Sports
The MLB playoffs have started with the wildcard series games be played today. With the Cubs not in the playoffs, I am rooting for the Phillies and the Guardians, who won earlier today.
Six years ago I felt positive things were happening for the Chicago Cubs. I wrote then about all the young talent that was getting a chance to play and looked forward to the future. Honestly, I feel a bit that way this year. The Cubs young guys who have been given a chance to play have demonstrated they are capable. I think next year they should be competitive in the NL Central.
Shock in Wrigleyville as the Cubs did NOT trade Wilson Contreras or Ian Happ as nearly everyone expected. During the lead up to the trade deadline pundits were bemoaning the fact the Cubs just trade away all the players who were so important to winning the 2016 World Series. Now pundits are bemoaning the fact the trades were not made!
The reason why trades were made is simple, teams didn’t want to pay the price the Cubs were asking for. Contreras is the best catcher in baseball and you don’t just give that caliber of player away for some prospects, except maybe a team of prospects. Before Soto became available Contreras was one of the best, if not the best, hitters available. When the Nationals announced they were open to trades, Contreras was no longer the best hitter, he was just the best catcher available. Teams buying simply decided they had needs greater than catcher.
My hope is that the Cubs make a serious attempt to signing Contreras to a new contract during the offseason. Wilson is a player worthy of being the cornerstone to the next great Cubs team, particularly given the additon of the designated hitter. You need leadership to win in any sport, and Wilson provides it to a team of young players and particularly a team with young pitchers. I think Wilson is worth the money he asks for.
The NFL is simply hostile to people who are fans of teams not in their local market. I started giving the MLB my money the moment I was able to watch every Chicago Cub game, but the NFL doesn’t seem to want my money to let me watch very Green Bay Packer game. I live in the Detroit, Michigan market, but I moved here many years ago and never budged from my childhood favorite Packers. It’s not like my ability to pay for and stream Packer games is diminishing local broadcasts or ticket sales. It’s just crazy!
Much talk regarding the Chicago Cubs probable trades of some of their remaining “core” players, Wilson Contreras and Ian Happ, mostly due to the big sell off last year.
One big difference this year, I think, is that the Cubs may be trading away the best catcher in baseball. As good as Bryant, Rizzo, and Baez were you can’t say they were the best at their positions. The last time the Cubs cast aside the best in his position was Gregg Maddux, and that trade might have contributed a decade or more of “same old Cubs” baseball.
It seems to be that Cubs ownership and front office don’t understand that there is a difference between turning a franchise around, as they did before 2016 and maintaining the culture that as built during the turnaround. Continual selling and tanking was warranted to turn around a 108 year problem, but that is NOT how you maintain the culture, in fact it destroys what culture that has been built.
The St. Louis Cardinals provides the template of excellence, and the Cubs should know this well since the Cardinals have been their main rival since the beginning of baseball time. The Cardinals prioritize re-signing players, even at the price of overpaying, to maintain their culture.
So far, the current Cubs ownership and front office has not had one major re-signing of player on their roster, and that sends a clear message. The message is sends is that while they might now how to turn a team around, they don’t know how to keep it at the top.
If Cubs fans are truly apathetic as described here, I have to wonder whether they are really fans or people who just came on board when the team was winning. I am a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan and the World Series did not change my loyalty nor expectations. I am grateful for 2016 but don’t expect them to win every year and not surprised they aren’t competitive this year. Last year they subtracted much more than they added, and the one big add is really an unknown.
Javy Being Javy
I am enjoying watching Detroit sports learn how great a player Javier Baez is, as a Cubs fan I appreciate his unique talent and was disappointed the Cubs didn’t sign him.
I remember a time when shortstops were considered the worst batter in the lineup and that didn’t matter because shortstops were considered the best athlete and most important defensive player on the team. Ozzie Smith didn’t make is his mark at the plate, he was known as the Wizard because of his defense. I always felt too much attention is paid to Baez’s inconsistency at the plate and not enough value placed on his defense, which I think is worth enough to absorb his bat.
Baez was not the problem in the Cubs lineup, the problem was that everyone else in the lineup was not much better. Put Baez in a lineup with other players who make contact and get on base and you can live with his strikeouts, and revel in his ability in the big moments. I think in some ways Baez is like Brett Farve, high risk and high reward. The defense, and in particular Reggie White, made Farve who he was for the Packers because it could overcome his interceptions. Put Farve on the Detroit Lions and he is not a hall of fame player.
I am happy that even though Javier is no longer playing for the Cubs, he is playing for a team in my area that is on TV every day. Baez is the type of player you tune in just to watch, regardless of your interest in the team, much like Cabrera was in his prime. Tiger fans need to remember the incredible plays that he has already made in four games when he strikes out in that crticial moment in July because it will happen and he will still be worth every bit of money he is paid.
It is only the second game, but I am already liking this Cubs lineup. Three runs on one hit that is not a home run is not something we saw much since 2016.
Happy opening day Chicago Cubs fans!
Today the Chicago Cubs, well actually mostly the Cub’s farm system, will play the last 2022 spring training game and will go in to the new season with a winning spring training record. Of course, nobody wins a World Series in spring training, even if my attendance at the 2016 spring training might have propelled the Cubs to win it all that year.
It looks like the Cubs have improved, and I expect they will be competitive enough to make them interesting to watch. One concerning sign from the spring is they allowed more runs than scored, and run scoring (offense) is the big question mark.
Opening day is like starting to read a new book, you don’t know how it will end and you hope that it will be fulfilling.
Every year young men have their dreams of becoming Major League Baseball players come true, but fans rarely see the moment when the dream is realized. Yesterday was an exception as we saw Ethan Roberts being told we was heading to Chicago during the Cub’s spring training game against the White Sox. We need to remember that despite all the money and fame there are dreams lived out.
Nice to see the NFL has somewhat changed their mind on overtime so that both teams will get one possession in playoffs games, but why not during the regular season? I disagree with all sports that have different rules between the regular season and playoffs. Hockey does the same thing, which I also disagree with.
I am a Chicago Cubs fan who lives in southeast Michigan. When I first moved here in 1989 I couldn’t watch the Cubs unless they were on national TV, so I did take an interest in watching the local Detroit Tigers broadcast. When the MLB.tv and MLB At Bat app became available I could again watch every Cubs game and therefore I don’t watch as much of the Detroit Tigers. I also tend to not watch the national broadcast games.
All of the above is background to me wondering just how successful the streaming of “national broadcast” games will be on Apple TV. Fourty years ago there were more national broadcast of baseball games at a time when there were no regional nor local broadcasts and no Internet streaming. Baseball does not have the same national draw as the NFL and the Cubs play every Friday. I doubt this will happen, but I’ll be really mad if they don’t stream the games in MLB.tv on Fridays.
So, for myself, the only time I will watch the Friday night games on Apple TV is when the Cubs play, and I suspect most other people will do the same. I just don’t see this working out well for Apple, particularly when Apple decides to block access to only Apple TV subscribers. Right now people do not subscribe to Apple TV to watch baseball. MLB will probably be ok because I am sure they are getting paid by Apple regardless of the number of viewers.
In the meantime I read that the NFL might start their own streaming service, so I wonder whether I will be able to see more Green Bay Packer games?
I wonder whether the “Friday Night Baseball” on Apple TV will be blacked out for local markets like MLB.tv is?
It should be a big week for baseball given that there are so many big name free agents yet to sign. I am hoping the Cubs will sign one of them because we still need more bats.
And now the fun really begins, watching the free agent tracker to see who is going to be playing for the Cubs this year.
Last year on this date the Chicago Cubs won their first spring training game of the 2021 season. Today I have no idea when the Cubs will play their first game in 2022, with the lockout end not in sight.
On September 1, 2014 I wrote about the buzz on the northside of Chicago as the Cubs were calling up some of their young players like Javier Baez. I speculated about whether Theo would sign Jon Lester. Little did I know then that just two years later the Cubs would win it all.
MLB Free Agent signings are picking up and so far the Cubs are sitting on the sidelines. I am starting to be pessimistic about the ownership’s commitment to being competitive, there is the appearance of just collecting money from Wrigley Field tickets, betting, and all the non-baseball operations. In other words, a repeat of prior ownership that lead to 100 years of playoff futility. I really wish Mark Cuban had bought the team when he had the chance, I would not doubt his commitment to winning.
Still think that replay should stop play and make calls on hits to the head in the NFL. In the last 10 minutes of the game tonight there have been two calls the refs have missed. Hits to the head is a player safety issue that the NFL should make maximum effort to get out of the game. Fines after the fact doesn’t do the job. The NFL needs to follow the NCAA’s lead in this, and frankly should be open to law suits from former players.