First of all, I hope you and yours enjoyed a long weekend with your friends, family, and loved ones.
If you planned on using the Cubs to help yourself enjoy the unofficial kick-off to summer, you chose un-wisely.
I am out of ideas. I am out of answers. I am frustrated. If you follow the Cubs at all on Twitter, you can feel the pulse of a fanbase that has struggled to accept what has happened the last few season. For those keeping score at home:
2016 - Pure euphoria in the highest order.
2017-2019 - Weird versions of euphoria with a collapse mixed in
2020 - Covid
2021 - Last right of the WS core
2022 - Looking for margins to go right to compete, blows up in their face
2023 - Better version of looking to compete at the margins...blowing up in their face.
Here are 3 things that are bothering me that I just don't have clean answers for. Whether we deserve them as fans is something else entirely.
1.) Money
I am guilty of coming to the defense of this team often. I think the Ricketts family gets a bit TOO much heat (ducks aggressively). They have invested heavily into the ballpark and the surrounding area. I realize these are profitable ventures for them. However, I struggle to believe they thought the team would be what it is when they made those decisions. Throw a global pandemic on top of that, and I imagine they have eaten their fair share of expenses and loan obligations.
Let's not confuse these comments with sympathy. They have a lot of money. I think these loan obligations have had significant affect on the budget for baseball operations. After 2016, things got weird in roster construction. Large free agent contracts disappeared, causing Theo to spend farm assets to supplement a then flawed roster. That lead to a fork in the road:
a.) extend a core that did not develop to what we thought they were and hamstring yourself financially to older players
b.) Rebuild as quick as possible to diminish the outrage and affect on game day revenue.
We didn't love the answer. I agree it was the correct one (besides Rizzo potentially).
Fast forward to the 2022 offseason. Jed spent. A LOT. Dansby, Taillon, Belli, and others. I remember prior to signing Dansby, I was worried we would miss out on the SS FA class altogether. There were rumors early on, including wild rumors, of the Cubs trying to land multiple SS. I am curious if the Cubs were trying to get Xander AND Dansby, but the Padres shocked with the length.
Based on recent comments from Jed, I think he regrets not spending a bit more on a few relievers.
This team needs a front end Starter, and some slugging. 3B is potentially a hole as well. It doesn't matter who is out there besides one player: Ohtani. Jeff Passan said recently that he doesn't know why he would pick the Cubs based on how things are right now. I would really like this front office to prove him wrong.
Will the money be there? Per sportrac, the Cubs have projected Salary obligations of $159M with a Luxury tax cap of $237M. They have money to spend.
2.) Roster Construction
I don't know where to begin. The April start made me believe this team could challenge the Cardinals, and entertain a playoff spot. At the beginning of May, we all saw 4 game versus the lowly Nationals, followed by a revenge tour against the Marlins. The Cubs looked lifeless and lost, with several games of small villages LOB at the hands of Eric Hosmer.
I understood signing Mancini and Hosmer as "Mervis Insurance." It cost league minimum to get Hosmer, as the Padres are still playing him big boy money.
Hosmer was bad. When they signed him, he was bad. He played bad. All the "under the hood numbers" were...bad. Yet on the roster he remained, batting commonly higher than 7.
There are several of these players that have been fixtures to the team this year. Nick Madrigal. Edwin Rios being on the roster while not playing. Luis Torrens breaking camp.
Reaction:
The Cubs have not shown urgency in addressing these issues. This statement I understand is a matter of opinion, as I will agree I can hear the sirens of the "Small Sample Size Police."
Logic:
When REALLY pushed to think about it, there are not an abundance of options that are currently on the 40 man. Again, this does not excuse the Front Office from getting creative. I heard a lot about the "roster crunch" this offseason, but the Cubs did very little in addressing this issue prior to Opening Day, giving them tougher decisions on so many fringe options (McKinstry, Torrens, Hosmer).
3.) Lineups
David Ross isn't acting alone. If he is, we need to potentially have another discussion. Tauchman batted 3rd the other day. On Monday, the Cubs rolled out 3 rights vs Taj Bradley, who has extreme splits that favor righties. The Cubs won that game with only hits from their right handed hitters (Point Cubs).
This might highlight a bigger issue that has reared its head that I ignored a bit this offseason: organizational depth. Can we be mad at these lineups? Yes we can, but I counter with the following: What is the better option?
I think a sign of our times is a constant barrage of finger pointing and frustration on issues, without ever really presenting reasonable solutions. When looking at the Cubs Triple-A roster, there are not any SURE FIRE replacements there. Nelson Velazquez is an interesting option with ML at bats, but I can agree a bit with the development angle for him. In addition, the Cubs have so many positions locked down, it leaves very few spots to really experiment.
The Lineup card starts everyday (when everyone is healthy) with the following LOCKS:
Happer,
Belli,
Seiya,
Swanson,
Nico.
That leaves versatility and platooning options at 1B, 3B, C, and DH. That feels like a lot, but it truly isn't. Patrick Wisdom is great in stretches (April), but can get exposed (May). I have seen so many grumbles about Mastrobouni, but his versatility is what can spell Wisdom. I do have a gripe of the Cubs not giving Morel a set position to start at AAA this season, but his approach has wild variety in need of addressing, too.
All in all, the Cubs problems are not necessarily simple. Maybe we were all to excited when they started the way they did. National pundits have said this team is still a year away, and these depth issues potentially confirm that hypothesis. The 2023 Chicago Cubs are not a bad team, but the 2023 fan base is tired of rebuilds and waiting. The pressure is on the Northside. Does the front office/ownership feel it?
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