Forget about the Cubs and the postseason. Let’s talk about the Cubs and the offseason.
An absolute slog of a summer would seem to point to an unfulfilling end for manager Joe Maddon’s club. Without a pair of blue-colored glasses, it’s very difficult to see how the Cubs and their up-and-down approach to baseball would be able to do much damage in the playoffs.
Their seesaw act since Aug. 13: lost four, won five, lost three, won four, lost two, won three and lost three heading into their game Monday night in San Diego. It’s hard to like a team that has so many mood swings.
Some of that is on the players, who lack the substance necessary to win road games, and some of it is on team president Theo Epstein, who has failed to maintain the talent level the Cubs had when they won the 2016 World Series.
No matter what happens down the stretch, there’s no way Epstein can go into next season offering fans the same product.
Here’s an offseason to-do list for him, and it had better be backed by a lot of Ricketts family money:
- Build a good bullpen. That was Need No. 1 last offseason, Epstein didn’t address it and here the Cubs are, covering their eyes whenever they call on a reliever. They were able to sign closer Craig Kimbrel at midseason, but what they’ve found is that one pitcher doesn’t make a bullpen. That shouldn’t be a revelation for a major-league front office.
- Find a leadoff hitter. Maddon’s protestations aside, it’s important to have one player who can be trusted in that spot. Because the Cubs have no idea what the future holds for 38-year-old Ben Zobrist, who is back with the team after a four-month absence, signing someone who can handle the leadoff spot is imperative.
- Sign an ace. The Cubs don’t have one, which is stunning for a successful big-market team. If they happen to make the playoffs this season, who would Maddon trot out to the mound for the first game? Yu Darvish would be the likely candidate, and that would scare no one other than Cubs fans. Jon Lester seems to be fading fast. Find the money to find a great pitcher in the offseason and sign him.
The Cubs will be quick to point out that they have spent money the past few years. They will be correct. They haven’t spent it well of late, though, and that’s Epstein doing. But that failure doesn’t preclude them from continuing to spend money. You don’t see the Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers shying away from pursuing expensive players year after year. The Cubs’ mantra of “sustained success’’ needs to involve sustained spending. Fans don’t care how ownership has structured its money. They’ve filled Wrigley Field game after game and year after year, holding up their end of the bargain. The Rickettses need to continue to hold up their end of it.
Now comes the tricky part: What to do with Maddon?
He’s not the problem, though I’m not sure that matters. Epstein comes from the same impatient Red Sox tradition that cost team president Dave Dombrowski his job Sunday — less than a year after Boston won the World Series. We’ve seen it in how the Cubs have cut loose hitting and pitching coaches the past several years under Epstein.
The Cubs won’t find a better manager than Maddon, but, again, that might not be the issue. The importance of the position has been downgraded the past few years, with front offices having more input in day-to-day decisions that once were the purview of the skipper. And Maddon, whose contract is up after the season, is making $5 million this year. That’s seen as extravagant in this era of the minimized manager.
Assuming the Cubs go away quietly this season, how will Epstein react to the team’s failings? If he’s looking to blame someone other than himself, he can let the manager walk. Epstein had declared 2019 to be a season of reckoning, and the “urgency’’ he was looking for hasn’t been there. If Maddon meant to light a fire under his players, all he got in return was a controlled burn.
But if Epstein is willing to take responsibility for this year’s product, then Maddon’s chances of getting a new contract seem a lot better. Letting Joe go for all his cumulative goofiness over the past five years would be understandable. His act can wear on you. Letting him go for his performance with an underwhelming roster this year would not be easily explained.
If it sounds as if the Cubs’ success the past five years has spoiled a lot of people, it’s because it has. That’s a byproduct of winning. No one needs to apologize for it. You get a taste of it, you want more. There hasn’t been enough of it from the Cubs lately.
Whatever happens, Epstein needs to be the Most Valuable Player of the offseason and the team’s Comeback Player of the Year next season. Anything less will be a failure.
