On Tuesday afternoon, the Cubs completed their 2 game sweep (I don’t think winning 2 games in a series should be called a sweep, but whatever) of the Pirates, bringing their winning streak to 6 in a row, including 5 straight after the All Star break. My son and I were in the house for this one, which will be remembered more for another reason, than the current Cubs winning streak.
It’s weird. The entire crowd knew that this will be Willson Contreras’ last home game for the Cubs. We cheered like hell every time he came up to bat, especially his 1st AB, and his last AB in the 7th. We were given a chance to say goodbye, but why? Why should we have to? Why on God’s green earth are the Cubs not going to pay any of the 2016 World Series champions? Why is this the new norm? The trade deadline approaches, we prepare to say goodbye to our biggest stars. If we were living in an alternate universe when the Cubs were making the playoffs in 5 of 6 years, when they won the World Series, then we must be living in the upside down right about now…
Think about it: if the entire Wrigley Field and more, knows that Willson is gone, then how much value can the Cubs really get back for him? Other teams know for a FACT that the Cubs will move him… why offer us anything good for him? It’s a little clearer now… I mean, in this particular case, according to reports, there has been absolutely zero extension talks between Willy and the Cubs… zero! No intention whatsoever to keep our All Star catcher, to keep the heart and soul of this club, to see a homegrown guy who helped end the curse finish his career as a Chicago Cub. Thing is, at least in this particular case, he WANTS to be here… obviously. If you’ve listened to anything he’s said, I mean… the dude is choking up every time he talks about it, kind of like KB spending his last moments in the Wrigley Field dugout last year. For a guy as talented as Contreras, a guy who wants to be a Cub, and for us not to even explore this… that’s just straight up shitty, and business wise, no matter how they want to frame it, stupid as all hell. Handling it the way they have, the Cubs have absolutely ZERO leverage in this upcoming trade, which I guess explains why we get dimes on the dollar for our biggest stars… S. T. U. P. I. D.
I like how now, I see Ian Happ is being grouped in with Contreras. Nothing against Ian… great year, that continued on Tuesday afternoon at the Cathedral, but come on… 1, he’s not a World Series champ, 2, he’s not in the same category as the other guys that have departed, I’m sorry. Selling high on Ian may actually be a smart move, just like if the Cubs were to find someone to take any percentage of JHey’s remaining contract. Don’t have anywhere near the same emotional connection with Ian as I have/had with the other guys. Facts.
I had hoped Willson hit his last home run in Wrigley against the same team he hit his first; we settled for a single in his first AB which included an aggressive turn around first. I remember that Sunday night back in 2016 clearly… just another big moment in the magical year that was 2016… you know, the year that Cubs brass has decided to try to erase from our memory by dumping everybody associated with that team. It’s really the only reason the damn Marquee network was able to get off the ground for God’s sake, and the people running that channel still try to F it up. Anyways, call me bitter, I don’t care. When Willson is traded, we’ll be fully prepared this time. It will not be like last year, when we held out hope for our big guys, that maybe one, or two of them would be extended. This time we have 0% hope, as was clear on this afternoon at Wrigley. Felt more like a wake than the 6th win in a row on a beautiful afternoon at the park…
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