Bleacher Bums Forum

Are you talking about the same owner who approved of dumping a first year manager for Joe and then dumping a Cub hero for Craig? 

It has been 12 years since Tom fired/didn't extend Hendry and hired Theo.  Jed is 30 games under five hundred as the Cubs GM and has 0 playoff appearances.  Like why isn't Jed on the hot seat? 

Does anybody really believe that Ricketts would pull a Hoyer?  I have a hard time believing that Tom would show up at Hoyer's house and let him go if there was a Counsell level baseball executive that was a free agent.  Short of Theo wanting to come back I think this is Jed's job until he doesn' want it any more.

This will be Hoyer's 4th season.  Hoyer called it a "healthy" situation.  He must have emphasized that (persuasively) to Counsell, who repeatedly used "healthy" to describe the Cubs scenario.  I suspect Ricketts sees it that way as well.   

These last two winters, it's been understandable to perceive progress.  They finished 2022 strongly.  Then this year won more games, had a fun and competitive summer, were in the playoff race before the September collapse, and the farm system is now well respected with significant prospects nearing graduation.  I think it's appropriate to see the arrow pointing up in a healthy way.

But yeah, trajectory perceptions can change pretty quickly.  What if 2024 does NOT play out as "healthy" trajectory?  What if it the big-league season regresses?  Chapman, Hoskins and Tauchman hit .205, .220, and .230?  Maybe the new relievers prove as un-helpful as Fulmer and Boxberger?  Leiter pitches like September?  Wesneski, Palencia, Little, Ben Brown stay as wild, and PCA and Alcantara regress?   What if we're 10 games under come June, and 20 by September? 

If so, wouldn't surprise me if Ricketts doesn't see Hoyer differently, *IF* both Cubs and farm look lots worse next season?  As reb notes, things are unpredictable, so who knows? 

Sure hope it doesn't roll that direction, though.  I'm an optimist, and think there is good reason to figure that things will progress in a favorable trajectory. 

Are you talking about the same owner who approved of dumping a first year manager for Joe and then dumping a Cub hero for Craig? 

Different as chalk and cheese.  Hoyer is the vehicle for Ricketts' mantra of financial small ball.  Basically it would be like Ricketts firing himself.

Just to be clear, Hoyer took over a team that made the playoffs for 5 years.  Tanked the team and didn’t get 1 top 10 prospect in baseball and has pushed them up to the luxury tax and has an 83 win team in a bad division to show for it. 

The Brewers might tank and you can’t look at the Cubs and go this division is theirs.  How healthy or upward trajectory do the Cubs really have?  If they were in the East or West they would be an afterthought.  Goc, I’ve become Jeff.

For some reason, you seem to think that the future is next year, and ends sometime in November, if not before.  Many people would look at the fact that the farm system is ranked as one of the top 5 in all of baseball (and one ranked them as the best in baseball) as a strong upward trajectory, even though many of their top prospects are not ready to hit their peak by next April.

You mention that Hoyer took over a team that made the playoffs for 5 years, but for some reason didn't mention that that team was about to have their 4 best players enter free agency in the next two year, and that the older players such as Arietta and Zobrist were done for, and had not been replaced.

Bubba, the **** "car" was broken.  Every single part pf it.  Which part would you have salvaged?

Morosi reporting that the Braves are a top suitor for Sonny Gray…

The Braves might try to use Lopez as a starter depending on how the rest of their offseason goes.

Lance Lynn back to the Cardinals for 1 year, $10 million.

They lost Chapman, why would they trade Bichette?