If they finally make a commitment to winning this season,that would be great. I can not forgive the past 3 seasons of crap.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Yes, you can, It's no different than the 106 other years of crap give or take a couple of years here and there.

You're mad they were upfront with you for some odd reason.

Success like the three playoff appearances between 2003-2008 wasn't enough for you then (I presume). Why would it be considered a success for you now?

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

Those playoff appearances were "enough" (not in how they ended of course) in the sense that the team was spending and trying to win. The Plan is different because we have been asked to endure intentional multi-year failure for guaranteed future success. To me that either means a WS victory or, because a WS is never guaranteed no matter how good you are, something better than playoffs every other year. That's why I said they need to be in the playoffs almost every year (like 4 out of 5)...otherwise there was no point to The Plan.

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Terrific post. It's an interesting spot Theo put himself in. He's almost certainly going to be the best Cub GM of all time or the worst. And before anybody starts on that statement, I think if you PURPOSELY throw away three full seasons and don't win a world series, you have to go down as a bigger failure than anybody else just simply due to the arrogance of the plan.

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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

Not really true. He threw away 3 seasons so the Cubs can compete for a title each year. The 90's Braves were really good. I love the idea of having a chance every year.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Yeah but that doesn't disagree with anything I posted.

_________________
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

I'm unclear how the word 'arrogance' makes an appearance here.

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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

You're throwing away three years of Cub fans lives because you think this unprecedented tank job will lead you to a world series. Arrogant or everybody's favorite R word are the best adjectives I could think of.

_________________
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

Dont worry, your new team tries hard every year to win no matter what. They never give up!

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"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.’”

You might consider acquainting yourself with the significant differences between the two words.

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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

Already familiar but thanks. Are you trying to imply the two are mutually exclusive? Otherwise I'm not sure what point you are attempting to make here.

_________________
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

He would live

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You are clearly lacking in the understanding of the process of player development. When you draft a guy like Almora out of high school, to expect he will be in the major leagues in 2 years is stupid. Bryant was ready this season, but they knew they were not ready to contend, so they held him back for financial reasons. It keeps him under team control an extra season now. The rebuild has been a huge success. They have done much more in 3 years than anyone could have reasonably expected. The only really stupid move was signing Edwin Jackson. But all in all, great job Theo. Maddon has a great record working with younger developing players.....perfect! I see no reason to complain about the jobs Theo and Jed have done at all.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Beat it, Steve!

Steve,what I'm referring to is that people that are excited with the plan maybe can't see the fact that garnering high draft choices while you finish last has nothing to do with the young Cubs they seen in 2014. The trading good starting pitching for rehabbed or failed younger arms seems to be working for the Cubs,but that's a different part of the plan.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

i think people underestimate the mess left behind by Hendry and the Tribune company. In 3 years the drafted a lot of young talent while at the same time, it took them that long to get out of contract hell. The Cubs were giving out no-trade-clauses like candy on Halloween...just stupid, stupid contracts. This is the first year they are out of that mess.

I have no idea if Theo will be successful, but given the mess that existed, 5 years is not unreasonable. 3 years are down....I agree Cub fans should expect to see some signs of improvement this season.

Soriano
Milton Bradley
Fukodome

I'm sure there are more examples...good Lord those were awful contracts

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Frankly, I don't care that they had a poor team for a few years, rather than a mediocre team that might have been around .500 and resulted in middle of the draft picks. Taking the rough road for a few miles (years) is okay, if it results in smooth sailing down the championship highway afterwards. We have tried the patchwork rebuilding. I like this way of building a team much better. It has greater odds for sustained success, rather than the sporadic contention the other methods brought.

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Go Cubs!!!!

I'll call BS. Too much revisionist history here. And for what its worth, I'm not trying to troll, just calling it like I see it.

Here's a question for you. What if I told you a career .271 hitting, 19 HR, 30 2B, .374 OBP, 80 RBI career player coming off a .321 hitting season where he was an all start and hit 22 home runs, and was a switch hitter could be had for only 10 million dollars a year?

Sounds like a great deal right? Sure it is. I'd make that sign in a minute if I were GM.

That's Milton Bradley. Nobody had any idea he would be garbage here.

Soriano would not have signed unless the cubs gave him 8 years. We look back on it now, but were all probably pretty happy when Sori signed the deal.

Revisionist history. Its easy to 'Monday Morning Quarterback' these moves to death after they happen, like somehow you knew beforehand the Bradley signing would backfire. At the times, these signings were hailed. They didn't work out.

If you have a time machine, quick go back and use it.

As for 'the plan,' I'm not overly thrilled Theo tanked intentionally for the top draft picks, saying stuff like 'every season is sacred' and 'the goal every year is to win the world series.' But right now we're going to find out if the risks were worth the rewards. There are no guarantees here.

This is not some secret method only few people know about, teams have been doing this for a long time, and you need some luck and great talent development to pull this off. Right now he's hedging his bets on prime power hitting talent, something that has dwindled post steroid era. THis team is drastically changed if 2 of these kids pan out, which there's a decent likelihood.

I'm not thrilled pitching has been ignored these few years draft wise, it seems Theo is throwing shit against the wall and seeing what sticks rounds 2-10 the past 3 years and so far, nothing has.

I'm also not thrilled that so far a week or two into free agency, the cubs have sat on their hands and done jack, doing nothing but blow smoke up our asses.

But it will be time to see. I'm glad they kept McLeod another few years, who was the brains behind Epstein's drafting in Boston (after he left for SD in 08, Theo's 1st round picks all busted hard sans a few comp picks.)

Time will tell, this winter will tell if the cubs are serious about making a run or treadmilling to flip some guys, lose or win and get a relatively high draft pick.

I'm waiting and seeing, I would have changed a few things (pick Appel over Almora mainly and keeping Soriano when Rizzo really stunk up after he left in 2013).

Maddon was a good start, but he's not the cure for the terrible hitting/driving in runners in scoring position. I'm optimistic, but waiting most likely another year will suck. I'll at least have the Blackhawks into June. I hope.

Does this pic hang in Theo's office?

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

This is what he has hanging in his office.



Now, go play nicely with the Sox Subdivision JP.