Cubs @ Braves, 27 April

[1060Ivy]

Cubs line up might be similar to lineup post trade deadline - no KB nor Javy



Nico Hoerner, SS

Willson Contreras, C

David Bote, 2B

Anthony Rizzo, 1B

Matt Duffy, 3B

Jason Heyward, RF

Jake Marisnick, CF

Ian Happ, LF

Trevor Williams, P

[1060Ivy]

Bases loaded and 1 out, no runs scored - the Braves offense doing its best Cubs impersonation

[jstraw]

Not losing yet!

[1060Ivy]

Happ continues to be hapless at the plate.  Hey, at least he's no longer leading off. 

[1060Ivy]

Acuna solo HR so that's game? 

[rok]

I'm already tuning this team out and April isn't over yet.

[jstraw]

I'm not expecting a miracle tonight.

[funkster]

I'm too old for this shit.

[Butcher]

I'm already tuning this team out and April isn't over yet.

 

Same boat. This team is very uninspiring.

[1060Ivy]

 

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="rok" data-cid="357308" data-time="1619574003">
I'm already tuning this team out and April isn't over yet.

 

Same boat. This team is very uninspiring.</blockquote>


Unfortunately, this squad - from a talent perspective - could be as good as it gets for some years for this organization. The future doesn’t appear bright for the organization. Will take money and time to improve roster which doesn’t seem to coincide with either ownership’s or fans’ interests. New CBA and expected delay to 2022 season will most likely test the patience of every fan

[mrfelina]

Didn't watch a second of it. Hard to be surprised. There's not a single strength to this team---I guess Kimbrel's pitching this year so far is the one positive...everything else is putrid. Even if the offense started playing well, how could anything be expected from a starting rotation like this? Even if the starting rotation pitched spectacularly over their heads and were lights out, how could anything be expected with a pen like this?

 

Maybe it's a good thing, long term, if this team finishes with one of the worst records and we ship off Kimbrel, Bryant, Javy at the trade deadline...I'm just having a hard time believing this FO will be able to capitalize based on the Darvish trade and the makeup of this team this year (assuming having a terrible record wasn't their plan all along.)

 

Maybe the worst thing that could happen is them not having one of the worst records--finishing at .500 or better. It's pretty funny cause I can't help rooting for them in the moment. I'll always rationalize it to myself--"It's the Brewers" or something like that. I can't not root for them even though losing every game would probably be the best thing.

[1060Ivy]

Sorry but Ricketts with all the real estate and other investments in the neighborhood cannot not agree to tanking for years to rebuild the club via draft.  The family has too much to lose and the new CBA is expected to make tanking / rebuild tactics more difficult.  Unfortunately, I don't trust the Rickett family to allow front office to pay market rates for free agents or retain club's existing talent.  Fans should expect that front office will try to be remain "competitive in the NL Central" so fans will continue to pay for Marquee and eventually return to Wrigleyville en masse. 

 

Losing this season doesn't provide a big upside vs winning this season given those expectations. 

[Butcher]

We were supposed to be the Dodgers. Constant influx of talent, all profits funneled back into the team, never seeing too many valleys...what happened to all of that?

[1060Ivy]

We were supposed to be the Dodgers. Constant influx of talent, all profits funneled back into the team, never seeing too many valleys...what happened to all of that?

Well, some of those promises were, and are, pure BS which were communicated to fans and the city to ensure Ricketts developments of Wrigley and purchases of Wrigleyville neighborhood were less encumbered.



We were lucky that Theo put the pieces in place, the money was made available, prospects developed, and free agents lured to Chicago to get a World Series Championship and multiple years of contending teams.



Overpaying for trades, effectively turning off all free agent spending, inability to develop pitching staff, in addition to not updating development funnel have led Cubs to currently a meddling team attempting to compete in the NL Central.

[rok]

The FO's ability to draft and develop quickly fell behind the times (and might have been overstated to begin with) right as the need to re-think their strategy when draft positioning fell off a cliff and the team began winning consistently, while the Rickettses over-leveraged their holdings to the point of squeezing profit margins (even while team valuations jumped). Rich people don't like to see their net worth rise on paper while cash flows and liquidity plummet.



No clue where things go from here, but I'm not that optimistic that the same conditions for success exist now compared to where we were 10 years ago.