Cubbies new GM?

[mike4cy]

Hopefully this guy can change the Cubbies quick. I'm tired of waiting.

My grandfather would agree with you.

[CycloneErik]

I meant, by next year. Is it possible that the Cubs turn around in two? Sure, but imo there is a lot of rebuilding to do. But time will tell.

Add Fielder and you see us improve while the Brewers decline. That gets the party started.

[CyJack13]

It can be a quick turnaround, but if so, it will most likely be a flash in the pan with high dollar free agents and we will be regretting the contracts a few years later. To build a consistent winner, you need to develop talent in the farm system which will take some time.

Not necessarily. The Cubs are opening up a huge baseball academy in the Dominican and really beefing up their scouting down there. Teams that rake in the money, like the Cubs, Yankees and Red Sox, have the benefit of being able to sign big name free agents and build up their farm system at the same time. The Cubs farm system is not terrible right now, it's a hell of a lot better than it was five years ago and their most recent draft was very well reviewed by baseball analysts.

[CYdTracked]

It can be a quick turnaround, but if so, it will most likely be a flash in the pan with high dollar free agents and we will be regretting the contracts a few years later. To build a consistent winner, you need to develop talent in the farm system which will take some time.

If that is what it takes to finally win a world series I don't care if they take the Florida Marlins approach and overspend to win it then fire sale what they can afterwards. It's been long enough, I don't think Cubs fans would care how it gets done just win a world series first then worry about maintaining the winning culture afterwards.

[CycloneErik]

If that is what it takes to finally win a world series I don't care if they take the Florida Marlins approach and overspend to win it then fire sale what they can afterwards. It's been long enough, I don't think Cubs fans would care how it gets done just win a world series first then worry about maintaining the winning culture afterwards.

I wouldn't. Sure, I want to win long-term, but if we could sell out to win one this year, I can worry about later on later on.

[exCYtable]

I'm a huge Red Sox fan. Theo is the same guy that signed DiceK, Lackey, JD Drew, Julio Lugo, and Edgar Renteria and let Damon go to the Yankees. He also let Beltre and VMart go last offseason. Damon, Beltre and VMart all appeared in this post-season; The Red Sox didn't. I'm not sold that Epstein is the great GM he is cracked up to be.

[Clark]

I'm a huge Red Sox fan. Theo is the same guy that signed DiceK, Lackey, JD Drew, Julio Lugo, and Edgar Renteria and let Damon go to the Yankees. He also let Beltre and VMart go last offseason. Damon, Beltre and VMart all appeared in this post-season; The Red Sox didn't. I'm not sold that Epstein is the great GM he is cracked up to be.

Didn't the Sox win a title in '07 with Dice-K as an important contributor and well after Damon left for the Yanks?

Also, JD Drew wasn't nearly as bad as Sox fans make him out to be before this year.

Seriously, Red Sox fans or more specifically, the post-2004 bandwagon fans make me sick. First it was Manny, now Tito and Epstein. These people brought you the first championship in 86 years and you've stabbed all three of them in the back on their way out the door.

[CycloneErik]

Didn't the Sox win a title in '07 with Dice-K as an important contributor and well after Damon left for the Yanks?

Also, JD Drew wasn't nearly as bad as Sox fans make him out to be before this year.

Seriously, Red Sox fans or more specifically, the post-2004 bandwagon fans make me sick. First it was Manny, now Tito and Epstein. These people brought you the first championship in 86 years and you've stabbed all three of them in the back on their way out the door.

Don't act like Red Sox fans aren't drama queens.

[Clark]

Don't act like Red Sox fans aren't drama queens.

It just scares me because I always thought Boston and Cubs fans were kinda kindred spirits.

Obviously I'd love to be in a position to find out, but I hope to God we wouldn't treat the players/manager that finally gave us a championship that way.

[CycloneErik]

It just scares me because I always thought Boston and Cubs fans were kinda kindred spirits.

Obviously I'd love to be in a position to find out, but I hope to God we wouldn't treat the players/manager that finally gave us a championship that way.

Hopefully, we'll find out soon.

[kas4cy]

I'm a huge Red Sox fan. Theo is the same guy that signed DiceK, Lackey, JD Drew, Julio Lugo, and Edgar Renteria and let Damon go to the Yankees. He also let Beltre and VMart go last offseason. Damon, Beltre and VMart all appeared in this post-season; The Red Sox didn't. I'm not sold that Epstein is the great GM he is cracked up to be.

Can you honestly pick a GM and show where he didn't make any mistakes? Aside from probably Andrew Freidman (Tampa Bay GM), every GM has a few guys that regress or simply fail to live up to expectations. Also, a lot of the decisions that Theo made, were actually good move at the time (coming off good years, getting rid of players in decline - e.g. Damon, or letting fulfilled positions go - e.g. Victor Martinez with the signing of Gonzalez). Remember that the GM has no control of what the player does on the field after he's signed. Granted he over-paid for a lot of guys, but it's unclear whether this was his doing, or John Henry wanting players (which has been rumored and is likely true in all organizations to some degree.) Lastly, remember he came into a decent situation, made your team much better and won not 1, but 2 World Series, and did a very good job to set you up to win many more. I'd also like to remind Red Sox fans that if it was not for a horrible collapse in the last month of the season, this team was bound for 90-95 wins, with a team with 3 people who were being mentioned for MVP (Gonzalez, Ortiz, and Pedroia), and possibly a deep post-season run. All the things that made this year fall apart was on the players and managing, not so much the GM.

It just scares me because I always thought Boston and Cubs fans were kinda kindred spirits.

Obviously I'd love to be in a position to find out, but I hope to God we wouldn't treat the players/manager that finally gave us a championship that way.

Me too. But as of the last 3-4 years, the Boston fans have been spoiled rotten, and act like it's unnatural for them to not win. I understand high expectations (clearly, I'm a Cubs fan afterall), but the blame and personal smearing that gets thrown around right when somebody leaves town is starting to get ridiculous. They love them when they're there, but as soon as they leave they're hated and worthless.

All in all, I think Theo is going to have the power and authority to make changes to put the organization into the modern era of baseball over the next 5 years. Putting money into our development and scouting, operations, and applying sabermetrics strategies which the Cubs have essentially ignored. He will be a good addition to the Cubs, and on the bright side, he's not Jim Henry.

[Die4Cy]

Josh Byrnes may join Theo Epstein's front office staff | Cubs Den

There's some speculantion today that it's possible Epstein comes to the Cubs in a capacity higher than GM--team president, perhaps. This report fits with that.

Cubs need the city to approve bonding authority for improvements to enhance Wrigleyville and income streams for the team. It's already been rejected once. This may be Ricketts Hail Mary play.