Cubs News: Anthony Rizzo, Alfonso Soriano, Management

I bet you've buried the +Chicago Cubs front office brass this season. You've sat and said, "see, it's the same old thing. Do just enough to keep butts in the seats but they aren't interested in winning!"

Well, looks like the Cubs (who have made a ton of great moves but have been overshadowed by a couple bad ones), have made a move recently that rivals some of the best deals in baseball, Anthony Rizzo's extension.

Anthony Rizzo recently signed a contract extension for $41 million over a 7 year span. There are 2 options and extras that can escalate the deal over $70 million. This is a great deal for a club that is used to making mistakes in free agency and waiting till players are arbitration eligible or on the verge of free agency to sign them. The deal offers Rizzo a large raise (currently earning just under $500,000) as well as gives the Cubs payroll flexibility in the future, while hopefully getting huge value on the dollar.



This was part of the plan Theo Epstein talked about when coming to Chicago, you pay for future production, not the past production. It's just smart business, look at Albert Pujols. Everyone screamed that the Cubs should make a legit run at Albert, solidifying the first base position for years, even if it came at a large price tag. Well, through a year and a half, Pujols looks to be a quarter of the player he was for St Louis, and the Cubs will certainly see more production per dollar over the course of this favorable deal.

This is a HUGE victory for the Cubs as well as a big victory for Rizzo.

Speaking of contracts, especially of the bad variety, Alfonso Soriano. You will not find a baseball guy that will say Soriano's deal is a good one. Heck, I don't think Jim Hendry thought it to be a good deal when he made it, but you have to recognize the player Soriano is becoming in the twilight of his career.



Sori has never been the best fielder, but he has worked harder at it in these last couple of years than most to be somewhat passable. He hasn't been a consistent run producer, but has taught himself some additional discipline to help the team. He has changed parts of his game to conform to both team needs as well as conforming to what he can physically do now. He has always been a darn good baseball player, but it seems as though he has recently become a professional.

I don't say professional in the terms of a pro athlete, I mean it in the terms of a smart, veteran player. A guy that goes all out for his team, has realized he can do additional small things to help the team win, and has taken players under his wing to help them grow, become acclimated, and become pro athletes as well. There was a definite time where I wanted Soriano off of the team at all costs, but I am very happy he is still here. If he gets traded at some point this year, I hope it's to a contender for his sake, and although I know it could be good for the future of the Cubs, it would be sad to see a pro's pro go.

The front office... The Cubs brass; Theo, Jed, the Ricketts, and the bunch have had a lot of bad moments publicly lately. From battles over Wrigley renovations to horrible signings to hearing the Cubs can't spend like they used to, fans were beginning to turn, viciously against them. There were however some brilliant spots that just need to be highlighted.



First, and I've already commented on this Anthony Rizzo. The Cubs were able to pull him into the organization, without giving up much in return. He's now locked up a a club favorable deal for 7 years, and will likely be the face of the franchise for years to come.

Travis Wood. Wood has just recorded his league leading 8th quality start of the season. His 4 wins and 2.02 ERA have him in the league leaders, and he is quickly proving that sending Sean Marshall (at the time considered the best lefty reliever in the National League) to Cincinnati for Wood was a very good deal indeed.



Possibly the best move that the franchise heads will actually, not make... Not calling up their young batters that have tons of promise. I'm talking the Soler's, the Baez's, and the likes. They seem very patient to stay the course on these guys. Allowing them to face frustrations and adversity in the minors, learning from it there, before needing to learn how to deal with it in the bigs, with all of the pressure, and all of the spotlight. This is going to be the test over these next couple of years, making sure that these players develop down on the farms, ensuring they are better ballplayers here in the bigs.

Chicago Meatheads

So there are a couple of cities that are, well ridiculous when it comes to sports. New York, Boston, Philadelphia all come to mind. You have batshit crazy fans in Oakland, as well as Dallas, and those Flippin Packer fans have to be crazy for wearing team colors and sitting outside in -30 degree weather. There is 1 group of fans that are more ridiculous, more stupid, and more meatheaded than any of the others....

Chicago sports fans.

Face it, you get a smile and a chubby whenever you hear Da Coach spew pro-Bears propaganda all over ESPN airwaves. You take every chance to throw in a spiteful jab to a Sox or Cubs fan. TE Bulls will never be a good as when Jordan was here, and you've been committed to the Indian since Mikita, Esposito, and Hull were winning cups.



In all reality, we are the world's worse sports fan. Quick to jump on the bandwagon to fire an undeserving coach, and first to say that rookie who just hit 3 homers will be one of the greats. We flood Vegas every year with ridiculously dumb bets on the Cubs finally winning the World Series, and seem to forget that Green Bay is 3 times the team the bears have been over the last 20 years.

We boast, Original 6 and NFL charter franchise. History! History! History! But usually fail to create new memories. We fill ballparks and arenas in droves, spend more than we should on tickets, food, and drinks.

Chicagoans need to wake up.

Currently we have 2 major issues in Chicago sports, and these are issues that have the most proud meatheads ranting and roaring about. The first, the Chicago Cubs.

Turn the clock back to October 22nd 2011... The Cubs hire Theo Epstein away from the Boston Red Sox. Theo was seen as a golden boy, to the likes of Billy Beane. A guy that knows how to succeed and do so through a set of crazy numbers and computers and pie charts and graphs and fat kids who look like Jonah Hill. Cubs fans were ecstatic, baseball know it alls said this was a great move, and people imagined that this would signify a World Series pennant in the not too distant future.

But wait, Theo said there is a lot of work to do. So the mantra of, give us a couple of years to fix it, and Cubs fans drank the koolaid. It was said, so it must be so?

Either way, Theo made his way through the organization, letting long term people here go and revamping the commitment to the minors. Found some hot prospects, got lucky with some Jim Hendry holdovers and signs were pointing up. In 2012 we lost 101 games.



So Jed and Theo went back to work... Inquiring on everyone, spending where they thought necessary, and skimping where they didn't think they should. Some small improvements made here and there, this team should be a little better than last, but still not quite there.

So now people begin to call for heads. Theo's a joke! Jed's just an errand boy! Dale's not the guy! Ricketts just want our money! I don't know what we're yelling about!

It takes time people. Think of a tree. You don't bury a seed and the next day there's a 100' Oak. It needs its roots, it needs a strong core and thick trunk, far reaching branches, and eventually giant leaves. Same with the Cubs. Theo planted a seed in the minors, is in the process of watering and fertilizing (there's a joke about the shit on the field here), waiting to support that strong core, which becomes a talented and great team. Understand people, Andrew Friedman (possibly the best executive in baseball today) took about 3 years before Tampa made the playoffs, why is a year and a month too much time for Theo?

The next Chicago Meathead controversy is Derrick Rose.

Before this year, Derrick was the greatest thing to happen to Chicago since Michael Jordan. MJ himself thought a D Rose lead Bulls team would eventually win more championships than he an his teams were able to win. He was king of the city, could do no wrong.

Derrick Rose is the humblest super star there is! See Derrick Rose give his MVP trophy to his mom! Derrick Rose is a no nonsense superstar! I still don't know why we're yelling!!!

Rise went down with a knee injury last year, and all if that changed. You'd think the kid is Jay Cutler for all the crap he takes.



Problem is, Derrick was cleared by doctors months ago, and he has an older brother that doesn't know when to shut up. Sounds familiar... My younger brother Derrick has a brother that doesn't know when to shut up....

From a PR standpoint, Derrick and his people, the Bulls and their people, ALL handled this poorly. There are constant questions on if he'll play, cause it seems there are constant questions on if he will play. Since it looks like he can play, fans have begun to turn on him. They all have their crazy theories on why he's holding out, or that he's spineless, or doesn't care about the team and only himself , etc etc...

What people don't realize is, after any knee injury, let alone an ACL tear, athletes are likely to cause additional damage to the knee or opposite knee if they are not 100% confident in their repaired knee. In fact, multiple superstar caliber athletes have had a knee injury and have come back before they were absolutely certain in their abilities and damaged their careers.

This is the biggest reason Rose shouldn't play until he is absolutely ready to play. Till he is 100% certain he can do everything he was capable of doing on the knee before the injury. Derrick Rose isn't a role player, or the guy you look to for a quick spark, or late game spot up 3. He's the guy that you look to carry the franchise for the next 10-15 years. He knows, the Bulls know, and most somewhat intelligent fans know, you don't risk the future when you have questions about the present.

I'm sure most people would rather the Cubs fire Theo and Dale and Jed, and they want Derrick Rose to suit up tonight. I'm sure they will jump up and down, and throw comeback and firing parties if it were to happen.

But if that did happen, the Cubs will go another 100 years without winning and D Rose will be playing pickup basketball with Penny Hardaway and Tracy McGrady at the local Y. Smarten up Chicago fans, for the sake of Chicago sports, smarten up.