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*****Official Cubs 2020 thread*****

I think Ross is too close to the players on this team to be an effective leader. It's a hard transition from peer to boss. You want leadership, go get Joe Girardi. He's a proven winner.

Please no. Girardi couldn't win a single playoff game his last four years with the Yankees.
 
Am I the only one who thinks hiring David Ross to manage the Cubs is a bad idea? He has zero managerial experience and his only qualifications are that he was a clubhouse favorite. I'm not sure hiring a guy because he is buddies with the players is a good strategy, in fact, it's a terrible idea.

There are a lot of good baseball guys out there that would be good candidates to be the next manager of the Cubs. Do a comprehensive search and go hire one of those guys.

This is the current trend. I actually think Ross has all the background to be an excellent manager. I don't think he'd come in as everyone's buddy. While he was "Grandpa Rossy" in 2015-2016, he got the monicker because all the guys looked up to him. I think he's a leader and I think he's been a leader for a long time.
 
I think Ross is too close to the players on this team to be an effective leader. It's a hard transition from peer to boss. You want leadership, go get Joe Girardi. He's a proven winner.

Ross was already viewed as an authority figure in the clubhouse when he was a player. I think it could work.
 
I'm not interested in experimentation and "could". We have a window here and need to get this right. Some of your guys don't like Girardi, fine, I get that. I think another good candidate, proven winner, is Bruce Bochy. Has a good reputation as being a player's coach too. But I think we might just be trading one coach like that, Maddon, for another, Bochy.
 
I do too, I'm not nearly as optimistic on Almora though and I do think the front office has shown some bias toward their own high draft picks. If Almora had been a random guy acquired at the tail end of Hendry's tenure, I think he would have had a different route through the Cubs system.

I know most disagree but I’m still very positive on happ and schwarber.
 
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I'm not interested in experimentation and "could". We have a window here and need to get this right. Some of your guys don't like Girardi, fine, I get that. I think another good candidate, proven winner, is Bruce Bochy. Has a good reputation as being a player's coach too. But I think we might just be trading one coach like that, Maddon, for another, Bochy.

girardi will have a hard time getting another job anywhere until he embraces analytics.
 
I know most disagree but I’m still very positive on happ and schwarber.

Where do you see Happ at defensively? A Zobrist type utility guy? If he can play a legit CF, I would become very high on him all of a sudden.
 
I'm higher on Schwarber now than I've been since after the 2016 World Series. He put up a .280/.366/.631 second half line. That's the guy the front office has been hoping he would become.

same. Schwarber has played less than 500 games and happ has played around 300. They may never been .900 OPS guys but they still might not be done improving.
 
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Where do you see Happ at defensively? A Zobrist type utility guy? If he can play a legit CF, I would become very high on him all of a sudden.

I’m ok with him at 2b occasionally but he’s a very mediocre infielder and the cubs have to get better on defense. I HOPE he can become a legit CF but I’m not convinced he can be more than a corner outfielder.
 
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Jorge Soler would sure look good after that God awful trade.

You know a part of me would love to see how it would have played out if Fowler doesn't decide to return in 2016 and the Cubs go with a Schwarber/Heyward/Soler OF like they were planning on. They might not have won the 2016 World Series, but maybe they are better off long term.
 
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Jorge Soler would sure look good after that God awful trade.

God-awful trade? Soler didn't play 100 total games in the bigs in 2017 & 2018 combined and the Cubs had a very good closer in 2017. If the Cubs don't make that move, there's almost no chance they float his combined sub-.800 OPS for two years waiting for this season.

I make that trade a thousand more times.
 
God-awful trade? Soler didn't play 100 total games in the bigs in 2017 & 2018 combined and the Cubs had a very good closer in 2017. If the Cubs don't make that move, there's almost no chance they float his combined sub-.800 OPS for two years waiting for this season.

I make that trade a thousand more times.
Thats why you aren't a GM.Soler had 47 home runs and over 100 rbi how long did Wade Davis last in Chicago?
 
You know a part of me would love to see how it would have played out if Fowler doesn't decide to return in 2016 and the Cubs go with a Schwarber/Heyward/Soler OF like they were planning on. They might not have won the 2016 World Series, but maybe they are better off long term.

I'll never give back a championship.....but would they be better off? Soler missed 2 months in 2016 with a hamstring injury and was demoted to AAA by a bad KC team. Injuries and poor performance limited him to 96 games and less than 400 PAs across the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

I'm happy for Jorge and we all knew he had this kind of talent, but there's a lot of revisionist history going on based on his power numbers this year. He was finally able to stay healthy and provide consistency in the offense because he played outfield in only 56 games, including a whole 7 over the last two months of the season. He can't DH 110 games in Wrigley.
 
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Thats why you aren't a GM.Soler had 47 home runs and over 100 rbi how long did Wade Davis last in Chicago?

So you'd have been totally fine with him posting 0 combined WAR in 2017-2018, playing less than 100 games total because maybe he'll someday hit potential? And you would rather have had his -0.9 WAR season in 2017 than Davis's 32 saves in 33 chances in a season where the Cubs went to the NLCS? Are you out of your mind?
 
So you'd have been totally fine with him posting 0 combined WAR in 2017-2018, playing less than 100 games total because maybe he'll someday hit potential? And you would rather have had his -0.9 WAR season in 2017 than Davis's 32 saves in 33 chances in a season where the Cubs went to the NLCS? Are you out of your mind?

people forget how good Davis was that year. Remember when he struck out Harper to send the cubs to the nlcs? I do.
 
Thats why you aren't a GM.Soler had 47 home runs and over 100 rbi how long did Wade Davis last in Chicago?
Wade Davis was traded to give the Cubs a dominant closer for a 2017 run. I'll never regret that. If Soler remains healthy, good for the Royals. The Cubs got what they wanted out of the deal. Soler is a ripped up hamstring or pectoral muscle waiting to happen in my mind, however.
 
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Where do you see Happ at defensively? A Zobrist type utility guy? If he can play a legit CF, I would become very high on him all of a sudden.
I see him as a super utility. I hope that does not affect him offensively, but I cannot see him being dominant at one position. He is athletic enough to handle CF, but he needs skill work. I have seen enough of him at 1B to believe he is a credible fill in once a week there, and he is passable at 2B, 3B, and can be above average in LF.
 
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I heard Theo say today that one candidate he wants to speak with is in the playoffs. I’m trying to think of who that could be.
 
I was listening to the Score today during Parkins and McNeil, and a caller wanted to know if the Cubs would pull in a steady veteran like Ozzie Guillen?
I almost drove off the road.
 
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I'm higher on Schwarber now than I've been since after the 2016 World Series. He put up a .280/.366/.631 second half line. That's the guy the front office has been hoping he would become.
Schwarber hit .341 with 6 HRs and 19 RBIs in September. He and Castellanos seemed like they carried the team during that time period.
 
Please no. Girardi couldn't win a single playoff game his last four years with the Yankees.
Damn, you're a stooge! Girardi would be great hire for the Cubs, but I doubt he wants to work for a GM that likely gets fired after the 2020 season.

Cubs won't get anyone better than JG. Cubs will get some guy that's never managed before.
 
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Damn, you're a stooge! Girardi would be great hire for the Cubs, but I doubt he wants to work for a GM that likely gets fired after the 2020 season.

Cubs won't get anyone better than JG. Cubs will get some guy that's never managed before.

If Girardi was a great hire, he wouldn't still be unemployed. I know the Yankees are a far cry from once they what were, but not winning a single playoff game in four years with any franchise is good reason to fire a manager.
 
I don’t think girardi has even been interviewed since he was fired. His reputation was badly damaged in ny.
 
I don’t think girardi has even been interviewed since he was fired. His reputation was badly damaged in ny.

The fact he managed the Yankees for as long as he did shows how far their fans expectations have dropped. Winning 100 games in the most talent diluted AL of all time is enough to keep them happy at this point.
 
Wasn't Girardi a finalist, or close to it, for the Reds job last year?

On a bit of a different note, I know Jed/Theo had input into the lineups. Jed said so as much on an interview on the Score last week. How common do you think it is for GMs to have that kind of input? Does every GM do it? Half?
 
Wasn't Girardi a finalist, or close to it, for the Reds job last year?

On a bit of a different note, I know Jed/Theo had input into the lineups. Jed said so as much on an interview on the Score last week. How common do you think it is for GMs to have that kind of input? Does every GM do it? Half?

I think it's getting more and more common. Look back to Moneyball and some of the disputes between the front office and manager on that As team. I do think the input isn't necessarily day-by-day driving the entire lineup, but rather the front office pushing down the analytic framework they want to use. The younger, cheaper and more analytics-friendly managers likely take more direction from the FO than some of the older school guys. Ideally, this should be a partnership. The FO should be clear on how they want to use the guys they bring in and the manager/coaches should be able to give feedback on what they see day-to-day and how that might play into the bigger picture.
 
The fact he managed the Yankees for as long as he did shows how far their fans expectations have dropped. Winning 100 games in the most talent diluted AL of all time is enough to keep them happy at this point.
Dat der is some funny shit.

Cubs fans would kill to have a history like the Yankees. Hell, they'd kill to make the playoffs in 2019. Or in 2020.:rolleyes:
 
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Give me a break you dont have a clue whether or not he has been interviewed.
Managers/ex managers have agents just like the players. JG probably makes good $$$ as an analyst. Why put up with the grief? He's got a ring.
 
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