That's a really expensive last guy in the bullpen

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Oh, so they aren't planning on contending this year.

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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 Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

What if every other team gets worse???!!?!

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Jury has made it's decision on Baez already?

I wouldn't say that, but he certainly hasn't shown he is capable of hitting in the majors. Even without him you strike out way too much. La Stella is a guy who puts the ball in play. If they're serious about contending, I'm gonna guess he'll be the guy out there.

There's no doubt in my mind that if you give Baez 500 at-bats he's gonna hit 30 homers. He's also probably going to strike out 250 times. But that raises an interesting question. If he can play excellent defense at a permium middle infield position, is he still a top guy in spite of that? I don't think he can get on base like Dunn, but if Dunn had been a middle infielder, say of the quality of Ozzie or Beckert, is he a Hall of Famer? That would be a one of a kind guy. There really is no comp for that.

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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 Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

You're more realistic than most Cubs fans but I expect the Cubs to fully contend by 2017, maybe sneak in a wild card in 2016. The difference between them and the Royals is the Royals were forever trying to find pitching, and the Cubs seem to make a good habit of finding it. Plus the Cubs will outspend the Royals eventually. But you're closer than most Cubs fans.

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

Pretty sure JOrr and other Sox fans don't care about Attendance Championships. in fact, I will concede that Cubs will likely win a lot more of those because right now, that is the only thing they are in position to win.

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That's a good question. He looked pretty slick and poised in the field.

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Just ask yourself if Mark Reynolds was a 2B would he be that much more valuable? I don't really know, I've seen enough .250 obp guys dropped in the center of a lineup to know their power does not make up for the rallys they kill.

The value of a guy like that would depend on the makeup of the rest of the team.

Let's just put an end to this "Im the realistic Cub fan" thing you've been trying to play for months now.

Many of us realize they might very well be another year away from contending for something meaningful (staying within 5 of a WC is not really competing, imo). But they will be trying to win this year.

That's a refreshing change for many of us

The only difference between you and many other Cub fans is you WANT them to tank another year.

Obviously there are some exceptions who think they'll be winning next year, but those people are to be ignored

Still pretty sure Valbuena gets traded before Opening Day.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

He did a great job last year. Underrated really. Not sure he can repeat the effort and not sure with Bryant coming up, he will be needed to any great degree. But I would not trade him for a bag of Baseballs. If they don't get something of value, he's worth hanging onto, in case of injury.

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Go Cubs!!!!

yeah, well, the title of "realistic" Cubs fan is self granted on my part. I just want them to play all youth and suck one more year since they're not going anywhere anyway. I want the nucleus to stay intact as much as possible, know your talent can compete in the major leagues one more year and get one more sure fired draft pick.

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