When players explode in baseball it usually connotes that the players are doing well and hitting their strides but on the north side of Chicago it means something gravely different. The once proclaimed dynasty team from 2016 is now spread across the country. Except one guy, Wilson Contreras, the self-proclaimed best catcher in the MLB.
After a decent offseason the team had high hopes of winning the World Series, or at least winning the NL Central. After the season started rough, the team held their heads high and continued to try and win until the all-star break. However, after the break the team lost multiple series in a row and at the trade deadline traded away their “Big-3” of Rizzo, Baez, and Bryant. The Rizzo deal made more sense for Chicago than the Yankees, while the Yankees address their lack of left-handed hitters, they lost depth in the outfield trading away Alcantra (which was filled by a trade for Joey Gallo) and in their pitching staff losing Vizcaino. Both promising young players who can develop into something special. The Baez trade is a little bit of the same, the Mets send their top prospect in Pete Crow-Armstrong, Trevor Williams, (who is one year from arbitration) and cash for Baez and his subpar batting average. The Cubs win the deal here purely because the Mets now have two shortstops who could not hit over .230 if they tried. The Kris Bryant trade was spectacular for the Giants, who I said would get bounced in the first round. All they had to give up was outfielder Alexander Canario and righty pitcher Caleb Kilian, two players they could do without. Bryant gives them a much-needed bat that could get hot in October. All-in-all the Cubs were sellers, and it shows.
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