July 31, 20214 yr Cubs were dismantled and downgraded to a AAA team today. Sad for a major market. All their current major stars are gone, on top of Darvish, Schwarber,Caratini at the beginning of the season. If I were a Cub fan, I would not be happy as they had a core group that could have contended, if the Cubs would have kept Darvish and invested in quality starting pitching. Their starters this season were pretty bad. All excitement in Chicago now belongs to the Sox. Let’s take advantage and take over Chicago baseball. Sox reign!
July 31, 20214 yr Let's hope this Sox window of opportunity/Cubs window of futility isn't mitigated by seasons lost to covid and/or collective bargaining disputes.
July 31, 20214 yr Yes, but Rizzo Bryant and or Baez can return. The Rickets can continue to be cheap, but assuming no further Covid restrictions, the can bounce back quickly with a better farm system at hand. They were dead this season, think Hoyee did a great job considering the circumstances, will likely be a better long term President of Baseball Ops than Theo, won’t be as eager to take overpay on trades and free agents.
July 31, 20214 yr Cubs "dynasty" lasted shorter than the Seahawks "dynasty" Really shows you how hard it is to win a single title
July 31, 20214 yr 42 minutes ago, South Side Hit Men said: Yes, but Rizzo Bryant and or Baez can return. The Rickets can continue to be cheap, but assuming no further Covid restrictions, the can bounce back quickly with a better farm system at hand. They were dead this season, think Hoyee did a great job considering the circumstances, will likely be a better long term President of Baseball Ops than Theo, won’t be as eager to take overpay on trades and free agents. Curious how common it is for players to actually return to the teams that dealt them, seemingly doesn't happen much
July 31, 20214 yr Author Cubs type crowd of 36,000 at GRF tonight. Another sign of power shift to the South Side.
July 31, 20214 yr 3 hours ago, hankchifan said: Cubs were dismantled and downgraded to a AAA team today. Sad for a major market. All their current major stars are gone, on top of Darvish, Schwarber,Caratini at the beginning of the season. If I were a Cub fan, I would not be happy as they had a core group that could have contended, if the Cubs would have kept Darvish and invested in quality starting pitching. Their starters this season were pretty bad. All excitement in Chicago now belongs to the Sox. Let’s take advantage and take over Chicago baseball. Sox reign! Only God can compete with the Chisox.
July 31, 20214 yr 4 hours ago, South Side Hit Men said: Bryant Yea… he’s returning to the Cubs… sure.
July 31, 20214 yr I always said the Cub could open Wrigley on a Friday afternoon just for beer sales and draw 30K. No reason to be concerned about them in a market of 10 million.
July 31, 20214 yr It is kind of crazy how the bottom fell out despite their keeping the “core” intact. A lot of casual fans (and plenty of not-so-casual fans) assumed at the beginning of the window that you could just project contention as long as Bryant, Rizzo, Contreras, Baez stayed healthy. It was conventional wisdom back in 2016 that since these guys all “hit,” and were so young, that you could pencil them into the playoffs for a decade. Well, they stayed basically healthy and it wasn’t enough. Just goes to show you how much more there is to sustaining success in baseball. A little scary, and a reminder to make the most of the good years because they might not return again. More importantly, F the Cubs.
July 31, 20214 yr 12 hours ago, hankchifan said: Cubs were dismantled and downgraded to a AAA team today. Sad for a major market. All their current major stars are gone, on top of Darvish, Schwarber,Caratini at the beginning of the season. If I were a Cub fan, I would not be happy as they had a core group that could have contended, if the Cubs would have kept Darvish and invested in quality starting pitching. Their starters this season were pretty bad. All excitement in Chicago now belongs to the Sox. Let’s take advantage and take over Chicago baseball. Sox reign! This might be the beginning of something, the last time the Sox ruled Chicago was in the GO GO era of the 50s and 60s. The key is to start becoming at least a playoff team for 4 or 5 years with a World Series Championship thrown in and not going back to the old days of having the club run like it's a small market franchise
July 31, 20214 yr 4 hours ago, joesaiditstrue said: Quintana deal hurt them Now I hope and pray the Kimbrel deal doesn't hurt us...should we start looking at FA 2B? Payroll is already high as ever
July 31, 20214 yr 3 hours ago, 35thstreetswarm said: It is kind of crazy how the bottom fell out despite their keeping the “core” intact. A lot of casual fans (and plenty of not-so-casual fans) assumed at the beginning of the window that you could just project contention as long as Bryant, Rizzo, Contreras, Baez stayed healthy. It was conventional wisdom back in 2016 that since these guys all “hit,” and were so young, that you could pencil them into the playoffs for a decade. Well, they stayed basically healthy and it wasn’t enough. Just goes to show you how much more there is to sustaining success in baseball. A little scary, and a reminder to make the most of the good years because they might not return again. More importantly, F the Cubs. And consider this year where the Sox have been trotting out half a minor league team every day and are playoff bound. They call them intangibles for a reason... Edited July 31, 20214 yr by SpringfieldFan
July 31, 20214 yr To steal a joke from the Athletic comments: “I just drove by Wrigley and they were hanging a “Spirit Halloween” banner on it”
July 31, 20214 yr 4 hours ago, 35thstreetswarm said: It is kind of crazy how the bottom fell out despite their keeping the “core” intact. A lot of casual fans (and plenty of not-so-casual fans) assumed at the beginning of the window that you could just project contention as long as Bryant, Rizzo, Contreras, Baez stayed healthy. It was conventional wisdom back in 2016 that since these guys all “hit,” and were so young, that you could pencil them into the playoffs for a decade. Well, they stayed basically healthy and it wasn’t enough. Just goes to show you how much more there is to sustaining success in baseball. A little scary, and a reminder to make the most of the good years because they might not return again. More importantly, F the Cubs. They never developed enough pitching
July 31, 20214 yr 20 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said: They never developed enough pitching 1) Nobody developed after Hendricks on pitching side 2) Terrible free agent deals 3) The prospect group that followed the Core Four of Bryant, Rizzo, Baez and Contreras…flamed out or was traded, in Soler/Almora/Happ. 4) Bullpen issues, Kimbrel goes through two down seasons inexplicably, Darvish struggles first 1 1/2 seasons and has to be jettisoned to save money. 5) Chapman and Q trades 6) Maddon got complacent and celebrity status went to his head, off field endorsements and distractions 7) Injuries to Bryant, and then Arrieta (like Jose Contreras) couldn’t sustain Cy Youngish stretch Edited July 31, 20214 yr by caulfield12
July 31, 20214 yr Waiting for the squids at "Bleacher Nation" to start making comments about empty Wrigley Field the next 3 seasons... No more Mickey Mouse company outings to leave their ping pong table in the office "jobs" at 12:00 to clap to Rizzo's walkup song on a Friday anymore. Have fun with AAA journeymen!
July 31, 20214 yr Back in 05, after we won the WS, I think we botched a great opportunity to capture a measurable increased fan base but thats water over the dam. In my neck of the woods the Sox have a relatively small but loyal fan base.
July 31, 20214 yr 22 minutes ago, caulfield12 said: 1) Nobody developed after Hendricks on pitching side 2) Terrible free agent deals 3) The prospect group that followed the Core Four of Bryant, Rizzo, Baez and Contreras…flamed out or was traded, in Soler/Almora/Happ. 4) Bullpen issues, Kimbrel goes through two down seasons inexplicably, Darvish struggles first 1 1/2 seasons and has to be jettisoned to save money. 5) Chapman and Q trades 6) Maddon got complacent and celebrity status went to his head, off field endorsements and distractions 7) Injuries to Bryant, and then Arrieta (like Jose Contreras) couldn’t sustain Cy Youngish stretch Why do you keep saying Soler “followed” the core 4? As I already mentioned, he was one of the earliest prospects. He debuted a year before Contreras and Bryant.
July 31, 20214 yr 1 hour ago, 35thstreetswarm said: To steal a joke from the Athletic comments: “I just drove by Wrigley and they were hanging a “Spirit Halloween” banner on it”
July 31, 20214 yr 4 minutes ago, 35thstreetswarm said: Why do you keep saying Soler “followed” the core 4? As I already mentioned, he was one of the earliest prospects. He debuted a year before Contreras and Bryant. In the sense he didn’t establish himself right away and got pushed back to secondary status…and yes, Rizzo and Baez predated Bryant. It would be too complicated to break it down year by year. And I forgot another big disaster for the Cubs, Addison Russell. I think it’s fair to say that all those Top 3-5 prospects around the Core Four never really broke through to be counted upon as regulars.
July 31, 20214 yr 54 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said: They never developed enough pitching Yet it was their hitting that failed them in the postseason
July 31, 20214 yr 1 minute ago, caulfield12 said: In the sense he didn’t establish himself right away and got pushed back to secondary status…and yes, Rizzo and Baez predated Bryant. It would be too complicated to break it down year by year. And I forgot another big disaster for the Cubs, Addison Russell. I think it’s fair to say that all those Top 3-5 prospects around the Core Four never really broke through to be counted upon as regulars. Russell was a big one, he was supposed to be part of the core and we all know what happened
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