ahem

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

What an absolute stud. I love this motherfucker.

Thanks to the stats, I cant say Soler hits the ball harder than him, but it looks like he does. Too bad Soler cant lift the ball!

But even the outs had some interesting chances to left!

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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.’”

Interesting article over at Wrigleyville Prospectus from Matthew Trueblood taking a look at what the Cub should and shouldn't do going forward with their soon to be complete MLB roster.

HOW THE FULL-STRENGTH CUBS SHOULD LOOK

There’s been plenty written about the politics of Montero, Baez, and La Stella landing on the roster again. It’s a tough needle to thread, to be sure, but it’s exactly the kind of thing for which one hires Joe Maddon. If the Cubs can’t bench the struggling Soler against right-handed pitchers, convince Schwarber to defer his tenacious efforts to grow as a defensive backstop, and get their infielders into a rotation that subjugates those players’ individual interests to those of the team, Maddon will be listening to the NLDS on the radio in his RV this fall. If the staff can get the buy-in they will need to field the optimal team without losing the focus and cohesion prevalent in the clubhouse right now, this is still a team capable of playing well into the fall.

Gonna go new thread on this for the experts to chime in

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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.’”

"player development became a distant, secondary consideration a long time ago"

This sentence is what's wrong with this season. What hath Jon Lester wrought? This year WAS about player development, not chasing a one game WC. Kyle should be behind the plate every game, either to train him or to continue to build trade value. When Baez comes up Castro should sit full time and La Stella should as well. Etc, Etc. This is a good way to screw up all your work.

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

You have to take every shot you can get at winning the world series. To throw away a season because you are "developing players" is stupid.

What are you developing them for?
TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES.

How do you win the WS?
YOU MAKE THE PLAYOFFS!

How do you make the playoffs?
YOU WIN THE WC. Your thought process is flawed.

A baseball blog with "Prospectus" in its name. That should lend it credibility. I'll continue to get my Cub analysis from IMU and jimmypasta, thank you very much.

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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

I'm glad you're not in charge. The focus was player development to get the franchise to this point.

The focus is now winning. Player development still matters and the Cubs organization is handling it. But the major league team competes to win. It is no longer beneficial to develop talent on the major league roster, besides natural improvement in young players.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Holy Shit, we agree on something two times today. If you post a picture of a hatchback and I actually like it, I am going to go play the lottery after work.

I'm the biggest fan of the bites at the apple theory. I just don't think this team is a Royals or Giants type team, to name two wild card winners that went on to bigger things. Way too many young players, too many fundamental flaws, I don't see it . They need one more year. If they can get to the playoffs without sacrificing player development, I'm for it.

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

Looking back I wonder if the Nats would still shut Strasburg down.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

No one thought the Royals or Giants were a Royals or Giants team at this point in 2014. Stop thinking of the 2015 Royals as the 2014 Royals. That team was heavily flawed and was an after thought going into October.

6 Wild Card teams have won a World Series. 12 total Wild Card teams have played in the World Series. There have been Wild Cards in 20 MLB seasons.

More than once every two years, a Wild Card team makes the World Series.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

who was talking about the 2014 Royals? Me? How did you get that from what I said?

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

What other Royals teams won the Wild Card and played in Game 7 of a World Series?

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

I meant last year's Royals team, which I now realize is 2014, so nevermind on that. My bad. And I made quite good coin PREDICTING a Giants/Royals WS in July last year. So yes, I did see that coming. I also bet the A's as a side bet so I'm not a genius or anything. I thought the Royals had a ton of talent and that they would be there at the end of the year. And the Giants win every other year so that's a good bet too.

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

Oh. My. God.

Praise be to Yevon.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Just average according to JORR and WWN.

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asked this question this morning on Kapalan's show with the 3rd pick would you still take Rodon over Schwarber

Schwarber's staredown after launching his 2nd dong was glorious.

You gonna make us wait on this one or tell us the answer (not that Kaplan's thoughts mean much to me but to keep the integrity of the post).

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

I didn't mean to imply I asked it.



didn't watch long enough to hear any callers on the subject

Kapalan - Schwarber
Haugh-Rodon
Chuck Garfien -Rodon

That was forseeable.

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

What would you do dolphin? Schwarber would be perfect for the Sox.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

In a draft?

As an academic discussion, I take the pitcher who projects as an ace (and who has further proven it in college) over an everyday player (even one who has proven himself in college).

Theo and company disagree. They think there is some kind of glut of pitchers and a dearth of hitters. Even if true, it seems to me that you are going to pay more for more years for those pitchers who become available than for the hitters. I can piece together a decent offense with platoon guys and people specially designed to my needs. You are praying if you do that with starters year to year

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

Actually, I think the Epstein philosophy is that the college hitter is the safest pick to make the big leagues. And I'm sure all the numbers support him. But you're not likely to end up with a Kershaw, Sale, Bumgarner, etc. at anything resembling a reasonable price. You're going to be paying 30 year old guys giant money on long deals to get the type of pitching you need to win multiple World Series. But maybe sometimes you can find an Arrieta.

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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

Reclaiming Arrietta from the Oriole scrap heap has done more for this Cub resurgence than any other move the organization has made. His presence is like what a cheap Russell Wilson was for the Seahawks both on the field and in the ability to reallocate money.

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

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Kenny Williams fell for the banana in the tailpipe