if it was offered to him today?

I say no. I think he is as disillusioned by this ownership as everyone else and he sees that he is going to be the guy wearing it when they are not a world series contender by 2016.

On the positive side, he can pretty much write his check when they do offer him. He is the only firewall between a full out fan revolt against this ownership.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Ive considered that. He would come off kinda quitterish, but Im sure he could pass blame to Ricketts, and rightfully so

that guy takes more flak for Ricketts' mistakes than any executive should be expected to by an owner. He is paid well but he really should be the highest paid GM by 25% for all the non baseball problems attributed to him

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

he signs in 1 second.

This is his ticket to exactly what he wants. To own a team and making them a playoff contender is all he needs to do before he puts together his ownership group to buy a team.

_________________
"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

This.

I don't see how 2014 is different from what anyone expected two years ago. I have seen no significant hiccups and no regression.

_________________
Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

You have also seen almost no progress at the MLB level.

_________________

I didn't think the 2014 team would be .500. If they were, it would have been an unexpected surprise.

Rebuilding from the bottom to the top means the top would be the last section to show improvement. But because of this, in theory, the foundation will be strong enough to support the top from that point on...leading to a consistent competitor.

This is what I want. I'm on board with it until it looks as if it will fail.

Some of you all are a bit closer to the grave than me; maybe you feel as if you can't spare the patience.

_________________
Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

I think the question is being asked too early. It will be interesting to see how the end of his contract plays out though.

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Proud to be UNVERIFIED.

Agreed.

_________________
Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

The(o) Plan included spending on free agents to complement young draft picks. He has stated that the financial landscape is different than what he thought it was when he was hired. However, it is now different than what he thought it would be even last year.

How can you say "no hiccups, no regression" when, by his own admission, The(o) Plan is behind schedule?

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

No, the plan is not behind schedule because the plan hasn't even hit the major league level yet.

The only thing that has changed is last season and this season the Cubs are leaving 5-7 wins on the table because they didn't sign an overpriced veteran outfielder or veteran pitcher.

Do Cubs fans want 3 Edwin Jackson contracts rather than 1 right now?

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Who can argue with that sound logic?

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Reread. Theo himself has said that the plan is behind schedule.

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Say what you will...but the rebuild is from the bottom up.

Try to convince Cubs fans that they should rage and PANIC! all you want.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Please provide the quote.

All I've previously seen is

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Thank you both.

This seemingly constant march of people who are smarter than everyone actually 'in the Cubs room' has gotten to a point where the buffoonery behind it starts to replace reality to a point where no shortage of 'conversations' begin and end only in this fabricated universe wherein Theo can't tell a baseball from a basketball and the Ricketts are ruining the World Series winning traditions of the great leadership of the Tribune company as well as old man Wrigley.

_________________
Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

Don, I am glad you read all that from me saying Theo wants to own a team.

Theo has made some impressive trades and evaluated MLB talent well, but by his own admission, the minor leagues are going to make or break this team. I am not passing any judgement on him at this point, other than what he has said.

I don't agree with everything they are doing, like creating a losing culture, but the overall job of rebuilding I am fine with today. It is not a blind loyalty by any means.

Now you can apologize and say I am probably correct on Theo wanting to own his own team, which if he creates a playoff team here, gives him a great track record to take to any hedge fun group and easily get the money to put him into the ownership group. If he walks away, guys dont want to hear excuses, no matter who's fault it was. Ricketts or anyone else.

_________________
"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

Obviously there is no winning tradition, but Ricketts deserves most of the criticism he gets. He has done nothing to impress or given any reason to believe he's anything more than a lucky sperm club member who happened to be a Cub fan.

@ bigfan.

FYI - Don wasn't disagreeing with you. He was criticizing good dolphin's OP.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

You know...owning a professional sports team is a little more complicated than

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Pretty much.

Gotta love a guy giving someone else shit for not reading properly because they themselves didn't read properly ...

_________________
Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

To me, Ricketts is a hard guy to hate. He may be inept, but that's not as big a sin as being diabolical like Reinsdorf. It's not his fault he was born rich. He sits a few rows in front of our seats and he'll come over to talk about the team once in awhile. Like you say, he's a Cub fan whose dad was rich enough to buy the team for him.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

I understand baseball, baseball ownership and what goes along with it well enough.

I havent even advocated big spending. Ricketts is just not an impressive man. He's said and done a bunch of dumb things since he got here. Other than hiring (trading for) Theo, there is not much to point to that can debate that point.

And pretty much all signs point to him going back on promises to Theo and Jed regarding spending.

Like I said, not much to like about Ricketts.


You have Sox fans exaggerating and hating on Theo and then you have Cub fans seemingly having infinite patience for a plan that even if executed exactly as planned might not work out.

As always the truth is in the middle


Theo is a smart gm but he may have not fully understood the Cub situation when took the job.

Ricketts seems largely overwhelmed

The plan is a toss up. Its a fine plan that might work and might not.


Rakim Bless America

It would be much easier if he owned the team you root for


Actually I dont hate him. Im just unimpressed. Maybe he'll prove me wrong. Probably not though

Probably true. I've repeated my position that this ownership group is repeatedly slapping fans in the face. But it must be hard to have to grovel before a high-powered dad for bullpen upgrades. One thing I do know is that if Beth Murphy is controlling what the Cubs do, Big Joe Ricketts should be ashamed.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

I had some hedge fun in the bushes of my friend's house with a skank in high school

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.