October 11, 2020: Next Up

No Bears football today. No interest in the NBA Finals (unless the Lakers lose). With the baseball playoffs down to the final four, let’s start looking at what is next up for our Chicago teams. Still pissed about my Cubs, but if we were really honest with ourselves, with the way the bracket broke down, did we really think the Cubs would have got past the Braves? Sure, I wanted the Marlin series; sure, the Cubs should have won that series. But beyond that… well, we didn’t even get to find out. Now on the other hand, the Sox, with their late season slump, fell into a bracket where they really could have done some damage. They flopped. What’s next?

Well, before we talk about what’s next, let’s spend just another minute on what could have been. If I was a Sox fan, I would have been pissed that they didn’t do anything at the trade deadline. I know, at the time, the Sox were on fire. Because of this, they thought they didn’t have to do anything? Because of this, they thought that by doing nothing, it would go unnoticed? The need was obvious. The weak link on this team was starting pitching, which come playoff time, becomes a bit important. Were the Sox just content with taking a step this year? Were the Sox just happy to punch their playoff ticket? Didn’t Hahn said he thought THIS team could win the World Series? Well, I didn’t agree completely, mainly because of the lack of another starter. IF they had done that… I think it’s pretty obvious they would have beaten the As if they had another top level starter. Tell me there wasn’t a deal that could have been done. The Sox just didn’t want to. And to not take full advantage of an opportunity, is really stupid. Sox beat the As; they had a really good chance to beat whoever was next, which turned out to be the Astros. Sure, next up would be the Rays, and a potential end to their season, but to win a playoff series or two… to get one step away from the World Series… I know this season was great, and the playoff experience was awesome, but what could have been was hurt by the Sox standing pat at the trade deadline. Thus, you had the Game 3 disaster which also exposed another Sox weakness: their manager.

First thing’s first though: the Sox need to get a starter. Best starter out there: Trevor Bauer. Open up the pocket books boys, which may be tough considering you’ll be going up against teams with double the payroll as the Sox. But I don’t want to hear any excuses. The Sox swung and miss at some free agents over the past couple years, but based on where they were at with the development of the team, it wasn’t THAT big of a deal. Swing and miss now? Well, NOW is the time. If the Sox bring in Bauer, they immediately get bumped to the top of the favorites for next year. The next move would be to get rid of Renteria. He’s Doug Collins; he’s Dennis Savard… he’s Rick Renteria??? Yes, the Bulls, Hawks, and Cubs all had to make these decisions that ended up catapulting them to the next level. It’s easy to say they should dump Renteria, but then who? Well, if you listen to a lot of folks around here, bringing Ozzie back is a popular choice. What other guys are out there? Is there someone that could be brought in that would instantly make this team better? I don’t have the answer to his replacement, but I do know that he should go… or maybe not. Maybe you’re OK with Ricky, and believe he COULD be the manager of this team. I mean, all great managers start somewhere. I’m sure there are just as many examples of that, including Ozzie, right?

It’s easier to write about what the Sox need to do, because they’re not my team. What the Cubs need to do is a lot more complicated. Still not sure if I’m ready to talk about that yet… But for the Sox, big time starting pitcher and new manager is #1 and #2 of the tasks this offseason. If done correctly, worrying about the missed opportunity this year becomes a non-issue, because they’ll be right back in the mix next year, coming in as one of the World Series favorites. Stand pat and…??? I’m sure they won’t stand pat, right? The time is now Sox fans; good luck.