Many White Sox fans continue to come down on the Cubs and their philosophy, so let’s look at the facts.
Last year the Cubs made no attempt to be competitive and continued their plan of trading good pitchers for prospects. The Sox hoped to contend and play in the World Series. The Cubs had a better record.
This year, the Cubs are making no attempt to be competitive, as they are waiting for their prospects to develop. The Sox hoped to be competitive, and since Detroit continues their usual underachieving and the division is bad, they know they have a chance for the playoffs and something other than pride and development to play for. To this point, the Cubs are 29-39 and the Sox are 33-37, a three-game difference.
So, despite the Cubs not trying to win and trading good players for prospects and despite the fact that the Sox are trying to win, they basically have the same record this year and last year. Perhaps Sox fans should be criticizing their team more than the Cubs.
Here is an interesting article in today’s Chicago Sun-Times that was about the fact that Mark Cuban’s bid for the Cubs was MORE THAN 50% HIGHER than the Ricketts’ bid, and he was denied another bid to buy the Rangers a year later after again outbidding the winner. The article talked about the bid process being at odds with MLB’s antitrust exemption. Here is an excerpt, which as I keep saying, explains a lot.
“Multiple sources confirm the open secret when it comes to Cuban and baseball: MLB wants no part of the outspoken, deep-pockets owner who might drive up player salaries and challenge the establishment.
The impact on the Cubs was a highly leveraged partnership purchase by a secondary bidder that has crippled the team’s short-term spending ability because of the biggest debt burden in the game, along with spending restrictions through related bank covenants.
It might take several more years–and eventually require the massive new TV deal Cubs business execs have promised–for the team to regain their big-market muscle.
‘The economics of this deal have been terrible,’ said one source with direct knowledge of the terms demanded by seller Sam Zell, as a shield from capital gains taxes.”
And this doesn’t even mention the fact that the city of Chicago gave the White Sox one of the best deals for any team in the four major sports, yet won’t give the Cubs anything despite the fact that the Cubs are the city’s third-largest tourist draw and bring the city a lot of revenue.
At some point don’t you need to get some pitching prospects? I read today 7/6 that castro was an essential piece of the cubs future, so then why get russell? I understand he is a top major league prospect, but you still need to have at least 3 good starters. Now you to have to rebuild the pitching staff. Stockpiling prospects is great, but at some point they need to play at a major league level. I agree about the White Sox. They seem to have these dreams of greatness every year but are nowhere even close. They played decent baseball in April and early May, but now they are just a bad team with two stars Sale and Abreu and bunch of other trade bait. I am not advocating trading Sale, but blow up the rest of this below average bunch and see what happens.
I agree the Cubs will need pitching, but I think stocking up on all these great prospects is a great strategy that has a very good chance of resulting in sustained long-term success. They not only have Castro at shortstop, but have Baez at shortstop. Now they have a third! I believe some of these guys can change positions or be used in trades for pitching. They do have some pitching prospects in the minors and have Wood and Arrieta, as well as some young relievers, so I’m not sure the pitching is in as bad shape as it might appear. I also think that once the core lineup is very strong, free-agent pitchers will want to come and the revenue sources the Cubs are developing (signs, buildings, video boards, etc.) will allow them to go after premier free agents. The White Sox have some good young players in Sale, Abreu, and Avisail Garcia, so I hope they don’t trade veterans to get more prospects to put around these guys. Cubs in 2017!
I find it amusing that the cubs need additional revenue to put a quality product on the field. They are close to the top in attendance and merchandise sales so I doubt revenue is the biggest need. They paid castro and rizzo big money for potential. Wouldn’t you rather see them spend on proven performers? castro is average at best and rizzo is improving, but not worthy of the money they got thrown at them. I think 2017 is a stretch. Plus you are also saying keep coming out to a crappy ballpark for 2 more years and we might be competitive. A lot of things can happen in 2 years. Winning is more about chemistry than pure talent. You need a mix of both to succeed.
Revenue is a huge issue for the Cubs. When Zell sold the team to the Ricketts family, he made huge debt a condition of the deal. The Cubs’ debt is huge, and this has to be addressed. I think the Cubs will wait to see which prospects develop, and then spend money on proven performers. Why spend that money now when they aren’t going to win now? I’d rather they pay down the debt, build up these revenue sources, and then spend to complement what they will have. I believe they can be a serious contender in 2017 and for a long time after. Castro is average at best? He led the league in hits at an extremely young age, and then they tried to change his swing. Now that he’s back to batting as he used to, you’ll see him have a good average. I agree that prospects don’t all develop and a lot of things can happen, but I think this is their best chance for sustained long-term success. I want the Cubs to be like the Packers and Blackhawks–a threat to win it all every year. I also agree with you on chemistry, and I think Theo realizes that. Russell was very happy to get a chance to play with Kris Bryant after playing with or against him in the minors.