We can't.

Cub minors are a barren wasteland and the international FA loophole isn't what it used to be.

One World Series is definitely a failure according to IMU

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

That's Cub.

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In fairness to IMU, he didn't say exactly who Russell would be hitting.

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He didnt even leave for years after the gorilla suit and he was never run out of town.

You take a decent post about the Boston/Chi similarities and completely ruin it with that non sense.

He will be an .800 OPS hitter this year, his age 25 season.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

You're only trying to fool yourself at this point.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Nope. And he may not even by on the Cub by season's end.

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Well, at least I'm 100% correct in the Cubs winning a World Series and yet the results from the rebuild still seem like a disappointment. The Cubs have now been fully eclipsed by the Brewers and possibly even the Cardinals. The Cubs have made some poor moves in the last two years.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

So now its a disappointment. A few years ago you said that one WS would be a failure.

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Failures are disappointing.

If the Cubs run is done...ending in last year's Wild Card round exit... this rebuild and the Theo/Jed tenure failed to deliver what they could/should have.

Setting up the team for a dynasty and then letting Arrieta sign elsewhere and missing out on landscape changing free agents. Stupid.

1 World Series win, 2 NLCS losses and a brief wild card appearance does not total enough points on my point system to rank as a successful run. Not after a series of absolutely putrid seasons.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

I appreciate your honesty.

IMO, the World Series win trumps everything. But if the Cubs run is done, I do think it will be looked back upon like the mid 80's Bears where you think "How did they only win one WS?"

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I agree with you that the run is over, but you're crazy if you think a WS win doesn't overshadow everything else... particularly the first one in over 100 years. Theo is great at building a winner. His track record at maintaining a winner is spottier. Still, one of the all-time great front office guys in baseball history.

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The 2016 trophy sparks no joy when watching the last 4 Cubs games. That trophy is clutter.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Winning the WS and two NLCS losses and a Wild Card is a successful run no matter how you look at it.

Doesn't mean we look at the future with blinders on and ignore the mistakes that are being made at an alarming rate.

What have you done for me lately? Theo even said you don't form opinions on past performances.

Smart man here.

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I don't think that's really a fair question. It's pretty fucking hard to win a World Series. Ask a Dodgers fan

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Theo won two with the Red Sox, and they have since won two more since he departed. The Giants won three in four years. The Rangers, Royals, and Dodgers have played in back to back WS in recent history.

It's very hard, but not impossible.

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I think this is the last year of the window. If they don't get their act together by the ASB, Theo's going to start dealing everybody playing well not named Rizzo, Baez, or Lester, and set themselves up for flexibility for the 2021 strike and the subsequent CBA.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

The two WS that are really attributable to Theo are due to, in each instance, one scrap heap guy from another team somehow gaining unbefore seen Herculean strength under Theo's watch and leading that team by achieving MVP level numbers.

There may be no single person in baseball other than Bonds who has benefitted from performance enhancing drugs.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Don't make me go back on calling you smart in this thread.

You cannot credit Theo's success to steroids when players on every team were taking steroids.

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Your Rangers and Dodgers examples back up my point, not yours

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Then Papi and Arrietta must have been taking a lot more

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

You're just spit balling. We have no idea who was and was not taking steroids. Could have been 80%. Could have been 40%. Could have been 20%. As such, everything has to be judged at face value. Every other player who has ever improved might have been on illegal substances too.

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Not at all. My point is that ten, fifteen years from now people may look back and be puzzled at how the Cubs "only" won a single title. Just like the 80s Bears. Even if the Cubs win another pennant, that would make the era seem much more dominant to those who didn't live thru it.

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