How many players end up on your team after you previously hated them? One immediately comes to mind for me: Dennis Rodman. I absolutely hated the Pistons and every person on that team, and then… Rodman comes to the Bulls. I never in a million years would have thought I’d be cheering my ass off for him, but there I was; we sure loved us some Rodman. Trying to think of some others… Jim Edmonds in a lesser way. Coming from the hated Cardinals to my Cubs… I will cheer for anyone who wears a Cubs uniform… even Daniel Murphy; remember that experiment? Yeah, I hated his ass in 2015, actually had his very own Hate File, then he joined the Cubs… that was tough, but… once you come on the right side, then, well, I will be behind you.
This brings us to today’s topic: Justin Turner. Coming from the hated Dodgers, I certainly have had negative things to say about beard boy over the years. And now, he will be wearing Cubbie blue; this one won’t be as hard as Daniel Murphy. All the stuff Turner and his Dodgers did to the Cubs back then will be forgotten when he takes his first AB as a Chicago Cub. I would have much rather had Alex Bregman, but… I guess we get what we can afford… eye roll. Already snagging Kyle Tucker (why do I want to call him Justin?), a guy who I’m really excited about, adding Bregman would have been awesome; instead, here comes Big Red. Time will tell if the Cubs prove once again you get what you pay for.
Overall, it wasn’t a horrendous offseason, simply because of Tucker, but one that I think still feels unsatisfactory. Yet, looking at some of the predictions, the Cubs are thought of pretty highly this year; I hope they’re right. Personally, I would have liked another big bat (bigger than Justin) and another starter; we have certainly added some bullpen arms… I like that. Will it be enough?
With the Bears in hibernation, and the NFL gone, and the Bulls and Hawks not going anywhere, it feels like baseball is right around the corner. For one side of town, you certainly will have a better record than last year; that bar is sitting on the ground right now. For the Cubs, the bar is a bit higher; I don’t think this is an understatement saying this year is playoffs or bust. Have the Cubs done enough to make this a real possibility? I’m not convinced.
I want to believe, don’t get me wrong; every year around this time hope springs eternal. The last two years my expectations were low; the Cubs performance matched this. Should I have higher expectations this year? I think I’m going to err on the side of caution, and keep my expectations in check; it’s always nice to have one of my teams exceed their expectations. It’s a lot more painful when they come up short; been living there lately. What will 2025 hold for our Cubbies? We’ll find out soon.
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