I think there are 4 more winnable games (MN, ATL, AZ, and GB). Given that it’s always been a rebuild project, I think we keep Poles, Flus, and Fields if we get 7 wins, especially if we look okay in the losses.
The team is on the way up, still playing hard, and I think 3 years is a more reasonable timeline.
Is it possible that Flus is bad by design?
You’re rebuilding so you hire a 101-level teacher to re-establish the basics, bomb a few seasons for draft picks, re-stock young dudes, and trade for a few culture guys. Build your core until you lose they locker room and then go for the innovative coach when your team is ready.
Didn’t the Cubs do this same thing with Rick Renteria?
The Bears themselves did this with John Fox. After the shitshow that was the end of the Trestman era the Bears hired John Fox who was clearly already washed up but who could maintain a locker room. They reset the culture and tried to strike big with Nagy. It would’ve worked but Mitch didn’t develop and that was the end of the Pace era.