Time to pull the plug on the Cubs

[rightwinger]

After 103 years without a championship and 64 without even a pennant it is time to just acknowledge that the Cubs are not a major league caliber franchise and award it to a city that actually has a chance of winning

 

[Mr. H.]

If they do that, I'll lost my place in line for season tickets.
It's only taken me 8 years to go from 83,454 all the way up to 63,288.

 

[rightwinger]

If they do that, I'll lost my place in line for season tickets.
It's only taken me 8 years to go from 83,454 all the way up to 63,288.

Better to invest in lottery tickets

You have a better chance of winning

 

[Mr. H.]

Have you been to a game at Wrigley?
Some things are worth hanging on to, no matter the cost.
Cubs games are like a traveling circus, only they stay in the same place year after year.
Nostalgia is priceless.

 

[DarkLion]

Are you out of your mind? The Cubs mean more to baseball than any other save perhaps the Yankees and Red Sox. The day the Cubs win the WS will be a day everyone will remember the rest of their lives, including non-fans. NYY's 26 world championships combined won't mean what the Cubs' will

 

[TheOldSchool]

The Cubs will make it one day! Besides, you guys are lucky! I had to root for the damn Orioles... for YEARS!!!

Go Nats!

 

[rightwinger]

The Cubs will make it one day! Besides, you guys are lucky! I had to root for the damn Orioles... for YEARS!!!

Go Nats!

Orioles were a dominant team of the 60s,70s and 80s they paid their dues

Maybe if we make the Cubs a minor league team they could win a championship

 

[DarkLion]

The Cubs will make it one day! Besides, you guys are lucky! I had to root for the damn Orioles... for YEARS!!!

Go Nats!

Orioles were a dominant team of the 60s,70s and 80s they paid their dues

Maybe if we make the Cubs a minor league team they could win a championship

The Cubs offer a great storyline to baseball. The type of storylines that are lacking in, say, the NFL. People who know nothing about baseball root for the Cubs and recognize the name. Can the Cleveland Browns say that?

 

[LA RAM FAN]

Are you out of your mind? The Cubs mean more to baseball than any other save perhaps the Yankees and Red Sox. The day the Cubs win the WS will be a day everyone will remember the rest of their lives, including non-fans. NYY's 26 world championships combined won't mean what the Cubs' will

 

[Toronado3800]

Ah, the Cleveland Browns of the old....AAFL? Brought the modern game wih Otto Graham and Marion Motley to the NFL. Won all them championships. Had Jim Brown who had to be the most statistically dominating back ever. Paul Warfield who took the legacy to Miami's perfect team.

Bernie Kosar and Terry Metcalf were fun also but they had some Elway problems.

To the topic, poor Cubs. Makes my hometown Cardinals management team loom great.

 

[LA RAM FAN]

The Cubs will make it one day! Besides, you guys are lucky! I had to root for the damn Orioles... for YEARS!!!

Go Nats!

yeah they arent like the cleveland browns or kc chiefs.two teams that are hopeless to ever make it to the superbowl within the next century.true its been over a century since they have been there,but this is a NEW century.

I have far more better hope of the cubs making it to the world series in the next century than the the royal losers.I mean the kansas city royals or kansas city clowns,i mean chiefs.

The hunt family only cares about filling the seats of arrowhead and the owner of the royals David Ass,doesnt care about championships.Just like Hunt,he doesnt even live in kansas city.

Ewing Kaufmann the former owner of the royals who put his heart and soul into the royals and did everything he could to win a world series pennet when he was alive which he eventually got,I guarantee,he is rolling over in his grave the way David Ass has turned them into the biggest joke of a baseball franchise in the last 20 years.

 

[NoNukes]

After 103 years without a championship and 64 without even a pennant it is time to just acknowledge that the Cubs are not a major league caliber franchise and award it to a city that actually has a chance of winning

I do not see a team like the Pittsburgh Pirates doing any better. The only thing that will change them is someone filthy rich coming in, buying the team and then buying talent. There was a day where your team came out of your farm system, subsidised by a few trades. It is all about the money now.

 

[NoNukes]

Are you out of your mind? The Cubs mean more to baseball than any other save perhaps the Yankees and Red Sox. The day the Cubs win the WS will be a day everyone will remember the rest of their lives, including non-fans. NYY's 26 world championships combined won't mean what the Cubs' will

What a valuable piece if information. Only a Cubs fan would know such a fact.

 

[LA RAM FAN]

After 103 years without a championship and 64 without even a pennant it is time to just acknowledge that the Cubs are not a major league caliber franchise and award it to a city that actually has a chance of winning

I do not see a team like the Pittsburgh Pirates doing any better. The only thing that will change them is someone filthy rich coming in, buying the team and then buying talent. There was a day where your team came out of your farm system, subsidised by a few trades. It is all about the money now.

exactly.well said.At least The Cubs were in the playoffs within the past 5 years.How long has it been since the pirates even had a winning season,what 20 years or something?

 

[DarkLion]

I do not see a team like the Pittsburgh Pirates doing any better. The only thing that will change them is someone filthy rich coming in, buying the team and then buying talent. There was a day where your team came out of your farm system, subsidised by a few trades. It is all about the money now.

Abslolutely dead wrong. Money doesn't buy championships in baseball anymore, hasn't for least a decade. Teams with homegrown talent and free agent pieces that fit are the ones that win. Look at the Dodgers and Blue Jays, opened the pocket books, didn't they? Bought all kinds of free agents, huge names. Dream teams. And look where they are. Two of the worst teams in baseball.

Look at the teams that HAVE won the past few years. Teams with a lot of chemistry, small ball types that put the ball in play and don't strike out. The 2010 Giants were dead last in the league in home runs. You couldn't even name 10 guys on the team unless you either follow baseball closely or are a Giants fan. Same with St. Louis. They had Pujols, Holliday, Carpenter and a bunch of scrappy role guys.

The Pirates absolutely can do it, and they are doing it the right way. Teams are wising up. Overloading your team with big money, big ego players doesn't work anymore. If it ever did. Sure the Yanks won 4 out of 6 years, but that ended when they really opened the purse and brought in the biggest names they could, like Giambi, Randy Johnson etc.

It didn't work. It could be argued that trying to buy championships was what ended the Jeter-Rivera-Williams-Pettitte dynasty.

 

[NoNukes]

I do not see a team like the Pittsburgh Pirates doing any better. The only thing that will change them is someone filthy rich coming in, buying the team and then buying talent. There was a day where your team came out of your farm system, subsidised by a few trades. It is all about the money now.

Abslolutely dead wrong. Money doesn't buy championships in baseball anymore, hasn't for least a decade. Teams with homegrown talent and free agent pieces that fit are the ones that win. Look at the Dodgers and Blue Jays, opened the pocket books, didn't they? Bought all kinds of free agents, huge names. Dream teams. And look where they are. Two of the worst teams in baseball.

Look at the teams that HAVE won the past few years. Teams with a lot of chemistry, small ball types that put the ball in play and don't strike out. The 2010 Giants were dead last in the league in home runs. You couldn't even name 10 guys on the team unless you either follow baseball closely or are a Giants fan. Same with St. Louis. They had Pujols, Holliday, Carpenter and a bunch of scrappy role guys.

The Pirates absolutely can do it, and they are doing it the right way. Teams are wising up. Overloading your team with big money, big ego players doesn't work anymore. If it ever did. Sure the Yanks won 4 out of 6 years, but that ended when they really opened the purse and brought in the biggest names they could, like Giambi, Randy Johnson etc.

It didn't work. It could be argued that trying to buy championships was what ended the Jeter-Rivera-Williams-Pettitte dynasty.

How often have the Yankees been the best team that money can buy?

 

[Toronado3800]

And I will agree money does not buy championships but it sure does help. The Yankees put up quite a run and no Pittsburg team is going to outbid them on a free agent closer.

Problem is the drug tests have thrown the stats back in favor of younger players and some of the money tossers have not realized that.

Now the cubs spend enough money, just not well. A sabermetrics failure? Bad pitching coach? I swear the Yankees actually saw decreased production out of their imported star pitchers for example. Must be the league, right?

 

[DarkLion]

How often have the Yankees been the best team that money can buy?

In the past decade? Once.

 

[DarkLion]

And I will agree money does not buy championships but it sure does help.

It helps, but only if you do it right. You have to get pieces that fit. Sometimes the most talented guy is not the best guy for your team. It reminds me of when Jason Bay signed with the Mets. His stats were padded by Fenway, his swing was never going to work in a pitcher's park like Citi Field. The Mets should have known this. And now after struggling in New York he's batting .220 in Safeco.

Teams need to get the players that fit their team and their ball park. Otherwise, it's going to be a bust. I'm still thinking the Tigers fucked themselves when they signed Prince. Sure it helped them get to the WS one year, but how long is Cabrera going to be able to play 3rd? He's already a bad defender.

The Yankees put up quite a run and no Pittsburg team is going to outbid them on a free agent closer.

Closer is the last place I'd spend big money. You never know how they're going to be year to year. Look at Fernando Rodney and Jim Johnson this year. They have gone from being top five in the league to being boaderline liabilities this year. Whereas a guy like Grilli steps in and does awesome. Eric Gagne is another guy who came off the scrap heap to put in some great years as a closer.

Bottom line; you can find a cheap closer pretty easy. Let the other teams blow big money on four year deals for a guy who is washed up in two.

Problem is the drug tests have thrown the stats back in favor of younger players and some of the money tossers have not realized that.

That is a trend I don't like. I'd rather see Johnny Damon or Jermaine Dye than some AAA call up. But I think it has more to do with economics. Why pay Damon $2-3 million to be your fourth outfielder when you can pay a 22 year old $450 k?

Now the cubs spend enough money, just not well. A sabermetrics failure? Bad pitching coach? I swear the Yankees actually saw decreased production out of their imported star pitchers for example. Must be the league, right?

I don't buy into sabermetrics, I still rely on good scouting and baseball sense. Listen to your scouts. Don't sign Pedro Martinez to a 4 year deal when he's got a frayed shoulder and topping out at 90 mph. Don't sign Alfonso Soriano to an 8 year deal. You're paying for a 40-40 threat, and by the time he's halfway through 8 years he won't be stealing bags anymore. When your scout tells you Vladamir Guererro's legs look old, listen. When he tells you Chone Figgin's swing has gotten long, listen.

GMs need to use common sense. Instead of signing Koske Fukodome to play right, the Cubs should have gone with Matt Murton, a player who had proven he could hit for a high average but his career died because he lost his swing sitting on the bench. The Cubs have done fairly well importing pitchers. Lilly did a nice job for us. We just made some bad contracts to guys who we should have known weren't worth the risk. Fukudome was 170 lbs, what the hell made the Cubs think he could hit 30 home runs a year over here like he did in Japan? Hell Hideki Matsui struggled to hit 20 and he was one of the greatest Japanese power hitters of all time. Japanese hitters not named Ichiro give about half the production over here that they give over there. A guy hitting batting .300 with 30 homers over there is going to hit .260 with 15 here

And Japanese pitchers come over here with dead arms. There aren't pitch limits over there. Diesuke was throwing 120-140 pitches a game over there, and sure enough he's had nothing but arm trouble since coming over here. Yu Darvish will follow the same path; his arm angle when he releases the ball makes my shoulder cry.

 

[LA RAM FAN]

I do not see a team like the Pittsburgh Pirates doing any better. The only thing that will change them is someone filthy rich coming in, buying the team and then buying talent. There was a day where your team came out of your farm system, subsidised by a few trades. It is all about the money now.

Abslolutely dead wrong. Money doesn't buy championships in baseball anymore, hasn't for least a decade. Teams with homegrown talent and free agent pieces that fit are the ones that win. Look at the Dodgers and Blue Jays, opened the pocket books, didn't they? Bought all kinds of free agents, huge names. Dream teams. And look where they are. Two of the worst teams in baseball.

Look at the teams that HAVE won the past few years. Teams with a lot of chemistry, small ball types that put the ball in play and don't strike out. The 2010 Giants were dead last in the league in home runs. You couldn't even name 10 guys on the team unless you either follow baseball closely or are a Giants fan. Same with St. Louis. They had Pujols, Holliday, Carpenter and a bunch of scrappy role guys.

The Pirates absolutely can do it, and they are doing it the right way. Teams are wising up. Overloading your team with big money, big ego players doesn't work anymore. If it ever did. Sure the Yanks won 4 out of 6 years, but that ended when they really opened the purse and brought in the biggest names they could, like Giambi, Randy Johnson etc.

It didn't work. It could be argued that trying to buy championships was what ended the Jeter-Rivera-Williams-Pettitte dynasty.

How often have the Yankees been the best team that money can buy?

exactly.Having the top payroll in the league was very beneficial to them being able to have the most money in the league to buy talent to win four world series in a row with players like Wells,Clemons,Paul O'neil,Wade Boggs,and David Wells.