just lay it out there and define it already. I know it is dangerous as that becomes the standard by which you will be judged but enough of this already.

I had the pleasure of listening to oompa loompa skin toned Kaplan yesterday pitch softballs to Mc Leod. This is the second interview I have heard from Cub upper management in the last two weeks. This is also the second time management was asked to specifically define The Cub Way. This was the second time they skated around the issue, only speaking in very ambiguous terms.

You are not guarding the crown jewels. Step out and say this is specifically what we want a Cub player to be and this is the exact approach we expect. What is the damage in being specific?

...other things gleaned from the interview

1. prepare for at least one more lost season. It doesn't sound like management has any care about the present MLB club, only what it may be in the future...and that future isn't 2014.

2. doesn't think Baez is ready as a hitter. Still has too many at bats where you shake your head at his approach.

3. many options at third may precipitate Bryant playing OF. My question is, why would you want your best option to move to allow room for your lesser options? As athletic as he may be, he isn't going to be a better defensive option than some of the other prospects. I have a feeling the answer is that they are ultimately projecting Baez at 3B.

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

only reason you would do this is if you know he can't play third.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

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1926-1931-1934-1942-1944-1946-1964-1967-1982-2006-2011

I read one guy who thinks if Baez doesn't change his approach he'll hit .250 with a .300 OBP in the majors.

but a .600 SLG!

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

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Was this before or after his promotion to AA? I read about him finally sitting down with the hitting coach there and listening to him and working on stuff. He showed that power initially in TN but it was HR or K until he worked with the hitting coach.

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

The Cubs Way used to involve an announcer who wore enormous glasses and slobbered over a cute ballgirl.

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"... go out there and hitch up your trousers, and say: 'Hey baby here I am now. Let me see you run through me now. Let me see you show some disrespect for me while I'm nose on your nose."
- Lou Holtz

I dunno, maybe because there is a pretty good case to be made for taking an athletic power hitting third baseman, who might not be a gold golver, and putting him into left field. Seems to have worked out OK for a few teams. FYI, if you scroll past #7 on the list, look behind you because you missed the point.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2013-pos ... eft-field/

Curious to hear opinions on this. Do you think these players really trust the team that they signed with enough to change the way they play the game so they can feel adapted to the Cubs Way? At the end of the day, you pitch the ball, you catch the ball, you throw the ball, you run and you slide. Be as good as you can at them, right?

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Still wondering how the "Cubs Way" would fit into picking up players off waivers and inserting them directly into the line-up. I thought there was a plan.

I guess we are instead banking on every prospect to become an allstar within the next two years for the "sustained success" to rise to the top and for this "rewarding journey" to be worth while. There will be a movie next about this great accomplishment. Thank god the albatross contract Soriano carried is now in the form of Ryan Sweeney and we have three more wonderful years of Edwin Jackson's great presence on the mound.