same type of person but not the same person. Judging from their posts, they’re not smart enough to have two distinct writing styles and be the same person. And that also goes for the other two Sox fans that troll the Cubs posts.
JoeBrady
Apparently the Cubs fans are just learning that there is a price to be paid for winning the WS.
robert-5
Well, give us a break, havent had a WS in our LIFETIMES. Ha
JoeBrady
I’m saying it is a good thing, but also an inevitable thing. Teams win WS because their prospects are becoming good regulars, and then you add a couple of big names via FA. But within 2-3, those same players become very expensive regulars, and aging free agents.
The RS have managed to flip the roster a few times, and SF won 3x with their core, but the other 28 teams have all hit the top and declined, or never hit the top at all.
Rudy Zolteck
I don’t know if that’s a fair assessment. The Cards turned it around in 2011, Marlins in 2003. Dodgers have absorbed a lot of roster changes this decade and have pennants to show for it, even though you could attribute their success to big money if you wanted. Just because, for example, the Dodgers lost in 7 games in 2017 doesn’t mean they were a total failure, in my opinion. They just lost game 7. Still an incredible team they put together, and for the most part sustainable.
Nuke LaLoosh
Flags fly forever Cubs fans.
themed
Yes once every 100 years or so flags fly. Otherwise losers
ABCD
And themed with no new material in 100 years
themed
How bout this one. Starting around the first of September last fall all we heard from cub fans just wait till that last 4 game series at raggly field. We’ll surely beat them at home LOL a 4 game sweep em out of the playoffs. So so satisfying after listening to all of their hot air all summer.
ABCD
Well you’ve used that one before, too, but that is more relevant. So, I’ll give you credit for that one and be optimistic that the Cubs will be battling the Cards for the division in 2020.
MoRivera 1999
No. Once earned they fly forever. That includes the Cubs 2016 WS victory, which is still more recent than those of 27 other clubs.
sixpacktwo
All pitchers will be hit if the batter knows whats coming.
Psychguy
“Cold comfort for Astros fans?” They win a WS with cheating and there is an implication to feel sorry for them. Crazy.
Rudy Zolteck
Wade Miley wasn’t with them in 2017, and yeah Astros fans felt bad for him for the most part, and that’s a fair sentiment. It’s easy to worry these days if a guy just runs out of gas or is battling an injury to stay on the field, and when he just took a nosedive like that, it was worrying to everybody watching him. Don’t be so bitter.
megaj
Darvish and Chatwood can still pay dividends, but the Quintana and Heyward contracts are just dead money. Maybe Atlanta would be willing to take one of those along with Bryant to free up payroll a bit.
DTD_ATL
Atlanta isn’t going to take on that much money, ever.
ABCD
Agree.
And Q is not dead money nor dead weight.
The Cubs are better off trading Bryant to the Padres if they’re going to punt 2020. AJ is giving the farm away in order to win now and save his job.
Dbird777
My Reds with good news and the rest of the Central backbiting? It’s a Happy Saturnalia indeed.
earmbrister
Thank you fellow Reds fan for the history lesson. The formally meek Reds shall inherit the Central Division.
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
The Ricketts are cheap. They have nearly 60 mil off the books but they refuse to get better. They refuse at least right now Rizzo, Baez, Bryant. They want to shed payroll by trading on of the best all around players in baseball and also a top 3 catcher in all of baseball in Contreas. They dont give two $h!ts about winning again. Joe Ricketts yearly net worth without the cubs is over 600k with the cubs its probably about 450-600k a year on top of 600k with Ameritrade.
He just doesnt want to give his kids any allowance anymore.
The fact of the matter is. They could have easily have sign any of the top talent that has signed already. They just dont want to spend it.
Vandals Took The Handles
You’re too good for the Ricketts.
You should find another team to root for!
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
Never gonna happen. I’ve been a fan for 34 year
holecamels35
Most of the comments on here are pure lunacy. Fans seem to think they can have it both ways, win in the past, present, and still be just as good in the future. Fans would have been calling for his head had he not gotten Chapman or another elite closer. He brought the core of the team in and won the World Series and had successful seasons afterwards, albeit disappointing. Yes he made some bad moves and tied his hands together, but there’s really no other team who sustains success forever without rebuilding, having a down season, or just having bad luck. You can say the Dodgers but they still haven’t won the World Series.
ChiSoxCity
No other team would foolishly trade away their too prospect for a 3-month rental of a closer, then let the closer walk back to the team that traded him in free agency. That’s just dumb. If you needed Chapman so bad to win a WS, why didn’t you keep him? Suddenly you don’t need him to win another championship? The cubs gotta cub, I guess.
Ddubbl
Twins you’re killing me. ChiSox just signed yet another quality starter. ChiSox will take the AL Central since we’re not gonna bother improving…thanks alot. You currently deserve a BOYCOTT!!
Munkes2
Cubs need to bite the bullet and make some trades… Lets be honest Yu, Lester, Hendricks, Quintana are not a world series staff, and you dont have money to sign anyone … So start making some trades,, I know the hold up is Bryant’s service time and Donaldsons destination… But start putting some more moves in motion…
Yankees want Schwarber maybe start there, or if theo is still in love try dangling Happ to them..
Schwarber for Andujar/Devi then go sign Castellinos
Happ for Andujar
Maybe try Contreras to Rays for some arms
Honeywell/Liberator/Baz/Diego
Or Houston for Tucker to lock down CF
Then when Donaldson signs and the Bryant hearing is done , ship him to ATL get some young arms and Waters back, Incarte ,, maybe Willsons kid brother
Waters/Wright+
Sounds like a good rebuild to me
Lose Bryant , replaced by Andujar
Lose Schwarber, replaced by Castillionos
Lose Contreras, replaced by Vinni
Gather prospects Waters, Wright, Devi, Honeywell, Liberatore
After next season Q, Chatwood, Lester come off the books so you can lock up Javy and Rizzo and spend the rest on pitching
2020 and beyond line up
C Vinni /Amaya
1st Rizzo
2nd Horner
SS Javy
3rd Andujar
LF Castellinos
CF Incarte / Waters
RF Heyward
SP
Yu, Lester, Hendricks, Q, Chatwood with
Wright, Devi, Honeywell, Libertore coming behind them
I know it’s not what cub fans really wanna hear… But pitching wins rings, so if we sacrifice some position players for good young arms, and next season sign a good vet to go with hendricks and yu we could climb right back in legit contender status
Logjammer D"Baggagecling
Why the hell would they need to rebuild again so soon. It’s been only 3 years since they won. A trade for Schwarber would need to bring back at least 3 pitchers maybe 2 pitchers and a ready now CF and lead off man.
Bryant would nwt Fried, Waters,Wrignt and Anderson or William Contreras.
IF AA offers Inciarte Theo and Jed hang up. They’re better off with Alonora.
jdan74
Chicago fans always clamor “jUsT pAy mOrE!!!!!,” especially when it isn’t their money, and then they wonder why their city is in financial ruins.
As a lifelong Chicagoan, I can tell you first hand, it is the original home of ENTITLEMENT. A very disgusting trait.
Do fellow Cubs fans understand there are draft pick penalties for going in the luxury tax??
Also, do we really want to see a day when a team reaches a billion dollar player payroll? I’m sure you “jUsT pAy mOrE!” people will be the first to complain when a hot dog and beer costs $100.
Ddubbl
And now Chisox got Edwin and possibly Castellanos…they’re gonna take AL Central. Thanks Twins…great upgrades jerks!
BarNone
I feel like the Cubs are in the same boat that the Red Sox were in not long before Theo came over. They overpaid for a bunch of people and then had to have a fire sale and a couple of subpar years to recover and rebuild.
djmac
Consider this…It’s not like the Cubs front office management doesn’t have options to improve the competitiveness of this team. They need to start leaning on a few of their current, less experienced 2nd line players like Caratini, Mills and Happ (which competitive teams do on a regular basis) and also make a few trades to improve the overall roster. Hopefully once Bryant’s grievance is settled, they’ll look to trade him for young prospects that either Cleveland, Colorado or Kansas City would be interested in so they can make a trade and get a legit a leadoff hitter like Lindor, Blackmon, or Merrifield. – preferably Lindor. If it takes throwing those prospects and Contreras and Amaya in the deal to get Lindor, they should do it provided Lindor would agree to a healthy extension using part of the Cubs current payroll commitments that will be coming off the books after 2021, the year Lindor’s current arbitration status ends. Lindor’s arbitration number is almost 2 mil less that Bryant’s for this next season and moving Contreras in the deal would take an additional 5 mil off the books. Caratini would need to step up and become the everyday catcher and an experienced, backup catcher like Lucroy could be resigned for ~ $2 mil. They could do the same with Quintana; trade Q for prospects and replace his spot in the rotation with Mills. Mills showed enough last season in AAA and with the big club to earn that spot. With Chatwood, Underwood, Alzolay being the remaining prospects for the 5th starter spot, the team may want to look to trade either Underwood or Alzolay or both for a young lefty to balance the rotation R vs L. With the difference in Lindor vs Bryant’s arbitration numbers and Contreras and Q off the payroll, the club would be at 203 mil allowing enough cap room to sign a quality addition to the bullpen like Will Harris or Daniel Hudson.
Moves like the above could bring:
Every day lineup:
Rizzo 1B, Hoerner 2B, Lindor SS, Baez 3B, Schwarber LF, Heyward CF, Happ RF, Caratini C
Rotation:
Lester, Darvish, Hendricks, Mills, Lefty via trade for Alzolay/Underwood
Bullpen:
Kimbrel, Chatwood, Ryan, Wick, Wieck, Rosario, Maples, Hudson/Harris
Bench:
Bote, Lucroy, Descalso, Almora, Garcia