Thanks for Eloy and Cease. It's not like the Cubs could've used a few runs that Eloy would've provided the last few days.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

From the disabled list?

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Stupid OP

Theo does deserve a shoutout though.

At his presser today, he laid it all out there. He touched on everything we've all been bitching about. He owned it. Joe could learn a lot from young Theo. I feel very confident Theo has got this under control and this golden age isn't over.

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This is ridiculous.

There is no way Theo could have known the Yu Darvish situation would spiral out of control the way it did. He made every effort to make it comfortable for Yu, including having him see the Rangers medical staff for a second opinion. Could have just as easily called him out in the media as soft and weak.

Like it or not, Joe Maddon won this team a World Series. Yes, I watched him manage the bullpen in the last three games, but they won and that's all that matters. Theo picked the right guy to manage this team and he needs to be commended.

There's literally nothing more he could have done to fix this season. This is all on the players, mostly the offense.

Also, I wouldn't trust anyone other than Theo to get the Cubs out of the impending approach towards the luxury tax.

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The bullpen, with all its ups and downs was/is not the problem. Lowest era in the league. Held the Brewers and Rockies to 5 runs over the last 22 innings. That's 2.04 runs per 9 innings. Can't really ask for more than that, especially down Morrow and Darvish.

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well said.

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

No one on this board is better at talking shit from the other side of any number of fences.

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Based on what?

Seems like he's always made his hay drafting well and has tried to spend his way out of trouble later on when drafting high is no longer an option.

That seems to be the direction the Cubs will head as well, especially if they are serious about Machado or Harper.

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Machado all day. Losing interest in Harper over here.

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I hope to god Theo doesn’t sign Harper or Machado. I Want them to be great and Theo is the free agent kiss of death. Stay away!

One thing that was odd to me during the conference was his reliance on regression. He said it over and over again and he is counting on it to be better next year. Example was 8 players were worse then expect so some of them must be better.

He did not use it though when trying to explain the second half of a 95 win season. If it is average for a very good team to win 90-97 games a year and you won 95 then you really cannot blame the second half. If you had a worse second half you must have then had a better than expected first half and "regressed" back to the right average in the second half.

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Elections have consequences.

Same here.

Why not both? The Cubs will have enough revenue streams to afford both players.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Not really. He's made his hay drafting well, then doing extremely well in trades and small FA buys.


I liked what he said at the press conference.


I dont think they will get Machado or Harper or any BIG free agent. Maybe a Closer like Zach Britton.

He absolutely did. That was the whole point in bringing it up.

I dont know what you're saying in the rest of that paragraph.

That is what I heard RPB. Time for some of the players on the team to come up to projections and if not get some minor ones to try. Whether that has anything to do with recent misses and wasted money idk? One thing I believe though is the idea the Cubs have limitless revenue and will pay huge luxury taxes on payroll is mistaken.

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Elections have consequences.

The guys who had HUGE years will likely regress, the guys who had down years will likely bounce back to their norms.

I dont think they will go on any spending sprees either.

My take was he spoke about regression strictly in expecting players to be better next year. i do not think he knows why the second half was worse in a certain manner base don his words as I heard them anyway. I just found it funny someone like him could not put his finger on the second half. Or at least he wasn't telling the whole story if he did.

In the end if you got something out of it different fine.

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Elections have consequences.

Britton is a health risk. This team needs a leadoff hitter with speed and a big bat. They will probably need another starter if they don't keep Hamels.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Ok.

I heard him explain the offensive woes in detail (ground ball rates, less homeruns) and mention Baez specifically as a guy who may have had a career year.

We can start spending internationally again, I'd love to get Machado. Put him at 3rd and Kris in left..dump Schwarber.

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+1

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

I think they'll keep Hamels.

I disagree on leadoff hitter with speed. Do they even exist? Do any of the playoff teams have them? They need a player who gets on base a ton to lead off.

Blackmon, Yelich have speed.

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Blackmon does not have speed anymore and Yelich doesn't lead off.

Speed is not a bad thing. Springer has it, but the speed is an extra luxury, the most important thing is getting on base.

Either way I took it I was not being anti-Cub guy after the season. The mechanisms of how they actually move on from here are interesting.

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Elections have consequences.

I liked the criticism of himself and the players regarding talent versus production. That's a blind spot that a lot of people experience.

Though it's concerning there is that gap as Theo stated development is a competitive advantage the Cubs possess. So far reality says otherwise.

How is he spending himself out of trouble? He focused on hitting through the draft and has been able to build very good bullpens the past three or four years. Plus he's able to get that money, which is a big difference over many other GMs.

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