After last year’s disjointed season, Cubs manager David Ross is getting his real first taste of the trade deadline. So far, he’s not a fan.
“I definitely cannot wait for Friday,” Ross said.
The Cubs are expected to be one of the main characters of this year’s deadline, but not in the way Ross would’ve preferred. Instead of aggressively adding to a winning ballclub, team president Jed Hoyer is spending his first summer in this role searching for the right prospects to acquire for some of his core pieces.
“It’s the first time this group has gone through this,” Ross said. “I definitely think it’s created adversity for us, things we’ve had to work through. But I don’t think the winning mentality is leaving here or the way we go about competing on a daily basis. That’s going to remain the same. The personnel is changing a little bit.”
Advertisement
With the Cubs going full steam ahead in their sell-off, Ross has already had to have those awkward conversations, letting his players know they’re being moved or that they’re shut down for the night because a deal is close. It started with Joc Pederson and continued Monday night with Andrew Chafin.
“(Monday) was a first for me, knowing I can’t use somebody because they’re down and they’re going somewhere else,” Ross said. “You get that news in the middle of a game and it’s a little distracting but you still gotta manage the bullpen and do the things you can to compete that day.”
Pederson and Chafin certainly brought value to the club in terms of performance as well as adding to the clubhouse atmosphere. But they only recently arrived, and while Ross valued their presence, their departures don’t hold the same sentimental value as others who could be on the way out.
Ross was teammates with Craig Kimbrel during the closer’s first few years in the big leagues with Atlanta. He scouted him in the summer of 2019 prior to the Cubs signing him that June. Kimbrel will almost assuredly be wearing another uniform by the weekend. Still, having only been with the team for two years, Kimbrel’s departure isn’t likely to have the same impact on the fanbase as others.
The most difficult conversations could understandably be with Kris Bryant or Anthony Rizzo, if it comes to that. When Ross emerged as the emotional leader of that 2016 Cubs team, it was Rizzo and Bryant who really helped catapult “Grandpa Rossy” to celebrity status. “Bryzzo” helped start the Instagram account that Ross still uses as they cataloged his final season in the big leagues, playfully poking fun at one of their mentors. The duo remains close to the manager to this day.
After years of adding to a playoff-caliber club in July, it’s Bryant and Rizzo who are hearing their names bandied about in rumors.
Advertisement
“It’s just been different,” Bryant said. “We’ve always been buyers at the deadline. That’s always been exciting. But this is all part of the journey. It’s part of the game, part of the cycle of baseball. I think anybody who’s involved in the rumors, we’re having as good a time as you can because you can’t control it. Any time a rumor pops up and I say, ‘I’m going here and Rizz is going there, hey, maybe we’ll still be playing against each other.’ That’s what you gotta do, you can’t just sit there and sulk.”
Bryant is putting a poor June behind him, getting hot at just the right time for the Cubs to potentially reap the benefits by upping their trade return. After a walk and a home run in Tuesday night’s 7-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, Bryant is up to a 134 wRC+ and is one of the more coveted available bats this deadline. His name has been linked to numerous playoff contenders, including the San Francisco Giants. However, while some teams may feel pressure to win in 2021, the Giants don’t fall into that category. San Francisco’s team president, Farhan Zaidi, knows his team is a bit ahead of schedule and while he’ll lean on general manager Scott Harris and his familiarity with Bryant and the Cubs, the group isn’t likely to engage in a bidding war for his services. At this point in their contention cycle, it’d be a surprise if they ponied up a legitimate top-100 prospect for Bryant alone.
Rizzo, meanwhile, hasn’t looked like himself at the plate for much of the season. But after his OPS fell to .756 at the end of last week’s road trip, the lowest it’s been since May 1, Rizzo has started to turn things around. On Tuesday, he homered for the third consecutive game (the last two with a Red Sox pro scout in attendance) and has seven hits in his last 18 at-bats. Boston continues to be attached to Rizzo, but sources indicated that the Cubs’ asking price for their first baseman remains pretty high.
The Red Sox have a strong offense, but first base has been a black hole for them at the plate. Youngster Bobby Dalbec has the most plate appearances and innings at the position for the team and currently has a 73 wRC+, which is quite a bit better than their other current options.
Despite not being at his normal level of play, Rizzo would be a clear upgrade over anyone the Red Sox are putting at first. He’s up to a 116 wRC+ on the season and with his power stroke looking like it may be back, it would hardly be a surprise to see him play his best ball down the stretch. The question is whether that performance will be in a Cubs uniform.
Advertisement
Rizzo began his professional career in the Red Sox organization, selected in the sixth round of the 2007 draft by a Theo Epstein-led front office that included his top lieutenants Hoyer and then-Red Sox scouting director Jason McLeod. Hoyer and McLeod then traded for Rizzo when they were running things in San Diego, and acquired him again when they joined Epstein in Chicago. Now they may send Rizzo back to where it all started. If the Cubs want to keep some goodwill despite selling, giving Rizzo an opportunity to win another World Series in a city where he once dreamed of starring couldn’t hurt.
While he has donned other uniforms, it’s hard to imagine Rizzo making a playoff push anywhere but Chicago. Once deemed Mr. Cub 2.0, Rizzo’s status is as up in the air as it’s ever been. Hoyer appears to be sticking true to his word that there are no untouchables on this team. What was once believed to be unthinkable remains a possibility, making the next 48-plus hours likely some of the tensest Wrigleyville has seen since Bryant and Rizzo were leading the club through the postseason.
(Photo: Associated Press / Paul Beaty)
ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57kXBqbmpoaHxzfJFqZmlvX2eFcMDRmpueZaKqurC%2B0maqrqqipMKvsMinnmajop7Abq7RspinrF2Wu7W0zqewZqqZr8ewecearZ5lk6qvtHnIp2SuppaWuqq4yJqpZqifqLa1tc6nZKKso2Kws7HArZydZZGZw6a%2B0qKrsmc%3D