I never figured you for a "curse" guy, thought you were a more rational fan than that, despite the shots at the cubs you take.

You give him 5 years and see where things are at then.

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

You claim no Sox fans bashed the Sox hire of Ventura. I guess you think WTF is a good statement then? and had no intentions at bashing the Sox for this hire.

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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.’”

*sigh* wtf...

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You expect me to wait five years to mock Cubs fans?

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

Thank you for proving it was not a legit question.

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

randy bush will take a dump on his desk like he did in dusty's dugout

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what happens? The Cubs still congradulate themselves on hiring the best talent available.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

So City of Fools share with us your thoughts on this Theo deal? You good with it, or would you prefer them giving the job to Kenny Lofton?

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

Define fail? I mean I think it will be a failure if they dont win the 2014, 2015 and 2016 World Series titles.

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you should try out for the FBI with that super sleuthing ability

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

GD isn't this hire more important than all the other hires? He'll potentially have a far bigger impact on the organization than anyone that has been brought in. He young and has a great reputation. The Cubs will be a consistent winner.

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I would say he has a good reputation. He's made some horrible free agent decisions. He has made some good draft selections. The good thing is I think he is really looking forward to the challenge of not having the huge payroll. He's never really had to lead a team saddled with bad contracts. Sure the Red Sox have had bad contracts, but he was able to spend over them.

Andy Mc Phail had unfettered control. He really had no one overseeing his day to day activities. He had to answer one time a year at a board meeting. He could have gone with a model of spending with an untold amount of riches associated with success. Instead, he played it conservatively with a known amount of profits and bad teams.

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

Oh my. Seriously bigman, are you ok?

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Compared to who?

His worse signings are guys who still contribute to a winning team

I especially take issue with the term decisions because his non signings after the 04 title were the reaston they were able to win again in 07


...you philthy whore

With Dice K, compared to everybody.

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Do you want me to start with most recent and work backwards. Not only did Crawford barely contribute, he heavily contributed to their demise, most specifically on the last play of their season. Now they have him for another 5 years at a cost unjustified even by his best seasons because he got in a bidding war with the Yankees. Don't respond that he was forced to sign Crawford from above.

Lackey has been an unmitigated disaster both on and off the field. He was one of the worst starting pitchers in the league last year and has been since he came to Boston. Even worse, the guy does not even eat innings as he is getting blown up on the mound. Further he has been a bad teammate.

They signed Bobby Jenks for 6 million per year to set up. That is a lot of money even for a known commodity set up man. Jenks was overweight, a heavy drinker and had health problems the year before Epstein signed him. Predictably he spent 90 percent of the year in Florida on rehab assignment.

Those are three concrete examples of big money signings that contributed zero. Would you like me to continue because there is more.

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

He won 33 games his first two years including 3 wins in the 2007 postseason that included a World Series win. He makes less than 10 million a year.


Lackey and Crawford are bad but those guys still contribute and could turn it around (Crawford more likely than Lackey)

If thats the worst of your contracts, you are doing well. Every other GM that spends money on free agents has worse deals

There isn't a single GM in a bigger money market that doesn't have his share of bad money on the books. Guys like Andrew Friedman get credit for being financial frugal when in reality, their savyness is simply a result of not having the resources to offer those types of contracts in the first place.

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Team Cutler.

if you are g.m. for 8 years in a major market with a hefty payroll, you are guaranteed to have some bad signings..agreed that all 3 were very bad signings though.... i think crawford rebounds next year with a nice season.

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Ill respond that Crawford is likely to bounce back and there is a history of players not performing in their first year of a new deal and team. See Curtis Granderson

But Ill agree not a great signing.





Ok, its a bad deal, but you are waaaaay exaggerating. He was horrible last year but he certainly wasnt in 2010 with 14 wins and a 4.40 era. And he was a Mangino like innings eater with 215

Dont make silly untrue statements.





6 million is not a lot of money. Definitely not for the Red Sox.





So your examples are

Lackey who has won 26 games in two years.
Crawford, whose story is still being written after only one year
and a 6 million dollar miss on Bobby Jenks


Those arent terrible.
Every executive in the league who spends money has worse deals.

Im not saying he hasnt made a few bad ones but to characterize them as horrible or a detriment is crazy. Compared to his peers his record is good on FA....and everything else

the fuck you talkin' bout?

Crawford and Lackey are among the worst contracts in the MLB. Look at Crawford's numbers with Tampa. Then look at the guys in the league who make TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS PER YEAR. His best play didn't justify the contract. Even if he rebounds it is a bad contract.

I illustrate the point in my "My Crap For Your Crap Trade" thread in the Sox section. I would not trade donkey for Crawford staight up. Think about how damning a statement that is.

Now tell me how either contributed.

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

crawford will turn it around...dunn and soriano are worse deals, aj burnett...the next 4 years of jeter's deal will be worse

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I see you left off the $50some million that was paid just to talk to the guy.

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Now you're making me laugh. I assure you the team that employs Bill James isn't looking at those 26 wins and saying, "well, that wasn't so bad". The guy had great run support.

Jenks is a 12 million dollar miss. That is a ton of money and an absolute anchor for any other team.

I've addressed Crawford.

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

and why will he turn it around? Oh yeah, because he will turn it around.

Carl Crawford
30 years old
.293 Career Batting Average
.333 Career OBP
Never Hit 20 HR

20 MILLION DOLLARS

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

crawford in in tremendous shape...he does not strike me as a cheater that was on hgh/anabolics.....so 30 is nothing..he should produce at a high level for 4 more years, he never had much protection in the order in tampa...mow he does...i expect a big bounce back year next year.

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Frank, that wasnt a bad deal. Move on.

Dolphin, are you going to admit that a guy who pitches 215 innings is a sufficient innings eater and a guy who wins 14 with 4.40 era in the AL East is not the worst pitcher in baseball.

My point about contributing is its not A.J. Burnett, Kevin Brown or Milton Bradley. Lackey was servicealbe the first year and Crawford has years to go.


No one is arguing these are good deals. Its the level of bad.


Show me a Big money GM who is better with FA signings

Says the man that represented 215 innings pitches as not enough and 14 wins and a 440 era as the worst pitcher in the league.

You seem to have a pre existing notion going back before this year that Crawford is over rated.

His last year in TB he was 3rd in all of MLB in WAR if you want to start briging Bill James into the conversation.