ESPN's Wayne Drehs has the story of Pat Looney, the man who almost became a scapegoat for Cubs fans in 2003 instead of Steve Bartman. ESPN's Bartman film airs tonight at 7pm central time. The latest on the Cubs:
- Red Sox GM Theo Epstein is unlikely to leave Boston for the Cubs post after a "moment of epic failure," in the opinion of Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- There's a good chance Carlos Zambrano joins Ozzie Guillen in Miami, writes Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune.
- Cubs sources expect the team to reconcile with Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg before next season, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. Sandberg managed the Phillies' Triple-A club this year but is said to be open to managing the Cubs with Jim Hendry out of the picture.
- Brewers' third baseman Casey McGehee told the Sun-Times he can relate to Bryan LaHair having to shake off the 4-A label. The 28-year-old LaHair hit .331/.405/.664 with 38 home runs in 523 Triple-A plate appearances this year.
Carlos Zambrano to Miami for Mike Stanton. Talk about making a good impression on your first move.
Hahaha….
Hahahahahaha…..
I love Cub fans.
The trade will be more like Zambrano and cash to cover the rest of his contract for a low level, low ceiling minor leaguer.
Its sarcasm, man
“I’m takin my talents to South Beach to play the bongos with Ozzie”
The Cubs would be thrilled to get a low level, low ceiling minor leaguer for Zambrano, but I don’t think the Marlins are that dumb.
Not only is Zambrano a mentally unstable powder keg, he’s a cancer in the clubhouse, a horrible team mate, but most of all, he sucks at pitching.
Hey, if the Marlins are stupid enough to trade decently-rated prospects for an, ahem, “outspoken” manager weeks after disciplining a player for being outspoken, who knows how far the stupid goes!
Hey a 50 year old reliever is not much of an investment. I thought he could be the cubs pitching coach!
Zambrano and cash for Nolasco. Marlins are considering moving him and the Cubs have 3 or 4 open rotation spots for next year.
I could see it. According to Cot’s, Zambrano gets $18MM next year, while Nolasco gets $20.5MM over the next two years. If the Cubs take on all of Nolasco’s contract while simultaneously contributing $6MM (33%) towards Z’s 2012 salary, I could see it getting done.
You wish you could have him back, don’t you?
Theo will be leaving the Red Sox as soon as the season is over.
Ok buddy was the GM gone after the redsox collapse in ALCS in 2003? No wait he’s still there and is gunna be there. He also brought this great city a couple of World Series trophies and their first in 86 years.
I’m tired of hearing people sandbagging Theo Epstein. He assembled a World Series team, and if you don’t agree with that then you certainly have to agree that it is a top three team. When a team goes into a skid half as long as the one the Red Sox are in now in the midst of a playoff race, the buck stops with the coaching staff. They are the ones responsible for motivating the players and rekindling morale. If this were the only time this had happened this season, it would be bad enough, but this is the second time it has happened without lessons learned and implemented by the coaches. Whether the Red Sox make the playoffs or miss the playoffs, it’s time for Terry Francona to go, and probably his bench coach as well. Tough pill to swallow, but Francona is running into the same malady Torre did late in his tenure with the Yankees, and the prescription ought to be the same.
most of the boston people calling for epstein’s head became fans in 2004. they take him for granted and don’t remember/know what it’s like to have a bad GM
if i wasn’t a fan of the team myself, i’d wish for epstein to leave so that those people could suffer through a decade of yanks-rays-jays AL East dominance
That’s the past in case you were unaware. Now how about a Paul Harvey moment. Theo quit a few years back. This time he may have to. Take a long list at all his FA “Success” as that is the face of the franchise. Failure after failure. Lackey and Crawford alone would do it. John Henry will ask “Who convinced me to get all these guys?” Goodbye Theo! Any other business you make a string of costly mistakes and you are gone.
blue ribbon for half-assed analysis. you should be a sports writer
Wow! What a response! A true intellectual. How about something called facts. 600M spent since 2007 and the results are? ROTFLMAO! Sorry, you are like those Japanese soldiers stuck on islands in the 50s who think the war is still on. Theo has repeatedly screwed up. You think any business will want to be know as “The Official” anything of the Sox? Maybe if Heimlich was opening up stores? Just remember the reason Crawford is with them is to make a big splash about advertising/NESN dollars shrunk. Imagine what will happen now? It’s a business and one of your mangers have repeatedly failed.
Big question is who goes first? Tito or Theo or will Godfather LL toss them as a twosome?
“since 2007”
you already won the blue ribbon for half-assed analysis; now you’re just showing off
“Theo has repeatedly screwed up.”
what GM hasn’t? unlike the others, theo has also repeatedly made great moves – and that list is much longer
you are cut from the same cloth as the cashman haters. within their own profession, both of those GMs are revered as top-tier and among the best at what they do. but because you (and any other fifth grader) can name some bad contracts and observe results that are less than a world series every few years, THEO IS SO BAD SRSLY
we have the technology: review the trasnaction tracker on this very website. theo’s made more good moves than bad and his results are very good, despite melodrama from you and other talk radio pink-hats
My…my…my…look at all the verbiage! Take a chill pill. Some bad contracts? LMAO! How many GM’s can even afford bad contracts like that? And there is a pile of them. Sure….I love all the great late season moves to bolster the staff – whose your favorite? I like Gagne. And those good moves are? And in relationship fiscally to the expenditures of the bad ones? Face it….the ROI on his moves sucks. Can him.
my favorite? tough to choose! probably billy wagner, who cost next to nothing, pitched to a 1.95 ERA (2.30 FIP) in 15 games, and then brought the team two draft picks in kolbrin vitek and anthony raunado – now two top organizational prospects
how many GMs can afford the mistakes, you asked? fair, but again – that’s a half-assed analysis. how many GMs have drafted, developed, and then signed to team-friendly extensions the talent epstein has? don’t forget to count all the players used to bring in top-talent like victor martinez and adrian gonzalez
i don’t actually need to get into the details with you to make the point. you are accounting for half of the equation (much less actually) by focusing on missteps. the epstein group has been tremendously successful in almost every respect
Prospects mean squat unless they get value in trade or perform on the big club. Interesting that you focused on Wagner. Say…would you care to state exactly how he performed when he left Boston? Think he may have helped in 2010? LOL!
The resources are quite pertinent to the issue as Theo has quite a cushion for his litany of failures. It is easier to know that you actually have room for failure and he has taken full advantage of that.
Just curious…how many 200+ innings has Theo gotten out of a pitcher developed in his farm system?
Oh…by the way….I personally think Theo has done a superior job with player development but the real issue I have been posting is his inability to shore up his team (especially pitching) with late season acquisitions and, of course, his dismal FA performance. That – specifically – was the area I have seen a dismal performance and as I have stated – that becomes the face of the franchise. I really think using deflection is a rather “fifth grade” process.
“Prospects mean squat unless they get value in trade or perform on the big club.”
lol yeah and epstein’s group has a teeeerrible track record developing prospects. see the list below
what a joke
“Prospects mean squat unless they get value in trade or perform on the big club.”
lol yeah and epstein’s group has a teeeerrible track record developing prospects. see the list below
what a joke
even by your own warped standard the free agency missteps haven’t been costly. the business that is red sox baseball is booming, playoffs or not. and even with the bad contracts the franchise is in very good shape
big clubs can afford to overpay and carry that weight. that’s part of the decision process when you decide to take the risk in the first place. to pretend he’s just a dunce who gets lucky because there’s money is absurd. i don’t like the lackey or crawford deals at all, but not using the money to take risks in improving the club would be the foolish choice
Obviously you have never had any experience in the dreaded private sector. Cleveland was booming at one time with all those sell outs. So was Baltimore. Where are they now? Money is a resource and when one has a consistent history of squandering it that does not bode well for the corporate bottom line. Risk has reward and when the reward is minimal over an extended period of time senior management will ask why. In this case it is simple – Theo. Again, to try and steer you away for “deflection” it is all about FA’s.
for you it is. everyone else — including ownership — knows better
the sellout record is not in jeapoardy; the team is profitable and even if they don’t make the playoffs they’re a winning club in very good shape top-to-bottom (even accounting for bad contracts)
i promise to eat these words if they fire epstein this offseason
LL has spoken about the fact that the Sox are approaching a threshold where generated revenues will no longer be able to sustain continued payroll and development expansion. The Sox actually are slightly ahead of NY on payroll as a percentage of revenue. I really believe that continued revenue growth will dissipate with poorer performance. That is a given in most sports. What has surprised me is that they have not cashed in now that franchise value has escalated and this goes directly contrary to Henry’s hedge investment strategy.
The Sox actually “lost” money in 2010 but the thing to consider is that the ownership now treats that team like a lost leader item. The real money is in extensive real estate investments and branding.
I’ll give Theo a 50/50 on being canned. I would not hesitate. Francona is done IMO.
I’m finishing watching the game and getting to bed.
Like all Sox fans we toss shyte at one another but we all have the same goal.
Take care.
LL has spoken about the fact that the Sox are approaching a threshold where generated revenues will no longer be able to sustain continued payroll and development expansion. The Sox actually are slightly ahead of NY on payroll as a percentage of revenue. I really believe that continued revenue growth will dissipate with poorer performance. That is a given in most sports. What has surprised me is that they have not cashed in now that franchise value has escalated and this goes directly contrary to Henry’s hedge investment strategy.
The Sox actually “lost” money in 2010 but the thing to consider is that the ownership now treats that team like a lost leader item. The real money is in extensive real estate investments and branding.
I’ll give Theo a 50/50 on being canned. I would not hesitate. Francona is done IMO.
I’m finishing watching the game and getting to bed.
Like all Sox fans we toss shyte at one another but we all have the same goal.
Take care.
even by your own warped standard the free agency missteps haven’t been costly. the business that is red sox baseball is booming, playoffs or not. and even with the bad contracts the franchise is in very good shape
big clubs can afford to overpay and carry that weight. that’s part of the decision process when you decide to take the risk in the first place. to pretend he’s just a dunce who gets lucky because there’s money is absurd. i don’t like the lackey or crawford deals at all, but not using the money to take risks in improving the club would be the foolish choice
let’s consider some others, though, since you asked and all
– alfredo aceves is doing pretty well, isn’t he? minimal cost
– erik bedard has pitched to a 3.2 FIP and 3.6 ERA, good for about 10th in the AL. again, minimal cost
– good for 6th in the AL at catcher are varitek and the traded-for saltalamacchia. guess what? minimal cost
– franklin morales has been an effective bullpen lefty foooor…minimal cost
– matt albers didn’t cost much and pitched very well most of the season
– do you like adrian gonzalez? i do. great trade, good extension
– adrian beltre worked out okay last year i’d say. like wagner, he also brought us prospects
– victor martinez wasn’t so bad either, was he? guess what else? more prospects!
– marco scutaro has been well worth his contract
i’m not gonna go through his entire transaction history for you. i know you don’t actually want to hear the other half of the analysis anyway, messes with your assumptions and who likes that!
but anyone who’s curious can go to the transaction tracker and look for themselves. near the end they’ll find a gem: david ortiz. yea, that was theo too
cherish your blue ribbon. the rest of us will settle for reality
Yaeh…I’m watching another spectacular performance tonight by Bedard. Albers and Morales? LMAO! Why is Gonzalez in there?
How about Lugo….Drew….Lackey….Crawford….Clement….Drew….I’ll just stop there. Why go on? Take a look at the ROI! Oh and the DRAFT PICKS they lose.
May I suggest that as a Theo apologist you remove the rose colored glasses. ROTFLMFAO! Say hello to Carmine for me, Theo!
“Why go on?”
because being a GM is about a helluva lot more than free agent acquisitions
the better question is “why not go on?” the answer is “because you can’t”
Tonight I was at a meeting while trying to follow the game. An associate who has a business and knows little about baseball was asking me about payrolls. He understood from his brief encounters with the media that enormous sums were paid for performers who did not live up to expectations. His words were “That is unacceptable.” He asked who is responsible for this? I mentioned the GM. “Why is he still around?” I told him when you invest in product in sports it is risky. “Is there any line drawn for what is a good or bad investment?” I told him that getting into post season is usually the best evaluation. This continued as he could just not get off the idea of accountability despite my attempts to say that there are certain unique circumstances.
someone who doesn’t understand the economics of baseball shares your opinion, and you think this is evidence that you are correct?
i’ll side with the GMs and front office people everywhere (including henry himself in boston) who approve of epstein’s work with apparent unanimity
Let’s see – Since 1950, the Red Sox have had nine General Managers.
Theo – 2 titles
The other 8 – zero titles
Wow, a whopping four years with only 2, maybe 3 playoff appearances. Awful.
Lots of value there. Toss enough big market money against the wall it will stick. Amazing success with his FA “finds.” Gotta love Lackey. An average GM with a ton of cash to bury his mistakes in the wonderful world of dead money….Rent, Lugo and soon Lackey.
jon lester
kevin youkilis
dustin pedroia
jacoby ellsbury
jonathan papelbon
daniel bard
clay buchholz
hanley ramirez
anibal sanchez
justin masterson
anthony rizzo/casey kelly
josh reddick
ryan lavarnway
star graduates and top prospects traded for star talent. still a solid farm and great draft results every year
but keep those tears flowing
Duh! Do you actually read what I have written or are you center too much on your own posts? I’ll state it again – I really have no issue with player development. If I was grading him it would probably be an A-. The farm system is still ranked in the middle of the pack. As far as late season moves? A D and for FA’s a D-.
list was written before i’d read your concession
even if you assume theo is the worst GM in the league in terms of free agent acquisitions, he is still well above average overall
the very first comment nailed it: you do a great job analyzing (less than) half the story. you’d make a very average sports writer
Yeah….I’m getting lost myself! LMAO! I write and say “Didn’t I write that?” Trying to watch two games.
Half the story is still a story and the real story is the hundreds of millions tossed away on failures. Like it or not that will soon be the full story if this team blows it. They are gathering at the castle door and I’ll gladly supply the torches.
the return of “no holds” bard!
there’s no argument where the bad contracts are concerned: they exist, they are failures. they are mixed in with a great number of successes that almost any team would envy
it will be a mistake if epstein is removed. we’ll see
the return of “no holds” bard!
there’s no argument where the bad contracts are concerned: they exist, they are failures. they are mixed in with a great number of successes that almost any team would envy
it will be a mistake if epstein is removed. we’ll see
Duh! Do you actually read what I have written or are you center too much on your own posts? I’ll state it again – I really have no issue with player development. If I was grading him it would probably be an A-. The farm system is still ranked in the middle of the pack. As far as late season moves? A D and for FA’s a D-.
“Ozzie and Big Z” is a reality show waiting to happen. How do you think the Marlins are going to pay for that new stadium?
Ozzie was already a reality show, so the idea is very possible.
I am being 100% honest with you when I say this: I would watch that show. I think most people agree the individual Ozzie and Big Z meltdowns we’ve seen on ESPN over the years have been priceless.
Well, it’s time to put a price on those.
I also think Milton Bradley and Jose Guillen would be good bench players for the Fish. They could mentor Stanton and co.
The Marlins are collecting all the crazy, unwelcomed, psychopaths in Chicago baseball.
Enjoy Ozzie all you Marlin fans. Ozzie may be good for a quote every now and then, but once the game starts, he may be the worst in all of baseball.
I’d love to see the Cubs swing a deal involving Zambrano and Logan Morrison.
Oh my, Guillen and Zambrano in the same clubhouse, not to mention Logan Morrison and his outspoken attitude. If that won’t be a dysfunctional clubhouse, I don’t know what is.
If only they can get Milton Bradley to come play there too…
On the other hand, if the Marlins can get the Cubs to eat some of Z’s salary, they may opt not to trade Nolasco at all. If they sign a FA starter as well, maybe Erik Bedard, that becomes a pretty strong rotation if Johnson can get healthy.
Johnson
Bedard
Sanchez
Nolasco
Zambrano
wow that medical staff would be busy…
Theo has NOTHING to do with the players not performing right now. For most of the year they did. Neither does Tito, he’s trying to mix it up, it just aint working. How’s the pitching doing? Awful. That’s where it all starts.
it’s the PLAYERS’ fault? that’s insane
Carl Crawford is having a worst season than Nolan Reimold, the 4th OF on the Baltimore Orioles. Lackey and Crawford were signed by Theo to massive contracts. What was your point again?
You point out ONE person in the lineup having a bad year, and even at that he’s still done okay. Sure, he’s not himself but he isn’t the only one.
You aren’t seriously insinuating Crawford or Lackey is doing okay this season?
Regardless, Theo is a good GM. He’s done a good job overall. This season was not one of his strongest and I want to see how you can argue he has absolutely 0, I mean nothing to do with the players not performing. You would have to ignore that he had a weak showing at the trade deadline to supplement his team and the fact that he signed Crawford as a centerpiece of the offense. Is that all Crawford’s fault? All the player’s fault? 100%? I don’t, and will never, buy it.
his point was: “epstein has nothing to do with the players not performing right now.”
did you predict crawford and lackey to perform this badly? no, you didn’t – and neither did anyone else. the critics of those deals (count me as one of them) screamed “OVERPAY” not “THEY ARE BELOW REPLACEMENT LEVEL PLAYERS; THEY WILL CONTRIBUTE 0 IN 2011”
it’s ludicrous for you to suggest those performances were at all foreseeable. and if they weren’t foreseeable, blaming the GM is straightforwardly stupid
Wow, someone with common sense. Why are you posting here?
If you are insinuating I don’t have common sense you haven’t read any of my posts. Notsureifsrs and I are division rivals and pretty much argue every five minutes, but in an intelligent way.
true fact. out of curiosity, practical issues aside, who would you take as your new baltimore GM over epstein?
I don’t think it matters who I want, Buck Showalter is going to run the show and his GM is going to be basically his clerk who does the grunt work while Showalter makes the decisions.
I think Theo would be a bad choice for Baltimore, because he’d never get along with Angelos. In terms of pure skill, he’d be my #1 choice, but even Theo can’t be perfect all of the time.
far from it. i have as many criticisms of him as i’ve ever had, but it would be extremely short-sighted to want him gone. great hitters can go 0-for-4 too
i’d like to see what a competent GM could do with baltimore
Competent GM + Angelos = Incompetency. The Orioles will probably not win until Angelos lets the team go.
His point is duly noted and rebutted with the fact that Theo puts the team on the field that plays the game. Him having nothing to do with how the players do right now would have to mean that he has made all the right moves to have his team set for the second half of the season and the playoff run.
Further the players who were named by me two players he went all in on in the hopes of bringing his team to the playoffs, and their performance has been poor. Crawford especially, given how recent the signing was. Is that the GM’s fault 0 percent? I argue no.
PS: I don’t argue its Theo’s fault, I argue against the notion that he has “NOTHING to do with how the players are playing right now.” If you believe Theo has 0 liability (not even 5%) to the collapse I’d love to see your argument.
i don’t believe you really thought he meant the GM has “0 liability”, but if you did, k. you know very well that no one is going to argue a GM could ever have nothing to do with a team he built
the issue on the table was who is to blame for the team’s historic collapse. the answer is “the players”. unless you are willing to make the argument that the underperformance of the players you named was predictable, you won’t have any easy way to broaden that answer to “the players and the GM”
save for the few delusional loudmouths that never go away, everyone in baseball knew the roster epstein put together was playoff-caliber
It is playoff caliber which is why the Red Sox are fighting for a playoff spot, and when the dust settles could get it. I was focused on the word “nothing” he used, its always a red flag in my books, and yes I really thought he meant that based on the trend of posters I’ve seen today.
Zambrano and a low A baller for Ricky Nolaco and the Cubs eat majority of the contract.
Cubs rotation
Garza
Dempster
Nolasco
F/A
Samarzdija/ Cashner/ McNutt/ Jay Jackson
Wells can suck a black licorice flavored sucker cause he he hasn’t done diddly squat since his rookie year.
Check list
New GM- Hopefully Billy Beane or that assistant GM from the White Sox
New manager- Ryne Sandberg
New 1B- #1 I want Prince Fielder, #2 It’s obvious go for Pujols, #3 if not those 2 bring back Pena
New 3B- Were gonna have to trade for one. I would like to take a shot with Ian Stewart or if we have to Brandon Inge.
LF- Soriano, CF- Brett Jackson, RF- Byrd/Colvin platoon
It all depends on how they get him, I guess. I don’t see Zambrano coming back to the Cubs, which means if we can’t find somebody (anybody!) to take him off our hands for even a pittance of salary relief I can easily see him released. Zambrano for league minimum is not a terrible pickup for any team at that point.
In a way, I think Ozzie would be good for Zambrano. Not in terms of behavior; Z’s a hothead and he always will be. But I think Ozzie would tell him to let it all go, get up on the mound and throw. The guy is still only 30, not exactly the point where he should be years into a decline like he is. Maybe a fresh start and less nitpicking about how specifically he gets it done would help him out. Maybe he would find a few mph back on that fastball (can Zambrano even hit 97 anymore if he tried? I don’t think so) that he had in the years where he was so hard to hit.
Or maybe not. Who knows. Either way, whether a team gets him on release waivers or trades for him for a pittance, it’s an interesting gamble for little risk.
2-10 was not an illusion. There was something inherently wrong with this team from the outset. Like knowing something just doesn’t feel right with your car and then a belt goes. Maybe too many missing idiots? Seems like those jokers brought a care free attitude to the team. This team reminds me of those pre 2009 NY teams that had great individual numbers but something was missing. Nice pieces that didn’t fit the puzzle.
But huge sums have been spent with minimal results. Boston is now like NY in that anything less than a championship is considered a losing season. Sox have a core of quality players and questionable players with significant contractual obligations.
Save the season? get to the WS. And I thought they’d win 105! Now off to the Valium locker.
Funny thing is….. all these writers are throwing Theo under the bus, but if we could start this season over again right now, from day one, many of those writers would still pick this same Red Sox team to win the AL East.
I see alot of people refusing to blame theo for some of his big signings who had bad performances. And yes the argument can be made that no one saw it coming or could have predicted it. And thats fine
But then couldnt it sldo be said that nobody could have known Ortiz was going to pump himself full of PEDs and go from a marginal corner man to an annual MVP candidate? Because without “lucking” into big papi, there is a good chance Theo has no rings