“Tanking” is one of the buzzwords of the 2016 season as several also-rans are blowing up their big league teams in an attempt to rebuild and not bothering to hide their intentions. After one month of baseball, for example, it’s clear that if Bryan Price tried to hand Reds players shirts that said “Try not […]
Tag: Theo Epstein
Epstein Finds Advantage in Honesty
Ever since the release of Moneyball, one of the most popular buzzwords in major league baseball has been “market inefficiency.” For over a decade, fans and analysts have been captivated by the endless quest to identify teambuilding trends that everyone else in MLB is missing. Unfortunately, for most of that time, the Cubs lagged behind the […]
Covering All The Bases: Epstein’s Winning Formula
Last summer I watched Jake Arrieta no-hit the Dodgers, and it was awesome. But it wasn’t as exciting as Carlos Zambrano’s no-no seven years prior. That one had all the drama going for it: an emotionally erratic hurler with control issues, coming off extended rest, aiming to snap a 36-year dry spell by Cubs pitching. […]
The Case for Not Extending Theo Epstein
When Theo Epstein left the Boston Red Sox and took his new position with the Chicago Cubs in late October of 2011, he wrote an op-ed in the Boston Globe to explain his choice to Red Sox fans. He opened by citing Bill Walsh (the football visionary who innovated the West Coast Offense), who believed […]
High Performance Forces Theo’s Hand
After the end of the 2014 season, Theo Epstein made clear that the front office would seek to add impact pitching from outside the organization that offseason, while also acknowledging that two nine-figure commitments in one offseason were not going to happen. Epstein stayed true to his word, adding Jon Lester on a major contract but […]
A Grand Plan Starts Coming Together
The Cubs offseason plans may not be as opulent as the Gaylord Opryland Hotel decorated from top to bottom with holiday cheer, but it’s starting to look like they’re nearly as grand. When sitting in a hotel as expansive as this, it’s only appropriate to take a wide-angle view of what the Cubs vision is […]
Building a Better Bullpen: Theo Epstein and Free Agent Relievers
In the early weeks of the offseason, with trade rumors galore and free-agent names like David Price and Jason Heyward being thrown around, it is a bit difficult to get excited about the Cubs’ offseason bullpen options. But—make no mistake—the Cubs do have interesting questions in the bullpen that they will have to answer. From […]
Theo Epstein, Language, and the Shape of the Cubs’ Offseason
For a long time, I thought I’d be a lawyer. I liked the lifestyle—or, at least, my adolescent vision of it—and I reveled in the verbal back-and-forth I saw practiced by the profession’s televised representatives. But most of all, I liked the command of language the law seemed to require. To learn to say exactly what needed to be said, […]
Cubs Enter Critical Offseason with Greatness on the Horizon
The Cubs are entering the most important offseason of the Theo Epstein era, perhaps—for this organization—the most important offseason of all time. While last winter was no doubt crucial—and the Cubs’ brass passed that test with flying colors in their acquisition of Jon Lester, Miguel Montero, and Dexter Fowler (among others)—this time around the front office will […]
How the North Siders Created a New Cubs Culture
All we really have as an organization is each other. —Theo Epstein There were moments during Tuesday’s NLDS clincher when things could’ve easily slipped away. The Cubs were down 2-0 before they’d even stepped to the plate and they were opposing a pitcher who’d held them hitless for five innings just a few days before. […]