2011-12 Hot Stove Thread

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

Geez the lord and savior hasn't even been there a full week yet and you're already over-the-top with the impassioned defense.

I never said he deserves no credit for the two titles. He deserves all the criticism for the shitshow the Sox devolved into the last four seasons. Everything he did right at the beginning--drafting shrewdly and finding low-cost bargains in the free agent market--he did wrong at the end. If he was better at those parts of his job, there'd be need to sign John Lackey and Carl Crawford. The end. Maybe he'll be better for the Cubs, but I doubt it. If he is, I'll cop to being wrong. No big deal.

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

You know me. That wasn't anywhere near over the top. I never called you and your ilk a douchebag. Or started whining like Liut.

So the entire buck stops with Theo? Lucchino and the owners deserve none of the blame?

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

He's never developed as a hitter. He's pull-happy and until he learns to use the considerable power he has gap-to-gap, he's going to be a guy you don't trust in key situations and a guy who is going to be a .260/25/80 guy rather than the .400 OBP, 30 HR, 30 SB guy he was for his first three to four seasons.

He's valuable and if he's healthy he's going to hit for power and be above average defensively. I just don't think he can play CF on that knee anymore. And his arm is a noodle, so don't expect much out of him as a LF.

He has the body of a 40 year old right now. At best, he becomes Jim Edmonds. At worst, he's done as an every day player.

The Indians couldn't take the chance at spending 8.5m on a guy who might not contribute anything.

One thing is for sure: the Indians just pissed off a bunch of women in Ohio.

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

CC staying with Yankees.

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

Why was Punto not included on the earlier list of free agents?

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

I'm stunned he didn't opt out. Stunned.

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

That'd be on Hoyer. Theo's not the GM. /whatevercolorsarcasmis

I don't doubt for a second that he deserves a large share of the blame for Boston's FA failures. I still think he can do what the Cubs need him to do.

7 years for Fielder would be way too much. 5 would make a ton of sense for the Cubs, even at a high yearly salary. He's not Ryan Howard, he legitimately is an elite hitter.

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

They only listed the good ones?

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

Theo took his marbles, dressed up like a gorilla and went home six years ago tonight. When he returned, he had, according to the Boston Herald, "...roughly the same powers, authority and autonomy" as when he stomped off. (I would put a link here, but someone might laugh at me) He wanted Lucchino, a renowned know-it-all, to butt out. Why would Lucchino have started butting in after Theo's ways worked in 2007, when his drafts began harvesting like crazy at the big league level? Ellsbury was brilliant down the stretch, Buchholz threw a no-hitter, Pedroia won the Rookie of the Year, Papelbon was incredible at closer, Lester came back from cancer to win the deciding game of the World Series.

So yeah. The buck stops with Theo. We'll see over the next few years if he can regain the magic touch, or if there were other factors at work the last few years in Boston. Or if the magic touch is gone.

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

I can't wait until four seasons averaging 92 wins (in baseball's toughest division) is what counts as a shit show for the Cubs.

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

You're going to get the Hot Stove thread locked on Page 1, Liut? Really?

 

Re: 2011 Hot Stove Thread

When you construct a toxic mix of players ill-suited for Boston--yeah, it's a shitshow.

And you keep assuming 92 wins will be enough in the Central. Sure, it has been in recent years. But now that the Pirates might be getting their act together, the competition is getting tougher. The Astros are a true shitshow, but the Cubs have a lot of ground to make up to get to where the Brewers and Cardinals are, organizationally speaking.