JP Hochbaum
Well-known member
- Joined:
- May 22, 2012
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If people expect that they are going to see a good team (I mean playoff caliber, not .500 caliber) while trying to rebuild the base of the franchise, their farm system, you are going to hate what is going on right now. Baseball will seem like torture and paying for games will seem like highway robbery.
If people expect a large rebuild that takes several years (somewhere between 3-7 years from last year) before we are regularly in the playoffs (not guaranteed I know), then they can learn to accept the process and appreciate the smaller things going on here. I will get back to this part later. Hopefully with this tempered expectations they stop going to games and instead watch the box score of the minor league affiliates.
With high expectations you set yourself up to be disappointed. Why set the bar so high when the GM is telling us that we will not be doing what you want until the farm system is ready to support high spending? Why expect something to happen when you are told not to expect it? Why pay for games? Why watch them on TV? It seems like self torture to me...
With low expectations you set yourself up to learn the process, appreciate it and hopefully enjoy the fruits of Cub fan suffering in the years to come. I know success is not guaranteed, but with a large market team and the ability to spend when the timing is right, our chances for success will be higher than average, and almost guaranteed. As you learn to appreciate this process you get to learn what baseball really is like, and that there are no guarantees. Which brings me to my next point....
With no guarantees in this game it makes spending money to purchase a contender an incredibly bad gamble and bad business move. A smart business man collects assets and puts their business in a position to corner the market with those assets. Our minor league rankings and the speed at which we have obtained these assets is a testament to how this franchise is trying to corner that market.
So if you want to expect a winning team next year or the year afterwards, you're going to live in misery, and paying for that misery may show a certain lack of reasoning, or inability to understand business. Who buys into a product in which they are disappointed year in and year out? I understand that your fandom may make you less logical and reduce your ability to reason, but when the reasons are shown to you and you still complain about it and pay for it, then I say "DERP"!
Now if you appreciate this process and understand what is being done, then you learn to love the things that are happening under your nose, and do your best to ignore the MLB wins and losses and instead focus on how our kids are developing. We are witnessing something special here. Our minor league system ranking has turned out faster than I have seen in my baseball lifetime. Everyday i check the minor league affiliates and literally ignore the front pages of the MLB because I know to expect bad, while I wait for the good.
When you look at our position players, we are literally almost guaranteed an above average WAR player at each position, assuming Castillo develops and plays as he has lately. Some of those players could be legitimate All stars and maybe MVP candidates someday. And if a few of those players don't pan out, well that is when we open the pocket books.
And when you look at our pitching, it is apparent we will have a great back of the rotation, and will likely have to buy an ace to round out the staff, unless we get lucky with a latino FA.
All that being said, when you focus on the good things going on and stop trying to paint every move as bad then you start to see the larger picture here.
If people expect a large rebuild that takes several years (somewhere between 3-7 years from last year) before we are regularly in the playoffs (not guaranteed I know), then they can learn to accept the process and appreciate the smaller things going on here. I will get back to this part later. Hopefully with this tempered expectations they stop going to games and instead watch the box score of the minor league affiliates.
With high expectations you set yourself up to be disappointed. Why set the bar so high when the GM is telling us that we will not be doing what you want until the farm system is ready to support high spending? Why expect something to happen when you are told not to expect it? Why pay for games? Why watch them on TV? It seems like self torture to me...
With low expectations you set yourself up to learn the process, appreciate it and hopefully enjoy the fruits of Cub fan suffering in the years to come. I know success is not guaranteed, but with a large market team and the ability to spend when the timing is right, our chances for success will be higher than average, and almost guaranteed. As you learn to appreciate this process you get to learn what baseball really is like, and that there are no guarantees. Which brings me to my next point....
With no guarantees in this game it makes spending money to purchase a contender an incredibly bad gamble and bad business move. A smart business man collects assets and puts their business in a position to corner the market with those assets. Our minor league rankings and the speed at which we have obtained these assets is a testament to how this franchise is trying to corner that market.
So if you want to expect a winning team next year or the year afterwards, you're going to live in misery, and paying for that misery may show a certain lack of reasoning, or inability to understand business. Who buys into a product in which they are disappointed year in and year out? I understand that your fandom may make you less logical and reduce your ability to reason, but when the reasons are shown to you and you still complain about it and pay for it, then I say "DERP"!
Now if you appreciate this process and understand what is being done, then you learn to love the things that are happening under your nose, and do your best to ignore the MLB wins and losses and instead focus on how our kids are developing. We are witnessing something special here. Our minor league system ranking has turned out faster than I have seen in my baseball lifetime. Everyday i check the minor league affiliates and literally ignore the front pages of the MLB because I know to expect bad, while I wait for the good.
When you look at our position players, we are literally almost guaranteed an above average WAR player at each position, assuming Castillo develops and plays as he has lately. Some of those players could be legitimate All stars and maybe MVP candidates someday. And if a few of those players don't pan out, well that is when we open the pocket books.
And when you look at our pitching, it is apparent we will have a great back of the rotation, and will likely have to buy an ace to round out the staff, unless we get lucky with a latino FA.
All that being said, when you focus on the good things going on and stop trying to paint every move as bad then you start to see the larger picture here.