Chicago Cubs followers had been purported to get their first glimpse of the post-Willson Contreras period Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field.
Contreras acquired an enormous send-off July 26, receiving a number of standing ovations and hugs on what was broadly assumed to be his last day at Wrigley as a Cub.
Of course that turned out to be a false assumption, one in all many made by these of us making an attempt to foretell the decision-making of crew President Jed Hoyer.
Last yr most thought at the least one of many “Big Three” — Javier Báez, Kris Bryant or Anthony Rizzo — could be retained. Hoyer dealt all three. And on Tuesday Hoyer opted to maintain the quickly to be free-agent after failing to get the sort of return he anticipated.
That sparked hope the Cubs may re-sign Contreras, although Hoyer mentioned nothing that may point out his intention to maintain the veteran catcher.
Now Contreras will play out the string on a Cubs crew that lastly has conceded the apparent — that it’s going by means of a rebuild and gamers by means of the lens of the place they slot in 2023 and past. Christopher Morel, as an example, was inserted on the shortstop place Friday for the second time.
“We’ll move guys around, see what we’ve got,” supervisor David Ross mentioned earlier than a recreation in opposition to the Miami Marlins.
Ross admitted the Cubs would “think about how we’re going to win in the future, what those pieces look like, and get that picture painted or that puzzle piece put together as good as possible, see where the holes might be.” But as soon as video games begin he’s “going to manage the game to win the game.”
The Cubs entered Friday with a 41-63 file and a five-game dropping streak. But they’ve seen good pitching the final two weeks, with a 2.63 ERA of their final 15 video games, lowest within the majors in that span.
It’s no shock the Cubs could be at this juncture in August, regardless of repeated efforts by Hoyer to keep away from having the “rebuild” label connected to this membership. When Hoyer held a media teleconference after the commerce deadline handed, a Marquee Sports Network reporter apologized to Hoyer for calling it a rebuild.
“Everyone is going to pay you for saying that,” Hoyer joked.
While they nonetheless don’t utter the phrase, the Cubs’ actions converse for themself.
So with growth the main target of the ultimate two months, what’s the way forward for outfielder Jason Heyward, who has one yr remaining at $24.5 million? Heyward has been on the injured checklist with proper knee irritation since June 27.
“We’ll adjust that when he gets healthy,” Ross mentioned.
There is not any timetable for the return of Heyward or Kyle Hendricks, who has been out since July 6 with a proper shoulder pressure. Asked if there was a chance Heyward and/or Hendricks wouldn’t return in 2022, Ross mentioned: “I hope not, to be honest. I know these guys work really hard and they pride themselves on posting, being out there with the guys. … The body is going to let them do what the body is going to let them do.”
Hoyer and common supervisor Carter Hawkins have their work minimize out for them within the offseason, however till then they’ve to seek out out which gamers match and the place.
Nico Hoerner has carried out nicely at quick, however his throwing error Thursday in St. Louis was one more reason to wonder if he’d be higher suited at second base. Can Morel be an on a regular basis shortstop, and is Zach McInstry, acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Chris Martin, able to play the previous Ben Zobrist function as a super-utilityman?
Ten years in the past the Cubs had been going by means of the identical factor within the first yr of a rebuild. After the commerce deadline they went 18-42 on their solution to 101 losses. Highly touted prospects like Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters obtained their likelihood, and confirmed they wouldn’t be a part of the long run. The solely gamers on that 2012 crew that had been a part of the 2016 championship crew turned out to be Rizzo and Travis Wood.
How lots of the present Cubs will probably be a part of the subsequent championship crew?
“The goal of this is to win championships,” Hoyer mentioned whereas discussing the second yr of promoting off belongings for prospects.
Hoyer pointed to commerce deadline strikes within the authentic rebuild that netted high-profile prospects like Addison Russell, unheralded prospects like Hendricks, and struggling, younger gamers like Jake Arrieta.
“Sometimes it’s the high profile guys that help you,” Hoyer mentioned. “And sometimes you realize when you take a lot of shots on goal and you bring a lot of young players into the system and have good player development, those guys exceed your expectations.”
Hoyer is taking his photographs, and absorbing some from these left scratching their heads on the curious determination to maintain Contreras as a substitute of getting one thing of worth in return. Could or not it’s all of us overvalued Contreras, or did the Cubs misjudge the market?
It’s one thing to ponder as Hoyer, Hawkins and Ross maintain auditions for the “next great Cubs team.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com