by Kent Sterling
The Cubs are rebuilding, and that means the unconditional release of Huey Lewis & the News.
The Cubs suck. Fans know it. Ownership knows it. The players know it. While other teams are building a farm system, reaping the rewards of building one, or investing in a free agent that might put a team over the top, the Cubs are busy with other issues, according to a Paul Sullivan post on chicahgotribune.com.
The Cubs have become very adept over the last couple of years at monetizing the only valuable asset in the Cubs catalogue – Wrigley Field. They have hosted an NHL game, a very cramped version of college football, movies, and soon they will host field hockey. Not sure whether money was actually made, but the place has been busy for more than the Cubs 81 home dates.
Now, the Cubs are busying themselves by reassessing their music repertoire. It seems fans are upset with the barrage of hits from the 1980s, as well as the celebrity conductors of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh inning stretch. It seems fans were upset the Cubs invited nationally renown mopes without a clue what they were doing to come in to reprise the fan anthem that was led by Harry Caray until his death 15 years ago.
Go figure that fans didn’t care to hear Ozzy Osbourne massacre the song, or others with no relationship to baseball, the Cubs, or Chicago stump for the release of their latest movie, song, or show. I remember watching Ann-Margaret and Gary Sandy (Andy Travis from “WKRP in Cincinnati”) sing a few years ago. It made no sense, but the moves being made by then GM Jim Hendry didn’t either.
Now, instead of finding a way to compete with the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds, they are updating the public address offerings for the pregame. One negative for the Cubs is that they will now almost certainly be the worst team in the National League. The Cubs have done nothing to move from second-to-last into the cellar. Chicagoans can thank commissioner Bud Selig for that. He championed the move of the Houston Astros to the American League, and paved the way to the bottom.
But, thanks to this laser focus on fans enjoying the experience at Wrigley before the baseball starts, at least the dwindling denizens still paying top dollar for Triple-A baseball will get to hear something other than Van Halen and Huey Lewis. How can a franchise be expected to change 105 years of misfortune when they aren’t bright enough to turn over a cassette dubbed in Greg Maddux’s rookie year?
Wrigley Field is little more than a living museum for fans these days. They go the ballpark because it’s where their memories can live. It’s like taking your kids to the Museum of Science and Industry to visit the U-505. That was the coolest when I was seven, and taking my son there was wonderfully nostalgic. Same thing with Wrigley. There is no reason to visit other than to remember my Dad catching a foul ball Jesus Alou hit, or when he asked me to get an autograph from one of the Cincinnati Reds. There were two Reds signing, and instead of Pete Rose I got Fred Whitfield to sign my scorecard.
The relevance of Wrigley is in its generational connect points, not in the Cubs putrid present.
Maybe one day, the detail work for the on-field product will measure up to the marketing staff energetic enough to burn a new CD.
“While other teams are building a farm system, reaping the rewards of building one, or investing in a free agent that might put a team over the top, the Cubs are busy with other issues, according to a Paul Sullivan post on chicahgotribune.com.”
Nothing like misleading people right out the gate. The Cubs are building a farm system and no free agent would put a rebuilding team over the top. The Cubs are not busy with other issues. The marketing department is just doing their job.
Anyone paying attention knows that the Cubs have been spending a lot to build up their scouting and development system… but you needed to write something, so you just made stuff up.
Do you honestly think the GM, manager or the players is focusing on the music at Wrigley?
Totally agree with this post, you are either not paying attention to the development of the farm system and the methodical rebuild or you are a fairy tale sized troll. Trolly troll troll.
I believe the Cubs understand that the two reasons fans come out to Wrigley for baseball is nostalgia or to drink beer with friends. It has nothing to do with the quality of the onfield product, so there are a lot of front office meetings about nonsense having nothing at all to do with baseball.
The ownership is focusing on something other than baseball, or they wouldn’t be inviting people into Wrigley to watch movies in the outfield.
Right, because your are incapable of doing 2 things at once, the Cubs front office must be incapable of both putting together a competitive team, AND finding uses for Wrigley Field when it’s not being used for games. That makes total sense.
Actually, what Nick said below.
The Cubs haven’t been capable of putting a competitive team on the field in years – even when given a bottomless pocket to buy one. They could have Gary Pressey bump his organ with his ass and still send people home happy because Cubs fans refuse to hold the Ricketts accountable with their checkbooks. You want to visit Wrigley for reasons other than quality baseball, at least refuse to pay top dollar for the privilege.
Go watch some field hockey.
The other/newer songs we’ve given Cubs brass so far:
Bohola, Disturbed, Drovers, Herb Eimerman, Jennifer Hudson, Jon Langford, Lisa Lauren, Roger Knox, Nerk Twins, Whitey O’Day, Shoes, Nicholas Tremulis, Trigger Gospel, Waco Bros., Zwan.
I know it’s difficult to do 2 things at once. Like write a story and do actual research, but I believe a major league baseball organization has enough resources to both rebuild the team and change the game day experience…
The Cubs are proving the opposite.
Ahh…you’re a moron troll. If you didn’t have a blog you’d be collecting cans for scrap to pay for your meth habit. Do us all a favor and kill yourself.
What a wonderfully articulate rebuttal. I would expect that from a Cubs fan so psychologically damaged by a lifetime (unless you are 105 or older) of mediocrity that he can’t see the error in his ways. The current Cubs roster and farm system are bottom feeders and so far behind the Cardinals and Reds that until Walt Jockety and John Mozeliak retire, winning the NL Central is a pipe dream.
Your email address is well-earned. If you watched the Cubs in 2012, you know pain.
The kill yourself comment is totally inappropriate, keep it civil guys. Have you seen the latest farm system rankings, I think they range from 5 to 11 depending on the list, hardly bottom feeders.
I thought the kill yourself comment was pretty funny. Clearly his blog wouldn’t be missed.
You know I have to admit most Cardinal fans I’ve met seem pretty well educated on the subject of baseball. Apparently they are making up for you. As a lifelong Cubs fan, I can acknowledge the organization has been run poorly for more years than I’ve been alive. I can look at the Cardinal organization and be jealous of both the major league and minor league ball clubs as they truly are a class act. With all that said as a season ticket holder at Wrigley, I stated for years that the Tribune Co needed to sell the Cubs and find a good owner in order to become a winning franchise. The Rickett’s family have since purchased the Cubs, they have brought in a first class front office and they are taking the right steps towards building a winning organization for years to come. Anyone with a knowledge for baseball could tell you that Ricketts, Theo and Jed had their work cut out for them and that fixing this mess would not happen overnight. Then a simple minded person like yourself calls himself a writer and says like a bafoon, “The Cubs suck, look at their record, look at their history.” acting as if you are reporting news. You start a blog and call yourself a writer thinking people might actually respect what you have to say. You are right about one thing though. Cubs fans know the team lost 101 games last year. They also understand that the team will have a hard time competing this year. The catch is we also see an ownership group and Front Office that is turning this organization in the right direction. The ironic thing is you are ripping the Cubs for addressing Pre-game music and what I see is an organization who now concerns themselves with the details. This does not mean they are not focused on improving the team from the ground up… Clearly they have shown in just 1 year as their fam system has shot up on all expert ranking from a ranking of around 20 to a ranking as high as 5. But instead of acknowledging the improvements in the organization, you instead are acting like a 12 year old saying “they suck, look at their record, look at their history, look at the Cardinals.”
Most 12 year-olds would tell you that handing your cash to the homeless riding the Red Line would be more fruitful than continuing to support the Cubs with your hard-earned money – assuming your money is hard-earned. If you want to see the latest versions of Hee Sop Choi, Ryan Harvey, and Brian Dopirak, you’ll have to book a flight to see them in A-ball.
And if you think this club is well run now, see how smart signing Edwin Jackson to a four-year, $52-million deal turns out. Jackson is a .500 pitcher who has seen seven teams say goodbye to him, and he turns 30 in September. He is 70-71 for his career, and last year signed a one-year deal with the Nats for $11-million. For that cash he was what could have been projected – 10-11 with a four-plus ERA. That makes him worth $52-million over four years?
I had hoped the Cubs were doing the right things, but the Jackson deal smelled like Hendry was still prowling the front office.
You can dream. All Cubs fans can dream, but this looks like the same old story.
We can argue all day about the direction the Cubs are going. But what I see is all you have done is state the obvious and try to back up your statements by pointing out to everyone that the Cubs haven’t won for years. In the end as stupid as you sound, you can write what you want. As Cub fans there is not much we can say other than point out just how stupid you sound. In the end, only time will tell if this organization is going in the right direction. As someone who I’m confident is slightly better educated than you on the current status of the Cubs, I have no doubt they are an oganization who will prove you wrong in the coming years. But you go on telling everyone how the Cubs suck… I’m sure they are all grateful for your state the obvious observations.
Not only haven’t the Cubs won, they dicked around overpaying for guys like Ramirez, Zambrano, Soriano, Fukudome, Byrd, Pena, and others, while the Cards and Reds built farm systems that allow the loss of the best hitter of the past 50 years without any loss in the onfield product. Jim Hendry made a huge mess, and forced the Cubs to eat it for years – and Ricketts let him do it before finally waking up and firing him.
If you know what the Cubs will look like in 2016, you are a lot smarter than I am. I don’t know whether a bunch of prospects who have never played beyond high-A are going to make it to the majors at all. You have great confidence. Good for you. I hope they do make it, but while they are learning to play the game, the Cardinals have guys like Oscar Tavares and Shelby Miller who are ready right now.
A very astute move made by Hoyer or Sveum was hiring Dave McKay, who is a hell of an asset for any organization. He knows how to teach the game, and the Cubs will be better for having him on the staff.
I see you continue to focus on the past. I will continue to stress I understand the Cardinals have a strong organization. I own both Oscar Taverez and Shelby Miller in my keeper fantasy league. While I’m very high on Tavarez, Shelby Miller worries me especially with his most recent shoulder stiffness. Either way, I’m not disputing the strength of the Cardinals farm system and while I understand the Cubs prospects are more than a year away, just because the Cardinals have prospects that are near MLB ready doesn’t mean all the Cubs prospects are destined to do the next Corey Patterson or Felix Pie. But what you continue to be ignorant about among other things is that even with Hendry in place, the Cubs philosophy changed as soon as Rickett’s took ownership of the Cubs. 2011 was one of the most promising drafts in recent memory. What I’m sure you don’t realize is that Rickett’s told Hendry to draft the best players and the money would be there to sign them. The 2011 draft included Javier Baez, Dan Vogelbach and Dillon Maples. You are so quick to blame Hendry for recent past issues, but you are to stupid to understand that it starts from the top down. None of us have any idea who was really pulling the strings and how Hendry’s hands were tied. The Tribune Co had most uneducated baseball fans like yourself believing that as long as they were spending money on the big league club, that the success should just be there. At the same time, teams like the Red Sox, Yankees and Cardinals were spending money to aquire top prospects through the draft and developing players that the Cubs just did not do. This is the biggest reason that these organizations had continued success. In addition the Tribune Co would back load contracts to make their financials look good that ended up being bad deals towards the end. Since taking control of the Cubs, Ricketts has been changing all of that. They have been trying to shed themselves of these bad backloaded contacts. They are trying to turn short term contracts into long term assets. They have acquired young high ceiling prospects through all means possible. In the last year, they have added Anthony Rizzo as a core player and turned Jeff Samardzjia into a core starting pitcher. They have added top 100 prospects Jorge Soler, Albert Almora and Aroldis Vizcaino through free agency, the draft and recent trades. All these players are cost controlled for a number of years to come. I know you expect these prospects to all be MLB ready this year, but anyone who knows anything about baseball will tell you it takes time to develop talent. This is why they are going out and getting the right coaches like Dave McKay. The fact that they have 3 prospects in Baez, Soler and Almora who are all Top 50 prospects at such low levels of the minor leagues is extremely impressive… but then again I don’t expect you to understand that. Will all these prospects become superstars? Probably not. But this is why they are continuing to stockpile the prospects. I can pretty much guarantee you all your beloved Cardinal prospects most likely will not all be a success either. But again this is why good organizations continue to build from the ground up. The Cardinals have been doing it for years. No one is disputing that. What you seem to be so boneheaded to understand is that the new Cubs Front office now gets it and is making those adjustments and it is clear by the improvements made in their farm system over the past year. As far as your comments ripping the Edwin Jackson signing, I’m sure you have no idea that the Cubs gave him a 8 million dollar signing bonus. As opposed to backloading the contract, they gave him more money upfront so that the contract will look more favorable in the last few years of the contract. In addition, this front office understands that that when they feel they are ready to compete, they will not be able to go out and just sign 5 top of the rotation starting pitchers. The get the fact that most all of their impact starting pitching prospects are still a long ways away. While I know you are already disputing Jackson being a front of the rotation starter, what you can’t dispute is that he has been a workhorse for the past 5 years. He is a guy they can count on to go out there every 5 days and give them 200+ quality innings every year. Plus many believe he still has some projection left. You add all that to the prices quality starting pitchers are now signing for with these new TV deals and the front loaded Edwin Jackson deal may look very good in 2 years. But I wouldn’t expect you to understand all that as you are still focused on Hee Seop Choi. Finally I have no idea what the Cubs will look like in 2016, but I do know that are making enough smart decisions now that they will begin to reap the benefits down the road. If you would have taken the time to look at the progress they have made and the decisions they are making before spitting out a completely baseless article about how the Cubs focus is on pregame music, maybe one day you would actually become a respected writer and one day earn enough money to buy season tickets to the Cardinals. Instead you’ve just managed to just embarrass yourself with some piss pore writing and opinions.
You assume so many erroneous things about baseball – and me – that I have no idea where to begin to correct you. I owned Cardinals season tickets last year, not because I am a stalwart Cards fan. I’m new to St.Louis, so I’m also a bit new to being passionate about the Cardinals. I enjoy baseball, and until I spent all those summer and fall nights at Busch Stadium, I never knew the difference between Cubs baseball and Cardinals baseball, and there is a hell of a big difference – not in the quality of the players as much as the quality of play.
Seven teams have allowed Edwin Jackson to leave their employ. That does not happen to a front of the rotation guy. Same with Garza. There is a reason teams let him walk. I don’t care when Edwin gets paid. What I do know is that an inning eater isn’t worth $52 million after getting one year at $11M based on a 10-11 season for a division winner. You can win with Jackson as a fourth starter behind three good arms. That’s not where the Cubs rotation is. His acquisition isn’t about winning; it’s about eating innings.
As far as backloading contracts, I’m sure Ricketts was plenty smart enough to see that the Soriano, Zambrano, and to a lesser extent Ramirez deals were backloaded. Not sure what point you were trying to make,
I’m not sure about your reading comprehension level. I’ve written several times that none of the prospects have ever played above high-A, and are at least two years away.
You go ahead and pay top five prices for tickets while the future of the Cubs is three years away.
Apparently my reading comprehension is on par with your writing ability. You wrote an article about how the Cubs suck and are focused on pregame music. I took offense and while stating my opinion on your writing which for the most part were flat out lies, I’ve tried to explain to you how this front office is different from the Cubs of old and how moves they are making are different from those of the Tribune Co. I should have realized from the start that this would be useless as you would listen about as poorly as you write. Other GMs thoughout baseball have taken notice of the Cubs moves and have said good things. Baseball experts and prospect experts have taken notice as well and have spoken and written accordingly. A two bit blog writer like yourself goes to a few Cardinal games and proclaims himself an expert on the Cubs and writes one of the worst articles I’ve had the displeasure of reading. Maybe it’s just me, but I think I’ll trust the opinion of someone like Keith Law instead.
You wrote “I know you expect these prospects to all be MLB ready this year, but anyone who knows anything about baseball will tell you it takes time to develop talent,” after I wrote on multiple occasions that none of the Cubs prospects are likely to be ready for the Cubs until 2015 at the earliest. That forces me to assume you either read poorly, or selectively.
I don’t want you to tear up your season tickets, just not pay for them until the product and the cost are in the same ballpark.
What I was trying to explain when I said, “I know you expect these prospects to all be MLB ready this year, but anyone who knows anything about baseball will tell you it takes time to develop talent,” is that you are ripping on the Cubs because their prospect are not as far along as the Cardinals prospects. I understand that these prospects are further away and are less likely to succeed because they are still at the lower levels, but that does not mean they aren’t good prospects. Clearly we can at least agree that they will not have an impact until 2015 at the earliest if at all. I’m not disputing that. But again that does not mean they are not good prospects. It also doesn’t mean they will be the next Felix Pie or Hee Seop Choi. They are different players who are now in an organization that is taking a much different approach when it comes to player development. But sure, there is still a risk there, as there is with any prospect on any team.
As far as the season tickets are concerned. I have had season tickets since 2004 after having to go to Atlanta and Miami to watch the 2003 team in the playoffs. It was as I was boarding a plane to Atlanta and talking to some season ticket holders who went to game 4 at Wrigley that I realized I needed to get season tickets myself. From 2004 through 2010, I made my money back by selling tickets for the games I did not go on StubHub. The last 2 years I have lost money to the point that I could not give my tickets away at the end of last year. When I first got my tickets they were located in the 200 level and were alright, but not great seats as the upper deck blocked my view of fly balls in the air. From 2004 to 2010, I asked each year to improve my seats but was unable to do so as every other season ticket holder found, like I did, that they could make money off their season tickets. It has just been in the past few years that I’ve had the opportunity to get great seats. Currently there is still a waiting list to get season tickets. If I were to give up my seats, I will be sent back to the end of the line and will have to start over in where my seats are located assuming I’m able to get season tickets at all. The past few years I’ve had a decision to make knowing that the team would not be very good and I would be losing money on my tickets. I can tell you without a doubt that if the Tribune Co still owned the Cubs and were making decisions consistent with those made from 2000 til 2010, I’d give them up. My decision is not just based on how I believe they will do in 2013 or 2014 as I don’t expect much. I am forced to look at the future and decide if this is truly a good investment. And when I am dropping about $10,000 a year on tickets (which is a lot of money to me), I can assure you I’m watching every move with a critical eye. I am looking at every detail. I don’t have the luxury of just hoping the Cubs will be good soon and relying on Theo Epstein to know what he is doing because he’s Theo Epstein. I’ve had opinions for years about how the Tribune Co ran things. I was one of the few fans who cringed when they signed Soriano saying 8 years is a long time. (With that said I think the Cardinals did 100% the right thing by letting Pujols walk and am so grateful the Tribune Co does not still own the Cubs as I’m sure they would have signed that terrible contract just to appease the uneducated Cubs fans.) I now see an organization who is going about things the right way. They understand that trying to buy a team to win right now is not a smart idea. They are building from the ground up and even though they are still a couple of years away and don’t yet have prospects like Oscar Tavarez and Shelby Miller, they are still moving in the right direction. They are worrying about details that the Tribune Co could have cared less about including pregame music. You see this as a negative, I see it as a positive. I don’t know if or when this team will win a World Series as there are 29 other teams trying for the same goal. But I do believe they now have a good owner who has hired the right front office, who are making the right decisions to get there. I’m pretty confident that this team will be not only competitive but very good in the next few years and will be able to sustain that for years to come.
You’re a passionate guy. Hope the Cubs win just to make your investment of energy and money pay off.
You are a complete idiot!!! Keith Law has ranked the Cubs farm system #5 this offseason. I could waste my time explaining to you how the Cubs are making all the right moves, but you are not worth my time. You don’t actually get paid to write this crap do you?
The Cubs, according to Baseball America, have no prospects in the top 10, one prospect in the top 25, and four in the top 100. The highest ranked prospects in the Cubs system are in low A or below. Baez is a year away – at least. Brett Jackson can’t stop striking out, and there are very few pitchers who project as major leaguers. The Cardinals have an entire rotation of outstanding prospects either ready or close to ready in Shelby Miller, Trevor Rosenthal, Joe Kelly, Michael Wacha, and Carlos Martinez.
I know from experience that being a Cubs fan means investing hope in guys like Jackson, Josh Vitters, Ryan Harvey, Hee Sop Choi, and Chris Archer.
Pitching wins, and hoping that Arodys Vizcaino can come back strong after his TJ surgery is risky.
The Cubs are trying to gain ground on two franchises that are improving more quickly than they are. Epstein is the third best GM in the division.
The cardinals have the best farm in baseball which is agreed by practically everyone. To compare the cubs to them is clearly not fair as there is only one best system and any other team would look silly in comparison. Progress is being made whether or not you believe it or not.
Progress is relative, and relative to their division rivals, meaningful progress is not being made. The Cubs, while better than under Jim Hendry – one of baseball’s all-time hack GMs – are regressing compared to both the Reds and Cards.
I am not disputing that the Cardinals have a great farm system. I am calling you an idiot because you are focused on the Cubs pregame music and while the organization is making some very sound moves an quickly improving a previously weak farm system, you are writing flat out lies and trying to cover that out by pointing out how great of an organization the Cardinals have. You are a joke!
Chris Archer is a prospect with Tampa Bay you twit. He was traded for Garza years ago.
Yes, and Ryan Harvey is has been out of the Cubs organization since 2008. Choi is playing in Korea. The list was of prospects in which Cubs fans have invested hope over the past decade, not of current prospects.
I just can’t get over the fact that anyone could post such a bad article… “The Cubs suck! They know it. There fans know it. The players know it.” How old are you? Really? Like 12?
Nope. Not 12. Just a guy who has watched Cubs baseball since 1968, and pretty damn sure when a team sucks, and plays like they are well aware of it. If anyone has a doubt, they can watch each of the 101 losses the Cubs suffered last year. I take no joy in the sucking, but to deny it exists is just silly.
Also, Theo Epstein can not possibly be the 3rd best GM in the NL Central since he is not a GM. That would be Jed Hoyer’s title. If you don’t know anything about the subjects in which you are writing, just do everyone a favor and stop writing.
They can throw around titles as they like, but as long as Crane Kenney is walking around Wrigley, Theo is the GM. The Indiana Pacers have 23 vice presidents. That doesn’t mean that there are 23 people in line to take over as president.
Well, your trolling worked, you got your hits. The problem is, now everyone who came here can see how infantile your actual arguments are. I eagerly await your forthcoming article on how your dad can beat up my dad. Now that you’ve written your listless “Cubs Suck” piece you can go back to your drivel about what a jerk Michael Jordan is or how great Indiana basketball is, and I can go back to ignoring you. But congratulations, you managed to get people to pay attention to you. Just like a guy who farts on an elevator.
Nothing like a good fart in an elevator. At least you made me laugh. The other boobs who assumed my ignorance were neither enlightened nor entertaining. The Cubs are a bad team, and the promise of a success 2016 is insulting to the fans who are still paying top five ticket prices. The Cardinals and Reds have a head start they won’t relinquish as long as Jockety and Mozeliak run those operations.
So your point is that the Cardinals and Reds are better than the Cubs? Insightful. Or that after one year Hoyer and Theo have proven themselves incapable of besting Jockety and Mozeliak? Unsupportable and pointless. Or that the Cubs decision about 7th inning singers has any bearing on anything other than 7th inning singers? Asinine.
In any case, your argument holds little merit.
Ahh, but by writing that it doesn’t “hold much merit” that it must hold some. Much appreciated!
You must be an amazing psychic to know who “thinks the cubs suck”..especially the players. It seems as if you have confused your own thoughts with that of people who actually do not think the Cubs suck. Can you do me a favor and look at the cards for your own future…”you suck, the people reading this, think you suck, and Cubs fans and players think you suck.” that is a much more appropriate headline/title or prediction. Since you seem so enthusiastic about bad bands from the 80’s, perhaps you are better suited to write a review about them and, oh wait, professional field hockey. Last, you have been a fan since ’68…after reading this post, I have to state you have the mentality of a 12 year old. I hope you have a day job. Best of luck in your future endeavors, which hopefully doesn’t entail writing.
Sometimes I do suck, but I don’t charge anyone to watch movies in my house, subject them to Huey Lewis B-sides, or host field hockey games on my lawn. You came to this site for free, decided it was a waste of time, and left none the poorer. Cubs fans should have it so good.
It turns out it only took 2 years after you posted this article before the Cubs put together a team that eventually bested the Cardinals. Now it just cracks me up how completely wrong this article and your follow up statements were. You mentioned in your rebuttals that if I knew what the Cubs would look like in 2016, I’d be much smarter than you… well you said it. I think it’s safe to say you underestimated Theo Epstein. The future is bright in Wrigleyville! Go Cubs!
Over a year ago, I invested in the hope the Cubs would improve by buying season tickets. What tangible investment have you made?
It’s easy to whine from the cheap seats about a person applying pressure to a business office determine to squeeze cash from a team built to lose and a facility beloved by fans. It’s exactly because of the pressure exerted by fans like me that the Cubs accelerated their rebuilding timeline. You’re welcome!