Expectaions

[NeifiPerezMVP2007]

Grow up everyone, were still in it (not that you would notice or care).

[roenick99]

Wake up and get your head out of the sand. The team we have seen on the field 54% of the time this year is not a winner. Not even close. This city has not a seen a winner from the North side in 98 years! Maybe you cannot seem to grasp the concept of this, but regardless as to how "weak" this division is portrayed to be by the so-called "experts", 75 wins will NOT win this division or a wild card.

[NeifiPerezMVP2007]

Wake up and get your head out of the sand. The team we have seen on the field 54% of the time this year is not a winner. Not even close. This city has not a seen a winner from the North side in 98 years! Maybe you cannot seem to grasp the concept of this, but regardless as to how "weak" this division is portrayed to be by the so-called "experts", 75 wins will NOT win this division or a wild card.

Keep saying that. We had winning season in 2003 and 2004. I know thats not winning it all but I still think the Cubs can win 90+. Nobody know how many wins it will take and for your information, my head is not in the sand, I just think people that call themselves Cubs fans and then bash the new team for losing a game need to remember why they are Cubs fans.

[HOLYCOW!25]

I have to agree with Neifi there, I'm tired of seeing people calling themselves fans this offseason, and once the Cubs started playing a few bad games, they wrote them off. It really pisses me off. We're still definetly in this race. At this time last year, the Twins were 17-24, and they ended up winning their division. Just something I thought everyone should take note of.

[NeifiPerezMVP2007]

I have to agree with Neifi there, I'm tired of seeing people calling themselves fans this offseason, and once the Cubs started playing a few bad games, they wrote them off. It really pisses me off. We're still definetly in this race. At this time last year, the Twins were 17-24, and they ended up winning their division. Just something I thought everyone should take note of.

I'm glad you feel the same, lol!:p Its true though.

[BarryFoote]

The majority of the comments I read were from people who were fed up with the lack of desire and just plain bad baseball. I bleed blue, you have to agree the last couple of weeks have been down right bad.

To express that shows you care about the team. Just like when they get hot, the same people (myself included) will be pumped up.

[taz57]

Wake up and get your head out of the sand. The team we have seen on the field 54% of the time this year is not a winner. Not even close. This city has not a seen a winner from the North side in 98 years! Maybe you cannot seem to grasp the concept of this, but regardless as to how "weak" this division is portrayed to be by the so-called "experts", 75 wins will NOT win this division or a wild card.

roenick is right.

The 2000's are an era which teams that have never, or not won a championship in a very long time, are winning championships. True Cub fans are growing very impatient. When will it be our turn.

The financial resourses are there, but there never seems to be a good return on investment. This all falls on Jim Hendry. He was suppose to be such a good evaluator of talent from his days as a scout, but I haven't seen it. Sure, he got Lee and Ramirez, but he fails to put together the complete package.

All the money in the world will not bring a championship if the guy spending all the money does'nt have a clue what he's doing. All Hendry has done year after year is is plug a few holes in the dam, while other holes are starting. Hendrys tenure is like a dog trying to catch his tail.

[BarryFoote]

roenick is right.

The 2000's are an era which teams that have never, or not won a championship in a very long time, are winning championships. True Cub fans are growing very impatient. When will it be our turn.

The financial resourses are there, but there never seems to be a good return on investment. This all falls on Jim Hendry. He was suppose to be such a good evaluator of talent from his days as a scout, but I haven't seen it. Sure, he got Lee and Ramirez, but he fails to put together the complete package.

All the money in the world will not bring a championship if the guy spending all the money does'nt have a clue what he's doing. All Hendry has done year after year is is plug a few holes in the dam, while other holes are starting. Hendrys tenure is like a dog trying to catch his tail.



Hmmm....Hendry put together man for man what is one of the best teams in baseball. He can't control what goes on between the lines.

So in order to be critical of him you should be willing to give the man his props. Taking a chance on Marquis was a huge move, going from not making the playoff roster last year to having the potential to be on the all star team this year, Lilly is a top tier pitcher, at the infield and outfield they are as good if not better then any team in the division.

IMO, Hendry isn't the reason this team hasn't produced.

[taz57]

Hmmm....Hendry put together man for man what is one of the best teams in baseball. He can't control what goes on between the lines.

So in order to be critical of him you should be willing to give the man his props. Taking a chance on Marquis was a huge move, going from not making the playoff roster last year to having the potential to be on the all star team this year, Lilly is a top tier pitcher, at the infield and outfield they are as good if not better then any team in the division.

IMO, Hendry isn't the reason this team hasn't produced.

I understand where you are coming from. It's like putting a puzzle together. Hendry started it by putting all of the players out there on the board. Then, it's up to Pineilla and his coaching staff to put those pieces into place. These upper management people have many years of experience in this game. That puts it directly on the players themselves. How many players on the current team are hungry enough to win a championship?

[BarryFoote]

I agree 100%, it is on the player's shoulders. Barrett & Lee, (Zambrano sometimes) they play the game like it's supposed to be played. The others I wonder.

[ChinMusic22]

I agree this isn't Henry's fault, this is on the players. Some of it might be not being familiar with each other, and that will smooth out, but other things can be resolved by doing basic drills, and that's an issue for the coaching staff. The only thing I think when I look at Henry is some of his signings he signed just because. In hindsight money given to Mark DeRosa could have easily gone to the guys like Justin Spier, Chad Bradford, Jamie Walker, or Danys Baez. He addressed the rotation and brought in a marquis outfielder, so I do realize everything can't be handled in one offseason.

Another thing I find interesting, is Larry Rothchild gets praised for the work he's done with Marquis and his current turn around, and Zambrano saying Rothchild recently helped him with his mechanics. In saying that, shouldn't Rothchild he held somewhat responsable for Eyre, Howry, and the rest to the 'pen?

[SKIPPER 11]

I think some of the blame has to fall on Hendry. Imean sure he has spent money. He, nor Pinella, gets to play - I undertand that. We signed Soriano to play CF, not LF. This pretty much relegates Floyd to a spot player now because he is not a RF. The way Soriano is playing LF, he looks more like a DH. I know he has thrown people out at the plate, but he has made some bad plays as well. Look to me, Soriano is one of the top 10 players in the game, so we do need him. Matt Murton was close to a .300 hitter last season- now since the Floyd signing and Soriano moving to left, Murton is starting about 30% of the time. Jones was a good pick up last year because we needed a LH bat to play RF. My point is we are loaded with position players and that part of the team is good. Why did we not sign any relievers in the offseason? I mean it is the same cast of characters as last season with exception to Kotts. Our starting rotation is 1. Z 2. Lily 3. hill 4. Marquis 5. ??. They have been outstanding so far but you have to admit it is not 1. Prior 2. Wood 3. Z 4. Maddux 5. Clement

[SkullKey]

" ... shouldn't Rothchild he held somewhat responsable for Eyre, Howry, and the rest to the 'pen? ... "

I think the only ones who should be held responsible for the pathetic brainless performances of Howry, Eyre et al are Howry, Eyre and the rest of the back-end of the pen (the finishers - the ones who have cost this team at least 4 wins and are on a pace for 40, that's 40 blown saves).

I find it fascinating that the day after Dempster and Eyre really stink up the ballpark with performances about as bad as it gets Howry and Dempster come out with what are probably their best performances of the year. I,m surprised they weren't wearing ear-muffs to hide their blistered ears!

I would love to have been a bug-on-the-wall in the locker-room after Thursday's fiasco. I strongly suspect Piniella may have mentioned something about the fact it's well past time for mature, adult extremely well-paid professional athletes start getting their heads in the game and start performing like extremely well-paid professionals with responsibilities to their employers.