MLB: Cubs, how bright the future?

Hi All:

After being trounced by the Mets in The NLCS, my Cubbies came up trumps in the NL post-season awards with Bryant, Madden, and Arrieta winning Rookie of the year, Manager of the year and the Cy Young award respectively. Just wondering if any of the hard core baseball guys could peer into our future and tell me what they see. The good, the bad and (God forbid) more ugly.

I see good things. A great deal hinges on the GM staying focused and continuing to build the organization from the bottom up.

Do not worry about Cubbies losing to Mets. Cubs future looks bright, just the right amount of youth and experience to be successful for years. Mets went all in and need to replace some key pieces that will be difficult. Great experience for the young Cubs. Now if the GM can keep doing what he has been doing and not change (like Billy Beane in Oakland) they will be fine.

Windy City said:

Hi All:

After being trounced by the Mets in The NLCS, my Cubbies came up trumps in the NL post-season awards with BI'ryant, Madden, and Arrieta winning Rookie of the year, Manager of the year and the Cy Young award respectively. Just wondering if any of the hard core baseball guys could peer into our future and tell me what they see. The good, the bad and (God forbid) more ugly.

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I'll bet a majority would like to see the Cubs finally win one if their team can't. I'm a diehard Angels fan and to a lesser extent, a Dodger fan. I'm a big fan of the Brooklyn Dodger folklore.

My best friend was a Cub fan and died without seeing his team win it, so posthumously I hope the Cubs ultimately make it. Ironically another great friend from college was a Red Sox fan and he, too, died before the 2004 championship. I feel so privileged that I got to see the Angels win the 2002 World Series, and I know the results are that the fans get greedy for another one!

I really think the Cubs will win soon. The hiring of Theo Epstein and Joe Maddon was huge. I think the team will spend major bucks to try and ensure it during this window of opportunity. The Cubs organization probably feels the pressure acutely to get it done.

Yea I agree with California Cajun the Cubs did really well this year and they are only going to get better. As long as the owner doesn't start trading off key players. I was hoping they would beat the Mets because I'm a Dodgers fan. But I have a lot of cousins in Chi Town that are huge Cubs fans so I was rooting for them. Damn I hate the Mets.

Addressing a couple of points. First off ownership: Before Tom Ricketts got his dad to buy the Cubs for him, he met his future wife in The Bleachers. He's a fan, and I have no doubt that he wants to be remembered as the owner that brought a championship to the North side for the first time in a Millennium. Second: General management. I have all the confidence in the world in Theo and Jed. They have repeatedly shown that they know how to uncover value in the baseball market. They have done much of this as of late in signing players available In The supplemental Intenational market. It will be much harder now that they are drafting at the bottom of the pile then It was before to get consistent high quality talent out of the Ameteur Draft, but I believe that they will continue to keep the organization deep in talent. Third: economically, the Cubs will be hamstrung until the new TV dEal goes into place (2019?), and so they won't have the ability to go crazy like the Dodgers. I'm hearing that they can sign Price or Zimmerman, but not both, especially if they want to sign Arieta to an extnsion. The current TV Deal and the cost of ball park renovations, will also hamstring them a bit. Fourth: I'm worried that the Cubs line up was exposed by the Mets pitching staff as being composed of too many guys that swing from their heels. I'd like to see better pitch selection and patience than I did against the Mets. Fifth: Wrigley Field has always been our Achilles heel. From April through Mid-May, and after September with the Wind blowing in, Wrigley plays like a Big ball park. When the weather is warmer and the Wind Blows out, the ball carries so much better. You almost need twp lineups depending on the time of year and the Wind conditions. All that being said, barring injuries I think we are poised to make a run for the next few years. Hopefully, it will all pan out.