Lifelong Cubs fan here. Soriano signing was bad only b/c of dollars - he has been productive, even if struggling right now. Bradley signing was nearly as moronic as Todd Hundley in the not-too-distant past - not because MB was over the hill, but because the dollars are insane AND they thought the lefthanded bat was the only thing they needed to win it all. As for pitching, the Cubs have had pitchers that looked like they had #1 stuff, but could never become #1 pitchers - that's coaching and managing (think Wood, Prior, Zambrano, Clement). There is absolutely no excuse for a pitcher getting thrown out of a game more than once every few years - a manager just doesn't allow that. In reality, a pitcher getting thrown out early is the equivalent of being on the 10 day DL.
Soto is way overrated - and the Cubs got too excited about him. He's not the long term solution. But that's the Cubs - Ramirez, DLee, and Soriano have no plate discipline, Zambrano has no discipline, Dempster & Lilly overachieved - none of these guys are long term solutions, but the Cubs wont ship them out.
It's frustrating - I personally appreciate an article that beats up on the Cubs for real facts, and not simply for sucking.
|
