I think I want to see another few years of this version of the postseason before I start lobbying for one of AC’s fun ideas to change things up. What I am sure of, at this time, is that the NLCS was a lot of fun to watch. Even if I’ve been a little bored with three-true-outcomes baseball, when the Phillies, including former Cubs legend Kyle Schwarber, hit a homer, it is majestic and tons of silly fun. Besides missing Schwarber doing this for the Cubs (in the playoffs too would be nice), I’m also annoyed with the missing out on Manny Machado and Bryce Harper. I know lots of people are telling me to get over it, which is fair, but I think as Cubs fans in this era, it is more than fair to expect a team that charges the ticket prices they do to invest in the product on the field to make it much more fun than it has been.
Don’t get me wrong, it has been periodically entertaining to watch the 2021 and 2022 Cubs, but it has been more than apparent that through myriad failings, the team that we enjoyed so much up until the tail end of 2018 was allowed to fall into disrepair (the jabronii and I talked about this in the most recent Dreamcast) with little apparent support from ownership to add or repair in a timely fashion. And seeing how much fun the Phillies are having, I also realize how much I miss seeing the Cubs in the mix. I’d like the 2023 Cubs to get back to the postseason, and I would also like them to learn from the lessons of this past core and avoid squandering all that talent and potential. As indicated in this article by The Athletic, there really is no excuse for the Cubs to make a serious attempt at improving the club, now and in the future. There are plenty of pieces to work with, both on the roster given the upcoming crunch before Rule 5 and available on the free agent market.
I think as Cubs fans, we should expect the people with the obscene amounts of money to throw some of it at the players we know are good based on their track records, whether they’re free agents like Carlos Correa, or extendable stars-in-the-making like Nico Hoerner. I want to avoid having to trade away fan favorites and allowing them to walk without a serious extension attempt, though it is arguable that they tried with guys like Javier Baez and Kris Bryant (I think a lot of the issues with them has to do with coaching but I guess I don’t have a lot of evidence for that other than my own feelings). I’d like to see the Cubs do something like what Atlanta is doing by extending their young core for pretty much the next decade so we can have some continuity to root for again.
I do recognize that a lot of folks out there are rationalizing the last couple teardowns in their own way, but I personally am going to hold the rich bastard owners accountable for giving me something I can root for besides the laundry. Despite the postseason being a bit of a crapshoot, given the way MLB and MLBPA are approaching it, we have to contend with getting a spot in the field and hope for some of the chaos we have seen from the Padres and Phillies this year. As has been said many times before in this and other forums, you can’t win the World Series if you’re not even able to get in the playoffs. Given that it is far more fun to watch the Cubs win than just sneak in, and the number of resources that should be available to this club, they should be shooting for the bye within the next few years, and our minimum expectation for next year is a wild card berth and a shot at some chaos. Obviously we can’t predict injuries and bad performances, but they need to objectively show that they’re serious about the long term contention that they promised those years ago, even after we got the one before we die.
After all, if I’m going to pay that much for a set of tickets and a crappy hot dog, I think what I’m asking for is reasonable, no?
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At this moment the Padres have tied the game and continue to threaten but also my stream might be several pitches behind so Kyle Schwarber probably homered again
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Note also that gifs apparently work very well in the featured image hahaha
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They walked him and based on my stream vs GameDay/Twitter I’m at least a minute behind
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OMFG Harper go-ahead bomb
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Phillies –> World Series
HOU/NYY –> rain delay and possible postponement
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Phillies v Astros just as Nostradamus foretold
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I really hate that, given the default mature adult take as a fan is that the reason your favorite team lost is not because the other guys cheated, the Astros get the benefit of the doubt that they are not cheating. The consequences for their team actually, effectively, 100% verifiably cheating consisted of removing a few people whose presence likely had little to do with their success. What should have happened is that every story, internet post, reference to them whatsoever should include the clause “though it’s important to keep in mind they very well may be cheating.”
andcountingQuote Reply
andcounting,
I would actually be impressed if they were still cheating with all that additional scrutiny on them, but at the same time, that org probably has the intelligence necessary to learn how to hack into the other team’s PitchCom without being detected…
I can’t recall where I read it but I was under the impression that Altuve decided he would rather not use the trash can method, and one hopes that Dusty wouldn’t actually condone that kind of “edge” on his team, but who knows? I think there’s plenty of obvious talent on that team that you can argue they are successful even without having to cheat, but again I don’t know for sure that they’re not.
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I like the post, RC. I think the important thing to keep in mind is that the Cubs will do something but not for the reasons we want them to. They’re going to improve because doing so will generate revenue. They determined last year and the seasons prior that the improvements they could have made that involved increased spending wouldn’t have boosted revenue nearly as much as they improved the winning percentage or the probability of making (or succeeding in) the postseason. The Ricketts showed their hand and declared their priorities. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if they haven’t put Crane Kenney in charge of weighing how much any move will cost against what its results will generate in revenue.
The Stroman deal boosted fan excitement heading into the lockout. The Suzuki deal promised to bring revenue from a new market. That was enough. Correa was gettable for a single season (with options) but that wasn’t going to add enough revenue to make it worth missing out on Andrelton Simmons.
Again, I don’t doubt for a second that Crane Kenney has as much (if not more) say as Jed Hoyer in what acquisitions or extensions get made, based on the Cubs’ approach the last three or four years. I assume even that moron knows three seasons of missing the playoffs would do considerable business damage. But even so, I think we’re back to the days of approving just enough activity to make fans think they’re trying. Hoyer will keep doing everything he can to improve the team, but his budget will be determined by profit streams not by win probability added.
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andcounting,
I’m afraid you’re generally right because unless you’re a team/owner that doesn’t care like the Dodgers or Mets, profits >>> winning on the margins. But I also wonder if fans are more intelligent than they used to be such that they won’t be able to quite skirt by, which is why I believe that the pressure will at least make them tangibly try harder (dying laughing)
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Rice Cube,
Yeah, two things:
1) Regardless of whether cheating continues, hiring Dusty was genius. I assume about 96% of people dismiss the possibility of cheating where Dusty is involved. Opinions might be polarized about his managerial skills, but as a person and competitor he’s about as universally esteemed as a guy can get.
2) The organization is run by cheaters and that didn’t change in the slightest. For all I know they funded the development of pitchcom.
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*looks around at the world *
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
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andcounting,
*looks in mirror *
Still (dying laughing)
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andcounting,
I’ll just say that next year with the pitch clock coming, they’ll need a major hack or a trained tech who is super fast at determining button pushes to get the signals relayed to the batter in time….
The Astros deserve all the crap they’re going to get for perpetuity regardless of whether they’re actually cheating or not, but tbh I don’t think they’re high level cheating like that anymore.
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andcounting,
Silly me for being an optimist…
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Rice Cube,
That’s the thing, it’s NOT silly. Like, even with all of us as dumb as we are, it’s still reasonable to think cheating isn’t happening or that it’s too rare to worry much about. AND it’s reasonable given the Cubs’ resources and the people they’ve put in charge of baseball operations and the system and players they’ve cultivated that they’ll be really good really soon and possibly for a long time. And as much as I hate the Cubs organization I’m currently wearing a goddamn Cubs hat. And as much as I hate the Astros I’ll still be really happy for Dusty if he gets a World Series ring.
In my head, I know it sucks that powerful/ruthless people can exploit our humanity so successfully. In my heart I’m just as exploitable as anyone.
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andcounting,
I think my default position is always hope, comes from years of being a Cubs fan hehe
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Rice Cube,
Sure, but I try to confine my hope to things that might happen. People getting smarter, particularly about the way they act toward things for which they get irrationally enthusiastic about, just doesn’t seem like one of those things.
andcountingQuote Reply
andcounting,
Well I did approach this post knowing that the Ricketts were evil billionaires and that Jed would probably pay Nico Hoerner $5 if he could, and also that none of this is my money so they should just spend it all to entertain me.
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Rice Cube,
Yeah, I think your post is spot on. I’m just tempering expectations that the Cubs are ever going to adopt the same mindset as the Dodgers, Mets, or Yankees when it comes to winning at all costs, and I definitely don’t think this fan base is going to require them to do that. I actually don’t know that they’re even as committed to winning as the Cardinals are. But as it is, I think the Cubs will still win sometimes, and I mean win championships. I just think the odds are in their favor that that is going to happen from time to time based on the make up of the organization. And I guess that is a decent improvement over most of their history.
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andcounting,
I think most people are just happy they got one before they died, I’m good until at least 2026 but I certainly wouldn’t mind another one before then.
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Ehnnnnnnn…I seriously wouldn’t object and then they can trade Matt Mervis for Shohei Ohtani I guess https://www.si.com/mlb/cubs/news/report-former-chicago-cubs-anthony-rizzo-expected-opt-out-contract-with-new-york-yankees
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andcounting,
This might be relevant as the cheating narrative is unlikely to die anytime soon
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Freshly dumped shit –> http://www.obstructedview.net/this-generations-mr-cub/
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