At the beginning of this offseason, we knew the Cubs needed the following:
- A starting catcher (no offense to Yan Gomes)
- A center fielder
- More bats
- Probably another front-line starter
And that was just the bare minimum. A few weeks later, with many big names coming off the board, the Cubs still need:
- A starting catcher
- More bats
- Probably another front-line starter
That really depends on how much you think Cody Bellinger bounces back to at least solid-to-All-Star level production, what you make of Jameson Taillon’s position in the rotation, and whether you believe the in-house bats take a step forward, but there is an old Chinese proverb about waiting for another rabbit to crash into a tree and kill itself so you can have dinner that night. The basic gist is that the Cubs have not done anything to significantly improve themselves at this point in the offseason, their options are dwindling, and we are justifiably disappointed because there doesn’t seem to be a plan. After the letter from Tom Ricketts, the pressers from Jed Hoyer about being aggressive, and Crane Kenney opening his mouth and suggesting that they’ve found extra money in their couch cushions, we still have nothing but the vestiges of the last great Cubs team (the shell of Kyle Hendricks and David Ross trying to do what he can to squeeze out some moral victories) because they chose to let this team crumble to dust. This can be any number of reasons:
- There was a plan in place by Jed Hoyer and the front office with the blessing of ownership, but the marquee (pun intended) free agents decided that the Cubs were not in competition shape. This is probably bullshit because the Rangers threw a ton of money at Marcus Simien and Corey Seager and now Jacob deGrom and that team was trash for the past few seasons. Then the Giants, who aren’t in much better shape, threw all the money and years at Carlos Correa, so if they had the money, the free agents would come. Which brings us to…
- Jed had a plan, but it did not involve setting or matching the developing market. This is what I would call stubbornly stupid because the pieces available out there filled a need and the club (either for real or through smoke and mirrors) had the financial resources to make it so. And that suggests…
- Jed had a plan, and thought the money was there, but it was really smoke and mirrors after all.
None of this reflects positively on the Cubs, especially when they are marketing their first Cubs Convention in years with not very much for us to look forward to, when they’ve objectively suffered ratings hits and attendance drops, and when they’re likely still losing season ticket holders as the new season looms. There is of course a way to still salvage this with current free agents still on the board, but that’s headlined now by one Dansby Swanson, who was plan B while the other three shortstops were plans A1, A2, and A3 in any order. Swanson is not enough, so they’ll have to sign or trade for a catcher, they’ll have to probably sign a Brandon Drury or Justin Turner to man one or both of the corners, and they might have to just throw some money at Carlos Rodon because I’m in the camp that says Marcus Stroman should probably not be the number one starter on a competitive rotation. It’s obviously too late for Correa, but Jed and crew really should have worried more about 2023 and 2024 (and probably all the way up to 2030 given Correa’s age), not 2035, because the contract he reportedly signed for is a built in Bobby Bonilla deferral mechanism. You need the guy now! Sign him NOW! But anyway, too late, hopefully they get someone else.
Without a significant push, I’m guessing Ian Happ walks and Marcus Stroman opts out after next season, although there are lots of pitching options in the next class of free agents. It probably doesn’t make as much sense to throw money at a Manny Machado (if he opts out) since he’s going to be older than if they had just throw all the money at Carlos Correa, and honestly who’s to say the Padres won’t just pay the man since they have money to throw around unlike some teams? The “wait and see” approach is probably better for the prospects because while the farm system has improved, I just don’t see many “can’t miss” guys in the wings, so that’s why I was pushing for free agency, where you know the players already have a track record of success. Now we just have to hope the Cubs make the pivot they should have earlier to sign the largest impact players so they can at least salvage this offseason, sneak into the playoffs, and generate some momentum for recruiting future free agents. Because in my mind, this “delay” in the timeline was completely by design and/or incompetence, and they’ll probably hear about it at the Convention now.
Comments
Y’all wanna see a fun HOF ballot?
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Oh yeah, the Chinese proverb –> https://www.tutormandarin.net/en/holding-a-tree-and-waiting-for-a-rabbit/
Rice CubeQuote Reply
It’s almost as though this is a profoundly unserious organization and has been for quite some time.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Smokestack Lightning,
I wish I could tell you I disagreed, but at this point I think they should probably sell the team and get a new business head to sell this team better without throwing their baseball people under a bus
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Droopy yay dot gif
Rice CubeQuote Reply
For your amusement –>
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Between the Bellinger announcement and the Cubs emailing me about prospects at the Convention, I’m sure the marketing team is scrambling to find some good to peddle and the scrambling is definitely showing
Rice CubeQuote Reply
No Thor either
Rice CubeQuote Reply
If the Cubs had any interest whatsoever in winning they’d start firing people today. That jobs aren’t being lost is proof IMO that ownership is content to suck. This was probably true at the end of the season too. And at the last all Star break.
dmick89Quote Reply
I think there was a plan, which was to watch like 28 other teams also do nothing and then magically pick up a bunch of guys below market value because who wouldn’t want to play for the Cubs? Once that didn’t happen, the plan became to tank yet again.
If you’ve ever believed you’re not smart enough to be an exec for an MLB team, give yourself a bit more credit.
uncle daveQuote Reply
This. Either ownership lied about money being available or Jed is incompetent. In both scenarios Jed has to get axed.
Wenningtons Gorilla CockQuote Reply
uncle dave,
“During the offseason, I’ll hide under some coats and hope that somehow everything will work out.”
PerkinsQuote Reply
Wenningtons Gorilla Cock,
Jed is just the start if ownership really wanted to win. A complete overhaul of management (executive and field level). There’s only one reason to keep everyone around: ownership approved of this team being an even bigger embarrassment than we thought possible.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
Crane Kenney still has his job, and Marquee is his malignant little fail baby. He went on record as saying the Ricketts aren’t big on mandates. Nothing going on at the moment bothers anyone in the Cubs organization all that much. Yeah, there are moves they can still make that would help, but it’s really hard to believe they’ll make them.
The only person I expected more from was Jed. If nothing significant happens in the way of FA signings and Jed is half the person I thought he was, he’ll just resign at some point. No one but hitting coaches will ever get fired.
andcountingQuote Reply
Yup. You don’t power strut into the winter meetings like Vince McMahon, talking about signing two of the top-tier shortstops, only to end up with a couple of mid-tier dudes much smarter and better-run organizations decided weren’t worth keeping around anymore.
If this is Cubs ownership talking a big game but more or less hanging Jed out to dry, Jed should walk and burn the place down on his way out. If this is Jed somehow bungling a blank check to go get the best players and turn this team into a contender, ownership should hang his lifeless body from atop the Wrigley scoreboard with the L flag nailed into his chest.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
The plan was not a mystery this offseason. They failed hard. And even if they thought for some completely justifiable and unknown-to-me reason that Dansby Swanson was the best value available at SS this year, waiting to sign him until he was the only shortstop remaining and his market price hit its highest possible peak was absolutely idiotic.
andcountingQuote Reply
New shit you guys can actually listen to if you desire –> http://www.obstructedview.net/dreamcast-54-whose-fault-is-this-anyway/
I’ll get you jabronis the week before Xmas if you’re available for another one just in case something good actually happens in the meantime.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
andcounting,
Agreed. Even if Swanson at this point, they screwed up the getting bad enough it doesn’t even begin to alleviate concerns about the direction of this thing and the people charting the course.
Smokestack LightningQuote Reply
Luke, at OV, gnashing of teeth there was.
BVSQuote Reply