I'm curious what your definition of "successful" entails.

Well, I would say it's relative. Success for a Yankee GM is different than success for a Cubs GM. Hendry put together the best team in the NL in 2008. Let's just say Theo Epstein has a long way to go to come close to what Hendry did in Chicago.

_________________
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

signing Pena probably accounted for an extra 2 wins..10 million for 2 wins is not a wise investment..and Lahair was there the whole time...Not one fan bought a ticket to see Pena play..they could have just flushed that 10 mill down the crapper...I think Joe is having fun and does not believe Hendry was a good g.m.

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There is a bit of humor in the fact that the Cubs made a big name GM signing who very quickly turned Boston into a contender and the general consensus is that it's time to suck for 2-5 years and that is the way to fix it.

It's quite a good job by Cubs PR. Things could very well have gone the other way. People could be asking "We hired the guy from Boston, who was spending 170 million a year, but now we are spending 88 million a year and hoping we draft well. Aren't we kind of wasting Theo?".

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

It almost has to be a five year plan when drafting a high school player. The top high school competition statement which will speed his progress to the majors seemed almost Kennyesque.

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

i fully expect the cubs to have a 160mill payroll in 3 years and win the division....world series in 5 years

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Apples and oranges to an extent. Theo took over a team in Boston that was a couple of outs away from going to the World Series, and had a solid rotation and some proven sluggers. The Cubs, obviously, are not in that good of shape.

_________________

Don't give McNeil and Speigal any terrible ideas

_________________

This whole Theo thing has the makings of a Lovie Smith era with low expectations early, followed by underwhelming results that put him on the hot seat and concluding with a great contract year that gets him another five year term. Lovie is working on the second such contract.

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

No wonder Cub fans are looked at as not knowing baseball.

If they win 65 games this year and 75 next year who cares? They get better, so what? They will not challenge for a playoff spot until 2015 at the earliest.

_________________

You are a complete idiot.

If you think ANY team in MLB is 3 seasons away from winning 85 games, you know less about baseball than anyone here.

I guess what I find most distasteful about Team Theo- and this really doesn't have anything to do with the Cubs, that's just where these guys currently are- is that they seem to have a "fantasy baseball" approach to building a real team. In fact, I read an article about Jed Hoyer that suggested one of his credentials for running a team was winning a tough New England Roto league as a teenager.

Now I just read where McLeod said the amateur draft is "their Super Bowl". You're running an actual big league team. This isn't a Bill James fantasy league. Shouldn't "your Super Bowl" actually be on the field rather than in a draft room?

_________________
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

Never take anything for granted,especially a 5 year plan. There is no reason this years team had to suck this much. You can rebuild and still have a decent team on the field,that is how I feel. Fans don't care about the upside of an 18 year old draft pick,because in baseball,it's really a guessing game. Especially Cub fans who are sick of losing,planned or otherwise.
Theo and his minions completley ignored the 5th PO spot this year. A couple of 1 or two year contracts to 2 or 3 ML hitters would not have upset any major rebuilding plan,especially when you have no talent in the minors.

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

Yeah yeah we get it Jimmymeatball. If the Cubs had just gotten a couple of veterans off the amazing scrap heap this offseason they could have won a few more games and in your world been in contention for a wild card. Keep telling yourself that and it continues to remain just as wrong.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Lovie Smith won the NFC North in year two and earned a bye two of his first three seasons. I think he exceeded expectations.

_________________
Fire Phil Emery

And guys like you keep staring at a pile of shit and pretend it smells like a rose.

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

No not at all, this pile of shit stinks. I am just happy they are finally rebuilding the best way. I am willing to deal with the stink this year for a better product in the future.

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Shit is some of the best fertilizer out there. The future of the Cubs will thrive.

_________________
That's my purse! I don't know you!

I apologize driving over the same road. I will try to refrain from blasting "The Plan" the rest of this season,but man you might have to go back to 1966 to find a Cubs team this bad.

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

Good.

Let's get the first pick!

Were you comatose during most of the 80s and 90s?

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

RFDC,
Quite possibly. I worked a lot of 12 hour nightshifts in my life.

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

So I stumbled upon this article while looking at some Jorge Soler stuff....


Chicago Cubs: Why Jorge Soler Was Foolish to Head to North Side
By Dan Kukla (Correspondent) on June 18, 2012 4,563 reads 70
Use your ← → (arrow) keys to browse more storiesNext

Jorge Soler finished as the biggest loser when the Chicago Cubs won a bidding war to sign the Cuban prospect.

Chicago locked up Soler for a nine-year stay in MLB purgatory with a $30 million bounty (via CBS Sports).

David Waldstein of the New York Times reports that the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers all competed in the bidding war. John Heyman adds for CBS that several of these teams bid at least $25 million for the five-tool, 20-year-old lefty.

That's an impressive list of suitors. It's just too bad that he chose to marry for money without even considering the quality of his mate.

Soler clearly does not care even the slightest bit about winning. That extra $5 million may seem like a big enough difference now, but let's see how he feels when he actually has to play for his new—for lack of a better term—team.

Someone should have warned Soler what he was signing up for. A simple conversation with another stud athlete mired in mediocrity would have saved this star a decade of misery. Where was his countryman Yoenis Cespedes on this one?

The young Cuban is forgiven for not knowing his old American baseball history. Frankly, however, that is irrelevant in this situation.

This goes well beyond the franchise's 103-year title drought—although that alone should deter any MLB player with options. This issue is deeper than any of the many franchise curses.

When will the Chicago Cubs win a World Series title?
By 2015
By 2020
By 2030
Not for another century
Submit Vote vote to see results
Forget history. Signing with the Cubs was a foolish decision for Soler based on the present.

USA Today's Bob Nightengale explains that the Cubs owned baseball's third-highest opening-day payroll at $146.6 million in 2010. They opened this season at $88.2 million, ranking 15th in the majors.

Their major league talent has plummeted as quickly as their payroll, with the Cubs on pace to lose 108 games, surpassing their franchise record of 103 losses set in 1962 and tied in 1966.

Nightengale argues that Soler instantly becomes an integral piece Chicago's rebuilding project and that the team will be ready to compete again in 2015.

Excuse the cold water, but even that seems overly optimistic. This has nothing to do with Soler and everything to do with the state of Chicago's organization.

ESPN's Keith Law ranked Chicago's farm system as the 11th worst in Major League Baseball. Only the Phillies rank lower among the teams that pursued Soler. That was before the Cubs acquired the Cuban, but includes the presence of much anticipated prospects Anthony Rizzo and Brett Jackson.

Soler certainly boosts this standing, but Yahoo's Kevin Kaduk notes that his addition now presents further complications for the Chicago's new front office: "developing the farm system's first outfield talent in at least a few generations."

That alone handicaps Soler's long-term upside, regardless of his new team's inability to win games.


Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstien made a big splash by signing Jorge Soler. Don't expect any noise from his team for quite a while.
Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Theo Epstein was hailed as Chicago's savior when he landed in the north side's front office. That mindset is gaining new traction with the announcement of Soler's contract.

Yahoo's Dan Soderberg celebrates Epstein for "attempting to rebuild the Cubs from an overpriced, aging disappointment to a young, exciting contender." He calls Soler's signing a "major step in the right direction."

Yes, the signing is indeed a step in the right direction. In context of the entire journey, however, it makes very little difference. This step essentially moved the Cubs off the Golden Gate Bridge on their way to the Statue of Liberty.

Soler just joined a team with the worst MLB roster and a farm system ranked in the league's bottom half. Expecting the Cubs to be competitive by 2015 is insane. Hoping they can be competitive by the expiration date of Soler's contract is much more reasonable.

Just make sure to drink plenty of north-side Kool-Aid between now and then.

By then, however, Soler will have realized that the greener (read: wealthier) pastures of the friendly confines aren't necessarily better. Luckily for the youngster, New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles will likely all come calling again.

Only then they will be offering bail instead of a bounty






So I wonder, what the fuck reality is this motherfuck is living in? My sox friends here insist the Cubs need to just spend a little money and they can be competitive NEXT YEAR, so I click on his bio and it all becomes clear after the first 6 words...


Choosing to be a Cardinal fan in St. Louis is like ordering roast beef at Arby's. Yes, there are other options, but they are all vastly inferior.








Good thing Turner bought this website for 175 million dollars

Wow, that is dumb. I also love the "they haven't won in 103 years and therefore they won't win in the future" canard. As if PK Wrigley has anything to do with the modern Cubs. (Unless you blame the day games).

What if you blame the ballpark and the difficulty of tailoring a team to it when it plays quite differently depending upon which way the wind is blowing?

_________________
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

Then you're an idiot.

103 years of losing because of: unpredictable, variable wind. Genius.

_________________
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

Really? I'm pretty sure I heard Theo himself say something like that.

_________________
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

And Theo is the first guy to check the weather while considering building a team? It's too bad the Tribune company didn't have Tom Skilling in their employ all those years .... oh, wait ....

Of course, that must explain why the Giants never won while they were in Candlestick Park.

I suppose therefore that variable wind is to blame for the rest of the teams that aren't perennial winners too.

I guess that's why, say, visiting Yankee fans are often seen marveling at the capricious wind changes in our fair city.

_________________
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

Do you really not understand the concept of building a team to fit a park? Why do you think there have been so few successful left-handed pitchers that have played for the Red Sox? Why do you think there have been so many more power-hitting lefties than power-hitting righties wearing Yankee pinstripes? Why do you think Mauer and Morneau have seen a sudden decrease in their power numbers that coincides with their team's move to a new park? Now take a park that plays radically differently about half of the time. You find it absurd to think that might play a part in the difficulty many smart baseball men have had in putting together a championship team that plays there?

_________________
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