The Cubs currently have the worst record in MLB, and the first year under the team's President of Business Operations Theo Epstein is "not going well," according to NBC Sports Network’s Erik Kuselias, who spoke to SI's Joe Sheehan about the state of the franchise. Kuselias: "It’s early, but how much rope will he get there before they start getting a little restless.” SI’s Joe Sheehan said when Epstein took over in Boston, the Red Sox “were a good team with a good farm system.” But with the Cubs, Sheehan said, "You've got a lot of dead payroll (and) a completely different job. It’s a teardown and you have to give him more rope.” Kuselias: “But can he finish last three straight years?” Sheehan: “It’s not that ‘can he,’ they should finish last for three straight years. If you’re the Cubs, you want to finish last (and) get those high draft picks. Whether you win 70 or 60 games is immaterial to what your team is going to be like in 2016” (“NBC Sports Talk,” NBC Sports Network, 6/15).
ROAD WARRIORS: Last week's three-game Tigers-Cubs series drew 124,782 fans, “a record for a weekday series” at Wrigley Field (DETROIT NEWS, 6/15). Comcast SportsNet Chicago’s Dave Kaplan noted the heavy turnout of Tigers fans during the series, saying,“It was packed. … I heard it was the biggest mid-week, three-day series in the history of the park. ... It was rocking there, but there were a lot of Tiger fans.” Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan: “The way this team has played is the reason everyone gave their tickets away to Tigers’ fans to get money back for games they have had to eat because the Cubs stunk” (“Chicago Tribune Live,” Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 6/15). After singing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” at Thursday’s Tigers-Cubs game, comedian Jeff Garlin told the crowd, “Let me tell ya, you Tigers fans suck!” He then joined the Cubs' TV broadcasters during the bottom of the seventh inning. Garlin: “I wanna apologize, by the way, not to Tigers fans, mind you, but for saying at the end there that Tigers fans suck. Because, A) I draw very well in Detroit, B) I have respect for the Tigers, but C) They're irritating me today, and I don't like using the word suck but they made me angry. There are too many of them!” (DETROIT NEWS, 6/15).
WERNER RESPONDS TO THEO: Red Sox Chair Tom Werner “rebutted” Epstein’s comments that “pressure from ownership” was one reason for his departure as Red Sox last fall. Werner said, “There’s a sense that non-baseball people are telling baseball people what to do, but what we do is we try to create the revenue streams for our baseball operations people to be successful.” He added, “I can tell you the pressure in Boston to win, it comes from all of us wanting to be successful on the field. It’s not coming from NESN, it’s not coming for making money.’’ Werner said he “vehemently’’ disagreed with the idea that Epstein "made moves to support the business side of the team." Werner: “We are responsible for trying to create enough revenue so we can support the second-highest payroll in baseball. I don’t make any apologies for that. We can’t say to our fans we’re going to ask you to pay a high price for a ticket but we’re not going to have a competitive team’’ (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/19). More Werner: "I don't think we have the right in this market in good conscience to say to our fans we're going to have a bridge year” (ESPNBOSTON.com, 6/18). In Providence, Bill Reynolds notes Epstein describes the pressure of running the Red Sox as “Feeding the Monster.” It is the “sense that if the monster is not constantly fed, it all goes away, that all the interest and all the TV ratings and all the excitement comes from winning, nothing else.” It is the “pervading sense that this is the new landscape, one that has no patience for any kind of failure”(PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, 6/19).
