Single Greatest Thread Ever

[CBStew]

What's depressing is not that my playoff dreams for the Cubs next year are now totally shaken, I was pointing out the accumulation of Eli's last 3 months of posts about the Cubs and Bulls and the overwhelming and continuous theme of "this sucks."  

What about the bulls and cubs currently doesn't suck?

This.

And Mirotic! Get excited chicago!

As everyone knows, I love reading about prospects who will finally break in about two years after what the charts say is my life expectancy !

[Eli]

What's depressing is not that my playoff dreams for the Cubs next year are now totally shaken, I was pointing out the accumulation of Eli's last 3 months of posts about the Cubs and Bulls and the overwhelming and continuous theme of "this sucks."  

What about the bulls and cubs currently doesn't suck?

This.

And Mirotic! Get excited chicago!

I'm pretty pumped about that guy, actually. He sounds like he's going to be really good whenever he gets here.

[PenFoe]

What's depressing is not that my playoff dreams for the Cubs next year are now totally shaken, I was pointing out the accumulation of Eli's last 3 months of posts about the Cubs and Bulls and the overwhelming and continuous theme of "this sucks."  

What about the bulls and cubs currently doesn't suck?

This.

And Mirotic! Get excited chicago!

I'm pretty pumped about that guy, actually. He sounds like he's going to be really good whenever he gets here.

You just can't help yourself, huh? 

I miss T.J.

[Eli]

What's depressing is not that my playoff dreams for the Cubs next year are now totally shaken, I was pointing out the accumulation of Eli's last 3 months of posts about the Cubs and Bulls and the overwhelming and continuous theme of "this sucks."  

What about the bulls and cubs currently doesn't suck?

This.

And Mirotic! Get excited chicago!

I'm pretty pumped about that guy, actually. He sounds like he's going to be really good whenever he gets here.

You just can't help yourself, huh? 

I miss T.J.

I initially assumed you were kidding, but given your apparent emotional fragility, I'm not so sure.

[Internet Apex]

What's depressing is not that my playoff dreams for the Cubs next year are now totally shaken, I was pointing out the accumulation of Eli's last 3 months of posts about the Cubs and Bulls and the overwhelming and continuous theme of "this sucks."  

What about the bulls and cubs currently doesn't suck?

This.

And Mirotic! Get excited chicago!

I'm pretty pumped about that guy, actually. He sounds like he's going to be really good whenever he gets here.

You just can't help yourself, huh? 

I miss T.J.

I initially assumed you were kidding, but given your apparent emotional fragility, I'm not so sure.

He's yanking your chain, broseph.

[PenFoe]

What's depressing is not that my playoff dreams for the Cubs next year are now totally shaken, I was pointing out the accumulation of Eli's last 3 months of posts about the Cubs and Bulls and the overwhelming and continuous theme of "this sucks."  

What about the bulls and cubs currently doesn't suck?

This.

And Mirotic! Get excited chicago!

I'm pretty pumped about that guy, actually. He sounds like he's going to be really good whenever he gets here.

You just can't help yourself, huh? 

I miss T.J.

I initially assumed you were kidding, but given your apparent emotional fragility, I'm not so sure.

He's yanking your chain, broseph.

I was indeed kidding, this time.

[Eli]

Again, this thread title is so misleading.

[Brownie]

What's depressing is not that my playoff dreams for the Cubs next year are now totally shaken, I was pointing out the accumulation of Eli's last 3 months of posts about the Cubs and Bulls and the overwhelming and continuous theme of "this sucks."  

What about the bulls and cubs currently doesn't suck?

This.

And Mirotic! Get excited chicago!

I'm pretty pumped about that guy, actually. He sounds like he's going to be really good whenever he gets here.

You just can't help yourself, huh? 

I miss T.J.

I initially assumed you were kidding, but given your apparent emotional fragility, I'm not so sure.

He's yanking your chain, broseph.

I was indeed kidding, this time.

So you don't miss me? Now I'm hurt. And Eli has me depressed to start with. Excuse me, I'm headed for the ledge, if I can remember where it is. The last time the Cubs drove me to the ledge was 4 years and 4 months ago.

[Quality Start Machine]

What's depressing is not that my playoff dreams for the Cubs next year are now totally shaken, I was pointing out the accumulation of Eli's last 3 months of posts about the Cubs and Bulls and the overwhelming and continuous theme of "this sucks."  

What about the bulls and cubs currently doesn't suck?

This.

And Mirotic! Get excited chicago!

As everyone knows, I love reading about prospects who will finally break in about two years after what the charts say is my life expectancy !

Don't believe the charts. They all have Kanye West on top.

[Slaky]

Back to the topic I'm going to go with the 66-68 wins that Tonk expects. I liked RV's mini-breakdown of where the wins are going to come from but I'm not counting on (though definitely hoping for) a Castro resurgence. I don't think sweet Spanish nothings are going to suddenly make him great at everything.

I do think that a Ruggiano/Schierholtz platoon can be effective. Maybe Sweeney is decent.

I don't know where the flippable guys are on this roster though. And while you want to fill holes with guys you actually like and want to keep around, there are still only two of those out of eight lineup spots anyway. Maybe three if Castillo proves he's on the rise vs. had a fluky season.

I mean I'm kind of with Eli. This season is going to be fucking ugly again. But uglier because of the repetitiveness of it.

So to stay sane I'll be focusing on the minor leagues again and hoping that the farm kids continue to produce. That's all we've got.

It sucks but I just don't see any other outcome. This team is bad. We might as well accept it.

[CBStew]

Back to the topic I'm going to go with the 66-68 wins that Tonk expects. I liked RV's mini-breakdown of where the wins are going to come from but I'm not counting on (though definitely hoping for) a Castro resurgence. I don't think sweet Spanish nothings are going to suddenly make him great at everything.

I do think that a Ruggiano/Schierholtz platoon can be effective. Maybe Sweeney is decent.

I don't know where the flippable guys are on this roster though. And while you want to fill holes with guys you actually like and want to keep around, there are still only two of those out of eight lineup spots anyway. Maybe three if Castillo proves he's on the rise vs. had a fluky season.

I mean I'm kind of with Eli. This season is going to be fucking ugly again. But uglier because of the repetitiveness of it.

So to stay sane I'll be focusing on the minor leagues again and hoping that the farm kids continue to produce. That's all we've got.

It sucks but I just don't see any other outcome. This team is bad. We might as well accept it.

Indeed, this thread is mistitled.  This just keeps getting worser and worser.  Are we at the worstest yet?

[ChuckD]

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/43097/cubs-could-have-gem-in-ruggiano

Interesting stuff on Ruggiano. On the balls he squared up, he was right (a bit below, actually) around league average -- 75% of WH balls are hits for OFs. But on non-WH, only 10.8% fell in compared to 17.6% across other outfielders.

Assuming a league average of the non-WH balls dropped in, he'd be looking at another 60 points on his batting average. I only see three other outfielders who were less lucky in 2013 -- BJ Upton, Jason Bay, and Chris Young. Some of that spread has to be speed -- he's not an extremely fast runner and many of the "luckiest" in this respect are guys with wheels like Ellsbury and Trout-- but Ruggiano, Upton, Bay, and Young aren't exactly Raul Ibanez so there has to be some sort of rebound there.

Could be a nice buy-low-sell-high guy for Jepstink.

[Slaky]

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/43097/cubs-could-have-gem-in-ruggiano

Interesting stuff on Ruggiano. On the balls he squared up, he was right (a bit below, actually) around league average -- 75% of WH balls are hits for OFs. But on non-WH, only 10.8% fell in compared to 17.6% across other outfielders.

Assuming a league average of the non-WH balls dropped in, he'd be looking at another 60 points on his batting average. I only see three other outfielders who were less lucky in 2013 -- BJ Upton, Jason Bay, and Chris Young. Some of that spread has to be speed -- he's not an extremely fast runner and many of the "luckiest" in this respect are guys with wheels like Ellsbury and Trout-- but Ruggiano, Upton, Bay, and Young aren't exactly Raul Ibanez so there has to be some sort of rebound there.

Could be a nice buy-low-sell-high guy for Jepstink.

Plus if he's deployed properly we'll see a Jimmy Buttholes type year from him. Could be neat.

[Chuck to Chuck]

Scott Baker

[Saul Goodman]

Finally, the tough choice between attending Giants or A's games this summer has become clear.