The Cubs have disastrously mishandled this situation.

They've done that with the entire season. Everyone still have faith in the brain trust?

Can't we just shut down the whole team?

I still have faith in the brain trust. They and I disagreed on the strategy for this past offseason but it's also true that given what Pujols and Prince ended up costing, I probably wouldn't have signed them either. Once you decide not to sign one of those two guys, I don't have a major problem with blowing the whole thing up. My main problem this offseason was with (a) fans who didn't see the value in Pujols or (shorter-term) Fielder; (b) fans who fall for the false dichotomy of "if you're not really really good, you might as well totally suck"; (c) fans who are naive enough to think this is a 2-year rebuild and the Cubs can be good again in 2014.

I don't think the FO falls into (c). I am worried that the FO didn't see the draft/international changes coming and had overly high expectations of what the FA market will look like over the next 4-5 years. Those put a significant constraint on any rebuilding efforts. I wasn't expecting such substantial changes but then I don't have access to the people sitting in the negotiation room or the MLB strategy sessions. So, I think they intended a 4-year rebuild through the draft and international signings -- but it's hard to see how they do that now. Which Theo (or Jed) basically said sometime shortly after the new rules were announced.

Where I suspect I may be in long-term disagreement with the FO (or at least the owners) is (b). Assuming no Garza/DeJesusS/Soriano trades and plugging in some arb salary guesses, the Cubs payroll for 2013 currently stands at about $55 M for a talent level of maybe 60-65 wins. They damn well better spend some of that money on some decent players. I would have been willing to put up with some truly horrible seasons if the Cubs were dominating the draft and international market. But I don't see how any team can dominate those markets now (maybe I just don't understand the loopholes) so short-term sucking only helps get a better draft pick but all the payroll savings go straight to Ricketts.

Well, Samardzija ended the season strong: first complete game of his career and for the Cubs this season.

Will they bring him back for the playoffs at least?

Flags fly forever. Terrible decision.

I would have been willing to put up with some truly horrible seasons if the Cubs were dominating the draft and international market.

Cuban defectors and Japanese players can still be freely bid on. Hard to build a team waiting for the right guy to defect though.

Cuban defectors and Japanese players can still be freely bid on. Hard to build a team waiting for the right guy to defect though.

If you mean that the bonuses don't apply to the international player pool amount, I think that is incorrect for the Cuban players, who are considered amateurs. Puig was in a hurry to sign this past summer in order to get his bonus before the CBA rules for signing international players began.

I think that is incorrect for the Cuban players, who are considered amateurs.

Cuban players over 23 are considered pros.