Chicago Cubs: Not shoring up this core is nothing short of negligent

Chicago Cubs: We’re betting everything on standing pat

Chicago is smack-dab in the middle of a championship window. And, in case you don’t remember, those don’t come around regularly in baseball. You’ve got arguably one of the best position player trios in the game: 2016 NL MVP Kris Bryant, a perennial 30-100 first baseman in Anthony Rizzo and 2018 NL MVP runner-up Javier Baez. And you mean to tell me you’re not going to do anything but bet on internal improvements? That’s your strategy to get back to the World Series?

Great.

The days of using Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh as a punching bag are over – like, very much a thing of the past. The Brewers, who we all looked down on last season, came roaring past the Cubs in the second half to capture the division crown. If that memory doesn’t linger in your mind, well, I encourage you to go watch Game 163 so you know how 2018 ended.

We’re betting everything – a chance at another division title, a postseason berth or the publicly-stated ultimate goal: a World Series title – on a starting rotation loaded with big names (several of whom are on the wrong side of their 30s), a bullpen loaded with lackluster options in the middle innings and an offense that, as Epstein put it, “broke” late last year.

But instead, we’re told the team is going to rest on our laurels and simply have faith in the guys. That’s all fine and dandy, but you don’t win by being complacent. This team has too many holes for ownership to clutch their checkbook this offseason. Tom Ricketts knows it. Theo Epstein knows it. And every Cubs fan knows it.

So how about we do something about it?