October 13, 2020: Stay or Go

Back to the Baez Bryant debate… who you got? It sucks that we have to choose. My first instinct tells me, along with Rizzo, that I don’t want to see either of those guys ever wearing another jersey besides the Cubs. When Bryant first came on the scene, he was amazing. I thought that we could be watching the greatest Cub ever when it’s all said and done; I may have gotten a little bit ahead of myself. Winning a World Series for the first time in your lifetime will do that to you. But I’m not the only one right? KB was amazing. And then there’s Javy… my God, the NLCS co-MVP with Lester that magical year, he is truly a magician. There’s nothing he can’t do on the field or the basepaths; his offense was insane too, seemingly always coming through in the clutch. With these 3 guys, plus Russell at one point, I thought the infield was set for a decade. Addison was the first to go; it feels like somebody else is next.

I still don’t know if I can answer this. Stay or go… Bryant seems to always be hampered with a little injury; sure, no injury is little, but every time he slumps, he ends up having some kind of injury. Is there something to be said for that? The fact that he gets nicked up easily is not good; the fact that he plays through it IS good. The fact that he is not good as he is playing through it is not good. When he’s right… well, when was the last time he was right. Baez has resorted to swinging at everything; he is the guy that pisses me off the most at the plate. Don’t ever throw him a strike should be the scouting report, especially down and away. Sure, if you don’t get that fastball high enough, he may hit it 400+, but if you get it high enough, he’s going down. And on the field, he still makes some awesome plays, but there are more of the routine misses… along with less magic on the basepaths and more recklessness. I still don’t know.

What I do know is that we’re still paying $22M for Heyward and $17M for Kimbrel next year. We’re going to have to eat it with Craig, but after Heyward’s best year in a Cubs uniform, is now the time we could potentially move him, because he certainly is still not worth that money. He is a solid rock in RF; his fielding is back on track this year. Surprisingly, he was probably the 2nd best offensive player next to Happ this year; you know you’re in trouble then. Freeing up some cash, like not picking up Lester’s option will do, could set the Cubs up for some free agent acquisitions. I don’t think there’s any arguing that we need some fresh blood; we need to mix it up.

So I was browsing around the free agents… there’s Bauer of course, who should have many suitors, even though the dude is definitely a bit off. Other starters that I’d be interested in are Odorizzi… will the Twins let him walk? Gausman… he seems to like it in San fran. Chris Archer, a year removed from an injury and wasted time in Pittsburgh; he’s not alone there. Zach Britton to shore up the bullpen, come in and close? As far as the offensive guys, the list looks familiar. It is made up with guys that the Cubs traded away or neglected to resign; do you think the Cubs made some bad decisions here? Would they pull a Blackhawks move and bring back some of the ex-Cubs in DJ LeMahieu, Nick Castellanos and Tommy LaStella? DJ is an absolute stud, Nick kept hitting with the Reds, and Tommy… it’s 3am baby! George Springer is interesting; Jackie Bradley Jr could make sense considering the Boston ties. Who will this new blood be?

I told you this Cubs offseason is complicated. In Theo’s last year, if he stays, we hope for him to set us up for another run; we hope to mix and match current and new guys, young and old, to extend our window another couple years, or maybe open a new window? It won’t be easy, and there will be some moves that will hurt, but it’s necessary. Do we trust in Theo one more time? Go Cubs.