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****Official Cubs 2015 Thread****

I just hope Theo doesn't get "Cubs Greed Disease" - that is the only thing that can ruin a potential 10 year run for them. Stick to the blueprint!

They need to continue the developmental success while picking from the bottom of the draft order as well as figure out ways to continue to mine Cuba etc to fill in holes. I bet internally they're already thinking they need to figure out how to develop more home grown pitching. It's the lifeblood of franchises nowadays. Pitchers are both fragile and expensive. You NEVER have enough pitching.

They're also not going to be able to keep everybody. I know they're swimming in money - but as we've seen, money is not the do all end all for long term success. They must keep producing cheap home-grown talent overall.
 
bagdropper said:
I just hope Theo doesn't get "Cubs Greed Disease" - that is the only thing that can ruin a potential 10 year run for them. Stick to the blueprint!

They need to continue the developmental success while picking from the bottom of the draft order as well as figure out ways to continue to mine Cuba etc to fill in holes. I bet internally they're already thinking they need to figure out how to develop more home grown pitching. It's the lifeblood of franchises nowadays. Pitchers are both fragile and expensive. You NEVER have enough pitching.

They're also not going to be able to keep everybody. I know they're swimming in money - but as we've seen, money is not the do all end all for long term success. They must keep producing cheap home-grown talent overall.
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Agree on sticking to the blueprint. Theo has shown fantastic patience to this point and, to his credit, he could have sold out for a rental arm this year and didn't and I think the Cubs are long-term stronger for it. As for pitching, most of the Cubs' best pitching prospects are in the lower-half of the system. Clearly, the strategy early in drafts has been to get big bats early and Theo has been on the record as saying that college bats are the most reliable things coming through the system.

To your last point about not being able to keep everybody, that's right, and I would expect the Cubs to move some guys over the next calendar year. Russell, Baez, Castro, Gleyber Torres and others can't all be the starting SS/2B for the next decade, for example. We've talked about "waves of talent" and that's going to have to continue. When you have that, you can survive busts, injuries and still have parts to use as trading chips.
 
Since the All Star game Jake Arrieta has an ERA of 0.86, and a season mark of 1.88. He is on pace to have one of the greatest seasons a starting pitcher has had since Bob Gibson's magical 1968 season.
 
lucas80 said:
Since the All Star game Jake Arrieta has an ERA of 0.86, and a season mark of 1.88. He is on pace to have one of the greatest seasons a starting pitcher has had since Bob Gibson's magical 1968 season.
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Or comparable to, you know, Greinke and Kershaw, two pitchers in 2015.
 
bagdropper said:
I just hope Theo doesn't get "Cubs Greed Disease" - that is the only thing that can ruin a potential 10 year run for them. Stick to the blueprint!

They need to continue the developmental success while picking from the bottom of the draft order as well as figure out ways to continue to mine Cuba etc to fill in holes. I bet internally they're already thinking they need to figure out how to develop more home grown pitching. It's the lifeblood of franchises nowadays. Pitchers are both fragile and expensive. You NEVER have enough pitching.

They're also not going to be able to keep everybody. I know they're swimming in money - but as we've seen, money is not the do all end all for long term success. They must keep producing cheap home-grown talent overall.
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See bagdropper, I knew Cardinal fans were capable of having reasonable baseball conversations about the Cubs :)
 
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lucas80 said:
No, no he doesn't. Just felt the need to jump in with anti-Cub sentiments.
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I've lost track, is he rooting for the Giants or the Nats today? I guess it's the Giants, who will surely finish 10-2 to edge out the Cubs when they lose their last 11.
 
The average age of the Cubs starting line up tonight was 24.7 years old. This year has been a bonus for the Cubs. You can only play one year at time, so next year isn't guaranteed to be better, but you have to appreciate all this talent hitting the majors in the same year.
 
bagdropper said:
.but they're also just foolish enough to kick to the curb the point that StL is missing roughly half the most important players on the club during that time, and are starting to get those guys back
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Typical Card fan. Excuses, excuses.
 
The Cardinals are getting back a lot of guys and the Cubs pretty much killed themselves and will be playing the play in game in Pittsburgh! Lose the play in game and you basically didnt really make the Playoffs!
 
SIXERS24 said:
The Cardinals are getting back a lot of guys and the Cubs pretty much killed themselves and will be playing the play in game in Pittsburgh! Lose the play in game and you basically didnt really make the Playoffs!
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Cubs have been growing all season and in my estimation are still here a year early. Would have been better to win the division, sure, but I'm not going to cry over a WC spot. It is a shame that a team will what will probably be the 2nd or 3rd best record in all of baseball will be out of the playoffs after one game, but it is what it is.

When it comes to the WC, what's the tougher obstacle -- playing on the road in Pittsburgh or having to beat Jake Arrieta? I'd say both teams have their work cut out for them.
 
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CuttyDoesIt said:
See bagdropper, I knew Cardinal fans were capable of having reasonable baseball conversations about the Cubs :)
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I don't hate the Cubs. I lampoon the Cubs of old though.

I grew up listening to Vince Lloyd and Lou Boudreau on WGN back when baseball media was AM radio and the Sporting News...period. Only daytime radio baseball we could pick up in Iowa back then. I can recite the Old Style krausening commercial by heart to this day. I can still hear their tone and manner of speaking typing this out. Acid flashback time ;)

I still listen to the Cubs every game when I'm at my cabin in Guttenberg (no internet, bad cell signal - all I got is AM radio). I love the...serenity of listening to baseball on the radio, and actually in many cases prefer to listen rather than watch baseball.

Weekends at the cabin, it's Cubs during the day on 780 and sometimes 1400 out of Elkader, Brewers and Uecker until KMOX clears at sundown for St. Louis. I can also pick up the Indians on 1100, Phillies on I believe 1210, Reds on 700, sometimes Twins games come in also. White Sox on The Score (but who cares...smiley face) too.

It's the only religion I subscribe to. It was my babysitter back in the early 70's, AM radio.

I know the Cubs history during my lifetime very well (and their organizational struggles during that era), and I really don't hate teams and never have. The utter hated of Iowa State for example...I don't get it. I actually don't wish ill on them at all when they don't play Iowa.

When Theo came to Chicago, I knew instantly the days of the bonehead Cubs were most likely over. Only a meddling owner or greed could hinder it. All through this thread this yea, I harp to Cubs fans the exact same thing. Stay the course, stick to the blueprint. In a lot of ways, I WANT the Cubs to do it right. That makes the games against St. Louis truly achieve the status and aura of say Yankees/Red Sox. The rivalry always got the short end of publicity by comparison because of the Cubs' flailings historically.

I only wish Madden had kept his mouth shut when confronted with that post-gamer as far as our current ribbing is concerned. No manager (I believe) orders plunkings nowadays, especially a guy like Matheny. Players though...they will still do it. And yes, Belisle did do it deliberately and the Haren didn't. That doesn't account for Haren sucking at pitching inside though...which is why Belisle plunked Rizzo where he plunked him. To send that message.

Oh and coodermans...go back to the kiddie pool if that's all you got to bring to the table.
 
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hawkifann said:
I've lost track, is he rooting for the Giants or the Nats today? I guess it's the Giants, who will surely finish 10-2 to edge out the Cubs when they lose their last 11.
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Haven't I made it clear? Against the Cubs, for a total Cubs collapse.

I'm a Royals fan.
 
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theIowaHawk said:
Hopefully everybody. He is like a 5'11" spider monkey.
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port_200_36.jpg
 
I know Arrieta will get the wc nod...but honestly, something tells me it should be Lester.

Right now, if I were a Cub fan, I'd be worried how much Jake has left in the tank. He's 50+ innings above the most he's pitched ever. I know he's 29 and is probably in his physical prime, but still. Arms generally only have so many pitches in them a year.
 
theIowaHawk said:
And that equates him to "one of the greatest" seasons since 1968? Hell, he isn't even the frontrunner for the Cy.
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He is in the running. Other players have been pumped by the media since opening day, while Arrieta did not get as much attention until after the All Star break run and his no hitter. If he had a Subway commercial maybe he'd get more attention, or some cute ESPN cuts.
 
theIowaHawk said:
And that equates him to "one of the greatest" seasons since 1968? Hell, he isn't even the frontrunner for the Cy.
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He is in the running. Other players have been pumped by the media since opening day, while Arrieta did not get as much attention until after the All Star break run and his no hitter. If he had a Subway commercial maybe he'd get more attention, or some cute ESPN cuts.
 
bagdropper said:
I know Arrieta will get the wc nod...but honestly, something tells me it should be Lester.

Right now, if I were a Cub fan, I'd be worried how much Jake has left in the tank. He's 50+ innings above the most he's pitched ever. I know he's 29 and is probably in his physical prime, but still. Arms generally only have so many pitches in them a year.
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I think there are two factors in play. First, with Lester's yips throwing to first, there's some concern that Pittsburgh gets a couple guys on and it turns into a track meet, gets into Lester's head and impacts his game on the mound. In a one-game scenario, Arrieta looks like the hottest/best one-game bet.

Also, though, (and I think to your point), if the Cubs win that 1-game playoff, the other guy will be on point to likely pitch twice in the NLDS. If Arrieta pitches the WC game and the Cubs win, then Lester would go game 1 vs. STL and probably come back in Game 4. Arrieta probably wouldn't be available until Game 3 and would only pitch once in the NLDS. This is the big advantage of winning your division -- you don't have to burn a top starter immediately before the DS.
 
It's to bad the top 3 teams in Baseball are a mini pod!

It would be nice if the Cubs won and faced the Dodgers and the Cardinals played the Mets!
 
Did they recently change the rules that divisional teams can play each other in the LDS now?

If so...it is indeed a shame. They should meet in the LCS if they are truly the best two teams (and beat the other division winners).
 
bagdropper said:
Did they recently change the rules that divisional teams can play each other in the LDS now?

If so...it is indeed a shame. They should meet in the LCS if they are truly the best two teams (and beat the other division winners).
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With the new WC framework, they simplified it to put the WC winner against the team with the best record. Ironically, that's designed to be an advantage to the team with the best record. This year in the NL, that's not so much of an advantage.
 
hawkifann said:
I absolutely cannot wait until October 7. Win or lose in the playoffs, this has been a hell of a ride.
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I was walking into Wrigley a few weeks ago with one of my best friends and we were talking about a dog of a game we'd gone to a few years earlier. I might have mentioned it on this board once or twice. It was the last home game of the year and the Cubs were hosting the Astros. Two teams floating around the 100 loss mark in full rebuild mode. The beer vendors were selling all the way to the end and I had some great conversations with a vendor named Les. He's been working Wrigley for 40 years or so. I had an Iowa hat on that day, and every time I see him at Wrigley he still calls out, "Hey, Hawkeye". CSB, I know.
There might have been 10,000 people there on a game the Cubs won on a Micha Huffpair single down the right field line. To think that from those ashes such a good team has risen is amazing, and I appreciate it every day.
 
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Lucas80, sometimes those dog games are some of the best. Since you still remember it must have been a good time.
 
I'm going to remember this season for a long time. So many cool moments, but the best for me was getting my 3 boys to Wrigley this summer for the first time. We caught the 3-game Brewers sweep and saw some amazing things -- Rizzo jumping on the tarp, Montero's walk off HR, seeing a HR fest from the LC bleachers. But most of all, it was incredible to see my kids, even the 4yo, get totally consumed with a great baseball atmosphere. It's been a really special season, even if it doesn't end in a championship.
 
SoDakHawk said:
Lucas80, sometimes those dog games are some of the best. Since you still remember it must have been a good time.
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I've had very few bad days at the ballpark. Any ballpark. There wasn't a lot of MLB talent on the field that day, but, I knew there was an actual plan in place to improve the team.
 
Honestly, I am fine with losing to the Pirates again tomorrow. I want Pittsburgh to beat out STL for the division. Would rather face Michael Wacha in one game playoff than Garritt Cole.
 
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