The FYC, Baseball is Fun, Cubs will win at least 90 Games Thread

[Brownie]

Get on the bandwagon now. Four months from now, we'll see who's on the Cubs-will-go-73-and-89-or-better-bandwagon and tell Chuck to get fucked with every Cubs win.

[Internet Apex]

Get on the bandwagon now. Four months from now, we'll see who's on the Cubs-will-go-73-and-89-or-better-bandwagon and tell Chuck to get fucked with every Cubs win.

I'm all for involuntary ChuckSecks but his argument that they will probably tank the season and trade anybody and everybody seems reasonable. Rooting against them doing just that just so Chuck can get a little gay against his will sounds like fun and all, and I'm in, but ... fuck.

[Bort]

I'm willing to ride the FYC train.

[Chuck to Chuck]

If the Cubs win more than 62 games AND trade everyone to load up on young pitching, I'll gladly Eff Why Mee.

[Slaky]

It's neat because we don't even think the Cubs can probably win seventy games next year. SEVENTY.

[Chuck to Chuck]

Well, it's kinda understood.  When the GM comes out in the offseason and says he may trade away 40% of the rotation at some point during the next season, you kind of know they don't give a shit about the record. So, why should we?

All that said, I'm in the "Over .500" camp for 2014. They'll need to because empty seats, like there will be in droves, don't yield public funding for Wrigley Rehab.

Or, maybe Joe Ricketts is just gonna try to knock off Rahm and install Todd.

[Eli]

I would hope they win at least 70 games this year. The team has to be moving in the right direction and be ready to kinda-compete in 2014. I know Theo needs time to build things the right way and all that, but it's not acceptable (in my worthless opinion) for a team with such gigantic financial resources to completely punt three seasons.

[Tonker]

I would hope they win at least 70 games this year. The team has to be moving in the right direction and be ready to kinda-compete in 2014. I know Theo needs time to build things the right way and all that, but it's not acceptable (in my worthless opinion) for a team with such gigantic financial resources to completely punt three seasons.

I hear what you say, and there's a very large part of me that's right there with you on this.  And then there's a little voice in the back of my head pointing out to me that spending money without a long-term plan is how Jim Hendry got us in this mess in the first place and is precisely the reason that the Cubs might indeed have to punt three seasons.  If that's what it takes for us to Yankee-style perpetual success and World Series wins, then okay.  Another year isn't going to kill me.

#Famouslastwords

[Slaky]

I would hope they win at least 70 games this year. The team has to be moving in the right direction and be ready to kinda-compete in 2014. I know Theo needs time to build things the right way and all that, but it's not acceptable (in my worthless opinion) for a team with such gigantic financial resources to completely punt three seasons.

I hear what you say, and there's a very large part of me that's right there with you on this.  And then there's a little voice in the back of my head pointing out to me that spending money without a long-term plan is how Jim Hendry got us in this mess in the first place and is precisely the reason that the Cubs might indeed have to punt three seasons.  If that's what it takes for us to Yankee-style perpetual success and World Series wins, then okay.  Another year isn't going to kill me.

#Famouslastwords

The issue with spending money is that there aren't going to be as many players worth spending it on. Surely you're all noticing the trend of teams locking up their best players before they hit the market. Theo and Jed are doing something kinda neat though: they're stockpiling assets. Whether those prospects end up turning into solid major league players or end up getting traded for some, I think they're doing it right.

I'm willing to be more patient than some of you guys are. Yeah, it'd be swell if in 2014 the Cubs were ready to make a run at a playoff spot. I don't think it'll be a punt, as someone said, but 2016 is the year I'm pointing at.

[Quality Start Machine]

2016 is the year I'm pointing at.

EpHoyStink is loading up the farm system, and at some point there will be some veteran players added (to those who will achieve "veteran" status by 2016, like Castro and Rizzo) to round things out.

But by 2016, along with Castro and Rizzo, you'll probably have Soler (Guessing he shows up late 2013/early 2014), Baez (late 2014/early 2015) and Almora (2015) at least in the lineup, if not established big-league hitters. This should be right around the time the hitting metrics will stop showing Wrigley Field as a "pitchers park", as will be one beefy section of batting order.

[Eli]

I'm willing to be more patient than some of you guys are. Yeah, it'd be swell if in 2014 the Cubs were ready to make a run at a playoff spot. I don't think it'll be a punt, as someone said, but 2016 is the year I'm pointing at.

I think 2016 is the last year of Theo's contract. With all of the money coming off the books next season (freeing them from Hendry's stupidity [in some ways]), that's awfully conservative. Five years is far too long for a big market team to remain completely intentionally uncompetitive.

Every chance to win is sacred though, and all that.

[Quality Start Machine]

I'm willing to be more patient than some of you guys are. Yeah, it'd be swell if in 2014 the Cubs were ready to make a run at a playoff spot. I don't think it'll be a punt, as someone said, but 2016 is the year I'm pointing at.

I think 2016 is the last year of Theo's contract. With all of the money coming off the books next season (freeing them from Hendry's stupidity [in some ways]), that's awfully conservative. Five years is far too long for a big market team to remain completely intentionally uncompetitive.

Every chance to win is sacred though, and all that.

they'll be 5>.500<5 in 2014, maybe squeeze into the SeligCard in 2015. By 2016 they're going for all the marbles.

Let's see how it plays out.

[R-V]

I'm willing to be more patient than some of you guys are. Yeah, it'd be swell if in 2014 the Cubs were ready to make a run at a playoff spot. I don't think it'll be a punt, as someone said, but 2016 is the year I'm pointing at.

I think 2016 is the last year of Theo's contract. With all of the money coming off the books next season (freeing them from Hendry's stupidity [in some ways]), that's awfully conservative. Five years is far too long for a big market team to remain completely intentionally uncompetitive.

Every chance to win is sacred though, and all that.

they'll be 5>.500<5 in 2014, maybe squeeze into the SeligCard in 2015. By 2016 they're going for all the marbles.

Let's see how it plays out.

With the amount of player movement every year, do teams really go through that linear process of gradually becoming a good team anymore? I have absolutely no basis for this but I could see this team having another awful year or two, then sneaking into the playoffs with 84 wins and winning the whole goddamn thing and then we'll need a squad of moppers just to mop up the amount of stuff I'm gonna be squirting all over the place.

[Chuck to Chuck]

I don't think they are punting 3 seasons, only 2.  I think big bux get spent post 2013 on free agents.  If the Yankees don't act, I'm looking at Robinson Cano.

Here's a semi-stale list of 2014 free agents. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014-mlb-free-agents/

[Quality Start Machine]

I'm willing to be more patient than some of you guys are. Yeah, it'd be swell if in 2014 the Cubs were ready to make a run at a playoff spot. I don't think it'll be a punt, as someone said, but 2016 is the year I'm pointing at.

I think 2016 is the last year of Theo's contract. With all of the money coming off the books next season (freeing them from Hendry's stupidity [in some ways]), that's awfully conservative. Five years is far too long for a big market team to remain completely intentionally uncompetitive.

Every chance to win is sacred though, and all that.

they'll be 5>.500<5 in 2014, maybe squeeze into the SeligCard in 2015. By 2016 they're going for all the marbles.

Let's see how it plays out.

With the amount of player movement every year, do teams really go through that linear process of gradually becoming a good team anymore? I have absolutely no basis for this but I could see this team having another awful year or two, then sneaking into the playoffs with 84 wins and winning the whole goddamn thing and then we'll need a squad of moppers just to mop up the amount of stuff I'm gonna be squirting all over the place.

I think EpHoyStink are planning sustained success here. It's easier & cheaper to do that with a fully stocked farm system. As inportant as the players they've been acquiring, the bigger item is the changes in scouting and minor league instruction. If you're a good team, there are still good players available at the bottom of the first round. Hell, there are plenty of damn good players that get drafted in late rounds.

This isn't a matter of punting. This is a matter of building, starting with the foundation. The penthouse is always the last thing to be finished.