Sports
Same Ole Cubs
Every year it seems the problems with the Chicago Cubs is the same, they struggle to hit with runners in scoring position because they have poor hitters. When the same issues keep appearing that indicates to me there is a systemic problem, which is not something fixable through signing one or two players. The evaluation of talent and construction of the roster is producing the same results we see year after year.
Getting the Cubs to the World Series after a century of losing is turning out to be easier than getting them back a decade after. It’s easy to get a talented team when you tank seasons and trade away what experienced players you have for prospects. The core of the 2016 team were those prospects lead by experienced veterans, but veterans who were in the later half of their careers.
Obviously, fans are not going to allow such a heavy rebuild. Seems to me that if you aren’t able to load up on prospects you have change your approach to obtaining MLB players. Every free agent signing the Cubs have made since 2016 are of players who are in the back end of their careers. Signing Alex Bregman this year is no different than signing Dansby Swanson, players who have won championships but who are not in their prime and therefore seem less capable of hitting consistently over a season.
The U.S. Men’s hockey team won the Olympic gold medal beating Canada in overtime, 2-1. The last time I saw the U.S. men’s hockey win gold I was 14 years old.
A benefit of retirement is that I am able to watch the 2026 Winter Olympic events live during the afternoon and because of that I am seeing much more of the Olympics than ever before. In addition to having the time to watch, technology, particularly Peacock, is helping by putting all of the U.S. coverage in one spot. To be honest, I am not constantly watching but I have it on in the background as I sit here at my desk.
Bumbling Cubs Front Office
Kyle Tucker signed a 4 year, $240m contract with the Dodgers. In my opinion the Cubs trading for Tucker last year and giving up a top prospect is one of the worst decisions made by Jed Hoyer. The mistake the Cubs keep making is that they seem unwilling to pay for the positions of need and then to appease the fans just sign whatever player regardless of the position, and that is a bad way to run a team.
Last season the Cubs need was at third base and Alex Bregman was available, but the Cubs were not aggressive in filling their need and for some reason settled on renting Tucker for a year. The only way the trade for Tucker made sense is if the Cubs had extended him before the season started, once the season started with no extension it was obvious the Cubs had made a mistake. Redemption for the front office would have been a deep playoff run, but instead Tucker was injured for most of the second half of the season and the Cubs lost to the Brewers in the divisional round.
Now the Cubs have signed Bregman to finally fill their need, but they could have done that last year and not given up any prospects in the process. It would have been much smarter for them to have taken the money they gave to Tucker and spent it on Bregman. All around, these were bad decisions and even bad business decisions by the owner. Of course, Ownership showed their bad business skills by extending Hoyer last year before the trade deadline, effectively rewarding Hoyer for mediocre work.
I am shocked that the Chicago Cubs signed Alex Bregman to what will be the third most lucrative contract in team history. Ownership has not shown a willingness to sign big contracts since the one they gave Dansby Swanson. What I see from BleedCubbieBlue.com is that the math pegs the Cubs right at the luxury tax threshold, which I suspect is ownership’s upper limit. Being that the Cubs are in a large market, they ought to be more willing to pay the luxury tax, if they are willing I would love to see them pursue Cody Bellinger for a one year deal, but that won’t happen. The article reports that the Cubs are spending 36% of their revenue on player salaries, putting them at 26th in the league. Comparable big market teams New York Yankees and Los Angelas Dodgers are spending 50% (11th) and 73% (2nd) respectively.
I received my Exist 2025 year in review today. This year I recorded 3,174,492 steps for a distance of 1,440.5 miles. The number of steps is down 1% while the distance walked is up 1%. My highest step day was 14,259 on March 9 when I was in Mesa Arizona attending a Chicago Cubs spring training game.
Every article I read about the Chicago Cubs’ off season has the same pattern. It basically says, the Cubs have checked in with so and so player to find out their interest. I imagine after every one of those phone calls Jed Hoyer says, “Oh, so and so won’t play for nothing? Oh well” and moves on to the next player on his list. He only makes the calls and tells the press he made the call for the appearance he actually is doing something.
The pattern is the same every single off season to the point to which I think Ricketts and company are insane because they keep expecting a different result. First, there is complete turnover in the bullpen with hope it will pan out in the upcoming season. Never mind that hope is not a strategy.
Next, they find every single player available at the start of the off season to be too expensive. Then with about a month left, which we are now approaching, the Cubs seem to panic, trade away some prospects and sign someone they either don’t need (Dansby Swanson) or have no chance re-signing (Kyle Tucker).
In short, Hoyer manages the Chicago Cubs like he is managing a Fantasy Baseball team. And the real irony in all this is Ricketts thinks he is saving money when in reality he is wasting money.
Bleed Cubbie Blue: Twas the night before Cub Christmas, 2025
I don’t know what is worse as a Chicago Cubs fan. The frustration during the season when the players don’t perform as expected or the frustration during the off season when the front office don’t perfom as expected.
Today is the five year anniversary of one of the Chicago Cubs worst mistakes in the post World Series era when they did not tender a contract to Kyle Schwarber. The Cubs could make up for that mistake by signing him as a free agent, but I doubt they will do it.