Obviously, this blog is not a money making venture. (I mean really. Who would pay for this crap?) Because of this, I do have a full time day job. Luckily, I work for a boss that is a huge sports fan, and I can count on, at least once a day, taking time out of my schedule to talk about baseball, football, basketball, etc. Since she (yes, I said "she") knows my affinity for the Chicago Cubs, she asked me the other day how I felt about the new trinity running things at the intersection of Clark & Addison.
I never hid the fact that I actually supported, former General Manager, Jim Hendry more than most Cub fans. He did a lot of good for the Cubs, more than most folks would like to admit. He put together several playoff teams after taking over as GM in 2002, more than any other GM in Cubs history. Unfortunately, that success may have led to his own downfall. He brought something to the Cubs that they had not had in decades....winning. And when the wins slowly started dwindling away like Justin Morneau's batting average after the All-Star Break, Cub fans finally did something they should have started doing long ago. They stopped coming to Wrigley Field. Empty seats could be seen for the first time in ages. After being swept from the playoffs in the first round in 2007 & 2008 (I refuse to acknowledge 2003) and with sub par showings in 2009 & 2010, Hendry was fired during the 2011 season.
That being said, I am ecstatic with the hiring of Theo Epstein (President of Baseball Operations), Jed Hoyer (GM), and Jason McLeod (Head of Scouting) - the trio widely regarded as being responsible for breaking the Curse of the Bambino and making the Boston Red Sox into the consistent powerhouse they are now. For the first time in the 35 years I have been a fan, the Cubs finally seem to have a long term plan in place. Not only are they going with a more sabermetric approach to the team, the team as constructed over the last several years is finally being blown up, so they can go young. Theo and Jed have also done a remarkable job of trading away many of the overpriced veterans, and getting good young value in return, including stud 1B prospect Anthony Rizzo. And if the rumors are true that they are all in on the 3 young Cuban defectors that recently declared for free agency, they will have quickly vaulted the Cubs' farm to a top 5 system in the major leagues.
I'll be the first to admit that it's probably going to be ugly this year, and maybe even next year. The Cubs have several young players, players they are counting on to bounce back from down seasons, and players who were cut because they never lived up to their potential. But you know what? I'm ok with that. Most rational thinking fans are. The Cubs weren't going to compete this year anyway, so it makes perfect sense to play the young guys to see what you have going forward. And it's not because the budget is being cut, or the Cubs have no money. They are going to evaluate their young talent, so they can see how exactly they should spend their money when they are ready to compete.
The problem is the casual Cub fan. Because of the success the new brass had in Boston, the casual Cub fan is going to want to see immediate results. And when he doesn't get it, he's going to be the one calling into the the radio shows, bitching on the message boards, and booing the product on the field.
Look at it like this. The casual Cub fan is the kid who always spent his allowance as soon as it was handed to him. He was, quite literally, like a kid in a candy store, ready to spend his dollar and a quarter on the very first piece of junk he got his hands on.
Little Jimmy, on the other hand, is the rational Cub fan. He saw the bigger picture. Every week he'd save his allowance in a little green piggy bank, counting it with every dollar, nickel or dime he dropped in.
Well, one day little Jimmy emptied out that piggy bank and went to Toys-R-Us with his momma. When he came home, he had a brand new Super Nintendo, and a game called Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball. He played that game for hours and hours. The casual Cub fan, however, had nothing but a handful of broken plastic army men and a ball on a string paddle. He never had the foresight to see the bigger picture like little Jimmy.
That story is an analogy for what Theo and Jed are doing. They are building a solid foundation first, planning for the future and managing their savings, if you will, in order to score the big prize. An approach that casual Cub fans have continually complained about and took a stance against, instead preferring to spend money now when we all know it isn't going to get us anywhere. We'll just be left with a bunch of junk.
In the end, what Theo and Jed are doing now should be putting the Cubs in a position to compete year in and year out. In a couple years, the Cubs should be more like the Atlanta Braves, and less like the Pittsburgh Pirates. And if they're not, maybe this team really is cursed.
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