2011 Cubs

[pdga#7648]

Theo Epstein and the Chicago Cubs have agreed to a five-year, nearly $20 million deal for him to join the team, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney Wednesday.




There's the hope all you Chicago fans have begged for over the years! If he can't bring home a World Series, that town is hopeless!!

[Dan Michler]

I don't really know anything about this Epstein guy, so I decided to do a little research.

-Grew up a Red Sox fan and dreamed of being part of their organization.
-He never played baseball, not even in high school.
-He went to Yale and got a degree in American Studies.
-1st job in baseball was in the PR department for the Padres
-Was quickly hired as Padres Director of Baseball Operations by Padres President Larry Lucchino.
-Lucchino was hired as Red Sox CEO in 2002 and took Epstein with him.
-Epstein became GM of the Red Sox at Age 28.
-After the Sox won the World Series in 2004, there was apparently some friction between Lucchino and Epstein.  Epstein resigned from the Sox, only to return 85 days later with basically the same deal, but elevated from the title of senior VP to executive VP.
-His head guy for player development and scouting is a guy named Craig Shipley.  Shipley resigned the same day Epstein did in 2004, and then returned with Epstein later, so I'd assume they are tight and that Epstein would try to take Shipley with him to the Cubs.

[Tom McManus]

http://joeposnanski.si.com/2011/10/12/the-cubs/?sct=hp_wr_a4&eref=sihp

There will be some changes at Wrigley. It will be interesting to see what happens, I don't think it is going to happen overnight or anytime soon. They are a mess right now.

I do hope they change it around and win the World Series.

[Dan Michler]

I agree it will be very interesting to see how the new regime handles the current situaton (who will be the manager?  what to do with some of the bad contracts?).

Hopefully Cubs fans don't expect this team to suddenly be the Red Sox next year.  I doubt Ricketts is looking to massively increase the already large payroll.  Its going to take time for the new system to take effect.  We will still have some pretty large holes on the team in 2012.

I'm glad Ricketts has finally done something to excite the fans and give us a reason to be optimistic about the future.  We certainly needed it.  The previous ownership would never have made a bold move like this.  Hopefully it works out.

[stpitner]

I find it funny how much coverage this is getting - which is fine, it's pretty big news.  However, I'm hearing more of the news getting covered as from the Red Sox angle as in what are they going to do they are losing Epstein instead of the Cubs angle of woohoo, another big name for cubs fans to have bent out of shape expectations to start demanding a firing by the end of April 2012 lol.

stupid east coast bias.

[Dan Michler]

I find it funny how much coverage this is getting - which is fine, it's pretty big news.  However, I'm hearing more of the news getting covered as from the Red Sox angle as in what are they going to do they are losing Epstein instead of the Cubs angle of woohoo, another big name for cubs fans to have bent out of shape expectations to start demanding a firing by the end of April 2012 lol.

stupid east coast bias.

Right on Scott!  Can someone tell me why were are all supposed to care so damn much about Boston sports?  Just went in Wikipedia to check...Boston is the 22nd largest city in the US, with 617,000 people.  Memphis, Indianapolis, San Jose, Columbus, and El Paso, TX all have more people living in the city than Boston.  Houston has 4x more people, and I don't hear 1% as much about the Astros, Texans, or Rockets in the sports news as I do about Boston. I've been to Boston and its a really nice town, but screw Boston sports fans.

ESPN HQ is located between NY and Boston, which could be a contributing factor.  If you go on ESPN.com, there are subsections called ESPN Los Angeles, ESPN New York, ESPN Chicago, ESPN Dallas, and ESPN Boston.  4 of those are among the largest markets in the United States, but Boston?  Why do they get their own special news section?  Somebody please enlighten me, because I don't get it.

[pdga#7648]

I'll try.

I would guess that all the great teams Boston has produced over the years in all their sports,  Celtics, Bruins, Sox, and the Patirots. alot of championships have been won from them teams, with all of them have winning their respective titles within the last 10 years! Championships speaks volumes!   Not saying I agree that they should have their own, just my opinion to why they do?

[Dan Michler]

I'll try.

I would guess that all the great teams Boston has produced over the years in all their sports,  Celtics, Bruins, Sox, and the Patirots. alot of championships have been won from them teams, with all of them have winning their respective titles within the last 10 years! Championships speaks volumes!   Not saying I agree that they should have their own, just my opinion to why they do?

Its certainly a very old and historic town, which I'm sure is part of the reason for the attention.  However I agree with Scott that there is a bias toward the East Coast within the media, Boston and New York in particular, that accounts for some as well.  I get tired of seeing the Red Sox constantly being on ESPN Wednesday and Sunday night baseball.  All the attention has clearly paid off, as the Red Sox now have enormous revenue that allows them the 2nd largest payroll in baseball.

[Dan Michler]

Its got to be embarrassing for Jim Hendry to hear all about how Epstein is taking over a frachise that was left in total shambles.

[Tom McManus]

Its got to be embarrassing for Jim Hendry to hear all about how Epstein is taking over a frachise that was left in total shambles.

I would be more embarrassed by the product that I put on the field than what anybody had to say about the product.

[stpitner]

Choke City ... erm, I mean Boston, is in pretty bad shape too, and that was in no small part due to Epstein, so hopefully in the long run it will just be a breath of fresh air to get rid of the cob webs from the Tribune owning the team.

If going by Championships why is there no EspnPittsburgh mr. my-steelers-win-more-super-bowls-than-anybody-else?  The Penguins are usually pretty good, the Pirates... well, the Pirates are like the Bears, at least they had the 80's.  I'm sure eventually they will branch out more for more specific towns. (and for the record, they DO have an ESPN Pittsburgh radio station and site just like they also have an ESPN Milwaukee that I spend more time listening to that than ESPN Chicago)

The guys on ESPN - I've even heard them talk about how they know they have an east coast bias and then proceed to spend a ton of time talking about more east coast stuff.  I don't visit the site often enough, but I set up a profile on ESPN that is sort of like ESPN a-la-carte.  That way I can get articles on the Cubs Packers, Bulls, and ignore most of the other teams that I don't care about.

[Dan Michler]

Choke City ... erm, I mean Boston, is in pretty bad shape too, and that was in no small part due to Epstein, so hopefully in the long run it will just be a breath of fresh air to get rid of the cob webs from the Tribune owning the team.

eh. Not sure I agree the Red Sox are actually in such terrible shape.  They still have Pedroia, Ellsbury, Youkilis, and Adrian Gonzalez.  Carl Crawford is likely to return to form over the next 6 years.  They still have the best offense in baseball.  Plus their pitching staff still has Lester who had a solid season despite his woeful final month, and Clay Bucholz who is a budding star.  Its not all bad.  Under Theo their worst season was 86 wins.  I'm pretty sure Cubs fans would happily take 9 consecutive 86+ win seasons.

[stpitner]

maybe it was the bias guys talking again because they were non stop complaining about Crawford, Lackey, and Daisuke Matsuzaka.

[pdga#7648]

Choke City ... erm, I mean Boston, is in pretty bad shape too, and that was in no small part due to Epstein, so hopefully in the long run it will just be a breath of fresh air to get rid of the cob webs from the Tribune owning the team.

If going by Championships why is there no EspnPittsburgh mr. my-steelers-win-more-super-bowls-than-anybody-else?  The Penguins are usually pretty good, the Pirates... well, the Pirates are like the Bears, at least they had the 80's.  I'm sure eventually they will branch out more for more specific towns. (and for the record, they DO have an ESPN Pittsburgh radio station and site just like they also have an ESPN Milwaukee that I spend more time listening to that than ESPN Chicago)

Choke City? that would be Chicago more than Boston. The Bartman year(don't blame him) and the 2 years under Lou not to long ago, when they were the best in the N.L. only to get swept 1st round. Twice!  oh, and must I remind you, Cubs have not won a World Series in 104 years?

and again, if you would actually read my posts, you would see I said Bostons teams have ALL won titles in the last 10 years. the 80's were more than 10 years ago last I checked.
and don't be mad or jealous that I state the facts about Pittsburgh's 6 Rings. It is more than the 49ers and Cowboys 5. unless you have to dig real deep and count NFL Championships, when the league had 6-8 teams. LOL! Hell, even one of the Packers all time greats, Jerry Kramer said it best last year before the NFC Championship game... numbers don't lie, 3 is always more than 1!  

[pdga#7648]

Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer expected to be Cubs' 1-2 punch.

Heard on the radio on way home tonight. Theo will be VP of Baseball Operations, while Jed Hoyer(S.D. GM) will take over as GM.
So I guess, don't get your hopes too high. I don't recall the Padres playing in a World Series, or deep into the playoffs, since..1984, when the beat the Cubs in the NLCS!

Got to be alot better than what they had though. Good luck to all Cubbie fans, sincerely!

[pdga#7648]

oh Im sorry, Padres did lose to the Yankees in the late 1990's or early 2000's in the World Series.

[Dan Michler]

Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer expected to be Cubs' 1-2 punch.

Heard on the radio on way home tonight. Theo will be VP of Baseball Operations, while Jed Hoyer(S.D. GM) will take over as GM.
So I guess, don't get your hopes too high. I don't recall the Padres playing in a World Series, or deep into the playoffs, since..1984, when the beat the Cubs in the NLCS!

Got to be alot better than what they had though. Good luck to all Cubbie fans, sincerely!

Doug, I don't think you are comprehending this situation correctly.  Epstein will be the Cubs President.  Underneath him will be former Padres GM Jed Hoyer and asst GM Jason McLeod.  First of all, understand that Epstein is the one running the show, so I'm not sure why Cubs fans would be any less optimistic about this.  Second of all, Hoyer was Epstein's former assistant. Hoyer was only Padres GM for 1 year, 2010.  Jason McLeod worked for the Red Sox under Epstein for 7 years in the scouting department.  Hoyer and McLeod are part of why Epstein became successful.  As a Cubs fans, this is what you want.  I don't just want Theo, I want the whole team of people that have enabled him to scout and develop players successfully.  Expect more of his former colleagues to be joining the Cubs in due time.  We need to build this thing from the ground up.  This is only the beginning.

[pdga#7648]

ok. the radio didn't break it down like that, and you know I wont go looking into the Cubs complete details, while the Cardinals are still playing.Now me on the other hand, I knew I could count on you to help me understand the situation better, and that you did.
So from the gtound up means we can expect to see the Cubs competing for the Central Title in how many years? 4-5?

[Dan Michler]

So from the gtound up means we can expect to see the Cubs competing for the Central Title in how many years? 4-5?

We'll win a World Series title before 2030.  I'll guarantee it.  Actually, make that 2050.  100% positive.

[DiscGolfSchodt]

The Cubs finally seem to be doing something right, which they really needed. Unless we get lucky I think it will still be a couple years before some playoff action.