Media Chutzpah Thread

[sbrylski]

Maybe a designated thread, with all the predictions that will be pouring out over the next few weeks...

 

Tim Kurkjian on ESPN news just cited the Cubs as his team to beat. Which is fine, but this was his reasoning:

• "I think they'll figure out their bullpen." - Gave no reason why he'd think that.
• "Fukudome adds something to their lineup." - Why is he hailed as a superstar without question? He is a huge unknown.
• "They might get Brian Roberts" - They might.

You can pick the Cubs, but that's horrible logic he cited, IMO.

 

Edited title per Brewguru's insight...

[Bring Back the Stein]

It's February. That's when the Cubs win their World Series.

[jason21nl]

and now let the ESPN bashing begin.

 

I thought that he said that if they got Roberts they then would clearly be the team to beat. Which I think they would. They won the division last year, and I think they are a better team then they were last year. I think they will win it again this year. I don't think he had enough time to go into detail on why he thought they would win the division.

[yoyo49]

I agree completely, but don't necessarily mind that the national pundits are picking the Cubs. The only thing the Cubs did in their off-season was add Fukudome, who will not replicate his power numbers in American ballparks. Zambrano is a very solid number one, but beyond that, nobody in their starting five scares me. Especially with the all of the righties in the Brewers lineup ready to mash Lilly and Hill. Marquis and Lieber are garbage, and the thought that moving former closer Dempster to the rotation doesn't mean he is going to become a better pitcher. Keep picking the Cubs ESPN.

[BrewCrewForever]

ESPN is a joke, to me at least. Granted I still watch it, but that is because there are no other 24 hour sports channels. I liked when CNNSI was a network. The only people I like from ESPN are: Karl Ravech, Scott Van Pelt, Tony Kornheiser, Mike Wilbon, Peter Gammons and maybe a few others. I'm not sure that I like any of their football "experts".

[sbrylski]

I thought that he said that if they got Roberts they then would clearly be the team to beat. Which I think they would. They won the division last year, and I think they are a better team then they were last year. I think they will win it again this year. I don't think he had enough time to go into detail on why he thought they would win the division.

 

The reason they have a good chance to repeat as division champs is because they won it last season and no team in the Central appeared to substantially improve, including the Cubs. Not because "they might figure out their bullpen" or "they might get Brian Roberts". Fukudome just allowed them to about keep pace with other team's improvements around the division.

[jason21nl]

its not like our bullpen has all sure things in it. They might be good or they all might fall on their face. I do agree with the Roberts thing, stop talking like he is batting lead off for them, because he isn't on the team.

[fondybrewfan]

There is no doubt the national consensus (ESPN) is picking the Cubs to win, but its not like its a horrible prediction. The Cubs have a good team, not a great team, but a good team. The Brewers certainly are an up and coming team but until they prove that they are winners and are consistently winners I see now problem in people picking the Cubs. They are by no means the clear favorite because I think people may be underestimating the Brewers and the Reds. Both of these teams have tons more potential than the Cubs. The Cubs are starting to get old, their offensive corp is on the wrong side of 30 and I will believe all the Soto hype when he actually shows something. One spectacular AAA does not a superstar catcher make.

[TooLiveBrew]

One spectacular AAA year with absurdly & unsustainably high BABIP at both AAA & MLB does not a superstar catcher make.

 

There we go. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[crewcrazy]

There is no doubt the national consensus (ESPN) is picking the Cubs to win, but its not like its a horrible prediction. The Cubs have a good team, not a great team, but a good team. The Brewers certainly are an up and coming team but until they prove that they are winners and are consistently winners I see now problem in people picking the Cubs. They are by no means the clear favorite because I think people may be underestimating the Brewers and the Reds. Both of these teams have tons more potential than the Cubs. The Cubs are starting to get old, their offensive corp is on the wrong side of 30 and I will believe all the Soto hype when he actually shows something. One spectacular AAA does not a superstar catcher make.

I agree...with a gun to my head, I'd probably say the Cubs have the better chance at winning the division this year. To this point they haven't made as many changes to their team as the Brewers have, but they didn't have to. Barring injuries, I'd say the Cubs are slightly better than the Brewers, but they're very similar teams with similar talent levels...I'd be surprised if the division was decided by more than 2 games this year.

 

I do think the preseason love for Fukudome and Soto is a little ridiculous, though...people predicting them to contend for the ROY award, become instant all-stars, etc. is a little crazy when there's only a handful of MLB at-bats between them. Soto had a great year at AAA last year, but it was his third year in the PCL and it was the first year in his minor league career with an OPS above .760. I'm not exactly buying him as an offensive force at catcher yet, but who knows..maybe he magically learned how to hit for power at the age of 24.

 

[craigharmann]

Maybe a designated thread, with all the predictions that will be pouring out over the next few weeks...

 

Tim Kurkjian on ESPN news just cited the Cubs as his team to beat. Which is fine, but this was his reasoning:

• "I think they'll figure out their bullpen." - They'll figure out in May that their bullpen sucks
  
• "Fukudome adds something to their lineup." - He adds something, alright. A whole lot of additional question marks
  
• "They might get Brian Roberts" - They might. But then again, they're the Cubs. They may get Brian Roberts and he has an OK year, and the guys they trade for him may turn out to be studs. They are the Cubs.

My logic is in bold. Once again, they are the Cubs.

 

[Nearsighted Views]

I like to see everyone picking the Cubs. Many of them picked the Brewers last year and we all saw how that worked out. And like I said before, I'd like to see the Cubs get out to a hot start so the Crew can play with no pressure. The only thing irking me a bit about the national media is the aforementioned lack of credit to other teams in the division.

 

But that being said, there are more Cub fans than Milwaukee and Reds fans combined so it behooves them to focus on the northsiders.

 

But all in all, I'd like to see the Brewers totally left out of the 4 letter network until September when they make their push. When I close my eyes, I can see the Piniella blowups and closeups of Ramirez's face as the Cubs squander a 5 game lead with 20 games to go... Ah...and the closeups of the shocked faces of Cubs fans all across America. I can hear the silence from the drunken masses at Miller Park when Fielder and Braun go back to back jacks in the 9th to deliver the decisive blow to take the division on the final game of the season!!

 

I love the Spring! It's all possible!

[JJHardy7]

To be honest, I try not to get too caught up in what the "experts" think. ESPN is almost always going to go with the big markets and that's just how it is. I'd rather the Brewers get as little publicity as possible and just win games.

 

It does surprise me that after last year it looks like the Brewers are an after thought. The less media/pressure on the young guys early in the season the better. I have a feeling there will be plenty of it towards the end of the season and hopefully in October.

[sbrylski]

(Just to clarify, my original post takes offense to the logic behind his pick, not necessarily his pick. I agree with much of what has said.)

[TooLiveBrew]

Soto had a great year at AAA last year, but it was his third year in the PCL and it was the first year in his minor league career with an OPS above .760. I'm not exactly buying him as an offensive force at catcher yet, but who knows..maybe he magically learned how to hit for power at the age of 24.

 

Soto's BABIP at MLB in 2007: .486 (54 AB)

 

Soto's BABIP at AAA in 2007: .407 (383 AB)

 

 

Don't get me wrong, he's a solid young C, but we have no idea how good he's going to be yet. My guess is somewhere in the .750-.850 OPS range in his prime, which is obviously solid for a C. However, I think expecting a medium to large regression in production for Geovany this season is the only objective assessment.

[jason21nl]

My logic is in bold. Once again, they are the Cubs.

 

what does that even mean? they are the cubs so they will find a way to screw up? Last time I checked the Crew hasn't done anything and the Cubs fans probably can say, well, they are the Brewers. That saying just doesn't make sense to me

[Dmiles23]

Well... Gammons was just giving the Brewers some MAJOR props during the Dodgers/Braves game today. Gammons, Kruk, and Phillips were giving their 6 teams to look out for in each league, and even before they put the graphic on the screen, Gammons said something like "Look out for the Brewers this year!" Then he went on to say that he thought the addition of Kendall would be huge. He said that he thought Capuano would rebound this year because of the addition of Kendall. The new possible batting order with Kendall batting 9th and Braun batting second was also mentioned. He finished off by saying that if Sheets could rebound and make 30 starts, the Brewers already have "the best lineu... one of the best lineups in the game."

[rluzinski]

I have no problem with people thinking the Cubs are the favorites in the NL Central because they are. Most projections I've seen have them beating out the Brewers by 2 or 3 wins. What gets me is when they pretend that the Cubs should be expected to win the Central by 10+ games. That just sin't realistic. The Brewers and Cubs are pretty close in talent.

[lukevan]

That's my problem with the majority of experts picking the Cubs, it starts to appear that they have a big edge over the rest of the Central when in fact they may not even truly be the favorite. One big injury could swing the advantage one way or the other.

 

I know I'm not, but have to ask: am I the only one who thinks the Brewers will be better than the Cubs for 2008?

[Brewguru2]

I always hate it when teams and fans play the "disrespect" card. Every championship team in every sport for the past 20 years has used the line "no one outside this locker room respected us."

 

It's all garbage, IMO.

 

As for the Brewers, why should they be respected?? They lost a big lead in the division and haven't been to the playoffs in a quarter of a century. That demands respect to you?

[Brewguru2]

That's my problem with the majority of experts picking the Cubs, it starts to appear that they have a big edge over the rest of the Central when in fact they may not even truly be the favorite. One big injury could swing the advantage one way or the other.

 

I know I'm not, but have to ask: am I the only one who thinks the Brewers will be better than the Cubs for 2008?

 

By definition, when a "majority of experts" pick you, you ARE the favorite.

 

As for the "one big injury", you could say that for any team, be it the Red Sox, Angels, Indians, Mets, etc. Doesn't mean those teams still aren't the favorites.

[craigharmann]

My logic is in bold. Once again, they are the Cubs.

 

what does that even mean? they are the cubs so they will find a way to screw up? Last time I checked the Crew hasn't done anything and the Cubs fans probably can say, well, they are the Brewers. That saying just doesn't make sense to me

The Cubs have had many bad things happen to them. Call it a curse, whatever. The Brewers haven't even been close to good the last decade, and we fans haven't been as bad as Cubs fans. Every year, we hear about how great the Cubs are and how THIS is their year. That doesn't make sense to me.

 

[logan82]

Gammons was on the Mike and Mike show this morning. He said the Brewers and the Cubs would be fighting it out for the division all year.

[Ennder]

I always hate it when teams and fans play the "disrespect" card. Every championship team in every sport for the past 20 years has used the line "no one outside this locker room respected us."

 

It's all garbage, IMO.

 

As for the Brewers, why should they be respected?? They lost a big lead in the division and haven't been to the playoffs in a quarter of a century. That demands respect to you?

1) I think the Brewers were better than the Cubs last year, the team just choked it away with a bad month.

2) I think the Brewers improved more than the Cubs in the offseason. Fukudome doesn't seem like a huge upgrade over what they got in RF last year and that is the only big addition.

3) I think the Cubs have more potential holes in their team than the Brewers. Both teams could have flops at C. The Cubs could be a mess at CF, 2B and SS and who knows what Fukudome will do.

4) I think the Cubs have more downside than the Brewers, they have more players on the wrong side of their career who would be expected to regress.

5) I think the Brewers have more uspide than the Cubs. We have loads of talent that could take a step forward and improve their game especially in OBP and defense.

 

In short I agree with you, if the Cubs don't trade for Roberts I'm going into the season predicting the Brewers come in 1st (something I haven't done in the past 10 years).

[Brewguru2]

In short I agree with you, if the Cubs don't trade for Roberts I'm going into the season predicting the Brewers come in 1st (something I haven't done in the past 10 years).

I hope you're right.

 

But

 

1) The Cubs won 85 games, the Brewers 83.

2) The Brewers improvements are arguable. Bullpen could be great or terrible. Braun in left is a ? just as Hall was in center last year. Hall at third has 17 errors in 84 career games; not much better than Braun.

3) Agree on C. With the Brewers, can Hall bounce back? Can Fielder or Braun do any better? Weeks and Hart are the 2 who SHOULD really improve for the Brewers, Hart mainly because he'll get more PT.

4) The Cubs and Brewers each have two players in their projected lineups older than 30 (Derrick Lee, Fukkodome, Mike Cameron and Jason Kendall).

 

One wildcard is the Lou Piniella vs. Ned Yost matchup.

 

I guess the real answer will come down to will the Brewers retooled bullpen be more of an advantage than the addition of Fukkodome.

 

I think the Brewers and Cubs will battle it out all year. It should be a good one. Let's hope the good guys come out on top this year.

 

 

(pared back long nested quote --1992)