REMEMBER THE CORE
Cubs stalwarts Baez, Bryant, Rizzo sense end of era is near
Sometimes, things just come to an end.
For the Cubs’ core, which helped transform the franchise from a 101-loss team in 2012 to World Series champions in 2016 and perennial powerhouse status, the end has come rather abruptly.
After the team’s elimination Friday in the wild-card round by the Marlins, that same core was reflective and mature and gave thoughtful answers, showing that the kids who came into the Cubs’ clubhouse over the last eight years had grown up.
But they also sounded as if they knew things might never be the same.
They’re correct; they won’t be the same.
“I’ve never been in another [organization], but I feel like everybody that comes through here, they don’t want to leave,” shortstop Javy Baez said. “Just the way they handle it. The way that the front office handles this and the way they let us be us . . . . I hope I never leave this city in my whole career, but, you know, anything can happen.”
“Nobody knows their future,’’ third baseman Kris Bryant said. ‘‘Nobody knows what’s gonna happen. I don’t know my future, so I’m just really being grateful for what I have right now in this moment.”
Baez, Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Willson Contreras and Kyle Schwarber were the Cubs’ homegrown core and were supplemented by free agents Jon Lester and Jason Heyward. The front office inherited Baez and Contreras and traded for Rizzo, and they became significant parts of what management hoped would become a team of talented, homegrown position players. And that’s exactly what it got.
Those homegrown players have done pretty well — four are perennial All-Stars, and all five are productive every-day players. And, of course, they won that World Series
“IT’S IMPORTANT TO TAKE A STEP BACK AND RECOGNIZE WHAT THIS GROUP HAS ACCOMPLISHED AND WHAT THEY’VE MEANT TO THE FRANCHISE.” THEO EPSTEIN, Cubs president
title, to go along with three trips to the National League Championship Series and postseason appearances in five of the last six seasons.
Despite the accolades and accomplishments, the question that will always remain long after this era of Cubs baseball comes to a close is, did the team underachieve?
The simple answer is no. In four years, the Cubs’ core accomplished something that hadn’t been done in more than 100 years.
The more complex answer is likely yes. The Cubs accomplished the goal of sustained success, but after winning it all and with many of their core players being so young, to come away with one World Series title almost feels like a letdown.
“Sometimes you get so close to a team and expectations get so high that you end up swimming in the natural frustrations, and every group has that,” Cubs president Theo Epstein said last week. “But it’s important to take a step back and recognize what this group has accomplished and what they’ve meant to the franchise.
“We were trying to build something that could have sustained success, and we define that by becoming regular participants in October every year or just about every year, and this group of core players has gone out and made it to October five years out of six.”
With Baez, Bryant and Schwarber set to hit free agency after the 2021 season and Rizzo having one more club option for next season, there likely will be some tough conversations this offseason on the direction of the franchise.
“I’m not worried about that stuff,” Rizzo said. “This life will take care of itself. Everything will take care of itself the way it’s supposed to.”
Almost eight years ago, there was a plan, and that plan required this core to accomplish one goal, and the players did it.
It hasn’t finished the way anyone expected, but sometimes things just end.
And that’s OK.