Great. Just great. If not for Mr. Grabby Fingers Steve Bartman we wouldn't be picking up this twat.

mc_madness: Great. Just great. If not for Mr. Grabby Fingers Steve Bartman we wouldn't be picking up this twat.

i dont undeerstand all the hate for theo? as a yankee fan i think he did an excellent job in boston bringing them a great team and 2 world championships. im pretty sure theres alot of othe gm's out there who havent won crap or done crap for their team. if he does go to the cubs i hope he can rebuild them into an excellent team.

Freakin Rican: mc_madness: Great. Just great. If not for Mr. Grabby Fingers Steve Bartman we wouldn't be picking up this twat.

i dont undeerstand all the hate for theo? as a yankee fan i think he did an excellent job in boston bringing them a great team and 2 world championships. im pretty sure theres alot of othe gm's out there who havent won crap or done crap for their team. if he does go to the cubs i hope he can rebuild them into an excellent team.

Your hope is for naught!

The Cubs can't ever again win the World Series..it's science.

Freakin Rican: mc_madness: Great. Just great. If not for Mr. Grabby Fingers Steve Bartman we wouldn't be picking up this twat.

i dont undeerstand all the hate for theo? as a yankee fan i think he did an excellent job in boston bringing them a great team and 2 world championships. im pretty sure theres alot of othe gm's out there who havent won crap or done crap for their team. if he does go to the cubs i hope he can rebuild them into an excellent team.

Because he looks like your typical 30something douchebag that dresses like he's still in college?
Because Boston is annoying?
Because the Red Sox won because of a Yankee-like salary and disregard for steroid use?
There's a myriad of reasons.

That said, if they give him access to boatloads of money, I'm sure they'll improve.

/Andrew Friedman is the prize GM available, imho

mc_madness: Great. Just great. If not for Mr. Grabby Fingers Steve Bartman we wouldn't be picking up this twat.

I hope you're trolling, because that's the dumbest crap I've ever read

mc_madness: Great. Just great. If not for Mr. Grabby Fingers Steve Bartman we wouldn't be picking up this twat.

That's a lot of hate for someone who built a team that won multiple World Series in Boston. He could build a contender in Chicago too.

The Cubs are better off with someone like Epstein leading the club, even if Alex Gonzalez was able to field a routine ground ball.

He uses good "Money Ball" type science to get the most productive players (but he can pay for more expensive production as well), but he strayed from that this year with some pick ups of big names who did not fit that productive profile.

But look at American League OPS leaders, there are still a ton of Red Sox players on that list. That is the formula to win. They had some bad characters on that Boston team this year and they had some other issues on that club that led to their second half of the second half swoon.

Jamdug!: bhcompy:

/Andrew Friedman is the prize GM available, imho


I can't agree with you more. The Rays had, what like 13 picks in the first round of the draft this year? And made the playoffs?

I agree that both are top GMs, but Theo has successful experience doing exactly what the Cubs need.

mc_madness: Great. Just great. If not for Mr. Grabby Fingers Steve Bartman we wouldn't be picking up this twat.

Yes, because Bartman lost his composure on the mound, booted a double-play ground ball, and sat in the dugout gnawing on a toothpick while the next 8 runs were scored.

Then Bartman decided to sign Alfonso Soriano to a huge contract, pick up Milton Bradley, and dump a bunch of cash on Fukudome.

He finally got the Tribune to sell the team, but unfortunately he sold them to a guy that decided the payroll was too high and he couldn't go pick up any free agents.

Guelph35: mc_madness: Great. Just great. If not for Mr. Grabby Fingers Steve Bartman we wouldn't be picking up this twat.

Yes, because Bartman lost his composure on the mound, booted a double-play ground ball, and sat in the dugout gnawing on a toothpick while the next 8 runs were scored.

Then Bartman decided to sign Alfonso Soriano to a huge contract, pick up Milton Bradley, and dump a bunch of cash on Fukudome.

He finally got the Tribune to sell the team, but unfortunately he sold them to a guy that decided the payroll was too high and he couldn't go pick up any free agents.

Glad to see someone gets it.

mc_madness: Great. Just great. If not for Mr. Grabby Fingers Steve Bartman we wouldn't be picking up this twat.

As much as I hate the Cubs.... I can't believe that ANYONE with a non-mentally retarded brain still believes this was all Bartman's fault.

When you decide you want to rejoin the human race as a thinking member of society then you may come back. Until then I banish you to the "I'm a mental pygmie" table.

It took exactly one post for someone to reinforce the dumb stereotype of Cubs fans. Be sure to blame a goat and lights in the stadium, too.

GimpyNip: Epstein gets a lot of heat because he makes some gigantic whiffs:
Renteria
Dice-K
Drew
Gagne
Crawford
Lackey
Etc...I'm sure many of you can post a much more detailed list with the numbers.

Still, the Sox won twice and were competitive most of the time...last month excepted. All in all, I think this is the right time for him to move on. Good luck, with the Cubs.

Are Drew and Renteria whiffs? I don't think so. Just overpaid.

Dice-K was also overpaid(or really, the fee to the right to negotiate with him) in a stupid attempt to keep him away from the Yankees(and the Mariners, who love them some Japanese players).

Gagne was off the roids, bad move.

Lackey is a bust and Crawford is too early to tell. I think Crawford will turn it around. I don't think Lackey will in Boston. Shiatty place to be a flyball pitcher, particularly when you're not a strikeout machine.

bhcompy: GimpyNip: Epstein gets a lot of heat because he makes some gigantic whiffs:
Renteria
Dice-K
Drew
Gagne
Crawford
Lackey
Etc...I'm sure many of you can post a much more detailed list with the numbers.

Still, the Sox won twice and were competitive most of the time...last month excepted. All in all, I think this is the right time for him to move on. Good luck, with the Cubs.

Are Drew and Renteria whiffs? I don't think so. Just overpaid.

Dice-K was also overpaid(or really, the fee to the right to negotiate with him) in a stupid attempt to keep him away from the Yankees(and the Mariners, who love them some Japanese players).

Gagne was off the roids, bad move.

Lackey is a bust and Crawford is too early to tell. I think Crawford will turn it around. I don't think Lackey will in Boston. Shiatty place to be a flyball pitcher, particularly when you're not a strikeout machine.

Dice-K was overpaid for the negotion rights, but the team also got a bad deal in some of the contract terms. For one, they weren't allowed to send him down to the minors when he sucked. They had to constantly come up with an injury excuse (arm fatigue) just to take him off the roster when he was terrible.

Not sure how I feel about this one. Seems right for the job, but I'm not sure the job will be right for him.

//makes sense in my head.

bhcompy: GimpyNip: Epstein gets a lot of heat because he makes some gigantic whiffs:
Renteria
Dice-K
Drew
Gagne
Crawford
Lackey
Etc...I'm sure many of you can post a much more detailed list with the numbers.

Still, the Sox won twice and were competitive most of the time...last month excepted. All in all, I think this is the right time for him to move on. Good luck, with the Cubs.

Are Drew and Renteria whiffs? I don't think so. Just overpaid.

Dice-K was also overpaid(or really, the fee to the right to negotiate with him) in a stupid attempt to keep him away from the Yankees(and the Mariners, who love them some Japanese players).

Gagne was off the roids, bad move.

Lackey is a bust and Crawford is too early to tell. I think Crawford will turn it around. I don't think Lackey will in Boston. Shiatty place to be a flyball pitcher, particularly when you're not a strikeout machine.

No place is good for a flyball pitcher. That is something I learned from Brad Pitt, oops, I mean from reading Moneyball. You want groundball pitchers who throw strikes. Pop fly pitchers (sinkerball pitchers like Doug Fister) however, are okay.

ActionFigure: No place is good for a flyball pitcher. That is something I learned from Brad Pitt, oops, I mean from reading Moneyball. You want groundball pitchers who throw strikes. Pop fly pitchers (sinkerball pitchers like Doug Fister) however, are okay.

True, but they do happen to do better in places like Anaheim, where Lackey did pretty well.

mc_madness: Great. Just great. If not for Mr. Grabby Fingers Steve Bartman we wouldn't be picking up this twat.

Once upon a time, the Cubs and their fans were known as the lovable losers and I was sympathetic to their plight. But they showed who they really were, they showed their ugly side. They are the despicable scum of the earth, the bottomless pit of excrement, the festering boil on the rump of mankind.

Guelph35: mc_madness: Great. Just great. If not for Mr. Grabby Fingers Steve Bartman we wouldn't be picking up this twat.

Yes, because Bartman lost his composure on the mound, booted a double-play ground ball, and sat in the dugout gnawing on a toothpick while the next 8 runs were scored.

Then Bartman decided to sign Alfonso Soriano to a huge contract, pick up Milton Bradley, and dump a bunch of cash on Fukudome.

He finally got the Tribune to sell the team, but unfortunately he sold them to a guy that decided the payroll was too high and he couldn't go pick up any free agents.

So much this.

I'm a Card's fan, but have no animosity towards the Cubs or their fans....until they unleash the brazen stupidity that is the Bartman Excuse.

Personally I hope Theo does well. The better the competition in the division, the better it is for the rest of the teams. Would be nice to have the Cards/Cubs rivalry actually be about the team's current records in a given year, and not just about 'tradition' too.

mc_madness: Great. Just great. If not for Mr. Grabby Fingers Steve Bartman we wouldn't be picking up this twat.

Are you really small minded enough to still be blaming that guy for your problems? Oh, wait, this is FARK. Nevermind

Scottybobotty: mc_madness: Great. Just great. If not for Mr. Grabby Fingers Steve Bartman we wouldn't be picking up this twat.

As much as I hate the Cubs.... I can't believe that ANYONE with a non-mentally retarded brain still believes this was all Bartman's fault.

When you decide you want to rejoin the human race as a thinking member of society then you may come back. Until then I banish you to the "I'm a mental pygmie" table.

The fact that other people around Bartman were reaching for a foul ball, is IRRELEVANT. Plain and simple, only Bartman reached OVER the railing, and in doing so interfered with Alou. It's amazing how this painfully obvious little fact is lost on so many people defending Bartman. Further, Alou has gone on the records as saying he would have made the catch, and judging by how pissed he was that night, and from repeated viewing of the incident, it's more likely than not that he would have. Plus, the wearing of the stupid headphones probably caused him to lose focus as to what was occurring on the field. Footage of Bartman trying to be an attention whore for the camera in the innings proceeding the incident add to the rage.

Anyway, Bartman's interference most definitely disrupted the flow and momentum of the game. Had Alou been able to make the catch, there would have been two outs. And instead of rushing the double play ball, Gonzales only had to make one out and the Cubs would have been out of the inning, and only 3 outs away from the World Series.

Did Bartman deserve the death threats, absolutely not. It's a friggin' game after all. A beer shower maybe, but definitely not the death threats. But make no mistake, he did cost the Cubs an out, and he himself acknowledged it in his apology.

I know immediately after the incident, that it was over. My dad and brother looked at me like I was nuts. But I knew it. And when the smoke cleared they looked at me with, "How did you know?" My response, "I was too young for '69, but I remember '84 and '89." "But there is still a game 7, and Wood is on the mound."

"It's over." And it was.

Ironically, I do have Bartman to thank, because after that series I stopped giving a shiat about the Chicago Cubs. In '07 and '08 when they made the playoffs, it did not phase me one bit when they failed to advance, because . . . I knew.

Theo was better when he stuck to his small ball, quant roots, he was awful making deals when the sox got spendy, like a kid in a candy store he went and bought everything he could find. The last few deals I think were fairly horrid.

Lackey, 16m a year for the worst starting pitcher in all mlb, until 2015!
Crawford, 142m until he's age 37. That's a Yankee-style contract, right there.
Jenks, 6m for 2 years for essentially nothing, the guy has major health issues.
Dice-K, 10m a year for 5 years, plus 50m to even talk to him, equals one of the biggest contract busts in the history of mlb.
JD Drew, 14m a year for 5 years for mediocre, oft-injured play. Plus, he couldn't hit lefties, so we paid superstar money for a platooner.
Jose Iglesias, our shortstop star prospect, signed for 2m a year for 3 years of AAA, and cannot hit a mlb fastball. Or curveball. Or anything, really.
Mike Cameron, 8m a year, released in the second year, still paying that injured hack.
Wakefield/Varitek: 2m a year, but honestly, why?

I could go on with the Okijima's and Felix Doubronts, but every team has those guys, the point is, with the exception of Adrian Gonzales, who was aquired by the simple expedient of throwing fistfuls of money at him until he decided to play for our apparently Godless, communist city, Theo hasn't made a decent move in a few years now.

Let him go, and good riddance, we'll be paying for his "genius" for years to come, maybe an underdog team will relight his fire and we'll see the Theo of a decade ago again, I only wish he hadn't lost that spark, ditto Francona.

I won't believe Theo is gone from Boston until I see the gorilla leaving Fenway.

I love the headline, subby!

deadsanta:
Wakefield/Varitek: 2m a year, but honestly, why?


Varitek, I kind of agree with. He has his moments, but his offense is generally abysmal. I would like to see him kept as a pitching coach, though.

Wakefield, I'm perfectly happy with. I think he's a great guy to have on the team simply because he tends to put the team first and will adjust to any situation he is needed in. He's an extra, decent starter when the mid-season injuries hit the rotation, and he's great for long relief when the game is shot and it's not worth wasting the bullpen.

Hey, Mr. Kotter, I got a note!

GimpyNip: Go to the Cubs and you get paid, buy yourself a few years, and shiat...if you win you will go down in history as the greatest GM of all time for breaking 2 'curses'.

Not to mention you get out of the rat race in the NL East.

^^ AL East

FTFM

Super Chronic: It took exactly one post for someone to reinforce the dumb stereotype of Cubs fans. Be sure to blame a goat and lights in the stadium, too.

You realize it's a troll right? He hasn't come back to back up a moronic, inaccurate point yet. He's been doing it all Cubs threads over the past month or two but I don't remember the handle before then.

Of course the Cubs and the Red Sox have to whore for attention when they're not playing the the postseason. You're taking attention away from the teams who were good enough to make it, you jerks.

DoomDoomDoom: Of course the Cubs and the Red Sox have to whore for attention when they're not playing the the postseason. You're taking attention away from the teams who were good enough to make it, you jerks.

Who's whoring for attention? They're just doing normal off-season business like many other teams. If you want to blame somebody, blame ESPN or the other media outlets that obsess over it.

The whole month of September was Horseshiat. Oh, wait, you said Horshack.

Dear Mr. Henry, Theo can not GM the Sox after next season because he's gonna GM the Cubs. Signed, Epstein's mother.

NeoCortex42: deadsanta:
Wakefield/Varitek: 2m a year, but honestly, why?


Varitek, I kind of agree with. He has his moments, but his offense is generally abysmal. I would like to see him kept as a pitching coach, though.

Wakefield, I'm perfectly happy with. I think he's a great guy to have on the team simply because he tends to put the team first and will adjust to any situation he is needed in. He's an extra, decent starter when the mid-season injuries hit the rotation, and he's great for long relief when the game is shot and it's not worth wasting the bullpen.

Why don't more Sox "fans" understand this about Wakefield? What, they'd rather see Miller or Weiland? He's been a reliable guy for almost 20 years - not Cy Young, but reliable. And cheap. And a hell of a guy off the field, to boot.

As a displaced Sox fan in Chicago, I'm all for the Epstein move for BOTH teams. Gets Boston some new blood to hopefully whip them into shape, and Theo gets a big challenge and the chance to make a difference again.

Please excuse Theo for the largest collapse in baseball history.

Signed,

Epstein's mother.

Shrugging Atlas: I'm a Card's fan, but have no animosity towards the Cubs or their fans....until they unleash the brazen stupidity that is the Bartman Excuse.

As a huge Cubs fan, Cardinals hater, and Cardinals fan friendly rival, please feel free to show as much animosity to any Cubs fans using the Bartman Excuse. He shouldn't have reached out, but he wasn't the lone cause. Dusty should have gone out to the mound, Gonzalez should make the double play, etc.

bigpeeler: You guys in Chicago are going to really love Theo after he signs Albert Pujols.

/sad in St.Louis

Predicitions are Pujols will stay in St Louis. He will stay healthy and hit 60 HR a year with a .450 average. In a parallel universe, the Cubs will sign Pujols for 10 years, $300 mil and he will play 50 games a year with the rest being on the DL for his back.

I think at this point it feels like most Cubs fans (I know) are hoping to get Fielder over Pujols, but I won't argue with either.

NeoCortex42: Who's whoring for attention? They're just doing normal off-season business like many other teams. If you want to blame somebody, blame ESPN or the other media outlets that obsess over it.

Exactly. It is fine for local Chicago media to be playing up "Tho possibly sighted at Starbucks!" but it doesn't need to be national news. Also, it has not been the lead story on espn.com, just the top story on the right.

I do hope he admits it really was him at Starbucks, if it really was. It would be humorous.

/Hopes for a Brewers vs Tigers WS with Tigers winning out
//Don't want Brewers fans bragging about a championship at Wrigley next year

markyp09: Super Chronic: It took exactly one post for someone to reinforce the dumb stereotype of Cubs fans. Be sure to blame a goat and lights in the stadium, too.

You realize it's a troll right? He hasn't come back to back up a moronic, inaccurate point yet. He's been doing it all Cubs threads over the past month or two but I don't remember the handle before then.

Okay then. Somebody help me get this hook out of my mouth.

deadsanta: Theo was better when he stuck to his small ball, quant roots, he was awful making deals when the sox got spendy, like a kid in a candy store he went and bought everything he could find. The last few deals I think were fairly horrid.

Lackey, 16m a year for the worst starting pitcher in all mlb, until 2015!
Crawford, 142m until he's age 37. That's a Yankee-style contract, right there.
Jenks, 6m for 2 years for essentially nothing, the guy has major health issues.
Dice-K, 10m a year for 5 years, plus 50m to even talk to him, equals one of the biggest contract busts in the history of mlb.
JD Drew, 14m a year for 5 years for mediocre, oft-injured play. Plus, he couldn't hit lefties, so we paid superstar money for a platooner.
Jose Iglesias, our shortstop star prospect, signed for 2m a year for 3 years of AAA, and cannot hit a mlb fastball. Or curveball. Or anything, really.
Mike Cameron, 8m a year, released in the second year, still paying that injured hack.
Wakefield/Varitek: 2m a year, but honestly, why?

Lackey...look at his stats. For the previous 4 years...he had a sub 4 era. He pitched well in the playoffs...Theoretically he should have pitched well.

Crawford....the guy spent 7 years in the AL east doing well. This year he put up career worst numbers. I'm guessing he pressing too much (in the back of his mind...he thinking they paid me for 100 RBI...I won' tget them if I walk....)

Jenks He was supposed to be another bullpen arm. But I was never really on bard with him to begin with.

Dice-K - he can pitch 8 shutout innings.....or 150 pitches over 3 innings...he'll walk the bases loaded...then stike out guys on 9 pitches...

JD Drew - yeah. never understood this one.

Mike Cameron - again no idea.

Wakefield/Varitek: 2m a year, but honestly, why? wakefield, becuase it was 2 million to have him pitch some long relief once in a while and maybe fill in for a few starts...he was never supposed to be in the rotation for 3 months. Tek...eh, as a back up, to mentor the younger pitches and catches that was fine. He didn't really hurt the team.

DaJesus: Predicitions are Pujols will stay in St Louis.

I can't see how he leaves given the run they are on. And it's just not wishful thinking.

He's not going to go to a crappy team for more money. He just won't. Espeically given the fact if he gets a 7-8 year deal, he's probably going to have only 3-4 years of really high production before he starts to break down. Would he go to the Cubs, knowing they are 2-3 years from being a contender? Or any other team in a similiar situation for that matter? I just don't think so.

There's just such a limited scope of teams that fit his needs...1. Have tons of money 2. Need Pujols at 1st or DH and 3. Are setup to win now.

Anything can happen i guess, and maybe he gets a second ring this year and says "Fark it, time to make bank, I don't care if it's the with the Pirates." But at the end of the day Pujols and the Cards probably need each other too much to part ways.

Now, you can argue the wisdom of the Cardinals giving him an 8y/28m per deal all day long. Personally it's going to handicap the hell out of them particularly in the last few years, but what can you do? Watch 500,000 people less show up starting next year if Pujols is playing elsewhere?

Cat Food Sandwiches: Please excuse Theo for the largest collapse in baseball history.

Signed,

Epstein's mother.

It depends on your terms. The Pirates were in first place after 100 games and finished 24 games out. Even with the Red Sox and Braves confusing backpacks for parachutes in September, I'd call Pittsburgh the crash-and-burn of the year.

Great move by the Cubs; the Boston fans didn't deserve Epstein (see thread above).