Chicago Cubs: Who’s to blame for the subpar first half?

Chicago Cubs: Money was going to be tight

It was set forth by the Ricketts family that they wouldn’t be spending massive amounts of money this offseason. And he stuck to his guns. As it turned out, the Cubs may have squirreled money away to buy the remaining shares of the team still owned by the Tribune Company. Now they own the team, most of the real estate around Wrigley Field and are starting their own network, the Marquee Sports Network, next year. So while they didn’t spend this year, the money may come in faster in the coming offseason.

Now we come to the coaches. Tommy Hottovy and Anthony Iapoce weren’t Joe Maddon‘s choices. They were Epstein and the front office. It seems like this year we haven’t heard ‘as much’ about the coaches as we did last season. Chili Davis brought in a change in philosophy for situational hitting. Some of the Cubs weren’t happy with Davis, and he was fired after the season. Jim Hickey was brought over by Maddon, and he didn’t seem to do a bad job, especially with the cards he was dealt. The bullpen stayed strong through most of the season, but in the end, Hickey stepped away from the team for ‘personal reasons.’ I’ve wondered how much Epstein had to do with that, but I digress.