29 replies to this topic

[Oswego Chris]

Patience is something that is very hard to practice. Most of us were resigned to the fact that this was not going to be a pretty season. However, why should we watch, when after 13 games we have:

- a 3-10 record, 6 games back already
- 5 HRs in 13 games
- 5 guys striking out at a pace of at least once in every four at bats
- Soriano
- 2 good starters
- Camp, Lopez and Castillo on a major league team

Yuck. In the Theotles defense I really don't think there were that many opportunites out there to improve during the off-season. However I think if this keeps up, it might be fair for some to ask did they have to be this bad?

I am in for the long haul(hell, why give up now)...but I am just curious what all of the Cub fans on BN think...How long will the honeymoon period last? When will fans lose patience?

[Brett]

Some fans will lose their shit by the end of May. Most thinking folks will be on board through 2013, at least, even if the results on-field are crappy. We just need to see progress toward the long-term goal. I think we're seeing that so far.

[BlueHorizons]

I think the amount of patience practiced is in direct correlation to how bad the Cubs are during the rebuilding phase. As Oswego Chris pointed out, the season is still very early, but already the suck level is beginning to reach uncomfortable levels.

I am also "in" for the long haul. Hell, I've endured for so long already, and have experienced so many excruciatlingly awful lows, what's a few more decades? However, going in to this season, I still had some hope that even during this rebuilding, the Cubs would be better than last year - at least showing some improvement along the way. So far, that hope hasn't panned out, and is beginning to show definite signs of evaporation. The Cubs are quickly approaching the double-digits when looking at how many games they are out of the division lead. And are at or near the bottom of the league in several categories that the opposite is the goal (HRs, batting avg, etc). Additionally, the Cubs are leading (or near the top) of several other categories in which the lower totals are better (pitcher BBs, for example).

I think the patience quotient is going to be severly tested this year, and the benefit of the doubt levels granted to Theo and Co., will continue to drop. I've head the boo-birds are starting to trickle into the stadiums.

[DocPeterWimsey]

Prior to Theo joining, I was looking at 2015 or 2016 as the earliest to see the Cubs competitive again. I still do not see how any GM could make this franchise competitive for 2013 without altering the space time continuum....

So, that will leave me on board this ship for a while.

[TWC]

Some fans will lose their shit by the end of May.

You mean, the ones who haven't lost it already?

I am in for the long haul(hell, why give up now)...but I am just curious what all of the Cub fans on BN think...How long will the honeymoon period last? When will fans lose patience?

I with you, Philo (where you been, anyway?), and the rest of you. I remain a Cubs fan. I will still listen to the games. I will still throw things when they lose. And I will still tune in tomorrow. Because they will win it all. I'm pretty sure of that.

I don't expect the Cubs to be that great this year, but the "ZOMG! AT THIS RATE THE CUBS ARE GONNA BE 37-125!" FAIL THEO FAIL FAIL FAIL!!!" is obnoxious. Is projections like that were even remotely valid, Bryan LaHair will end up with a .999 BABiP.

I expect much of the "Oh, Theo's here, time to be a Cubs fans again!" people will drop off the map/boards shortly. Some will return in June/July to peep out Rizzo and Jackson, and I believe that a few more will come back in September when, long out of the race, the kids put together a month-long series of good play against bad teams. We'll make some moves in the off-season, nothing major, really, and things will perk back up during Spring Training. If the first half of next season yields a 25-45 start, well, patience will be in short supply I think.

[hardtop]

yeah, for me, its already over. the bullpen is atrocious. marshall for wood was a bad trade. if you're going to pull the rug out from under the 2012 club like that you better be damn sure you're getting something damn good. unnecessary gamble and a bet that they lost.

i think they could have done so much better than stewart and the jesus. although, admittedly, neither are part of the teams biggest problems. i just see them as a waste of time and money, even if its not a lot cash, relatively speaking.

to anyone who saw Maholm pitch last year, you knew he kind of blew. in fact, i would say the cubs terrible plate approach/philosophy was the biggest single factor in elevating his number to respectable last year (not really but we do suck against him). no one on this team can hit lefty slo-ballers.

I was unhappy about all of these ^ off-season moves, but I was giving them the benefit of the doubt. holding out hope, counting on them being geniuses, blah blah blah. But after a dozen plus games, they have lost that benefit. Its doubt from here on out. There is a slim chance that either stewart or dejesus turn out to be a club carrying monster, or that maholm learns how to pitch, or that some bullpen ace falls out of the sky, if that happens ill gladly admit to my stupidity and apologize.

I kind of suspected they were knowingly lying to us about being competitive in 2012. I hope so, because if not, it just means they arent as smart as they had been made out to be. i guess id rather have a liar than a dumby. wait, would i?

[hardtop]

To be clear, I'm not giving up on t Theo or the Cubs.... Ever! But I am really disappointed in the team they've assembled for 2012. to the point that I'm no longer giving them the benefit of the doubt on prospects and re-treads. They are going to have to prove to me they know what they are doing by fielding a division contender next year and a playoff contender tin 2014

[TWC]

yeah, for me, its already over. the bullpen is atrocious. marshall for wood was a bad trade. if you're going to pull the rug out from under the 2012 club like that you better be damn sure you're getting something damn good. unnecessary gamble and a bet that they lost.

I just can't understand how people get hung up on this. We sent the Reds a great 60-inning pitcher who was about to be priced out of a job. If we had Marshall this season, we'd probably be 4-9. Sean Marshall was so very ver very much not the "rug" under the 2012 team. That rug was under the corner infielders, and it was yanked back in November/December.

[Oswego Chris]

Just what I was looking for...some good, focused opinions on the "patience level"...one problem that I see is the change of culture at Wrigley that happened in the 2000's...the rampant booing of Cubs...this never used to happen...

[Ben in Nebraska]

Yeah, I don't and haven't given up hope for the future. That said, this year's team is honestly as bad of a team as I've seen in quite some time. Clearly, given that we're not even through April and there's already a thread about next year's free agent class... this is going to be a very painful summer.
Some people are naturally going to lose their minds and be clamoring for a change this season, but, much like those extended family members you pretend you don't know when they try and say hi to you in a public setting, we'll pretend we can't hear them either.

[Ben in Nebraska]

Just what I was looking for...some good, focused opinions on the "patience level"...one problem that I see is the change of culture at Wrigley that happened in the 2000's...the rampant booing of Cubs...this never used to happen...

They also never had a World Series birth "in the bag" or the best record in the NL in a long time either. That's not to say that I agree with the booing of course.
As far as that type of patience goes, I think it's already gone. Marlon Byrd goes 0-4 with 3 K's today and the boo birds will be out in full force. 2008 seems like a long time ago in some ways, but it set the bar unreasonably high and seeing a team with the kind of payroll that the Cubs have, people don't have any patience for this kind of worthless team that we trot out onto the field every day.
Do I think that means it's time to give up on the future? Absolutely not. Do I have any patience for this year's team? No, not really. I consider this a lost cause season.

[hansman1982]

For me, it will last until the 2014 offseason. By then I am hoping for a serious run (in terms of maybe missing out on a year and a couple million per rather than 5 years on the contract) at Hamels and another big run at a big time FA in that offseason. If we don't get a serious run at Hamels, Soriano is still on the team a year from now, and our farm system hasn't dramatically improved (at least as much as could be expected with only 1 real trade chip that could bring back serious talent and 1 draft) I will be irked.

If, come 2014, we are still seeing a team cobbled together using a lot of failed former top prospects - then Bah Humbug and go Yankees!

[HoustonTransplant]

This team is a dud. I know I'm not the only one that tried to inflate their abilities once Spring Training broke. .500?! SURE! Then they actually started playing. I'm sure we all had superficial high hopes (if we had them at all), but in the back of our minds, we knew they were awful. Theo & Co. told us that, though, in so many words: always defer to the long term. Well, 13 games in isn't the long term, nor is the 2012 season.

I look forward to what this franchise will look like in the next 2+ years, if Theo can walk the walk everyone talks for him, however, I think any long-time Cubs fan has to keep the word "cautious" in front of their optimism. Will we be better than the 2012 Cubs in 2013 and beyond? I think so, but I don't think that's saying anything of value; this team is horrid.

I'm done "believing" that 2012 will be anything other than multitudes of suck, but I'm not done believing that this is all part of a grander plan. Maybe they didn't expect it to be THIS bad (they=Theo & Co.), but if it was, they were cool with it because they have their plan in place. Here's hoping, right?

[Brett]

One thing that I feel pretty confident about now: almost all of the moves this Winter were designed to pick up guys on the cheap whom the front office was hoping they could trade mid-season. Volstad, Stewart, DeJesus, Maholm are the most obvious (and, so, far pretty meh). It was a gamble, but an interesting one that could have paid huge long-term dividends. Still could.

But I'm pretty confident that hoping that those guys turned it around so that the Cubs could be a surprisingly competitive team was never in the plan.

[Crockett]

I really believe that this whole process would've been sped up by at least a full year, maybe more, if Ricketts had fired Hendry upon purchase.

2014-2015 are my goals, I say that early because the franchise should have about 50-70m in payroll to blow on free agents for those years to fill in around Castro, Rizzo, Jackson, etc.

This being said, I am disappointed so far in Ian Stewart more than anyone. Really thought he'd bounce back from injury better than he has. Still looks totally lost against decent offspeed stuff. And while I am a big fan of Rizzo...not having Cashner is really proving to be an issue for the bullpen depth. More than I thought it would, to be honest.