5th February 2003, 5:27 PM
I got so excited when the Cubs hired Dusty Baker. There was all this talk of players who would die to play for Baker. Ivan Rodriguez has the same manager, surely he will be a Cub in 2003. Jeff Kent wants to stay with his manager, surely he'd be willing to move to 3rd base to become a Cub. Jim Thome has wanted to be a Cub his entire life, surely we could trade Hee Seop Choi to get him.
The Cubs biggest signing this offseason was a relief pitcher. A relief pitcher! Remlinger is great and all, and the Cubs certainly needed to work on the bullpen, but if the offense is as horrible as it was last year, I'd be shocked if they aren't dead last in the NL Central. This is coming from a fan who thinks every one of his favorite teams has a chance to do good every year. I'm saying this right now: I do not see the Cubs turning things around with Baylor alone, they need some offensive production. Pitching is fine at this point. They have a lot of decent relievers who will be fighting for bullpen positions, and of course the starters are solid, but if the Cubs can't produce runs they can't win. Sosa had an off year for him, but he still had a solid season, but the Cubs really need production from other players. I think it will be another season or 2 before Choi and Bobby Hill come around so this will probably be another lackluster year. The only good thing I see out of this past offseason for the Cubs besides hiring Baylor was finally getting rid of Todd Hundley. He was good when he first came to the Cubs, but I guess too much pressure was put on him in Chicago.
Anyway, I say we have a bet to see which of our teams is out of the playoff race first. :D
The Cubs biggest signing this offseason was a relief pitcher. A relief pitcher! Remlinger is great and all, and the Cubs certainly needed to work on the bullpen, but if the offense is as horrible as it was last year, I'd be shocked if they aren't dead last in the NL Central. This is coming from a fan who thinks every one of his favorite teams has a chance to do good every year. I'm saying this right now: I do not see the Cubs turning things around with Baylor alone, they need some offensive production. Pitching is fine at this point. They have a lot of decent relievers who will be fighting for bullpen positions, and of course the starters are solid, but if the Cubs can't produce runs they can't win. Sosa had an off year for him, but he still had a solid season, but the Cubs really need production from other players. I think it will be another season or 2 before Choi and Bobby Hill come around so this will probably be another lackluster year. The only good thing I see out of this past offseason for the Cubs besides hiring Baylor was finally getting rid of Todd Hundley. He was good when he first came to the Cubs, but I guess too much pressure was put on him in Chicago.
Anyway, I say we have a bet to see which of our teams is out of the playoff race first. :D
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