As One Era comes to the End Another One is Beginning

 

August 2, 2021

The baseball world exploded with a flurry of trades before the deadline. Many teams selling impact players to teams pushing to make the playoffs. The Dodgers acquired Cy Young candidate Max Scherzer and all-star shortstop Trae Turner. The Giants countered by signing Kris Bryant. Nelson Cruz is now a Tampa Bay Ray, stud pitcher Jose Berrios is a Blue Jay and the Red Sox traded for slugger Kyle Schwarber. Not to be outdone, the Yankees signed sluggers Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo to take aim at the short right field bleachers at Yankee Stadium. The Cubs were very busy with a plethora of moves, including two trades with the cross-town White Sox.

The White Sox (62-44) have been playing lousy baseball. The Cleveland Indians have played just as bad.  By winning two of three over the Indians the Sox have opened a huge 9 game lead. It would take a slump of epic proportions for the Sox not to win the division.

The Sox positioned themselves for the post season trading for an elite closer former Cub, Craig Kimbrel. This allows them to use the formula of the 2015 world champion Kansa City Royals. The Royals had Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera and Greg Holland closing out games. The Sox have a resurgent Aaron Bummer, Craig Kimbrel and Liam Hendriks. In recent years teams that win have great bullpens. The Sox have the best as of right now.

The hitting has to improve. Hopefully it won’t take long for Eloy Jimenez to get in a groove. The same thing goes for Luis Robert and Yasmani Grandal when they return.  They need Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada and Jose Abreu to get going. It is imperative for the Sox to win enough games to get home field advantage in the playoffs. The Sox have been struggling on the road but have a major league best record at home.

The Sox also need to shore their defense. The outfield will get much better when Robert returns. It wouldn’t hurt to give Adam Engel the majority of playing time in right. They have traded for gold glove second baseman Cesar Hernandez. Anderson has improved at shortstop. Yoan Moncada after a bad series in Houston, has been very good at third. They also have to overcome the disastrous managing job by Tony LaRussa.

The woes continue for the Cubs (51-56) as they have dropped to fourth place. What was projected when the season began came to fruition before the trading deadline. While the Sox window will be open for years, it’s the end of an era for the Cubs.

Let’s start with Kimbrel trade. He was not going to be a free- agent at the end of the year however, they wanted to dump his $16 million contract. The club will have a loss of revenue. The seats are sold but will fans show up?  At least the Cubs got something in return. Codi Heuer has terrific stuff and can become a late inning guy if not a closer. Cub fans are going to love second baseman Nick Madrigal. He and Nico Hoerner can be a real good DP combo for years.

Before you mourn for the loss of the three core players from the 2016 world champs, consider this team wasn't going to win with them. So far this season they have all underachieved leaving Jed Hoyer to receive little in return. Anthony Rizzo was dealt to the Yankees. The Cubs received right hander Alexander Vizcaino and minor league outfielder Kevin Alcantara. The only thing positive is the Yankees are pretty good at selecting prospects. Javier Baez and Trevor Williams were traded to the Mets for outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong who may be ready soon. Kris Bryant was traded to San Francisco for prospects right-hander Caleb Kilian and outfielder Alexander Canario.

Most of these prospects won’t be ready for a while and the Cubs farm system is not very good. The Cubs say they are retooling, not rebuilding. Who are they retooling around? Some people tell me they have freed up money and could sign some free agents and contend. As you should know by now, this not their MO.  In my opinion they should shop Kyle Hendricks in the off-season. He can command players who can help sooner rather than later. It’s going a long time before they will be contenders.