On the eve of the MLB's trade deadline, the Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations had a choice to make: trade catcher Willson Contreras for what he believed was below market value, or keep him and potentially get an extra draft pick.
It had been a foregone conclusion for weeks that he would be moved, especially after he had pulled off another deadline dump a year before. Getting another prospect or two in exchange for a few months of Contreras' service was attractive to the Cubs and their front office.
The teams that have a need at catcher but don't want to give up prospects with team control were talking to Cleveland and the teams that have a need but don't want to give up prospects with team control were talking to the teams that have a need but don't want to The Mets were involved early but never moved despite trading for Pete Crow-Armstrong the year before. The San Diego Padres fell out of the picture when they traded for Juan Soto. There is a 6 p.m. event. The deadline had passed, and there was no deal.
You try to make the right decisions in the moment. You can't force your way in one direction or the other. It's not possible to force a trade if it doesn't line up. There is a chance that the Cubs can benefit from another option.
The benefit of the doubt can be seen in the history and reputation of the man. The Cubs are fair, direct and transparent when it comes to making trades. Despite the non-trade of Contreras, the Cubs still made several deals as Mychal Givens, David Robertson and Chris Martin all changed teams.
For the second year in a row, Chicago subtracted deals instead of adding them at the deadline. One of baseball's marquee clubs is undergoing their second rebuild in a decade. The story of this season is told by their 45-65 record.
If we hit the 90th percentile on certain things, maybe we could have gotten to that point of adding. Being in the position that we are, we should have sold. The process of selling doesn't appeal to me. I would like to flip that to the buy side as quickly as possible.
The Cubs have been a part of baseball for a long time. In this year's Field of Dreams game against the Reds, they were featured on the national scene, as well as playing the Cards in London next season.
One of the sport's most beloved opportunities comes in part. The Cubs have the highest average attendance of any losing team in baseball. It is one of the top teams.
Even if the product is unwatchable many nights, the Cubs games are still worth watching. It's up to the rest of the team to change that.
The fan base deserves a winner because they show up. When 16,000 people come to games, they take the time and effort to support us. They are deserving of a win.
The owner of the team said the same thing.
This is not the type of baseball fans the Cubs should have. The decision to move away from Cubs players who brought us a World Series title was difficult, but we have a plan to return to championship contention by building the next great Cubs team around a young core of players.
The work of building a contender again from the ground up is being done by a man who has kept a low profile. Over the past decade, the Cubs drafted and developed hitters well, though they failed to do so with pitchers, such as Dylan Cease, who they traded to the White Sox in 2017). The World Series game 7 was saved by Montgomery.
Which stars did not stay the same. Which contender made the most noise? Everything that happened before the deadline is here.
Those who won, those who lost and those who were in between.
There is a trade deadline tracker.
Every deal has a grade.
The Cubs did not move any of their stars at the peak of their value. The returns were enough for the Cubs to improve their farm system rather than remake it with the next Bryant-in-waiting.
The Cubs had no choice but to start over last year because they didn't have a lot of major-league ready pitchers.
This time, he is trying to do something different. The Cubs are starting to develop pitchers. Both have established themselves at the major league level, as have position players Hoerner and Christopher Morel. There are more guns on the farm
The goal is to add as much pitching as possible. When we started, we had position players lined up, but we never got to the point of having pitchers lined up at every level.
The Cubs are 18th in the latest rankings of MLB farm systems by a prospect guru, while FanGraphs has them at fourth. Part of the reason behind the disparity between the two outlets is that the team lacks a top 25 prospect to raise them any further up the ranks.
The lack of star power at the top is problematic.
The Cubs had three to four guys in the top 10 in 2014). There were a lot of prospects on the field at the beginning of the year. This is not as much as it used to be. That is what we are building towards. It's the same vision I have. At the end of last year, we weren't as far along as we are today.
The Cubs team may be a bit closer to the team that lost 96 games last year. They are on track for this season. Expectations for Cubs fans have gone up. The Cubs won the World Series in 2016 for the first time in over a century.
There is more pressure for a big market like Chicago.
The Cubs don't have to dump at the trade deadline more than a few times to build up their team. They can increase their rebuild by spending money instead of getting rid of players. The Cubs' signings last winter of right fielder Seiya Suzuki for $85 million and pitcher Marcus Stroman for $71 million should calm some alarmists that they are playing it The team is promising more in the future.
When we build this and get to the point that we've built something special, I know the money will be there. We want to be strategic with our money. We spent a lot of money on Suzuki.
The moves over the past year and at the trade deadline have put us in a strong position in both player and financial currency. We are going to compete in the free agent market.
Since starting over, he has pointed out that there is no guarantee of a return to contention. Adding a whole team of veteran stars isn't sustainable because free agents come at an older age.
In the first half of the season, which teams did well and which did not?
Everything from an A to an F was handed out.
Second-half preview for all 30 teams
Maybe one of the aforementioned players will make his way to the North Side in the years to come. Unless Shoeless Joe Jackson walks out of the cornfields to play left field on Thursday night, the Cubs are going to have to continue their search for future All-Star orMVP candidates. Injuries at the minor league level have slowed some promising players down, but hitting the free agent market is still their best bet to fulfill that search.
"We need to change our offense," he stated. Right now, we don't have enough power. The ball needs to be thrown in the air. We will focus on those things this winter.
Ian Happ, the Cubs' player rep and a free agent in 2024, said that every player would like to see money spent across the board. There are some great talent out there this year. The teams are going to spend a lot. Only time will tell if the Cubs will be one of those.
A revolt is possible if they don't. The tickets are selling well in Iowa, Wrigley and England. On a Tuesday night a week from the deadline, more than 37,000 people showed up at Wrigley Field to see the last-place Nationals take on the Cubs.
Fans are willing to pay high ticket prices for now. Success on the field will follow.
It's always going to be fun with large crowds. It's a point of departure. It's not the same in August and September when you're in the hunt and playing for your division.
There are pieces that can help a team win a division. We have to move in the right direction.
The Cubs are headed west to Iowa, where players, team executives and ownership will take center stage for one of baseball's crown jewel events. There is only one thing missing.
The Field of Dreams game is going to be exciting. Cubs fans are the best in the world and this is a great experience for them, especially for our Iowa fans. The Chicago Cubs are one of the original teams in baseball. We are going to make championship history again.
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