We've hit the point where some of the bigger pieces of the 2016 Cubs Championship team are beginning to evaporate. Now Kyle Schwarber and Albert Almora are gone, and the Cubs are putting in regular free agents like Joc Pederson, Zach Davies and Eric Sogard, which is a big sign that the Cubs are plummeting even further towards normalcy for 2021.
Like, the big factor nobody wants to talk about is that the big stars want to leave. Kris Bryant was nearly traded this offseason, and was putting on a face and doing the 'Chicago is my home' schtick, but really Bryant and the rest of the world knows that a change of scenery is gonna do better for Bryant's career than keeping him on this sinking Cubs team. You also hears that the Cubs were trying to hammer down an extension for Anthony Rizzo, which didn't get anywhere, and eventually Rizzo used the excuse of 'we'll just wait until after the season'. J.T. Realmuto used that excuse last year, and it, translated, means 'I wanna see how much money the Mets offer me before I choose to come back'. Additionally, both Javier Baez and Zach Davies would be free agents next offseason. Pretty soon, this Cubs team could come crashing down even further.
And yet, in a pretty spread-out year for the NL Central, the Cubs still have something of a chance to compete. Again, the reliance is on a lot of the big pieces and contracts, but if these guys can sink something, with help from guys like Pederson and Davies, it could mean a lot more for the future of this team. But one of the biggest problems is that the youth movement that should be carrying on the legacy of these 2010s Cubs teams has not arrived yet. Nico Hoerner and Adbert Alzolay have had brief stints in the majors but haven't wowed people quite yet. There is still a deference to veteran presence, possibly to hide the fact that the farm system was completely torn up in the mid-2010s in order to compete.
I still think the Brewers and Cardinals have more to work with for 2021 than the Cubs do. I could be wrong. They could have another big year. But I don't see a unified outlook for this team past the contracts expiring at the end of the year. This may be the last hurrah for the 'good cubs' that showed up in 2015, and we may just have to be okay with losing them.
Coming Tonight: An A's pitcher hoping his division is as up in the air as the NL Central.
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