The words caught in Willson Contreras’ throat, and he swallowed hard.
“It’s tough,” he said.
His voice cracked as he sorted through the emotions of the Cubs’ last home series before the Aug. 2 trade deadline, what will likely be his last two games at Wrigley Field as a Cub. Asked on Tuesday if he’d at least like an extension offer to mull over before potentially being traded, Contreras said, “that’s not up to me.”
Of course, nothing is set in stone until either trade paperwork goes through or the deadline passes. But Contreras watched three teammates go through something similar this time last year.
Anthony Rizzo, Javy Báez and Kris Bryant were all in their final year of club control, like Contreras is this year, when the Cubs dealt them at the deadline last season. So, he knew what could be ahead of him. That didn’t make it easy.
“I wish this day never came,” Contreras said Monday night. “But it’s about business. I understand that, I respect that. And I love my team. I love my teammates most, and I don’t want to get too attached with them because you never know what’s going to happen next week, or this week even in SanFrancisco. It’s been a tough couple of days for me.”
He was still fighting back tears.
The next day, the Wrigley Field faithful greeted Contreras with a standing ovation in his first at-bat of the game. Contreras stepped away from the batters box and tipped his helmet to the crowd.
The first pitch he saw, Contreras lined into shallow center field to start the three-run first-inning rally that propelled the Cubs to a 4-2 win against the Pirates on Tuesday. After crossing the plate, Contreras was met in the dugout with high-fives and a few extra embraces from coaches and teammates.
“He’s a special player, he’s a special man,” said manager David Ross, who also played with Contreras in his 2016 rookie season. “And he’s done special things here. And to watch him continue to get better, not just as a player, but also as a teammate as a leader. Those qualities have come out.”
Contreras has become attached, not just to the city where he’s spent his entire major-league career, or the teammates he’s grown up with in the organization, but also rookies like Christopher Morel and Nelson Velázquez.
When they debuted this season, the Cubs clustered their lockers near Contreras’ in the Wrigley Field clubhouse.
"I'm trying just to appreciate everything that Wrigley Field is and think about all the memories that I have here."
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) July 26, 2022
Willson Contreras on the possibility of this being his last homestand. pic.twitter.com/dJ2m9lQzfg
“To me, he means a lot for the Cubs,” Velázquez told the Sun-Times. “... If I had the chance, I would love having him next to me for the rest of my career. Because he’s a good teammate, he’s a great guy that brings a lot of energy to the clubhouse.”
They probably won’t get that chance.
Throughout the series, poster board signs expressing their appreciation for Contreras could be spotted in the stands. Fans periodically shouted, “We love you Willson.” They again rose to their feet in the seventh inning, for his final at-bat of the series, and most remained standing until he disappeared into the dugout.
Another standing ovation for Willson Contreras in the 7th inning: pic.twitter.com/XIDFK0qsTy
— Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) July 26, 2022
The fans, too, had grown attached — to the player who had signed with the Cubs out of Venezuela in 2009, debuted just in time to help the team end its century-long World Series drought, and been at the heart of so many club high points in the years since.
“That makes me feel good,” Contreras said. “That makes me feel that if I have to walk away from this team, I’m going to have to walk away with my head up high because I know that I did everything I could to make this team better from Day 1 when I got called up in 2016.”
