This is a letter to the people of Wrigleyville, Chicago, Illinois: The sky isn’t falling. We are not looking at another one hundred plus years. We are not a championship starved city. But we are quick to forget . It takes a lot of luck, time and circumstance to beat out thirty plus clubs. This isn’t the time to go back into lovable loser mode.
Good pitching is hard to come by and even harder to cultivate. The Cubs have all the position stars in the world but there is no one raving about pitchers in the cubs minor leagues that would ready to be called up to the big league club. Meantime the current rotation is having a problem throwing pitches with their World Series rings on. Does the trade for Jose Quintana change any of this?
Consider the boys are tired. Maybe even sick of baseball a little bit. I know what it is like to panic about your team but this is not the time. Perhaps I’ve slipped back my World Series coma. I’m at peace with the boys as they are. Let’s cease with the psychobabble and deal with the reality of things the way they are. The wild card isn’t an option with the NL West as good as they are. The answer is to win the division as Milwaukee isn’t trying to win it. Trades need to be made to upgrade pitching. The starting rotation and the bullpen. Putting Kyle Schwarber behind the plate would be a good idea as well. John Jay would solve all of our lead off problems unless you want to trade for Curtis Granderson to at least address the problem of veteran leadership David Ross seemed to bring to the young group these last few years. Hendricks certainly cannot carry the load coming off of the DL as it is. The bullpen is worse than leaky even when the team has the lead.
Again the sky isn’t falling. There is no need for another time machine for some great future another century from now. The Chicago Cubs are still the Defending World Series Champion until 2018 when they are either repeat champs or another champion has been crowned. Think for a second fans: when was the last time we talked about this team as perennial? There have been many perennial s in my lifetime in all sports. Some of them in Chicago.
Teams rise and fall. Looking for the next dynasty. The rest of us look for players who enjoy playing for our clubs and contributing to our cities. Wrigley Field being a neighborhood park and the Cubs being the tenant of such makes for these opportunities.