In my quest to deflate to A cups, I got to hear some sports talk last night. Here is a sample:

Sir: The Cubs are a healthy team.

Really? Would you call a person with terminal cancer but with a 25% chance to live if some untested wonder drug works a healthy patient?

Joe Sheahan: The Cubs will not be a good team in the second part of this decade. They WILL be the top or among the top teams in that time period.

someone on WGN: some of the Cubs prospects will be great. Theo will be able to know the ones who aren't great and trade those guys to other teams for proven MLB talent.

This is really the kind of stuff that makes me troll you guys. There was not a single bit of realism rolling across the airwaves last night, despite none of these super prospects being above the early stages of AA ball.

It's like no one sees the Castro-Rizzo difficulties as a cautionary tale against unmitigated optimism.

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

I heard that. The healthy comment was one thing. I wouldnt say it, but its not crazy.


The Sheehan guy is hilarious

I dont think what Laurence said is crazy. Considering where they've been, things are better and it looks like the organization is at least acquiring young talent. That's a positive.


Dont hold WGN callers and some asshole who thinks he can project prospects 7 years down the road against Cub fans

Show Cubbie Nation some mercy good dolphin. Yeah, you won, and they know it, but it may be time to let them off the hook.

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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!

This is your "Bombs strapped to babies" joke


Doesnt matter how many times you post it, it's just not that good.

GD....I would venture to guess that not many of "us guys" share a lot of the same viewpoints of the crap you heard.

But I am out there drowning in my own flop sweat and I heard it on three different shows from people who are designated, at least by the payment for their opinions, as experts. It's difficult to call that some rogue group.

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

I understand that good dolphin makes you mad but don't take it out on me.

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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!

SJBoilermaker0187

I guess the appropriate term, if he insisted on using a medical analogy, is that the Cubs have stabilized. They are no longer getting worse.

I know Joe Sheahan said "pay no attention to their record this year...or next year for that matter", but to step out and say a team is healthy, you have to be doing something more at the MLB level.

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

You're an ass.

Did you hear the caller who said he's already giving them next year off and laughs at Cub fans who want to keep Garza and Soriano (no one)?


That whole station, and on a larger scale our society, is just filled with uninformed people trying to pump themselves up by putting down legions of idiots that often times dont exist.



Again, I have to say, that Sheahan guy was borderline offensive to anyone who has ever followed any team sport

and I hate to open this can of worms but both Sheahan and the WGN guys pretty much said that the moves they make must be good moves because Theo is making them

I don't want to get into the whole Theo worship thing as it is a topic all its own but this is All Star break radio with a team 9 games under. That is usually the recipe for angry radio.

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

I don't pay attention to their record at all. As long as they have great WHIP and OPS.

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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 Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Theo Epstein is one of the world's greatest con men.

_________________
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 Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I don't think Theo is a con man.

But his ALS is as impressive as Bernstein's.

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He's got fans who by all rights should be irate as docile as kittens. That's a con man.

_________________
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 Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Not when there are no expectations of success.


People have given the new regime two years of not expecting any success. I suspect that starts to turn next year.

Here we go

Cub fans are the first fan base in history to go through a rebuild

No.

But you know as well as I do that there is a segment of the fandom as well as media that will believe anything the Cubs do as smart simply because Theo is the one doing it.

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I think fans are already conditioned for bad again next year. Anything approaching .500 will be met with cries for GM of the year.

There are many elephants in the room but the most glaring is that they are going to have to spend big on free agent pitching even if all these prospects hit by 2015, and Theo has not been very good in that area of over the past half decade of his career.

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

Sure

Yup, and they are the loudest. Sucks.

My expectations for 2014 is somewhere in the ballpark of 75-77 wins.

2015 there needs to be reasonable playoff aspirations.

Real problem of the rebuild is that the NL Central is very good right now and hard to see the Cards/Reds falling off significantly in the next couple years. If the Pirates keep on keepin' on, oh boy.

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Team Cutler.

Not so sure about the pitching.

I mean, suppose they keep Garza and Samardzija. You have Wood. That's three solid starters. You dont have to go on a spending spree to cover two spots in a rotation.


I do think it may get interesting next year if they're within 5 games of a wild card and they still want to sell off at the deadline.


Im looking for above .500 next year

Meanwhile, the Sox have no future even with a pitching staff filled with 1-4 spot starters and a closer all under 30 years of age and under team control for several years.

I cannot remember which of the shows said this but someone said it is easier to fill in pitching than positional players. I disagree and the market seems to favor my opinion.

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

Right. The vocal minority painting the group in a bad light again.

Just like the Muslims.

Or the Ligues.

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It's one thing to go through a rebuild. It's another to blatantly tell your paying customers you're giving them a shit product on purpose and getting them to cheer on that concept.

_________________
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 Elon, Tulsi, and Don

What?

You're counting on Santiago and Quintana to pitch you to the playoffs?

And young closers arent really as good as other young players. I mean its nice for the pocketbook, but I think all closers have a certain 3-5 year run and that's about it


I dont get how Sox fans get a pass with this stuff. You have a team heading towards 95 losses and here you have an educated fan explaining how good and young the rotation is.

Isn't that far more realistic than expecting Almora and Soler to hit you to a World Series?

_________________
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 Elon, Tulsi, and Don