*****Official Cubs 2019 thread*****
- Thread starter QChawks
- Start date
I like it. If he keeps being who he's been, it locks in his arb years basically. He makes more up front and if he improves, the Cubs come out ahead on the back side. Either way, there's little downside. Bote gets $15M guaranteed and the Cubs have a guy locked at $3M for the next 5 years.
Obviously this one is on Cishek, but why was Rosario put in that spot? Camargo has crushed LHP.
I want to be pissed but I always said just give me a World Series and I’ll be happy.
A Rose Bowl win and a Final Four and they can put me in the ground tomorrow...
I have quite a few friends that are Cubs fans and after winning the WS many were talking about this run they were going to be on. They figured a few WS would be coming up for the Cubs. I know not all of them thought this but many did. It is tough to consistently win in baseball. Some of the best Cardinals teams didn't win the world series while some of the teams that snuck into the playoffs and ended up winning it...the Cubs will turn it around this year and make a run at the division and playoffs
I've seen so much overreaction so far, it's crazy. You're right, winning is hard. We also tend to overemphasize certain small sample sizes -- most notably, the end of seasons and the end of games.
The reality is that the last four seasons are quite possibly the best 4-year run in Cub history. In 2015, they won 97 games, the WC game and the NLDS before losing the NLCS. In 2016, they won 103 games, the division and the WS. In 2017, they won 92 and the NLDS before losing the NLCS. Last year, they won 95 and lost the division on game 163 and then lost the WC. That's 387 wins in 4 seasons with a WC win, 3 NLDS series wins, one NLCS series win and one WS.
Dynasty talk is silly. During this run, the Dodgers and Nationals have been consistently very good, the Cardinals and Brewers have been more good than bad and on the AL side, it coincided with the rise of the Astros & Indians and the rejuvenation of the Red Sox. All of these teams have been VERY good for more than one season during this run and where's the dynasty?
One could argue that the Dodgers have been consistently the best team out of that group with the best playoff pitching multiple years....and they have no rings. The Nats haven't even won a playoff series.
The reality is that teams want to have long windows when they can be competitive. Look at the Cardinals and they're consistent enough developing young players (especially pitching) that while they've had a bad season here and there, they're mostly competitive and often pretty darn good. The Cubs have been really competitive for 4 years and in spite of the slow start, I think they will be again this year.
Winning is hard. I'm still withholding judgement on this team. I need to see more than a 5-game sample.
It's April 4th. No time for sweeping judgments quite yet.
I've always considered Memorial Day as "when you know what your team really is."
I've always considered Memorial Day as "when you know what your team really is."
Hah, I remember plenty of Memorial Days, too many really, where the Cubs were already hopelessly out of it. Thing is, I kind of enjoyed those seasons. Nowadays when I watch or listen to a game I just get frustrated because I have the expectations that we should be winning. Back when the team stunk I just enjoyed listening or watching the game with no expectations, and if we won it was great.
Easy solution to this problem is drink more beer. Going to Cubs vs Brewers game Saturday & intend on being two sheets to the wind by 6.
Win or lose, I still booze. So that's not the problem.
The crazy part about the stat highlighted is the Cardinals have won 357 games in that time, yet only 1 playoff appearance and lost in the division series to the Cubs. As a Cardinals fan we have been spoiled, only 1 losing season in the 2000s so having missed the playoffs for the last 3 seasons is a tough thing for most fans to deal with. Not sure the pieces are fully there this year either.
Giving Fowler playing time is one way to insure pieces aren't there.
I don't know if it is Shilidt giving him a chance or if it is coming from the top to try to get their moneys worth for him but he is terrible. No idea why he plays over any of the other guys...Fowler for Heyward straight up? Maybe they'll do better back with old teams.
Being 5 games back after a week is a huge issue. We don’t need to wait for Memorial Day. If they don’t overhaul the bullpen quickly it’s done.
Maybe not a bad idea. I give Fowler a lot of credit for the World Series year for his clubhouse leadership at least. I felt that letting him go the next year played a part in the Cubs not making the Series again that year.
It gets annoying when I hear Cub fans talk about what "should have been" a dynasty or some other fan base saying "hey, what about that Cub dynasty". Sure, they haven't been one. They likely won't be. The Cardinals haven't been. The Dodgers haven't been. We'll see if the Red Sox or Astros can become one, but there are a lot of really good baseball teams right now. Looking back to the late 1990s/early 00s, the Yankees were really the last dynasty. During their run, the Braves were consistently really good. Some other teams had some short runs during that time being good (Indians, Mets, Red Sox, Marlins)....but there weren't really 5-7 teams that could win the WS every year. The past few years, I think there have been 6-8 teams every year with a legit shot. Pretty tough environment to have a dynasty.
While it's certainly a bad start, the Brewers are not going to play .800 ball this season and the Cubs are not going to play .200 ball. A 5 game deficit right now means that the Cubs need to make up one game per month.
Most die hard cubs fans I know did not talk like that. Sure, the future was bright, but we were and are still a pessimistic bunch and most knew how special the WS was for us...I still can't believe we won game 7. Most of us also remember 2003, and falling for that trap. Wood, Prior, Zambrano, Sosa, Aramis Ramirez and Cory Patterson were all destined for the Hall of Fame we thought!
Last night sucked. A 2-3 record sounded so good. I don't usually second guess Joe Maddon, but it was crystal clear Cishek needed to be yanked midway through his second batter faced. He had the yips. No idea why he left him in to walk bases loaded. I almost threw my beer when I saw the bullpen just start to warm up on the second walk.
Year has been tough mainly because we have had two 8th inning chokes between one of the worst Cubs performance in franchise history. And that is not hyperbole, it is fact. Monday's 8-0 debacle was the first time the Cubs in 54 years have given up 6 or more errors AND got shut out. As if that was not bad enough they left 10 guys on base and 6 RISP with two outs. Horrific play top to bottom.
maybe im the new @Hime_Peterson but im very pessimistic on this group, the pitching is just horrendous.
It wasn't just Cubs fans talking about a potential dynasty, ESPN, SI, fangraphs all had articles on it and this group was certainly nothing like the 2003 era teams that made the playoffs with 80 some wins. The 2016 Cubs were a 103 win team that underperformed according to advanced metrics. They had the highest NL run differential this century and they started what 8 position players under 25 in a World Series game that year. There was certainly potential for a multi year run there.
They have just derailed themselves with very questionable moves to find pitching since then, Quintana, Darvish, Chatwood, none of those moves worked out well for the Cubs. Russell has went from being a 23 year old All-Star with 20+ home run power to a guy with huge question marks on and off the field, Heyward has continued to be a black hole in the lineup, Almora's bat hasn't developed, Schwarber hasn't turned into the elite bat they expected. And with all that, the Cubs have won 92 and 95 games in the years following their title, so it was certainly reasonable to see them as having a good shot at multiple championships in a short period of time.
They have just derailed themselves with very questionable moves to find pitching since then, Quintana, Darvish, Chatwood, none of those moves worked out well for the Cubs. Russell has went from being a 23 year old All-Star with 20+ home run power to a guy with huge question marks on and off the field, Heyward has continued to be a black hole in the lineup, Almora's bat hasn't developed, Schwarber hasn't turned into the elite bat they expected. And with all that, the Cubs have won 92 and 95 games in the years following their title, so it was certainly reasonable to see them as having a good shot at multiple championships in a short period of time.
at this point will he even make it to may 1? im a big theo fan but he needs a scapegoat.
Good luck to the next guy replacing a manager who got ran out after averaging 97 wins and ending a 108 year World Series drought, no pressure there.
I saw that. He's hit into more double plays than 20 teams in MLB have.
That is craptastic.
Can we start making him give speeches every single inning? He just stands at one end of the dugout and gives short motivational speeches to a different group of guys each half inning.
