Changing Of The Guard In Chicago
July 13, 2021 at 9:42 p.m.
Changing Of The Guard In Chicago
By Roger Grossman-
You may remember that I wrote about the state of Chicago sports teams back in November, and the word I used to describe that state at that time was “unsettled”.
It’s a lot more settled now than then, but it’s not better.
The Cubs were at the heart of the uncertainty. An awful April turned into a May that had Cubs fans believing that maybe this team wouldn’t be selling in July, but adding players to make another deep run in the National League playoffs instead.
The high-water mark was the opening game of the Cubs four-game series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers in June. Four pitchers combined to no-hit the defending world champs.
And then the wheels fell off the Cubs wagon.
They lost the final three games of that series, and the eight games that followed. And the whole time, the Brewers never bothered to lose.
The Cubs went from tied for first in the National League Central to far enough behind the Brewers that they’d flipped the shingle outside the Cubs front office from “BUYING” to “SELLING”.
Let’s be 100-percent clear — this whole mess falls squarely on the Ricketts Family. They put this team in a position to fail by drawing lines in the sand that Theo Epstein couldn’t work with. They told Epstein, and then Jed Hoyer, that the breaking up of the core of a roster that has been at the heart of the most successful stretch in franchise history was happening no matter what.
So, I believe, that even if the Cubs were tied with the Brewers for first place right now, at least two of their top players would be shipped off to other teams before the trade deadline at the end of the month. We’re talking Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, Willson Contreras and Craig Kimbrel—all could have been shipped elsewhere. Now Cubs fans almost expect all of them to be playing for someone else in the race for the championship this fall.
The disgusting part of it is, it didn’t have to happen this way…but it was destined to be so, because Cubs ownership decided to operate like a small-market club instead of whom they should be. In fact, small-minded is what the Cubs owners have been.
Then earlier this week, the Blackhawks went to future Hall-of-Famer Duncan Keith and said “we need to move you. Where would you like to go?”
Keith’s response was “somewhere closer to his family in the Pacific Northwest.”
Off to Edmonton he goes.
What comes back to the Hawks is encouraging — a draft pick and a promising defenseman who will make five million dollars less than Keith and whose brother is a free agent in Columbus who just might feel sentimental about playing with his sibling.
With Brent Seabrook retiring in the spring, the Hawks top defensive duo for over a decade has now moved on, and it feels like forever before the team is going to be in contention again.
The Cubs are in the exact same place.
However, both front offices are blaring out the same message: “Oh we are still trying to win.”
Except we are smarter than they give us credit for.
Elsewhere, the White Sox are surviving all the injuries they suffered early on. Their front office will have to do a lot more big-piece hunting for the stretch drive than the normal bulking up for the end of the season and the playoffs.
But they’re in it, and that’s a credit to their organization.
There is a general feeling that the Bulls may finally be pointed in the right direction, but there is still work to do there.
And the Bears…have you ever seen a team in your life with more hype an expectation that they have right now? It’s all about their new quarterback, and Justin Fields has set the city on its ear. That’s pretty impressive considering he has only seen action in a few days of off-season workouts.
He’s never seen an NFL pass rush. An NFL rushing linebacker has never chased him. And, by the way, there is no guarantee that he’s even going to be on the field to take the first snap from scrimmage in September.
Chicago sports is going to look very different in a month.
For the emotional well-being of Chicago sports fans, this is going to rip us apart at the seams.
You may remember that I wrote about the state of Chicago sports teams back in November, and the word I used to describe that state at that time was “unsettled”.
It’s a lot more settled now than then, but it’s not better.
The Cubs were at the heart of the uncertainty. An awful April turned into a May that had Cubs fans believing that maybe this team wouldn’t be selling in July, but adding players to make another deep run in the National League playoffs instead.
The high-water mark was the opening game of the Cubs four-game series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers in June. Four pitchers combined to no-hit the defending world champs.
And then the wheels fell off the Cubs wagon.
They lost the final three games of that series, and the eight games that followed. And the whole time, the Brewers never bothered to lose.
The Cubs went from tied for first in the National League Central to far enough behind the Brewers that they’d flipped the shingle outside the Cubs front office from “BUYING” to “SELLING”.
Let’s be 100-percent clear — this whole mess falls squarely on the Ricketts Family. They put this team in a position to fail by drawing lines in the sand that Theo Epstein couldn’t work with. They told Epstein, and then Jed Hoyer, that the breaking up of the core of a roster that has been at the heart of the most successful stretch in franchise history was happening no matter what.
So, I believe, that even if the Cubs were tied with the Brewers for first place right now, at least two of their top players would be shipped off to other teams before the trade deadline at the end of the month. We’re talking Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, Willson Contreras and Craig Kimbrel—all could have been shipped elsewhere. Now Cubs fans almost expect all of them to be playing for someone else in the race for the championship this fall.
The disgusting part of it is, it didn’t have to happen this way…but it was destined to be so, because Cubs ownership decided to operate like a small-market club instead of whom they should be. In fact, small-minded is what the Cubs owners have been.
Then earlier this week, the Blackhawks went to future Hall-of-Famer Duncan Keith and said “we need to move you. Where would you like to go?”
Keith’s response was “somewhere closer to his family in the Pacific Northwest.”
Off to Edmonton he goes.
What comes back to the Hawks is encouraging — a draft pick and a promising defenseman who will make five million dollars less than Keith and whose brother is a free agent in Columbus who just might feel sentimental about playing with his sibling.
With Brent Seabrook retiring in the spring, the Hawks top defensive duo for over a decade has now moved on, and it feels like forever before the team is going to be in contention again.
The Cubs are in the exact same place.
However, both front offices are blaring out the same message: “Oh we are still trying to win.”
Except we are smarter than they give us credit for.
Elsewhere, the White Sox are surviving all the injuries they suffered early on. Their front office will have to do a lot more big-piece hunting for the stretch drive than the normal bulking up for the end of the season and the playoffs.
But they’re in it, and that’s a credit to their organization.
There is a general feeling that the Bulls may finally be pointed in the right direction, but there is still work to do there.
And the Bears…have you ever seen a team in your life with more hype an expectation that they have right now? It’s all about their new quarterback, and Justin Fields has set the city on its ear. That’s pretty impressive considering he has only seen action in a few days of off-season workouts.
He’s never seen an NFL pass rush. An NFL rushing linebacker has never chased him. And, by the way, there is no guarantee that he’s even going to be on the field to take the first snap from scrimmage in September.
Chicago sports is going to look very different in a month.
For the emotional well-being of Chicago sports fans, this is going to rip us apart at the seams.
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