Cubs New Year’s Resolutions for 2023 and Beyond

In Facepalm by Rice Cube113 Comments

Well, well, here we are at the end of 2022, and it’s been fun to hang out with all you jabronis here at Obstructed View, very much appreciate you letting me rant on a semi-regular basis about the Cubs and baseball. The Cubs, of course, have done what they could and/or wanted to since they missed out on a bunch of the big names earlier in the offseason, but they apparently have a plan and are sticking to it. While normally I’d say we should take a wait and see approach, I think that they can still do a bit more if they wanted to (and they probably should), and we’ll tackle the rumors and stuff after the new year when something more concrete comes out. So I present to you some resolutions that they should make and hopefully keep to actually sustain a run of success this time.

Get Good Players

Whether you agree with the deal or not, getting Dansby Swanson was by default an upgrade to the roster, so the Cubs are starting to do the thing where they get capable players who at least raised the floor of this club as currently constructed to .500 or so. The bargain bin list I did earlier can help them bolster the club some more, although I guess allegedly whatever money they don’t spend rolls over, or at least you hope it gets deployed at midseason trade time. The point is that the Cubs should not use the minor league lightning-in-a-bottle approach to fill the roster anymore, they need actual established good players, and that means they need to spend (although again there’s not much left to spend on this offseason, so this is probably something they need to do next offseason).

Keep Your Good Players

This is something that has frustrated me since the great sell-off over the past couple seasons where the 2016 championship core was left to rot and then we lost our most recent set of heroes. With the farm system on the uptick again, and a reorganization of the coaching structure, my hope is that the high-impact players see their skills and potential maximized, and are put in the best position to succeed for more than just their arbitration years.

In addition, just like Atlanta has done with seemingly every single one of their homegrown players, give out some extensions to the good ones already on the team! Continuity in personnel is good for any organization, and it also helps fans, even me, connect better with their favorite team if they know someone is going to be around for a long time.

Don’t Waste Opportunities

As Theo Epstein once said, every season is sacred, and with a team that we can see is on the rise, let’s hope the Cubs continue to give David Ross and friends everything they need to surprise this year and go full juggernaut next year. Brett compiled some media speculation that Rafael Devers might be a Cubs target, and while that might seem far-fetched, it’s no more outlandish than us pondering a Shohei Ohtani trade or our early offseason wishlist for every good player. With this shitpile of a division, the Cubs have annual opportunities to get to the postseason, and it is very frustrating to see them squandered. I kind of get that this year is another transition-type year where contention is within grasp, but they don’t have any excuses next year. Give me something I want to actually throw my money at.

Happy New Year, jabronis.

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  10. Perkins

    Rice Cube:
    uncle dave,

    At least someone else is paying most of the salary so I guess that part is promising

    If the Cubs don’t think Mancini will be appreciably better, Hosmer’s at least hella cheap in comparison.

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  11. Author
    Rice Cube

    Perkins,

    Yeah I figure if they’re just on the hook for league minimum then it’s one of those risks worth taking, we already did most of our ranting when they missed out on Verlander and deGrom and the big bats (dying laughing)

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  23. andcounting

    andcounting,

    (dying laughing), scratch that. The whole list conflates them. They really were never the same thing. Maddon had his, the Cubs marketing department had theirs. When the team is good, it’s not as crucial. They get more behind the “official” slogan when they have to work to get people interested.

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  26. andcounting

    Rice Cube,

    The Cubs twitter account stated in 2016 that Let’s Go was official for 2016 as well. Embrace the Target was a Maddonism with legs, though I was partial to #WEAREGOOD that year.

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  27. andcounting

    I stand behind the theory that the importance and popularity of the official slogan is inversely related to how good the team is.

    They’re going to spend more money pushing this year’s slogan than Correa winds up signing for.

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  31. andcounting

    dmick89,

    (dying laughing), I knew he had said it or tweeted it a few times but if I knew he started it I definitely forgot. He was hilarious that whole season.

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  42. Author
    Rice Cube

    Passan confirms

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  46. Author
    Rice Cube

    dmick89,

    Since anything is an upgrade from last year and they’re only paying league minimum, I guess they’ll just wing it until a better option shows up as they didn’t secure the services of the better first basemen

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  52. Author
    Rice Cube

    Listened to Grant Brisbee’s podcast on the Athletic network yesterday and they made it seem like (from what they heard) Carlos Correa’s ankle is going to crumble to dust any day now

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  54. andcounting

    Rice Cube,

    Sounds like karma has done a better job of punishing Correa than MLB cared to do. Something truly poignant about his baseball career being hampered by other teams using high-precision imaging to detect signs of what’s about to happen.

    (I will tell 100 million versions of this joke until I die.)

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  57. Author
    Rice Cube

    Re: catching plan

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  58. andcounting

    Rice Cube,

    If you’re looking for reasons to hope the Cardinals will struggle, consider the fact that they lost their FHOF all-world defensive catcher AND their FHOF not-Greg-but-still-a-really-good-Maddux pitching coach AND switched to Willson as their primary catcher. If the Cubs are right about their defense-first (defense-only) catcher theory, the Cardinals pitching staff could be in serious peril.

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  60. Author
    Rice Cube

    andcounting,

    I think it would be nice if the Brewers struggled as well, I’m fairly certain the NL Central winner will be in the wild card round regardless and it would be nice to have all the games at Wrigley at least, assuming they find a way…

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  61. andcounting

    Perkins,

    I treat the whole catcher defensive skill set as one of the great unknowns of baseball, so I really have no idea how overrated Yadi was or how overblown Willson’s shortcomings are. But it sure seems like the Cubs are going all-in on a theory that leans toward Yadi being really valuable and Willson hurting whatever pitching staff he’s receiving from. I can hardly guess if they’re right, but if the Cubs pitchers look better than St. Louis, I might become a believer.

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  66. dmick89

    As for catcher defense, I agree it’s a bit of a mystery, but not entirely. Just about everyone agrees that Molina is not just a great defensive catcher, but one of the best ever. Maybe the best even. I’ve not read anyone disagree with that with who wasn’t a Cubs fan and just didn’t like the Cardinals. I can therefore accept it and based on what I remember when he was at the top of his game, he was tremendous back there.

    Good enough to offset what wasn’t a great offensive career? No clue. Don’t even care. My gut tells me Aramis Ramirez is more deserving of the HOF, but I’m biased as hell. (dying laughing)

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  68. Perkins

    dmick89,

    Based on career WAR, Molina is on the cusp but far from a lock. I could see a case to be made if a person thinks he had a boatload of value that somehow wasn’t captured in his statistics that was reflected for other HoF catchers, but I’m not sure I buy it.

    I wouldn’t be pissed to see him make it, but nor would I stump for his inclusion.

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  70. dmick89

    Perkins,

    I think it’s probably borderline at first glance (we both know he’s a lock on that first ballot in reality though), but that longevity behind the plate is special. No clue how that compares to the top catchers, but since I’ve been watching in the early 1980s, I can’t think of another catcher that played that long at that position. And he was always solid. I’d be thrilled if the Cubs could find a catcher for the next 19 years.

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  72. dmick89

    Perkins,

    Fisk is a legend. Molina may be a HOF, but in 50 years, Cardinals fans will primarily remember him. I can’t imagine he’s going to be remembered by all MLB fans like Fisk is. I hope not.

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  74. andcounting

    Perkins:
    dmick89,

    Based on career WAR, Molina is on the cusp but far from a lock. I could see a case to be made if a person thinks he had a boatload of value that somehow wasn’t captured in his statistics that was reflected for other HoF catchers, but I’m not sure I buy it.

    I wouldn’t be pissed to see him make it, but nor would I stump for his inclusion.

    This is true if you ignore the postseason, but he’s basically the Derek Jeter of catchers when it comes to the playoffs, particularly the World Series (two world championships goes a long way for HOF voting). His stats aren’t necessarily crazy good, but he’s got 25 postseason series under his belt and his cWPA (championship win probability added) for his postseason cumulative stats is like +47%, which means he’s been worth ~1/2 a World Series championship on his own.

    That’s not to say I think he deserves it (I really don’t know) but I don’t think there’s any way it takes more than 2 ballots to get him inducted. The narratives are way too powerful in his favor.

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  75. dmick89

    andcounting,

    He’s going on the first ballot. I’m really going to be surprised if he gets less than 90% on first ballot. As far as I’m aware, just about everyone likes Yadi and those postseason appearances, longevity, “team leader” narratives are going to make just about every sportswriter look past any shortcoming on his part. Also, he’s been a Cardinal for life. That’s something in this day and age. No doubt he could have gotten more money elsewhere if he wanted, but he stuck around. The fact he’s been necessary to the Cardinals for this freaking long is kind of crazy. I remember hearing a story one time from a player or former player about how he was the smartest person to be around when it comes to baseball knowledge. I’m sure that’s said fairly often, but I got the impression it was genuine.

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  79. andcounting

    dmick89,

    Yeah, he’s got a lot of career checkmarks that on their own could boost his HOF credentials, but collectively it figures to be overwhelming. Add that to this possibility: if MLB switches to some form of technology-based strike zone in the next five years, Molina becomes the last legend of a dying breed of baseball catchers: the pitch framer. Add that nostalgia to the mix (along with hitting the ballot in tandem with Pujols) and the writers will check his name right off.

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  81. Author
    Rice Cube

    The Cubs might have to pay luxury taxes for a couple years but they should just try 2/$80MM on Correa and see if he bites, tada 3B is solved (dying laughing)

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  82. andcounting

    Rice Cube,

    There’s no way he’ll do another short contract and risk losing $250 million. If the Cubs were to try to steal him away, they would probably have to lure him with the same guaranteed money and maybe creative terms. I wonder if he would take the Giants offer minus the no-trade clause. If an injury turns him into a DH-only option or something, ditching the NTC at least gives you the ability to eat some of the contract and maybe get some players in return. It’s not a fantastic insurance policy, but that kind of an upgrade would be worth a lot of risk.

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  84. andcounting

    Rice Cube,

    It took half a day for the Mets to move in after the Giants pressed pause. Now it’s been two and a half weeks with no contract. If it were that certain, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

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  86. Author
    Rice Cube

    I won’t share the link because Heyman is a dork, but today is the final day for the Dodgers to release he who shall not be named because he name searches

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  87. andcounting

    Rice Cube,

    That’s the thing, the past couple years of abbreviated spring trainings seem to have increased injuries and brought down early season performance. I don’t think anyone wants to see important players miss any time at all, especially someone switching positions with a potential injury concern. Team and player both have ample incentive to get a deal done right away.

    The longer the deal goes unsigned the more likely it seems something even crazier is going to happen.

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  90. uncle dave

    dmick89,

    Agree that Yadi will go in on the first ballot. If you’re a 70-something former baseball writer with a BBWAA ballot, it’s likely that the last time you got an erection was when you were thinking about voting Yadier Molina into the HOF.

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