2012 Chicago Cubs

[airspuds]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/woman-misses-marriage-proposal-wrigley-video-154946581--mlb.html


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one more epic FAIL at the biggest bar on the north side

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please see white sox thread
for additional comments

[pdga#7648]

But, not all your prospects are going to turn out like Castro and Rizzo! you can hope, but what is really the chance of that?  Wait a few years??  Haven't Chicago fans heard that long enough? They couldn't win with a stacked lineup and stud pitchers(Prior & Wood) why will they be so good with young unproven kids?

Ah yes Doug. Enjoy it while it lasts buddy. Along with the farm system being stocked there is big money opened up. I can wait longer. The Cardinals aren't they Yankess. Before long the Cubs will dominate this pathetic division. The Yankees would have never let Pujols get away.

The Cubs dominated the division a while back, but how many WS did they win?? Oh yea, ZERO!
The Cardinals have scored more runs this year after 102 games than they did last year with Pujols. Keep bringing him up all you want, it was the correct move Brett. Beltran still has better numbers than him!! they have 5 guys with more than 15 HR's and Molina will hit over 20 for the 1st time in his career. Not the bats the Cardinals lack, its pitching after the starters get pulled!

[pdga#7648]

and like Dan said, the Pirates are the Pirates, they will fall back, then it will come down to the Reds and Cardinals, and no other teams.

[pdga#7648]

I need 25 wins out of the next 66 games.

still need 22 wins out of 54 remaining games! 

[Dan Michler]

On pace for 99 losses, which may sound bad, until you consider:

A)  We have the 28th BEST record in baseball!  (Thanks Houston and Colorado)
  We've scored more runs than our opponent in 63 games this year!
C)  We've scored 414 times this year! (its less than anybody else, but its 414 more than zero)
D)  There are 49 games left and we are only 24 games out.  Still time according to my math.
E)  We are 4-2 vs the Mets this year.  At that pace, we'd win 108 games.
F)  We've hit the ball hard right at people on a number of occasions.

Congrats to Brett Jackson on putting the ball in play twice against Cincy yesterday.  Thats the kind of performance he can really build on.  Seriously, in 407 minor league AB's this year the guy struck out 158 times! Why are we supposed to think he's ready to take the next step to the big leagues?  I'm confused at the way we're trying to develop this talent.  Is anybody surprised he's struck out 12 times in 20 AB's since being called up?  I don't care if we win another game this year, but destroying this 24 year old's confidence against big league pitching when he's been getting embarrassed by AAA pitching makes zero sense to me.

[CEValkyrie]

There are a couple of things that stand out for me.

They've taken Soriano who looked like the MLB's worst outfielder and turned him into a solid left fielder. It's night and day out there. They told him to change bats and he did. If they can teach and old dog new tricks I can't wait to see what they do with the fresh meat.

Rizzo is the real deal. Castro can flat out hit even though his average is down. That is a great 1-2 punch.

Ptiching? We need some freaking pitching. Hopefully Garza is all right. Not sure what to think about Samardzija.
I really thought Marmols career was over. He's looked pretty good the last 2 months.

We've got to get some power out of 3B or the OF.

Our catchers suck. We need a vet to handle our pitching staff.

The total dumpage of players should have begun last season. I like the fact that we finally have some fresh faces to look at.

[pdga#7648]

looks like just 20 more wins in the next 48 games. I think you got this Brett??

[CEValkyrie]

looks like just 20 more wins in the next 48 games. I think you got this Brett??

Too many 7 to 10 game losing streaks. I highly doubt they get to 65. They do have 14 games left against Houston & Colorado. Who knows.

[Dan Michler]

They've taken Soriano who looked like the MLB's worst outfielder and turned him into a solid left fielder. It's night and day out there. They told him to change bats and he did. If they can teach and old dog new tricks I can't wait to see what they do with the fresh meat.

Soriano's offensive numbers are actually right on target with 2010, when we were all hating him.  I'm not jumping on the bandwagon that the new management turned him around.  He's the same player.  He's actually striking out at a higher rate this year than any other year as a Cub.  So, I'm not sold on the new bat either.  Maybe he just seems better by comparison because our offensive is so historically bad this year.

Lets not get too carried away with anointing Rizzo as the savior either.  I'm excited, but I was excited when Soto had a ROY performance in 2008.  He's shown decent pop for a rookie (.497 slg%), and his strikeouts are way down.  We need to see a continuation of his development and a solid 162 game season in 2013 before I start calling him the future though.  I really like his defense at 1B, reminds me a little of my favorite player Mark Grace.

As Brett pointed out, there are countless holes to plug.  Too many to accomplish through free agency alone.  Our farm system isn't exactly stocked either.  Epstein/Hoyer need to be immediately successful in player drafting and development if they want to see a consistently compeitive squad before the end of Epstein's 5 year contract with the Cubs.  Its a long road, but look how quickly the Nationals zoomed to the top of the leaderboard.  It can be done quicker than you think.  Stumbling into a Strasburg/Bryce Harper combo never hurts.

[pdga#7648]

Magic # is 19.    still plenty of time in 46 games. at the pace of 3-7 each week though, it may be a nail biter at the end? 

[pdga#7648]

Magic #18 now. 43 to play

[CEValkyrie]

I enjoyed listening to The Score this morning.

Theo was on there talking about year #1. He said there are no quick fixes and the talent pool was and is thin. He would not talk about any player or moves but said he wasn't happy with a few moves. He said they'd work better to improve on them. He did not say the name but he was referring to Miami and throwing money at a team won't help. He also said the one culture change he wants to make is for Free Agents wanting to come to play in October every year and not because it's a great city, ball park, etc.. .

After Len Kasper talked for a while. He talked about the Castro deal. He thought it was a safe deal knowing that his hitting would stay pretty solid and he wouldn't go on long droughts. He also thinks he'll improve in the field. The one thing he really liked was the buy low and sell high. They signed him to a good deal and wrap him up until he's 29. He liked that if things don't work out he should be pretty easy to move with the amount of money and no trade clause.

One other thing he talked about having 4 players to build around with Garza, Jeff S., Rizzo, & Castro. After that all bets are off. He thought Stewart would get a shot at 3B next year.  He also said he thought it'd be another buy low sell high kinda year trying to load up with young talent.

[tacimala]

Hey Doug - here's another little tidbit you can use for the neverending douchey argument about how much the Cardinals are better than the Cubs!

http://espn.go.com/espn/playbook/story/_/id/8295892/uni-watch-power-rankings-rates-nfl-mlb-nba-nhl-uniforms-1-122

[Dan Michler]

Hey Doug - here's another little tidbit you can use for the neverending douchey argument about how much the Cardinals are better than the Cubs!

http://espn.go.com/espn/playbook/story/_/id/8295892/uni-watch-power-rankings-rates-nfl-mlb-nba-nhl-uniforms-1-122

Ha.  I actually think the Cubs uniforms are rated much too highly on that list.  Why are the Warriors, Blue Jays, and Utah JAZZ on the list?   Seriously, this person loves the Jazz uniforms that much?  And where are the Blackhawks?

[pdga#7648]

Hey Doug - here's another little tidbit you can use for the neverending douchey argument about how much the Cardinals are better than the Cubs!

http://espn.go.com/espn/playbook/story/_/id/8295892/uni-watch-power-rankings-rates-nfl-mlb-nba-nhl-uniforms-1-122

Taylor, I don't need any tidbits to state my facts. Hell even those Cubs fans know who the better team is. 1908 was a long freaking time ago, last year wasn't! 
and the only thing douchey is someone complaining about an argument they are not a part of! and for the record, I only tell the facts, I don't argue. Cubs fans do the argueing to try to make people believe the Cubs are a good franchise. DUH!

[Tom McManus]

Hey Doug - here's another little tidbit you can use for the neverending douchey argument about how much the Cardinals are better than the Cubs!

http://espn.go.com/espn/playbook/story/_/id/8295892/uni-watch-power-rankings-rates-nfl-mlb-nba-nhl-uniforms-1-122

Ha.  I actually think the Cubs uniforms are rated much too highly on that list.  Why are the Warriors, Blue Jays, and Utah JAZZ on the list?   Seriously, this person loves the Jazz uniforms that much?  And where are the Blackhawks?

I thought the same thing regarding the Blackhawks. I think it may be the best uniform in sports. Agree on all the other ones that Dan mentions, none of them are that good, let alone being ranked so high.

[pdga#7648]

Magic #18 now. 43 to play

Magic #17 already. 38 to play

[Dan Michler]

The White Sox deserve credit for sporting these uniforms.  ESPN dropped the ball.

[Dan Michler]

Best disc golf uniform of alltime.

[pdga#7648]

Magic #16, with 36 to play.
Brett, I think it is safe to say, either way, the winner can get paid at the Supertour Sept 14th.