Ivy Chat Chat Back
"None of this can be bad for fans of the Chicago Cubs."
You fool! What if they get rid of Vine Line?
The assumption is that the new ownership will be better that the Tribune.
I am still not convinced.
Well Dan, when you're last in the NL and have five 90+ loss seasons in the last 10, it can't get a whole lot worse. Can it?
But honestly, the Trib is a horrible owner. The facts are that the Cubs won't win consistently under their stewardship. So even if we remove the assumption, change of ownership provides the only possible way the Cubs might win. It's not a guarantee of success, but it's sure better than the guaranteed losing we all have to endure right now.
Meh.
Wake me when they open the new and improved Wrigley Field out in Schaumburg.
Dan:
Hope or no hope. Which do you prefer? The Trib offers no hope. The only way to get hope is for change to occur.
"The assumption is that the new ownership will be better that the Tribune.
I am still not convinced."
The only way a new ownership could be worse is if they came to my house and set me on fire. And the Trib wouldn't even bother to do that. They'd ask me to come out to beautiful Wrigley Field and pay 20 bucks to participate in Craig Hodges Day or some nonsense.
Chuck,
Where is the ass pounding analogy? Dan is asking for it.
How could it be worse? How about if the Cubs were owned by the equivalent of the Orioles owner? Milk, and milk and not get close to the playoffs for ten years.
Yeah. That would be worse.
That would be, essntially, the same. In fact, the Orioles biggest problem is being in the same division with the Yanks and Red Sox. They've at least been willing to spend on free agents.
Who got Tejada?
I think the Cubs have spent some cash - quite a bit actually. The Yankees haven't been to the WS since 2003, where they got beat by the Marlins. They have the highest payroll in baseball. Spending has nothing to do with winning. Spending wisely has everything to do with winning.
A) How many consecutive division titles do the "spending doesn't matter" Yankees have?
B) Spending wisely means not being cheap. Not signing a Miguel Tejada because you already have an Alex Gonzalez is not spending enough. or, not releasing A Gonz is not spending wisely.
Releasing a Glendon Rusch would be spending wisely. Think that'll happen? No? Why not? Because the Cubs don't spend enough.
I will defend the Cubs for the team they put on the field in 2004. That was a bona fide World Series championship quality team--there was no reason to think Prior would miss as much time as he did (nor Kerry Wood for that matter). They added Walker, Lee, Barrett and Maddux. They added Hawkins, Remlinger, and Mercker.
Yes, it would have been the balls had they signed Tejada, but they were on the line for Gonzo. When it became clear they needed a new shortstop, they went out and got the best available.
That was a fine job by Hendry in constructing the team and making the necessary adjustment at the trade deadline. The team blew it for a myriad of reasons.
That committment to winning disappeared after that year (which means it lasted exactly one year).
I still can't believe they choked down the stretch in '04. After the nightmares endings of '03 and '04, the team has been directionless, and a thorough house cleaning is in order.
Yes, it would have been the balls had they signed Tejada, but they were on the line for Gonzo.
In other words, they were cheap. How wise was it to not get Tejada and play the sunk cost in A Gonz?
When it became clear they needed a new shortstop, they went out and got the best available.
Yes. It became clear in April when A Gonz broke his wrist. They got Rey Ordonez right away.
Oh. You mean Nomar? He arrived in August.
As to other issues, they clearly needed one more bullpen arm in 2004. Hendry didn't get it.
I've had the Tejada argument with you a number of times. You're right that it would have been a difference maker, but that doesn't mean that the Cubs had any entitlement to him.
They needed another bullpen arm? They needed a closer, which they thought they had in Borowski before he got hurt.
By the way, would you take a closer with a 2.63 ERA and 1.05 WHIP? That's LaTroy's '04 numbers. It does not take into account, obviously, pressure situations.
In July, when LaTroy had already been on the team for 4 months and JoBo was already hurt, it was obvious (at least to me) that the team still needed a closer. As I wrote the day Nomar became a Cub:
You (Hendry) are probably pretty tired, right? Well, you should be. Go on home, get a nice hot bath. Rest up... 15 minutes. Then get your ass back in gear. The Cubs are under a lot of pressure to win, you know, and you put them there. Nothing's riding on this except the last 100 years of failure, your reputation, the Tribune Corporation share price, and maybe the future of the country. Not that any of that matters, but if you don’t find a closer, I'm going to get mad.
As to Tejada and entitlement, you are chaning the subject. They waited three months to replace A Gonz. They did NOT go "out and (get) the best available." They sat on their ass for half the season and got one of the two best available. The other was available from Montreal all year.
You're right that they acted slowly in getting a replacement shortstop and a closer would have gotten them into the playoffs. Actually, they should have gotten in anyway but for some really shitty play down the stretch.
Hey. My point is that when I look at what they did in 2004 before the season, it should have been enough. You look at 2005 and 2006 and you don't have that same feeling.
In that, we are in perfect agreement.
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