Shapiro to Cubs?

[Damage]

Read a tweet about an hour ago from someone saying Shapiro was very intrigued by the position. I wonder what he could pull off with an unlmited payroll

[pup]

Read a tweet about an hour ago from someone saying Shapiro was very intrigued by the position. I wonder what he could pull off with an unlmited payroll

Please god. If you provide me with one thing in my life that has no effect on my family, let it be getting that geek the frick out of town!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[peeker643]

Read a tweet about an hour ago from someone saying Shapiro was very intrigued by the position. I wonder what he could pull off with an unlmited payroll

Please god. If you provide me with one thing in my life that has no effect on my family, let it be getting that geek the frick out of town!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why wouldn't he go? If he gets an offer he'd be an idiot to stay in this dried up, dead-ass town. Go to a bigger, nicer city and a place with deeper pockets? Yes please.
I'd personally be on the next flight.

Be interesting to see if it's him or the people he works for that have handcuffed this club.

I have my suspicions based on things not necessarily related to the Tribe. And I don't think it's Shapiro.

[pup]

Read a tweet about an hour ago from someone saying Shapiro was very intrigued by the position. I wonder what he could pull off with an unlmited payroll

Please god. If you provide me with one thing in my life that has no effect on my family, let it be getting that geek the frick out of town!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why wouldn't he go? If he gets an offer he'd be an idiot to stay in this dried up, dead-ass town. Go to a bigger, nicer city and a place with deeper pockets? Yes please.
I'd personally be on the next flight.

Be interesting to see if it's him or the people he works for that have handcuffed this club.

I have my suspicions based on things not necessarily related to the Tribe. And I don't think it's Shapiro.

Pretty sure he has had the opportunity to leave previously and never took it. Instead he chose to be hamstrung by the "policies" of baseball in Cleveland.

Take your Harvard degree and go build the Cubs around walks and platoons.

[leadpipe]

Read a tweet about an hour ago from someone saying Shapiro was very intrigued by the position. I wonder what he could pull off with an unlmited payroll

Please god. If you provide me with one thing in my life that has no effect on my family, let it be getting that geek the frick out of town!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why wouldn't he go? If he gets an offer he'd be an idiot to stay in this dried up, dead-ass town. Go to a bigger, nicer city and a place with deeper pockets? Yes please.
I'd personally be on the next flight.

Be interesting to see if it's him or the people he works for that have handcuffed this club.

I have my suspicions based on things not necessarily related to the Tribe. And I don't think it's Shapiro.

The other side of that is making the case that a GM or the like ought to stay in the small market, because if you go to a large one you lose the industry standard excuse of being "handcuffed by payroll."

In Shapiro's case, it seemed to me like he fancied himself as one of these guys that were genuis' with a limited payroll.

[redneckofsc]

Why wouldn't he go? If he gets an offer he'd be an idiot to stay in this dried up, dead-ass town. Go to a bigger, nicer city and a place with deeper pockets? Yes please.

I realize Cleveland isnt all that, but Chicago is a shit hole. I would rather live in Mogadisgu.

[WiscTribeFan]

Why wouldn't he go? If he gets an offer he'd be an idiot to stay in this dried up, dead-ass town. Go to a bigger, nicer city and a place with deeper pockets? Yes please.

I realize Cleveland isnt all that, but Chicago is a shit hole. I would rather live in Mogadisgu.

If you really think this, either you're a Saudi Prince or completely and utterly clueless. Which is it?

[motherscratcher]

No doubt that a lot of other people fancied Shapiro a "genius". But I'm not sure it's fair to say that he fancied himself that just because others wrote it a lot.

I like Shap. Always have. If he goes, I hope he does well.

[motherscratcher]

Why wouldn't he go? If he gets an offer he'd be an idiot to stay in this dried up, dead-ass town. Go to a bigger, nicer city and a place with deeper pockets? Yes please.

I realize Cleveland isnt all that, but Chicago is a shit hole. I would rather live in Mogadisgu.

I've been to Chicago twice. I must have been in different parts than you were.

Maybe you stopped in Gary by mistake?

[WiscTribeFan]

Read a tweet about an hour ago from someone saying Shapiro was very intrigued by the position. I wonder what he could pull off with an unlmited payroll

The Cubs payroll is far from unlimited. They have some money coming off the books for next season, and more if they decline the option for Ramirez but they are also saddled with some unmovable contracts with Zumbrano and Soriano ($18M a piece!), and not a whole lot of young talent in the upper minors ready to step in and contribute. Outside of their middle infield, the team is pretty bare on the offensive side of the ball, and the starting staff makes Cleveland's look championship caliber. They've got a couple of solid relief pitchers. They'll probably have around $20M to spend in the off-season, give or take.

The Cubs should have done what teams like Boston, Detroit and the Yankees did, invest heavily in the draft and international, paying over-slot for guys and stock-piling young talent. They had the resources to do it, but only figured it out the last two seasons. If MLB goes to a hard-slot type of a system for the draft, then those teams have lost their financial advantage for amateurs.

The next couple of seasons on the North Side are going to be pretty painful. The next GM is going to have to completely rebuild that franchise from the ground up.

[Dnthateonthepronk]

Take your Harvard degree and go build the Cubs around walks and platoons.

Im pretty sure he never wanted platoon situations. He had to work with the resources he was given, which wasnt much.

But of course he gave a positive spin to the platoons. What was he supposed to do? Come in and announce on the first day of spring training " Well guys we are fucked. I gotta stick dellucci and micheals out there, cause I have no other choice, its going to be painful."


I like Shap but I also have no problem with taking shots at him when he deserves it but assuming he wanted and actually believed in platoon situations over everyday players is not one of those deserved shots.

[pup]

Take your Harvard degree and go build the Cubs around walks and platoons.

Im pretty sure he never wanted platoon situations. He had to work with the resources he was given, which wasnt much.

But of course he gave a positive spin to the platoons. What was he supposed to do? Come in and announce on the first day of spring training " Well guys we are fucked. I gotta stick dellucci and micheals out there, cause I have no other choice, its going to be painful."


I like Shap but I also have no problem with taking shots at him when he deserves it but assuming he wanted and actually believed in platoon situations over everyday players is not one of those deserved shots.

Platoons were his shot at Moneyball like fame.

[Ziner]

Did someone really just refer to Chicago as a shithole? Wow.

[e0y2e3]

He lives in South Carolina, WTF do you expect?

Anyone that would live South of the Mason Dixon line needs their head examined.

[idoctribefan]

Did someone really just refer to Chicago as a shithole? Wow.

Maybe when he visited he flew into Midway, and didn't make it more than a few miles away from the airport. That area is a shithole.

[rigs]

Man, people are way too hard on the Dolans and give Shapiro a decade free pass. 11 years, 1 postseason. In a crappy division. Dolan ramped up payroll to a top 12-13 payroll, then rightfully sold it off once they saw what Shapiro did with it.

The guy has not been good, too put it kindly. Even his most notable move, the Colon trade, he botched in the long run.

[GodHatesClevelandSport]

Thought about this possibility the moment they announced they were interviewing just about everyone. Why wouldn't they consider Shapiro? And why wouldn't he want to go? Who cares if he leaves now? What's he do for the team now anyway?

[WiscTribeFan]

The Cubs haven't decided on interviewing anyone at this point. From Cashman to Beane to Shapiro, what you hear is mere speculation on the part of the media, mostly, not anything based on actual coming out of Chicago's ownership.

I'd bet the Cubs interview a couple of people, and none of them named above.

The original poster didn't name who the tweet was from, or if it was even an actual quote from Shapiro. Maybe it was just a passing comment when asked about the situation. I mean, if you've been a GM, why wouldn't you be at least interested in one of the more high profile jobs in baseball?

[skatingtripods]

Buster Olney tweeted a while back that his darkhorse candidate to be the Commish when Selig left is Mark Shapiro. He's highly intelligent and well-respected among baseball execs, or so said Olney.

If he goes to Chicago, good luck to him.

[Damage]

I will always have a soft spot for Shappy. Sure he had some bad moments, but in the end, he helped this team more than most GM's could (sizemore, lee, hafner, phillips, asdrubal, choo to name a few). He's extremely intelligent and if I were the Chicago Cubs owner, I would press hard to scoop him.

[Spin]

If he needs a ride, let me know. I'll drive him and his puppet underling to Chicago...

[Rusty]

He's a puss, hand-sitting, repetitive suit... also known for his double-talk and supreme excuse making skills. Please send that arrogant douche and his twitching idiot buddy to the windy city ASAP, so that they can further destroy that horrendous franchise.

[1Perry]

Chicago is a great town. I'm sure they would welcome Shapiro with open arms and love him there. He'd be a fool not to go. I feel so strongly in that, that I'm available to help him pack and wish him off.

[Dnthateonthepronk]

Chicago is a great town. I'm sure they would welcome Shapiro with open arms and love him there. He'd be a fool not to go. I feel so strongly in that, that I'm available to help him pack and wish him off.

I may be wrong, but im sensing some passive agressive hatred in that post

[Dnthateonthepronk]

If the Cubs do offer, it would got to be tempting to go. But that is a job that he has a very high chance of getting fired from. In Cleveland he has a relatively "Cushy" job and The Dolans love him. He ain't leaving here unless he wants to or Adverb Harry and Spin carry him out in a body bag. If I were him in this job market I would just stay with the sure thing. He is too old to be worrying about glory.

[Am I Here Again?]

...He is too old to be worrying about glory.

Old? OLD? He's 44!!! If I lived closer I'd be washing your mouth out with soap...

[Eckersley]

Be interesting to see if it's him or the people he works for that have handcuffed this club.

Yeah, I'd be interested to see that as well. Not a fan of the Dolans, but I will say that when they gave Shap some $ to spend a few years ago, he pretty much flushed it all down the terlet.

Whoever goes to the Cubs will look good. How could they not coming in behind the disaster that was Jim Hendry?

[Dellucci TailGator]

Why wouldn't he go? If he gets an offer he'd be an idiot to stay in this dried up, dead-ass town. Go to a bigger, nicer city and a place with deeper pockets? Yes please.

I realize Cleveland isnt all that, but Chicago is a shit hole.

You've said many indefensible things. This ranks at the top of that heaping mountain.

[YahooFanChicago]

Jim Hendry was a horrible GM so Shap would look good in comparison. The problem is that Hendry being the shitty GM he is left the place in a f'ing mess and the Ricketts really extended themselves to buy the team at top dollar (sound familiar?). As mentioned before, there are some real bad contracts on that team that aren't moveable.

The new guy will have his work cut out for him with some real payroll limitations, not a great farm system and owners that are probably impatient for results.

If Shapiro gets the job I wish him well and will continue to root for the Cubs except when they play the Indians.

As far as Chicago being a sh*thole....I guess it's hard to compete with Clemson S. Carolina if you're a redneck

[WiscTribeFan]

Jim Hendry was a horrible GM so Shap would look good in comparison. The problem is that Hendry being the shitty GM he is left the place in a f'ing mess and the Ricketts really extended themselves to buy the team at top dollar (sound familiar?). As mentioned before, there are some real bad contracts on that team that aren't moveable.

The new guy will have his work cut out for him with some real payroll limitations, not a great farm system and owners that are probably impatient for results.

If Shapiro gets the job I wish him well and will continue to root for the Cubs except when they play the Indians.

As far as Chicago being a sh*thole....I guess it's hard to compete with Clemson S. Carolina if you're a redneck

Hendry had some good moves along with some of the more questionable ones. Stealing Aramis Ramirez from the Pirates and Derek Lee from the Marlins, notably, helped set them up for the success they had a few years ago. They should have won it all in 2003, they were unlucky with a good bit of chokeage in there....

Picking up Ryan Dempster on the cheap and making him into a 1) dominant closer then 2) top flight starter was another nice deal he made.

Soriano would have been a fine pickup had it been for 4-5 years, not 7.

He lost me when he signed Milton Bradley. That's when he jumped the shark.

[YahooFanChicago]

Hendry had so many resources with the Cubs. In the past 5 years the Cubs averaged $129M payroll (top 3-8 payroll every year). During that time they had a .508 winning percentage. They went to the playoffs twice in the last 5 years (in 2007 and 2008). They didn't win a single playoff game in that time. They were 0-3 in each of the two playoff series they played in.

During the past 5 years our Indians have been pretty bad also. During that time our payroll averaged $66M, we made the playoffs one year (2007) and were within one game of returning to the World Series. During the past 5 years the Cubs on average won 3.5 games more per season than our Indians.

Hendry's record was mediocre/average but his payroll and resources were excellent. Shapiro had a similar success record in Cleveland with about 1/2 of the resources. I think if you give someone like Shapiro those resources he would have done a lot better. I think that Hendry threw a lot of money around at free agents and didn't invest in the Cubs farm system nearly enough. This of course is very subjective and it is just my opinion.