It was a beautiful day for Game 1 of the wild-card series on Tuesday afternoon at Wrigley Field.
The sun was out, the weather was perfect, the field was in fine condition and the local media was on hand to provide their takes.
The only thing not cooperating was the Chicago Cubs, the main occupants of the facility that will soon be converted into a football field for the Northwestern-Ohio State game on Nov. 16.
Outside the park, in Gallagher Plaza, children sat on the grass and watched a screening of “Monsters, Inc.,” an animated film featuring a kind-hearted monster named “Sulley” who battles evil forces to try and save the day. As I walked past, one of the characters says to Sulley: “I’m gonna be sick.”
Inside the ballpark, president Jed Hoyer was trying to explain what happened with the ’24 Cubs, and what he plans on doing to fix things. He used words like “disappointed” and “frustrated” and “optimistic,” and said that ultimately it was a “pretty binary” feeling for him, Chairman Tom Ricketts and everyone else in the Cubs organization.
“We’re not playing today, we’re having a press conference today,” Hoyer said. “From Tom on down, I think there is a level of disappointment in that.”
We’ll have to take his word for it, since Ricketts didn’t have any postseason press availability like last year in Milwaukee, when he endorsed manager David Ross by saying: “He’s our guy.”
A few weeks later, “our guy” was fired and replaced by Milwaukee’s Craig Counsell, who agreed to a $40 million, five-year deal, making him the highest-paid manager in history. The cold-blooded move meant the Cubs were serious about playing in October.
But Year 1 did not work out as planned, whether it was the roster, the wind blowing in, the ballpark or various other factors Hoyer mentioned on Tuesday.
Ross is long gone, and now it’s Hoyer’s turn to take the heat, entering his fifth season in 2025 with no playoff appearances since replacing Theo Epstein. The previous three years, as general manager, Hoyer saw the Cubs make the postseason twice without any wins to show for it.
So I asked Hoyer if he felt any added pressure from Ricketts to get it done entering his fifth year on the job.
“First of all, I think there’s always pressure,” he said. “This is professional sports. That’s part of it. I’m excited about next year and I look at it as an opportunity. I feel pressure, but it’s the pressure I always should feel. I’m president of the Cubs and this is an exciting opportunity and an exciting time to be in this role, and we’re in a really good position.”
Hoyer was later asked by an MLB.com reporter if he wanted any clarity on his contract, or did he expect the 2025 season to “dictate” his future with the Cubs?
“I guess I look at it as an opportunity,” he repeated. “I’m excited about next year. I think we’re in a great position.”
I’m gonna be sick.
The Cubs were in a great position in 2023 when they signed Dansby Swanson, Cody Bellinger and Jameson Taillon. They finished 83-79 and blew a wild-card spot in the final week. They were in a great position again in 2024, when they signed Counsel and Japanese starter Shota Imanaga, then re-signed Bellinger at the start of spring training. They finished 83-79 and six games out of the third wild-card spot.
History repeated itself. And the Cubs will once again face the possibility of losing Bellinger and having to find another slugger to replace him in the middle of the lineup.
Bellinger said Sunday he’s going to enjoy his family for a few days before he makes his decision on whether to opt-out and become a free agent again.
“For me, there’s no reason to wait if the answer is there,” he said. “Just have continuous conversations and figure out what’s best for me and my family. Relax at first, and then we’ll figure it out.”
Last year everyone knew Bellinger was opting out, so it was no surprise when he did so. The real surprise was that no one else signed him, and he came back to the Cubs on a three-year, $80 million deal with two opt-outs worth a combined $52.5 million.
Basically he has to decide if agent Scott Boras can get him a deal worth more than $52.5 million after a good but not spectacular season. Then Bellinger must decide whether the extra money in a new city would be preferable to at least one more year at $27.5 million in Chicago, a place he said he loves … for the most part.
“Once you get past April, it really is beautiful, and Wrigley Field in general is beautiful,” he said. “As a player you feel the love, you feel the passion.”
So is this an easier or harder decision than last year?
“I’d probably say that it’s harder, definitely,” he replied.
When in doubt, always bet on Boras to go for the dough. If Bellinger leaves, as I expect, the onus will then be on Swanson as the biggest returning star on a team full of guys with warning track power. Swanson’s poor first half was a primary reason for the hole the Cubs fell into, and when he rebounded, it was no coincidence the Cubs began winning as well.
“It was kind of like a tale of two halves really, kind of like the Alabama-Georgia game,” he said Sunday of his season. “Pretty rough first one, and then really found a groove and did a lot better in the second.”
It should be noted that Georgia lost to Alabama despite an epic comeback. An “L” is still an “L.”
I asked Swanson if he expects a lot of changes this offseason.
“I do not know,” he said. “I’m not privy fully to those conversations. Obviously I don’t have the pen that does it either. But the common theme is we just need to get better and be able to put ourselves in a better position to control our own destiny. We need to do that at a high level.”
The Cubs’ decision-makers can take a little time to sit back and think about what happened, and what lies ahead.
How long does it take Counsell to unwind before looking ahead?
“Not immediately,” he said after Sunday’s finale. “No question you think about things, and after these seasons it’s important to reflect, because it’s the freshest in your mind. In the same vein, I think a little time away will give you a little perspective, too.
“It’s important you reflect on a season, absolutely. If I sit here and say that we need to be better, that reflection has to create some changes.”
Change comes slowly at Wrigley Field.
But with the Cubs’ October calendars clear for another year, change perhaps is inevitable.
