Thought I'd make a post on Theo and Moneyball here.  While I respect the work that the teams did under the tenure of Theo and what Billy Beane has done with the A's/Athletics, I'm not sold on Theo turning around the Cubs, at least not in a short amount of time.

My argument is that a club must be built from the ground floor.  When Theo was hired as GM after serving with Larry Luke (Lucchino) there was a cupboard there  with raw talent.  The drafting of Pedroaia and Ellsbury were smart drafts for where the Sox were selecting and what they had to spend on their draft those years.  Heart, desire and strength were three of the areas that Theo's scouting staff were sold on in taking those two players, Bucholz, Bard, everyone knew they had great arms.  Yeah, Theo made some bone head signings, on Matsu and Lackey, he made a killer move bringing in Curt Schilling.  Also with his success came the fall of the month of September for the Sox and in-house turmoil.  I'm sure Theo learned a lesson from that, but taking into account he now has to rebuild the Cubs from the ground floor and he's inheriting two admin guys, as well as he'll bring in some of his loyal people as well.  I didn't say Theo was dumb, my point was building a club from the ground floor and Theo for the most part did that with Boston, but his team also fell apart at the seems during a critical time of the season.

Beane is a very bright man I have known since 1988, but to say his club is one of the poorest (Blackie) is ok when you look at payroll, but Billy has a budget and every year he and his owners must sit down and formulize what they have to spend for the following season.  He's done a pretty good job and piecing together a scouting staff and signing some young arms, but it's going to take time for his club to reach a consistent upper echelon finish unless the club gets stronger up the middle.

When I brought up the Phillies, look down their roster of players developed and signed through their system, not what they spent on their draft choices.  Look at the Rays, are they a monetarily rich club?  Heck, they have a hard time drawing fans to their games in the snowbird climate.

The Pirates are starting to bounce back, but again, depth in the minors needs to be addressed.

We can argue on and on about how teams are built, who does a good job at doing so and what money they have to work with, but the bottom line is hiring good people, execute the plan, develop talent, develop depth and don't make the same mistake twice on signing free-agents for large sums of money, just because you are in competition with another club or clubs over the services of that same player. 

Remember how the Dodgers were built?  I know a lot of you are a lot younger than myself and you probably all read more than I do, but watching a model of a club being built, executed correctly and being successful is worth a lot more than just being in the "game".

Just my 2 cents worth!!

X

Thought I'd make a post on Theo and Moneyball here.  While I respect the work that the teams did under the tenure of Theo and what Billy Beane has done with the A's/Athletics, I'm not sold on Theo turning around the Cubs, at least not in a short amount of time.

My argument is that a club must be built from the ground floor.  When Theo was hired as GM after serving with Larry Luke (Lucchino) there was a cupboard there  with raw talent.  The drafting of Pedroaia and Ellsbury were smart drafts for where the Sox were selecting and what they had to spend on their draft those years.  Heart, desire and strength were three of the areas that Theo's scouting staff were sold on in taking those two players, Bucholz, Bard, everyone knew they had great arms.  Yeah, Theo made some bone head signings, on Matsu and Lackey, he made a killer move bringing in Curt Schilling.  Also with his success came the fall of the month of September for the Sox and in-house turmoil.  I'm sure Theo learned a lesson from that, but taking into account he now has to rebuild the Cubs from the ground floor and he's inheriting two admin guys, as well as he'll bring in some of his loyal people as well.  I didn't say Theo was dumb, my point was building a club from the ground floor and Theo for the most part did that with Boston, but his team also fell apart at the seems during a critical time of the season.

Beane is a very bright man I have known since 1988, but to say his club is one of the poorest (Blackie) is ok when you look at payroll, but Billy has a budget and every year he and his owners must sit down and formulize what they have to spend for the following season.  He's done a pretty good job and piecing together a scouting staff and signing some young arms, but it's going to take time for his club to reach a consistent upper echelon finish unless the club gets stronger up the middle.

When I brought up the Phillies, look down their roster of players developed and signed through their system, not what they spent on their draft choices.  Look at the Rays, are they a monetarily rich club?  Heck, they have a hard time drawing fans to their games in the snowbird climate.

The Pirates are starting to bounce back, but again, depth in the minors needs to be addressed.

We can argue on and on about how teams are built, who does a good job at doing so and what money they have to work with, but the bottom line is hiring good people, execute the plan, develop talent, develop depth and don't make the same mistake twice on signing free-agents for large sums of money, just because you are in competition with another club or clubs over the services of that same player. 

Remember how the Dodgers were built?  I know a lot of you are a lot younger than myself and you probably all read more than I do, but watching a model of a club being built, executed correctly and being successful is worth a lot more than just being in the "game".

Just my 2 cents worth!!

X