The Stro Show should have been a No Show tonight.
Time to embrace a rebuild. Team is not built to contend any time soonWell, at least the Cubs aren't the Reds. They might have the worst MLB team I've seen in years.
They seem content to wait and see where their prospects develop to in a couple years and then spend around them to fill in gaps. Can’t say I disagree with the thought process.This is a bad team.
Jed saying that this was going to be a quick turnaround was just lip service. I don't disagree with waiting a couple years either but it's a shame charging what they do for ticket prices with this product on the field.They seem content to wait and see where their prospects develop to in a couple years and then spend around them to fill in gaps. Can’t say I disagree with the thought process.
It's kind of a dumb plan because the longer the team is mediocre, the less likely Wrigley is to be packed. Take your lumps for a couple of years and then come back with a really good team. Fans appreciate transparencyJed saying that this was going to be a quick turnaround was just lip service. I don't disagree with waiting a couple years either but it's a shame charging what they do for ticket prices with this product on the field.
I'd say 10-17 instead of 9-18. I get your point but the projected roster wasn't any good to begin with. And really, there's little difference between 12-15 and 9-18, except that they would get a lower draft pick.I don’t think people are taking injuries into account enough when evaluating the Cubs this year. The Cubs have basically had a quarter of their projected roster on the IL for the entire season.
They’ve had 11 out of their 27 games started by someone outside of the organization’s top 6 starting pitchers.
The plan was obviously not to have Villar play 9 games in the middle infield, where he’s a complete butcher.
They can’t give slumping guys like Happ or Suzuki days off and they can’t give injury prone guys like Hoerner and Contreras a day of rest.
I still don’t think a healthy Cubs team would be particularly good, but we’re clearly not seeing the team they had in mind on the field right now. But, we’re still talking about a team that would have needed another bat and had a weak back end of the rotation. So maybe 12-15 instead of 9-18.
How can Ross's performance come into question? I haven't watched any games but unless he's making boneheaded decisions on how to use the crap he has, he can't turn these guys into All-Stars. They could put the best managers in the history of the game in there to manage and they'd still end up with 10-18.I’d wonder about Ross’ job security, except that I’m not sure what he’s supposed to do. He’s done pretty well with the injury plagued pitching staff and he just plain doesn’t have enough bats to fill out a lineup card.
With Wisdom hurt, he’s got 5 MLB-quality position players to try to put a line up together with, two of whom - Suzuki and Happ - have been in 10-12 day slumps, two others - Hoerner and Contreras - can’t play every day, and the fifth - Rivas - a rookie who the pitchers may catch up to any minute now.
Last night, his DH had an OPS under .625 and his 2B, 3B and CF all had OPS’s under ,600. And he just doesn’t have anyone else to put in those slots.
Rick Renteria comes to mind in a similar situation. Had a young, not-yet-good roster, did a fine job with what he had, and was canned for Maddon. Then was done dirty in a similar manner by the White Sox.How can Ross's performance come into question? I haven't watched any games but unless he's making boneheaded decisions on how to use the crap he has, he can't turn these guys into All-Stars. They could put the best managers in the history of the game in there to manage and they'd still end up with 10-18.
I think the difference was the Cubs were on the cusp of contending AND Maddon became available. Not sure Renteria would have been canned if Maddon hasn't become available, but I don't recall who else was available at the time. Right now, the Cubs are not on the cusp of anything, other than getting a top 3 draft pick.Rick Renteria comes to mind in a similar situation. Had a young, not-yet-good roster, did a fine job with what he had, and was canned for Maddon. Then was done dirty in a similar manner by the White Sox.