Javy Baez and Kyle Schwarber (Creative Commons: docjeffhyde)
While Theo Epstein will rightfully be remembered as the man who brought championships to success starved Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs fans, his work with the Cubs wasn’t flawless. While he was the architect of the 2016 team which broke a 108-year championship drought, the team really didn’t fulfill its potential.
Like the 1985 Chicago Bears, the 2016 ultimately underperformed. The team seemed apathetic after the championship and in desperate need of a kick in the butt. They never received that needed kick.
Maddon’s act grew old
The eccentric hippie uncle thing was at first a refreshing change of pace, but ultimately grew tiresome. Joe Maddon often seemed to manage the game in his head, not the one being played on the field. For a guy who was liberal in so many ways, Joe seemed incredibly slow to react to changing circumstances.
For example, after years of being an effective setup guy for the Cubs, Pedro Strop lost his effectiveness. However, it seemed like Maddon didn’t get the memo that Strop was no longer good.
Maddon’s use of Ian Happ was also maddening. Or Maddoning. Happ was played all over the field and was defensively deficient everywhere he played. I also remember a game where Happ hit two home runs. And then was benched the next day.
Happ blossomed after being planted in left and given consistent playing time. In other words, after Joe left.
Baez and Bryant aged poorly
And it was predictable. Javier Baez‘s lack of plate discipline was always problematic. Javy never reined that tendency in, and as of now, he’s one of the worst players in MLB, and also, at least from management’s perspective, has one of the worst contracts in baseball. Baez is currently hitting .154 with an OPS of .420 and a WAR of -0.8.
It’s true the Cubs did get Pete Crow-Armstrong in a trade with the Mets for Baez, but they could have gotten a ton for Javy if they had moved him earlier.
Kris Bryant has had a miserable time with the Rockies after signing. He just can’t stay on the field. And when he does manage to play, he plays poorly. In limited action this season, Bryant is hitting .149 with an OPS of .548.
Early in his career, Bryant showed signs of being injury prone. It seems that guys with his body type, tall with long limbs, also don’t age well.
The Cubs obviously did trade Bryant to the Giants, getting Alexander Canario and Caleb Kilian in return. That really wasn’t much of a haul, but once again the Cubs held on to a player too long.
The one player from that championship team the Cubs might have done well to hang on to was Kyle Schwarber. Instead, they let Schwarber go without even giving him a qualifying offer. Whoops.
So, what does all this mean?
Some fans were upset because the Cubs didn’t hang on to Baez and Bryant. Thankfully the Cubs did move on from them but were a little late in doing so. Hopefully, the Cubs won’t live in the past when it comes to evaluating current players.
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