How is it Maddon's fault that he has a bunch of disjointed offensive parts that don't fit.

Zagunis is at best the 25th man on a roster. He shouldn't be starting two of the first four games for a shit team like the Orioles, much less the Cubs.

The Cubs are still reluctant to play Schwarber against lefties, and obviously he defense is bad.

Almora hasn't developed offensively, or the Cubs haven't given him the opportunity to do so, he's an ineffective offensive player at this point.

Bote isn't a MLB starter on a decent team.

Heyward is 4 empty plate appearances per game.

Unless the Cubs are committed to playing Zobrist every day, you're looking at a minimum of three of those guys in the lineup and all of them in the lineup when Zobrist sits. A lineup with two of those guys could work with the right parts around it, but with all 4 of those guys in the lineup + pitcher spot batting twice, that's a huge lack of offensive production. Not sure how that is Maddon's fault.

This roster - especially offensively - looks like it was cobbled together with no direction.

Take Almora, it would make sense to slot his nice CF defense between a couple of mashers out there in LF and RF. Heyward is essentially a defensive specialist at this point, and Schwarber is a masher but only for 450 plate appearances vs righties. Mask Almora's offensive weakness by allowing his defensive strength to buttress some weak defense mashers in the OF.

It's just a crummy offensive team right now. The Cubs really need the 2016 version of Addison Russell to return, not sure if that guy is ever coming back though.

Joe sounded like he knows the writing is on the wall with Larry. He did his usual patronizing the fans saying "He's glad the fans are paying attention." No questions about particular players. Still touting his vast baseball knowledge, and experiences.

Well whichever side is in the right Theo's or Joe's its a shitty situation to be stuck in. Wouldn't surprise me if Rickett's was forcing this on Theo et al saying you wasted money building this shit and hired Joe not sit with it.

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Elections have consequences.

Joe may say he feels no pressure. You can tell how he feels by the amount of hair dye he is using.

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

I don't think Sir is going anywhere.

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Who would be bbq'd?

This has been the case before. If you win, nobody is getting bbq'd

Maybe? Traditionally front office meddling on the field hasn't been accepted.

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Elections have consequences.

Maddon decided to start him. Management wanted Schwarber and Almora playing every day.


The Cubs = Maddon


A lot of this is true although I think its a a little early to decide what Bote is.

Almora and Schwarber may struggle against lefties but we still dont know because neither has had long term exposure.

Billy Beane has been managing the A's for a long time.

You're right about tradition but that is changing very quickly. Which is why you see so many young managers now.

He's back to natural white. Do you mean to say less dye = more pressure?

More Dye = MVP

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Right and not to belabor this but hiring your guy and having meetings, suggestions and guidance is not exactly the same as doing a Jerry Jones and calling down moves into the dugout.

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Elections have consequences.

more dye=more pressure he is feeling

if he is back to white, he is resigned to his fate and feels not pressure

I don't think they bring him back under any circumstances, including a WS win.

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

Agreed but do some research next time. You're slightly better than this.

Are we really saying the Cubs are a bad offensive team ?

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

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

Infield is solid offensively, but an outfield of Zagunis, Almora, and Heyward isn't striking fear in anyone.

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Not bad, but not great as currently constructed.

I mean there are probably 5 teams in the NL who are better.

#canceljoemaddon

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They scored 27 runs in the opening series .They should be 3-1. The reason they aren’t is because the pitching has to cool off to even be considered hot garbage .

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

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

Should I rehash my old thread about what their record should have been...

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

Let's say, Joe turns the ship around this year. Heyward 15 hr, 80 rbi, 800 ops. Darvish 15 wins. Chatwood strong rebound year. Morrow healthy. Bullpen solid. 2nd world series title. Joe will be Chicago legend. All negative talk will be forgotten. Then, they resign him to yearly contracts. I'll gladly be eating crow.

I don't think the re sign him under any circumstances. I think the FO assumed they will be good this year and were still comfortable with letting him be a lame duck.

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

They just signed Bote to an extension??

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

At this juncture I'd like to see Darvish make 15 starts, let alone 15 wins.

Honestly I figure the Chatwood thing is the most likely out of that grouping.

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"...and feels not pressure"?

Somebody bring some off-brand Beaujolais into the office today?

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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

If they win the WS I think it would be Joe who would not want to re-sign, not Epstein.

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Ross is not ready to manage, he's happy doing two games a week for ESPN. He doesn't want to have to tell Bryant to fuck himself, for example.

Mark DeRosa will be the next manager. He was all but handed both the Mets and Reds jobs and took himself out of consideration.

Ross will take over the Braves at some point in the future, it's a quick private jet flight to his home in Florida.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Loretta will be the next guy.

Fucking Heyward lol, right through his legs

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Burn this mother fucker down!!!

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