*****Official Cubs 2017 thread*****
- Thread starter dgordo
- Start date
I think it’s strange he keeps getting passed over. He must suck at interviewing.
I don't think I've ever read a sentence that says more about what Theo has accomplished than "Good season for the Cubs; just not great."
I agree with the sentiment completely....but that means that in 5 years Theo has wiped away 100+ years of loser mentality and completely changed the level of expectation for this team. It's amazing. He's changed all of our lives forever.
It might have actually been both, but I have always heard Palmeiro.
It's not even necessarily failure, outside of the actual performance in the postseason. There were a lot of reasonable decisions that just didn't really work out in the end. You also have to recognize that you can assemble the right people and sometimes they'll just be bad at the wrong time. Here are my thoughts on the main players in the pen:
- Davis: He was excellent this year. He's not a guy who will consistently get multiple-inning saves, but he showed he can.
- Edwards: He had extended stretches this year where he was borderline dominant, then he'd slump for a week or so and then get it back. As long as he bounces back mentally, his stuff is still really good and could be a key piece of an excellent bullpen.
- Strop: He's mostly very good and he was mostly very good this year. People seem to gripe about him a lot more than is warranted....we remember his failures, which are always in late/close situations, and forget about his countless solid appearances where he shut things down and moved the game on to Edwards or Davis.
- Rondon: He really fell off after the injury last year and had a rough first half this year. I thought he was getting his mojo back when he put up a nice 2nd half, but then he wasn't on the NLDS roster at all and then wasn't sharp.
- Montgomery: He's really interesting. I think he's perfectly capable of being the #5 starter next year. He had some really good outings and certainly showed enough to be a #5, but he's also a good lefty swing man out of the pen, so I could go either way on this. That said, I think he's a guy that you want to lock into a role next spring. He either needs to get into the consistency of starting or go full-time in the pen. Some of his bouncing back and forth hasn't done him many favors.
- Grimm: Human gas can.
- Maples: Ton of potential, but as much as we jump on Edwards and Strop for consistency, he has to show some as well.
- Uehara: Good idea and was good in spots in the first half, but he's done.
- Duensing: I didn't like him early, but he had a good year. He could certainly be part of a good pen next year.
- Zastryzny: He was outstanding down the stretch in 2016, but not so much this year. My guess is that this year is much more his natural talent line.
- Wilson: He'll be interesting to watch in the spring. He was outstanding with Detroit and was a guy that a lot of teams were looking at coming up to the deadline. It's not like he's just some bum, but the trade did not work out. Not sure if a bad first outing made him press or what, but he needs the offseason as much as anyone. If he can get back to what he was in Detroit, he could be part of a lockdown pen.
One other thing I'd like to see is just a little more consistency with Maddon and a little more from the starters early in the season. The Cubs pen was really good in the first half and they really kept hte Cubs in a lot of games. I think they really wore down and then they were really bad in the playoffs. Getting Wilson was a perfectly reasonable move at the time, but it didn't work out. In the playoffs, Maddon seems to get too tight with who he trusts and that causes him to really weigh on his favorite 1-2 guys at the expense of them and everyone else.
Maples is Edwards is on steroids. Even better stuff, less control.
He is always “that guy”. The hot candidate, and he always gets passed over. He communicates very well in TV interviews. Maybe he can’t articulate a vision to a GM?
Theo comparing Schwarber to Rizzo. Says he has leadership characteristics and toughness that are difficult to find. Says he fell into being more of a slugger than the hitter that he is.
I'd rather have candelairo and Paredes than Wilson
Candelario is blocked. The deal doesn’t bother me. It seems like the wrong deal. The brass were convinced they needed to get a guy back with team control, and they overlooked Wilson sucks.
This. They faced Strasburg twice, Scherzer one start, and Hershiser twice in starts. They were 2-3 in those 5 starts, which really isn't terrible considering who they were facing.
I hope you realize what Epstein is likely doing with that remark/comparison...He knows KS's trade value has fallen drastically. He's either trying to fabricate the Cub's desire to keep KS or he's flat out lying. There's very little those two have in common other than being left handed batters. KS is a poor defensive player and a strikeout machine. Rizzo is neither.
Leadership and toughness are subjective comments from Theo. Scwarber is a player without a position... at least in the NL.
30 home runs, a great attitude, and youth... those play anywhere
A .208 BA and shaky defense... not so much. I agree that he has potential because he's still young and it would be somewhat foolish to write him off. But the Cubs need some trade bait if they can't figure out the pitching staff dilemma.
He'll have some value to AL teams, but you won't be finding a trading partner that's willing to give up a top of the line SP as things stand now.
I agree with those that believe Epstein should get capable relievers this winter and slide by with the starters.
I thought this was possible only because Jim Hickey, who was Maddon's pitching coach in Tampa, has not taken another job since being fired by the Devil Rays.
Bosio certainly did not deserve to be fired.
Bingo! I 've forgotten more about baseball than you will ever know.
Pitching coach was just the sacrificial lamb for the mistakes of Epstein /Maddon.
One more nugget.....the problems with the staff were predictable. I saw Maddon misuse Chapman in the WS last year. And it was common knowledge from his days in TB that Hickey saved Joe's arse innumerable times.
Now Epstein. ..It's his fault that the Cubs now have no closer. Who gives a 1 year offer to an established closer when you don't have a "closer in waiting "?
Two bumbling fools leading in Chicago.
Now Epstein. ..It's his fault that the Cubs now have no closer. Who gives a 1 year offer to an established closer when you don't have a "closer in waiting "?
Two bumbling fools leading in Chicago.
More than me, but why are so many Cub fans willing to look the other way in regards to his blunders this season?
Are Cub fans merely happy about last season and willing to accept the current product?
Your aging pitching staff and weak bullpen makes a return to the WS extremely unlikely.
