It was generally acknowledged going into the 2012 season that the Cubs would be in a rebuilding mode. The one person who resisted the notion of rebuilding, however, was Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein.
“I don’t like the term ‘rebuilding’,” Epstein said during spring training. He publicly maintained this belief until the Cubs lost 12 games in a row in May. At that point, Epstein redefined his comments. “We’re tearing down, especially with Koyie Hill mysteriously on the roster again. Rebuilding comes next.”
Epstein added, “ It just has to.”
Epstein said that the Cubs are on mental sabbatical.
“We show up but no one has his head in the game,” he said. “Starlin Castro pays attention sometimes, but that’s only because he wants to prove he can.”
Cubs GM Jed Hoyer stepped in for Theo when the streak reached 12 games.
“Theo’s a Yale graduate,” Hoyer said. “He likes to use words like ‘sabbatical’ because it’s teachy studenty lingo from his Ivy League days. He joined the Cubs because he thought they were Ivy League too.”
Hoyer reiterated and emphasized that the Cubs are indeed rebuilding, and they went out and crushed the Padres 11-7.
By Rob C. Christiansen
