Chicago Cubs: Signing Bryce Harper, Manny Machado could handicap team

Contrary to popular belief, throwing lucrative contracts at high-profile players won’t guarantee the Chicago Cubs a return to the World Series in 2019.

Even as I start to write this piece, I’m already pretty confident what type of reactions I’ll get on social media from Chicago Cubs fans.

“Didn’t you see the offense in the second half?”

“We need guys who can actually hit – they cost money!”

“Why don’t you just keep your opinions to yourself?”

You get the idea.

With last week’s Wild Card game loss still fresh in my mind (very fresh, as I sat in the stands at Wrigley for all 13 painstaking innings), I remain unconvinced that signing Manny Machado or Bryce Harper to a mega-deal is the answer to the Cubs’ offensive woes.

That’s not to say I think this team is championship-caliber, because I don’t. In fact, before Colorado and Chicago played a single out of the Wild Card game, I had already thrown all my eggs in the American League basket. And I stand there even today.

Had the Cubs somehow, miraculously, pulled off a National League pennant, the Houston Astros or Boston Red Sox would have massacred Joe Maddon‘s club. And, whether you like it or not, one player wouldn’t have changed that fact – not even Bryce Harper or Manny Machado.

Chicago Cubs: Reunited with his BFF on the North Side?

Heading into 2018, Bryce Harper stood on the precipice of a major payday. Coming off a 1.008 OPS 2017 campaign, the Washington Nationals outfielder needed to just do what he’d done over most of his career to maintain that cushy status quo.

Instead, he hit .249, striking out a career-high 169 times en route to the first 30-homer, 100-RBI season of his career. So, depending on who you ask, I guess, maybe he did enough to, at the very least, maintain his insanely high value heading into free agency this offseason.

If you focus on his post-All-Star Break numbers, he absolutely accomplished that goal. In the second half, Harper slashed .300/.434/.538, while cutting down on his strikeout tendencies shown prior to the Midsummer Classic.

But his Nationals failed to reach the postseason, as the upstart Atlanta Braves upset the order of things in the National League East. With Harper watching the postseason from the comfort of his home, he knows in just a few weeks, he and Manny Machado will become the story around Major League Baseball.

Chicago Cubs: Another rumor that just won’t go away

Ahead of the non-waiver trade deadline, the Chicago Cubs and Manny Machado seemed to be rumored on a daily basis. The Baltimore Orioles were in free-fall and had to finally part ways with their franchise cornerstone to recover at least some value in losing him.

But, instead of forming a super-infield with Javier Baez, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, Machado wound up with the Cubs’ NLCS foe from each of the previous two seasons in the Dodgers. Although his numbers took a bit of a hit after going from Baltimore to Los Angeles, the infielder still gave the Dodgers a boost as they won a fifth-straight NL West title.

On the year, Machado ranked ninth in baseball with 37 home runs, driving in 107 runs to go along with a .905 OPS. He struggled in the NLDS, hitting just .176 with a pair of home runs against Atlanta.

A big chunk of change undoubtedly rests on what he’s able to do in the NLCS against Milwaukee and, if the Dodgers advance to the Fall Classic for a second-straight year, all eyes will be on Machado.

Chicago Cubs: Here’s how these guys could fit in at Wrigley

Make no mistake. Adding either Manny Machado or Bryce Harper to a group that already boasts Baez, Rizzo and Bryant is a tantalizing thought, to say the least.

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The longstanding ties between Bryant and Harper have already made the Cubs the odds-on favorite in Vegas to land the 2015 National League MVP. His dog is named Wrigley, Bryant and Harper’s wives are best friends and the two grew up playing together. In short, the writing is on the wall.

As far as the roster, you’d imagine Jason Heyward (who absolutely will not exercise his opt-out clause this winter) shifts over to center field given his defensive prowess and Harper slides into right field, where he played most of his career. Talk about a defensive juggernaut of an outfield.

Then, left field becomes a matter of who’s left when the dust settles on the offseason: Kyle Schwarber, Ian Happ and Albert Almora stand as the likeliest to start in the remaining spot should they be on the roster come Opening Day.

Fitting in Machado is much simpler. The Cubs simply don’t tender Addison Russell a new contract this offseason and then go out and sign Machado. Machado becomes your shortstop, Baez shifts over to second base and all is well in the world.