July 6, 2016: In Five Years

The Cubs & Sox all stars were announced on Tuesday.  The Cubs had five position players, including the entire starting infield.  They also had 2 pitchers selected.  In five years, a lot has changed.  The Sox had their one all star, Chris Sale.  In five years, a lot hasn’t changed.

Let’s start with Chris Sale.  He continues to be one of the most dominant pitchers in the game.  On Tuesday, he was selected to his 5th straight all star game.  He deserves to start this year too.  He’s lining up the Cy Young this year also.  He has been the one consistent bright spot for the Sox.  It’s too bad that they haven’t been able to get in the playoffs with him on the roster.  Can you imagine that?  Sale would throw 2 maybe 3 games in a 7 game series.  Having him should be the biggest driver to make the wild card spot, which they are in contention for this year.  Who better to throw that one game playoff?  You’d have to think if the Sox got the wild card, they would advance, and then really, anything could happen.  Congrats to Sale.  He could go down as the best pitcher in Sox history.

Now let’s turn to the Cubs.  It was at the end of the 2011 season that it was announced that Theo Epstein would be joining the Cubs.  In the 2012 season, the Cubs were represented at the ASG by Starlin Castro and Bryan LaHair… in 2013, Travis Wood.  My how times have changed.  In his 5th year with the Cubs, Theo can now be thanked for all 7 all stars that will be in the mid-summer classic this year.  Let’s take a closer look.

One of the first notable moves Theo and company made were to acquire Anthony Rizzo before the start of the 2012 season.  The Cubs first seasons under Theo were marked by the Rizzo and Castro show.  Rizzo, had struggled in the majors with San Diego, where the All Star Game will be this year.  He was originally drafted in 2007 by Theo and the Red Sox, and acquired in 2010 by the Padres, who were led by Jed Hoyer.  It was obvious these guys liked him, and when they rejoined forces, they made it their first move.  Andrew Cashner was the player we sent… how’d that turn out?  Rizzo was the leading vote getter this year, and has become one of the core players for this Cubs era, that is really just beginning.

At the other corner, we have Kris Bryant.  We remember a little of his history.  Cubs drafted him 2nd overall, in 2013 after thankfully the Astros passed on him; they selected Mark Appel.  He began tearing up the minors, which led to the controversy at the beginning of last season.  The Cubs kept him in the minors to get another year control over him, before bringing him up.  He still won Rookie of the Year, and is now going to his 2nd straight all star game.  He could turn out better than Rizzo.
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Addison Russell is probably the least deserving of this selection, although he has been hot lately.  Remember when we got him?  On that July 4th trade back on 2014 when we shipped Samardzjia and Hammel to the A’s.  I wrote about it when it happened… I was upset to see Jeff go, but this turned out to be quite the deal too, eh?  Maybe there are more deserving this year, but he looks to be the Cubs SS for a long time, and should get many more cracks at this.

Ben Zobrist completes the entire infield, and was signed this past offseason.  Jon Lester was signed 2 years ago, and after a down year in 2015, will be making his first NL all star appearance; nice bounce back Jon.  Dexter Fowler was acquired before the 2015 season for Luis Valbuena and Dan Straily.  He was resigned this year, in one of the coolest moments; Theo surprised the team by bringing him in and making the announcement.  How’d that turn out?  Finally, you have Jake Arrieta, who could be part of the best trade in Cubs history.  Of course, he was acquired in the middle of 2013 along with Pedro Strop for Scott Feldman and Steve Clevenger.  Wow.

So, I guess we owe Theo a thank you.  I guess the excitement we all felt, I know I felt, when he decided to come here 5 years ago has been justified.  Well, not quite.  2008 was the last big All Star year for the Cubs, and we all remember how that turned out.  That’s really the key here… It’s pretty cool to have all these guys in the all star game… they are almost all deserving.  It shows how great this Cubs team is.  But… kind of like the Warriors this year in basketball… it don’t mean a thing without the ring.

Still, I will definitely take a moment to celebrate, and sit back and enjoy the game.  I will enjoy watching all our guys go out and fight for the victory, which of course determines the home team in this year’s World Series.  I hope we get it.  I hope it matters.  7 all stars.  Approximately 20 games over 500.  First place.  Not a bad first half.  Go Cubs!