The Cubs won a World Series with that model.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

It's quite pertinent to the discussion of this rebuild. Many (most?) people seem to believe that the rebuild was going great until LaRussa was hired. That is certainly the WSCR position.

What is the knock on a Hall of Fame manager as opposed to a guy who was repeatedly passed over by the Royals? It's clearly political and has ZERO to do with baseball.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

That was my favorite part of the rebuild. Trading away a future All-Star for a scrub journeyman pitcher (During a rebuild) Not my fault your team has been rebuilding for almost a decade

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It was 2020 or 2021 when the Sox were battling for the division.

They had a series vs the Twins at home and the game got into the late innings.

Jose Abreu hit a routine grounder to the shortstop. He hustled and beat out the play to score the go ahead run.

Every Sox fan here and across the world were like OMG DID YOU SEE JOSE HUSTLE AND BEAT THAT THROW TO FIRST!

Like if some miracle happened.

When you celebrate something so routine and expected from any MLB ball player like hustling on a grounder to beat the throw you know something is terribly wrong with your team.

My favorite moment was when HY switched over to be a Sox fan.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

It was a joke!

No they didn't Bryant, Baez, Rizzo, Heyward, Russell, Zobrist, Almora, Fowler are not DH's with terrible defense

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the 2016 cubs team defense was incredible. best in the history of the franchise.

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True, but that was quite surprising for a team that had Bryant at third, Russell at short, Zobrist all over, Soler and Fowler in the outfield and Montero and Contreras behind the plate. A lot of DHs mentioned there.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

The trading part of the rebuild was pretty good. They were terrible at drafting and free agency.

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

Was it though? Sale and Eaton both won World Series. The Quintana deal doesn't seem great for either side so far, but there's still time for it to go okay for the Sox.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

The public/media reaction (which appeared to be what you were referencing) to the hiring of TLR is not pertinent to the Giolito trade nor any discussion about why the rebuild failed. Further, their managerial hirings were really not responsible for the rebuild's failure. There was no managerial candidate out there that would have changed this outcome.

are you trying to claim that no one was blaming Larussa ? Pretty sure many thought if they just dumped him for a Little League coach the team would instantly be a WS contender . I mean there are still people saying how he set them back YEARS!!!

I still think if the had hired Ozzie this offseason they would be in the playoff hunt. That team needs an ass kicking no nonsense manager.

Those people are wrong.

The Sox were one of the best open jobs when they shitcanned Ricky. They scoured the list of their former managers and settled on a long retired, 80 year old alcoholic with narcolepsy.

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Maybe he was talking about the World Series he watched as a youth in 1908.

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It's pretty well-documented how much I believe a manager's strategic decisions have to do with team success. That's about ZERO. But a manager does lead a ballclub. If we're saying LaRussa doesn't know how to do that even at his advanced age, I'm gonna disagree.

This team lays down on Grifol. I've even seen "great competitor" Lance Lynn pout and quit because an error was made behind him. It's brutal to watch.

It can't be denied that there was a good feeling surrounding this club prior to LaRussa being hired. I'm not sure what that's worth, but probably something. Then the media decided that hiring a Hall of Fame manager was a mistake. The fans picked that up.

In fact, it was minimally insignificant and he was arguably the best manager they've had since Ozzie's first few seasons.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

And yet the he managed to win 93 games and a division with the same basic team that is currently 20+ games under .500.

I've NEVER been a fan of LaRussa. And I don't think the manager is very important. They should have just let Renteria try to finish the job.

But something has gone terribly wrong with this rebuild and many people want to blame LaRussa who is nowhere near this shitty team.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

You can keep saying this over and over if you want, but its not true and never will be.

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Put me in the camp of those who don’t buy that this year’s team is basically the same as the ‘21 Sox.

From a pure managerial perspective, he wrote forfeit on his lineup card every Sunday/getaway day, made sure Leury was an everyday player, called for IBBs in two strike counts, needed to be told by fans to pinch run for Eloy late in a game…his bullpen underperformed, but he routinely put guys in spots that exacerbated that weakness.

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It's supposed to be better. Eloy, Robert, and Moncada should be in their prime and Leury isn't playing everyday.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

Lol, Eloy in his "prime"

What hitter on the Cubs is better than Eloy?

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

Moncada isnt playing everyday either and Robert was an All Star this year. He's literally the best offensive player in the AL who isn't named Ohtani.

If LaRussa was so great, shouldn't the Sox have been better in 2022 then?

I know you're smart enough to log on to baseballreference.com to see just how different the team is today vs in 2021, but I'm here to help if you need a hand.

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"Thanks Cubs!!"

Whatever happened to that?

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Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be.

Based on 2023, Bellinger is better and Morel just as good.

That’s as lazy as a Fox News narrative on BLM. Not surprising though. Kind of sad really.

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“How do you get to be president and you’re stupid?” Donald J Trump - 4/10/25
When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus. - Turkish Proverb