2010 Cubs Thread

[LittleHurt05]

Stat of the day:

 

Cubs have now lost 11 straight series openers. The last time they started a series with a win was May 25 vs. the Dodgers.

[Brian]

Can't remember the last time I have seen such an anemic offense.

[chimpy2121]

7 runs on 2 hits for the Reds in the 7th.

 

 

[fathom]

If J. Gomes ever asked me to leave my wife for him, I hope my wife would be able to find another man then.

[shipps]

Eh its not even that funny anymore to laugh at the Cub catastrophe. Still funny, just not that funny...ya know

[NorthSideSox72]

So when to the Ricketts tell Hendry to start selling off pieces? And are there any we'd want?

 

[Brian]

So when to the Ricketts tell Hendry to start selling off pieces? And are there any we'd want?

 

They aren't trading him, but I would take that Cashner kid in a second.

[SoxFan562004]

That top of the 7th was a joke, easily one of the worst innings I've seen in MLB baseball in awhile, 9 runs on three hits for the Reds and none of the pitches the Cubs were walking guys on were really even close.

[Jordan4life_2007]

I knew the Cubs were mediocre before the season. But wow! I figured they'd at least be in it all year in that division. It's inexcusable the lack of talent they have with their payroll.

[SoxAce]

I still can't believe Jim Hendry still has a job. Won't complain about it though.

[SoxFan562004]

I knew the Cubs were mediocre before the season. But wow! I figured they'd at least be in it all year in that division. It's inexcusable the lack of talent they have with their payroll.

Not to say that Hendry hasn't really screwed that roster up, but Aramis completely being a suckfest this year has killed them, he drove that offense... IMO I don't think he's fully healed from that shoulder injury, it was nasty and even worse for a power hitter.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Not to say that Hendry hasn't really screwed that roster up, but Aramis completely being a suckfest this year has killed them, he drove that offense... IMO I don't think he's fully healed from that shoulder injury, it was nasty and even worse for a power hitter.

 

He had an OPS well over .900 after the all-star break last year. It didn't seem to bother him then. But I agree. He's been arguably the worst everyday player in baseball. But that roster is terrible. Their saving grace is they've actually got some young talent to build around.

[SoxFan562004]

He had an OPS well over .900 after the all-star break last year. It didn't seem to bother him then. But I agree. He's been arguably the worst everyday player in baseball. But that roster is terrible. Their saving grace is they've actually got some young talent to build around.

good point about last year, I'm just looking for something because his falloff is historically bad and really unexplainable. Maybe the thumb is still really bad

Edited July 2, 2010 by SoxFan562004

[Balta1701]

That top of the 7th was a joke, easily one of the worst innings I've seen in MLB baseball in awhile, 9 runs on three hits for the Reds and none of the pitches the Cubs were walking guys on were really even close.

58 pitches in the inning. 6 walks.

[SoxFan562004]

58 pitches in the inning. 6 walks.

and a ridiculously bad error by Fontenot

[whitesoxfan101]

The Ricketts are not in a particularly good financial position right now due to the resources they needed to use to acquire it combined with the current economy. That is why you're seeing some of these ridiculous advertising ploys like the giant noodle thing outside of Wrigley, the Toyota sign above the LF bleachers, and this silly fantasy camp thing they are doing.

 

With that in mind, the Cubs are going to have to try and sell off whatever they can to save money, especially as the crowds are (and will continue to) dwindling with every bad performance. The problem is the catch 22 is that for the first time in years, the Cubs owners actually REALLY NEED the money a full ballpark brings, and it could be argued every empty seat brings the Cubs closer towards getting rid of more people and keeping somebody like Jim Hendry.

 

Lou will be gone after this season, but it's iffy if they can even afford to dump Hendry. And while they would love to dump players, they don't have a lot of valuable chips, and the ones they do have value (there are a few good young guys) don't make enough money to really save by dumping them. The really expensive veteran guys are largely people with no trade clauses. The situation really is a mess, and I don't envy the Ricketts position right now at all. They have a bad team, a fanbase growing more and more angry by the minute, money problems, and a meh minor league system. Oh, and their stadium is still falling apart and needing a lot of infrastructure help.

Edited July 3, 2010 by whitesoxfan101

[SoxFan562004]

The Ricketts are not in a particularly good financial position right now due to the resources they needed to use to acquire it combined with the current economy. That is why you're seeing some of these ridiculous advertising ploys like the giant noodle thing outside of Wrigley, the Toyota sign above the LF bleachers, and this silly fantasy camp thing they are doing.

 

With that in mind, the Cubs are going to have to try and sell off whatever they can to save money, especially as the crowds are (and will continue to) dwindling with every bad performance. The problem is the catch 22 is that for the first time in years, the Cubs owners actually REALLY NEED the money a full ballpark brings, and it could be argued every empty seat brings the Cubs closer towards getting rid of more people and keeping somebody like Jim Hendry.

 

Lou will be gone after this season, but it's iffy if they can even afford to dump Hendry. And while they would love to dump players, they don't have a lot of valuable chips, and the ones they do have value (there are a few good young guys) don't make enough money to really save by dumping them. The really expensive veteran guys are largely people with no trade clauses. The situation really is a mess, and I don't envy the Ricketts position right now at all. They have a bad team, a fanbase growing more and more angry by the minute, money problems, and a meh minor league system. Oh, and their stadium is still falling apart and needing a lot of infrastructure help.

good post and something that I think needs to be brought up every now and then because people think the Ricketts have pockets full of cash when it comes to the cubs when it turns out their cash flow for the team is strapped.

 

Basically from my understanding the sale was agreed to at basically the absolute worse time as far as hindsight goes, right before the big collapse so it was overvalued right off the bat. Some people, Boers and Bernstein in particular, bring it up and the first red flag was when they were asking Chicago celebrities to buy shares of the ownership

[Pants Rowland]

The Ricketts are not in a particularly good financial position right now due to the resources they needed to use to acquire it combined with the current economy. That is why you're seeing some of these ridiculous advertising ploys like the giant noodle thing outside of Wrigley, the Toyota sign above the LF bleachers, and this silly fantasy camp thing they are doing.

 

With that in mind, the Cubs are going to have to try and sell off whatever they can to save money, especially as the crowds are (and will continue to) dwindling with every bad performance. The problem is the catch 22 is that for the first time in years, the Cubs owners actually REALLY NEED the money a full ballpark brings, and it could be argued every empty seat brings the Cubs closer towards getting rid of more people and keeping somebody like Jim Hendry.

 

Lou will be gone after this season, but it's iffy if they can even afford to dump Hendry. And while they would love to dump players, they don't have a lot of valuable chips, and the ones they do have value (there are a few good young guys) don't make enough money to really save by dumping them. The really expensive veteran guys are largely people with no trade clauses. The situation really is a mess, and I don't envy the Ricketts position right now at all. They have a bad team, a fanbase growing more and more angry by the minute, money problems, and a meh minor league system. Oh, and their stadium is still falling apart and needing a lot of infrastructure help.

 

What do you mean that they can't afford to get rid of Hendry? Is there a significant buyout of his GM contract that keeps him from being fired? I do not know the terms of his contract, but to me the Cubs can't afford to KEEP him.

 

The Rickets family would be well served to tear it down and rebuild it from the ground up (the team, not the stadium, but that's not a bad idea either). Start with drafting, scouting and player development from the bottom up and build a solid foundation a la the Red Sox, Braves, and Angels.

 

In the meantime, sell off every aging player you can for the best packages you can get sans giving up cash (ie low to mid-tier prospects at best) and suck up some losing seasons and empty seats during the rebuild. Who knows, if enough fans stay away, you can do work on the crumbling stadium without having to relocate the games. ;-)

 

I know this is not what they will do, but the best way to make that franchise into what should be a perennial power in the NL would be to invest the money into youth and then strike on the FA market when the farm system starts to produce ML ready talent. To me, you can wait out the few albatross contracts if you go with youth on the rest of the roster and see how it plays out.

 

The Nats are showing signs of getting it done and they do not have nearly the fan base or following.

[SoxFan562004]

What do you mean that they can't afford to get rid of Hendry? Is there a significant buyout of his GM contract that keeps him from being fired? I do not know the terms of his contract, but to me the Cubs can't afford to KEEP him.

 

The Rickets family would be well served to tear it down and rebuild it from the ground up (the team, not the stadium, but that's not a bad idea either). Start with drafting, scouting and player development from the bottom up and build a solid foundation a la the Red Sox, Braves, and Angels.

 

In the meantime, sell off every aging player you can for the best packages you can get sans giving up cash (ie low to mid-tier prospects at best) and suck up some losing seasons and empty seats during the rebuild. Who knows, if enough fans stay away, you can do work on the crumbling stadium without having to relocate the games. ;-)

 

I know this is not what they will do, but the best way to make that franchise into what should be a perennial power in the NL would be to invest the money into youth and then strike on the FA market when the farm system starts to produce ML ready talent. To me, you can wait out the few albatross contracts if you go with youth on the rest of the roster and see how it plays out.

 

The Nats are showing signs of getting it done and they do not have nearly the fan base or following.

 

The Ricketts have extremely low cash flow right now and they would probably get no offers for Zambrano and Soriano if they didn't pay some of the contract, the contracts are unmovable, and I believe they both have NTCs so it's not like an open market or anything.

 

Ricketts also have Wrigley to deal with, they own it and have to dump money to keep it up every offseason, with the IL budget right now they have zero hope of getting any state help or from anywhere else short of selling an interest in it.

 

[whitesoxfan101]

The Ricketts have extremely low cash flow right now and they would probably get no offers for Zambrano and Soriano if they didn't pay some of the contract, the contracts are unmovable, and I believe they both have NTCs so it's not like an open market or anything.

 

Ricketts also have Wrigley to deal with, they own it and have to dump money to keep it up every offseason, with the IL budget right now they have zero hope of getting any state help or from anywhere else short of selling an interest in it.

 

Exactly. They have low cash flow, a ballpark with decreasing attendance and increasing maintenance costs, a lack of general money due to the resources used to buy the team, and a lot of overpaid veterans with no trade clauses. It's not a good situation to fix a team full of holes unless you just have a dynamite minor league system, and they don't.

[fathom]

RANDY WELLS WITH A NO-HITTER THRU 5!

Edited July 3, 2010 by fathom

[whitesoxfan101]

Johnny Cueto has thrown 101 pitches through 5 innings and has a shutout going. He's due up 2nd next inning and probably done, but that's ridiculous. The Cubs have already 22 individual LOB and 12 team LOB.

[fathom]

Johnny Cueto has thrown 101 pitches through 5 innings and has a shutout going. He's due up 2nd next inning and probably done, but that's ridiculous. The Cubs have already 22 individual LOB and 12 team LOB.

 

Is the wind blowing in?

[whitesoxfan101]

Is the wind blowing in?

 

Howling straight out.

[fathom]

Howling straight out.

 

Crazy...I see Dusty implemented Ozzie's strategy of benching 3 starters.