Fickle winds blow hard in Chicago
The Chicago White Sox debated long this offseason and ultimately decided they didn’t want to become the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs, after hiring Theo Epstein as president in October, determined they no longer wanted to be the Chicago White Sox.
The two franchises, separated by 10 miles across the city, currently are universes apart in philosophy.
The Cubs stink this year, and, to be honest, Epstein, despite public proclamations to the contrary, knew they’d stink. Maybe they didn’t quite envision a 12-game losing streak that ended Monday, one of the five longest in franchise history. They figured they’d win more than 18 of their first 50 games. But hey, if you’re going to be bad, you might as well go for the gusto and be so awful you gain top draft picks.
The White Sox are 29-22, winners of eight consecutive games and in first place in the American League Central. No one in the free world, let alone the front office, predicted this kind of success. General manager Kenny Williams told news reporters this spring that the White Sox could surprise, but he and the front office also told rookie manager Robin Ventura not to expect anything more than a .500 season.
Two months into the season, and two months from the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline, who figured these rivals could emerge as actual trading partners?
The Cubs are letting teams know that nearly everyone but starter Jeff Samardzija is available, two highranking team officials told USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because of competitive reasons.
Matt Garza and Ryan Dempster are veterans starters who can fill out the top of a rotation for a contender. Shortstop Starlin Castro already is a star at 22 but can be obtained for two impact prospects. First baseman Bryan LaHair, a surprise bright spot with 10 home runs, can be cleared to make room for top prospect Anthony Rizzo.
And the Cubs gladly will chip in cash for a team to take left fielder Alfonso Soriano and the more than $45 million left on his contract.
The White Sox originally had vi- sions of unloading veterans at the deadline but now plan to add players, according to a high-ranking team official who requested anonymity from USA TODAY Sports because of competitive reasons. They would have given away starter Jake Peavy and his $17 million salary a few months ago. Now he’s untouchable, with the White Sox envisioning him as their workhorse for the pennant stretch.
As long as the Detroit Tigers do not sprint from the pack in the division, the White Sox will keep them company.
The Cubs could have tried to win in a flawed division, too, but the consequences would have been painful. The Cubs tried that method for the past decade. They were one game away from the World Series in 2003 but haven’t won a playoff game since.
“If we threw a lot of money at the problems, maybe we’d be incrementally better,” Epstein says. “But then there would be a price to pay down the line.”
The Cubs vow to build this right, and while it might be painful now, they think they can have sustained success last seen at Wrigley 80 years ago — winning four National League pennants from 1929 to 1938. Of course, in sheer Cubbie tradition, they lost all four World Series.
This is why if some team wants to provide top prospects for Castro, Garza and others, the Cubs will be all ears. The inquiries already are starting to filter in, and by the time the trade deadline rolls around, the Cubs could find themselves in a glorious position. The Cubs and San Diego Padres might be the only sellers in the parity-loaded NL.
“We’re starting to get some early calls now,” Epstein says. “There might be fewer sellers than usual and a lot more buyers. This has a chance to help us. We need core players.”
The Cubs say their renovation begins in earnest next week when the amateur draft is held. They have four of the first 67 picks and hope to develop a nucleus that will be ready to contend by 2015.
“The draft is the most important day of the year,” Epstein says. “You’re trying to build up talent, and this is the best way to do it. You get total freedom to who you bring into your organization.
“We have a lot of work to do.”