It was Cubs Convention 2020, about a couple months before the world shut down due to the covid-19 pandemic. Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts took to the stage, where he was cascaded by a chorus of boos. It was directed at him, sure, but the general vitriol was aimed at the then soon to be launched Marquee Network.
“You won’t be booing in a year,” Ricketts boldly proclaimed. Well, now it’s trade deadline day 2021, and we’re doing a whole lot more than just booing. The MLB Trade Deadline is like the market for a sports guest post, there is a ton of wheeling and dealing going on. And the Cubs were the biggest sellers of all.
This week’s roster blow-up started when they dealt away beloved middle reliever Andrew Chafin, and the last 24-48 hours have seen a flurry of deals announced, all of which scream “we suck again.”
You know the mantra of the World Series champion manager Joe Maddon “try not to suck,” well, Ricketts definitely tried to suck, as he waved the white flag like the Chicago White Sox in 1997, and engaged in a fire sale so brutal, it would put the 1993 San Diego Padres to shame. Don’t expect the Cubs to be contenders again until at least 2025. Dig in because this is going to be brutal.
Cornerstone of the rebuild, Anthony Rizzo, was dealt to the New York Yankees for two minor league prospects. We covered that in detail already here.
Middle reliever Ryan Tepera was sent to the crosstown White Sox, as was closer Craig Kimbrel.
Seeing one after another pillars of the championship @Cubs traded these past 24 hours been like watching the wrecking ball level your old house.
You know you have to rebuild but there are lots of great memories.
Thanks for those @javy23baez, @KrisBryant_23 & @ARizzo44! pic.twitter.com/eQnb6lHc9T— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) July 30, 2021
It was minor leaguer Bailey Horn in return for Tepera, with Nick Madrigal and Codi Heuer going the other way for Kimbrel. However, Friday wasn’t about the bullpen, no, not at all.
Thursday was all about the end of the Rizzo era in Chicago. Friday was all about saying goodbye to Kris Bryant and Javy Baez, and with that, the tear down was essentially complete.
There are now only three players who are still on the roster from the 2016 World Series championship team- Kyle Hendricks, Jason Heyward and Willson Contreras.
In case you didn’t know, the Cubs are owned by the Ricketts family, the same family that started Ameritrade in Omaha.
Pete Ricketts is the Governor of NE. He once said “legalizing marijuana will kill your kids”.
Just an FYI for my fellow @Cubs fans as to where this is going. https://t.co/hcDj4qd5U6
— Sage Rosenfels (@SageRosenfels18) July 30, 2021
No one wanted Heyward, and his bloated contract for a player that can’t hit. (No one wanted Ian Happ either)
They got outfield prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong from the New York Mets for SS Báez, right-handed pitcher Trevor Williams and a cash consideration. Crow-Armstrong, 19, is ranked as the fifth-best prospect in the Mets organization by MLB.com
Over the course of 2018-19, Baez became the first player in major league history to start the All-Star Game at second base and shortstop in consecutive seasons.
He was named the 2016 NLCS co-MVP with Jon Lester, won a Silver Slugger award in 2018 and in 2020 earned his first N.L. Gold Glove award.
El Mago was certainly one of the most exciting and fun to watch players in recent Cubs history.
Additionally, minor league pitcher Anderson Espinoza was acquired from the San Diego Padres in exchange for outfielder Jake Marisnick.
However, the real headliner, the true heart-breaker of the day was the news of Kris Bryant departing. The 2015 NL Rookie of the Year and 2016 NL MVP was shipped off to the San Francisco Giants for minor leaguers Caleb Kilian and Alexander Canario.
Bryant, or Sparkles as he was effectively nicknamed, leaves the Cubs as one of just three third basemen in franchise history with multiple 30-plus homer campaigns, joining Ron Santo (four times) and Aramis Ramirez (three times).
He was a four time All-Star, and indeed, half of Bryzzo.
https://twitter.com/Cubs_Live/status/1421204224998879236
Without Bryant, Rizzo and Baez, the Cubs as we’ve known them in the 2010s and 2020s are simply not the Cubs. Ricketts (well more so Theo Epstein) did end the drought, yes, absolutely, positively, no one can take that away from them.
However, Ricketts gave up, shortly thereafter, in trying to field a competitive team. All he cared about was his revenue streams, his TV network and his ballpark neighborhood gentrification project.
There is no Wrigleyville anymore, it’s just Oakbrook Terrace mall with some baseball thematic principles applied.
To the Ricketts family I know you care about the commercialization around Wrigley so please put a statue of Rizz and Bryant after final out smack dab in the middle of this GD plaza. Thanks. pic.twitter.com/uV0VbAL7HO
— Joey (@JoeyMulinaro) July 30, 2021
Dear Ricketts, please sell the team to someone who actually cares, ASAP. Nobody here likes you.
Yes, you have all the money in the world, but every Cubs fan hates you now.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.