Stop giving them the benefit of the doubt
It's a prove it game, and these guys never have



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As fans of real teams get ready for the playoffs, Cubs fans are left to lick their wounds, pack away their cup snakes and drool the drool of regret on the pillow of remorse. So over the next couple of weeks, I’ll put the 2023 season into true perspective with a series called simply, The Aftermath.
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Part Four
How do we know they know what they’re doing?
As the 2023 season came crashing down around the Cubs, one of the most inexplicably popular Cubs web sites Tweeted out, “Benefit of the doubt is waning.”
And it made me wonder, why was it there in the first place?
All of the key leadership positions in the Cubs’ organization are stocked with guys who have never won in their current roles. Jed Hoyer is the president of baseball operations now, and is the decision maker on personnel moves just like he was when he was general manager of the San Diego Padres in 2010 and 2011 before he came running back to the safe embrace of Theo Epstein’s loving arms with the Cubs.
In two seasons with the Padres and the three with the Cubs while running the show his teams have two winning seasons, have lost 91 just as many times and have an overall winning percentage of .480 (389-421) with zero playoff appearances.
The Cubs’ manager, David Ross, also has two winning seasons under his belt. His Cubs went 34-26 in the pandemic season of 2020 and this past year when they went a whopping 83-79. Overall his record is 262-284, which like Jed is a .480 winning percentage. His first team made the playoffs. They scored one run in two games and were literally in the postseason for 27 hours. That year they staggered to the finish line. If you include the playoff losses to the Marlins, his Cubs lost eight of their last 11 games in 2020. This past season his Cubs lost 15 of their final 22 games, and were 4-7 in their last 11 compared to 3-8 in 2020. He’s nothing if not consistent.