Theo Epstein Sploosh Thread

[Bort]

I didn't realize that Felix was the only Mariner under contract after 2014. The contract is insane, of course, but it explains why they had so much to spend. Sounds like they're going to go hard after David Price now.

But WE were supposed to get David Price!

WE'll get nothing and like it.

Sorry, Stew.

[Slaky]

I didn't realize that Felix was the only Mariner under contract after 2014. The contract is insane, of course, but it explains why they had so much to spend. Sounds like they're going to go hard after David Price now.

But WE were supposed to get David Price!

WE'll get nothing and like it.

Sorry, Stew.

DARWIN BARNEY AND LUIS VALBUENA!

[Saul Goodman]

Endorsed. I for one am glad Stew and Eli are here to keep us all from choking on Jepstink's breathtaking, veiny, throbbing members. I commend Stew for heeding Al Swearengen's advice and giving some back to the franchise that has beaten him down for longer than any of us:

Again, I should make it clear I think Jepstink is awesome. I think the longer-than-expected time to a good team is much more related to ownership than the front office. I really think Theo and Jed figured there would be more money to spend.

I guess I still don't really see who they would have spent the money on if they had it.

Good baseball players, ideally.

Fuck that. The best baseball players.

That's good stuff, guys. Good ideas all around.

Get good players! Who? The good ones.

Darvish and Cespedes are two that come to mind. Can't think of any Real Americans off the top of my head that would have been worth fat stacks.

I believe the Cubes were first runners up both of those guys.

Maybe they were outbid because they were handcuffed by ownership, maybe because Oopstink didn't value them quite as highly as Texas and Oakland. WHO COULD SAY FOR SURE?

I really wanted Darvish. Plenty of Oopstink butthurt for that one.

[ChuckD]

Sploosh.

[Slaky]

Sploosh.

Not a fucking chance.

[Yeti]

Sploosh.

Not a fucking chance.

Unsplooshed

[Slaky]

Sploosh.

Not a fucking chance.

Unsplooshed

Give me a break. Does anyone not named Crane Kenney think this is gonna happen?

[CBStew]

Sploosh.

Not a fucking chance.

Unsplooshed

Give me a break. Does anyone not named Crane Kenney think this is gonna happen?

"The Cubs, meanwhile, have set aside a sizable chunk of their middle-of-the-pack payroll budget to stay in the Tanaka hunt, sacrificing possible acquisitions early in the offseason to have the wherewithal to make a serious run."

Hey Cub fans,  I've got a beautiful bridge you may want to buy.

[Brownie]

I'll bite. They'll sign him AND trade for David Price, convert Shark into something, and have a rotation of Tanaka, Price, Wood, Jackson, and Jake Arrieta. Rizzo gives us a .310/.390./560 line and Castro brings his OPS up to .800, My Colt or Bryant get called up and become the balls at second, Darwin Barney gets released and signed by the St. Louis Cardinals who all catch his badatbaseballitis, Jorge Soler gets called up, and... goddam it, did I finish my bottle of Scotch already?

[Slaky]

So let's have a fun exercise in the vein of TJ's post.

What if the Cubs are (with roster as presently constructed) somehow hanging in the race in July. It's late July and let's say the Cubs inexplicably hold a 3-4 game lead in the division. Maybe the Cards have some crippling injuries. Maybe the Pirates are back to being the Pirates. But let's just say Cub pitching has far exceeded expectations and while they still can't hit for shit, they're just not giving up enough runs to lose.

What do you think happens?

Again it's a slim lead nearing the trade deadline and in this fake future I've created everyone's waiting for the other shoe to drop. The Cubs don't have the players to win the division. Sell? Buy? Stand pat?

I think it'd be really interesting to see what the front office would do.

[Richard Chuggar]

So let's have a fun exercise in the vein of TJ's post.

What if the Cubs are (with roster as presently constructed) somehow hanging in the race in July. It's late July and let's say the Cubs inexplicably hold a 3-4 game lead in the division. Maybe the Cards have some crippling injuries. Maybe the Pirates are back to being the Pirates. But let's just say Cub pitching has far exceeded expectations and while they still can't hit for shit, they're just not giving up enough runs to lose.

What do you think happens?

Again it's a slim lead nearing the trade deadline and in this fake future I've created everyone's waiting for the other shoe to drop. The Cubs don't have the players to win the division. Sell? Buy? Stand pat?

I think it'd be really interesting to see what the front office would do.

They'd probably do something for sure

[Yeti]

So let's have a fun exercise in the vein of TJ's post.

What if the Cubs are (with roster as presently constructed) somehow hanging in the race in July. It's late July and let's say the Cubs inexplicably hold a 3-4 game lead in the division. Maybe the Cards have some crippling injuries. Maybe the Pirates are back to being the Pirates. But let's just say Cub pitching has far exceeded expectations and while they still can't hit for shit, they're just not giving up enough runs to lose.

What do you think happens?

Again it's a slim lead nearing the trade deadline and in this fake future I've created everyone's waiting for the other shoe to drop. The Cubs don't have the players to win the division. Sell? Buy? Stand pat?

I think it'd be really interesting to see what the front office would do.

I think I want them to stand pat. I'm no genius, but I feel like if they're that close with the current roster (they might have had to call someone up to be in that position, though), then 2015 should be fantastic,

[PenFoe]

So let's have a fun exercise in the vein of TJ's post.

What if the Cubs are (with roster as presently constructed) somehow hanging in the race in July. It's late July and let's say the Cubs inexplicably hold a 3-4 game lead in the division. Maybe the Cards have some crippling injuries. Maybe the Pirates are back to being the Pirates. But let's just say Cub pitching has far exceeded expectations and while they still can't hit for shit, they're just not giving up enough runs to lose.

What do you think happens?

Again it's a slim lead nearing the trade deadline and in this fake future I've created everyone's waiting for the other shoe to drop. The Cubs don't have the players to win the division. Sell? Buy? Stand pat?

I think it'd be really interesting to see what the front office would do.

Stand pat.  I don't see them trading a single valuable piece of the future to back a team of Ruggiano, Schierholtz, Barney, et al.

But every chance to win is sacred though, right Epstein?

[ChuckD]

So let's have a fun exercise in the vein of TJ's post.

What if the Cubs are (with roster as presently constructed) somehow hanging in the race in July. It's late July and let's say the Cubs inexplicably hold a 3-4 game lead in the division. Maybe the Cards have some crippling injuries. Maybe the Pirates are back to being the Pirates. But let's just say Cub pitching has far exceeded expectations and while they still can't hit for shit, they're just not giving up enough runs to lose.

What do you think happens?

Again it's a slim lead nearing the trade deadline and in this fake future I've created everyone's waiting for the other shoe to drop. The Cubs don't have the players to win the division. Sell? Buy? Stand pat?

I think it'd be really interesting to see what the front office would do.

Stand pat.  I don't see them trading a single valuable piece of the future to back a team of Ruggiano, Schierholtz, Barney, et al.

^^^

At this point, really anyone on the roster is expendable save for Castro, Rizzo, and maybe Snorknado. The rest are just keeping seats warm while Jepstink and CUBBISNATION waits for the farm to bear fruit. But, they wouldn't trade key parts of the plan they've been working on now for 3 seasons unless whoever they were acquiring could help them long term -- I mean, I guess if someone offered the equivalent of the Aramis Ramirez / Kenny Lofton deal, then sure, take it since Aramis was young and controllable and a beast. But selling? If you think shit's bad now, imagine the shitstorm that would ensue if Jepstink held a fire sale with a 3-4 game lead in late summer.

[R-V]

I'll bite. They'll sign him AND trade for David Price, convert Shark into something, and have a rotation of Tanaka, Price, Wood, Jackson, and Jake Arrieta. Rizzo gives us a .310/.390./560 line and Castro brings his OPS up to .800, My Colt or Bryant get called up and become the balls at second, Darwin Barney gets released and signed by the St. Louis Cardinals who all catch his badatbaseballitis, Jorge Soler gets called up, and... goddam it, did I finish my bottle of Scotch already?

I think you did because you said Kris Bryant was going to play 2nd base.