Chicago Cubs: Looking at past decisions that impacted this year’s team

Chicago Cubs: The oft-mentioned “budget constraints”

Epstein famously stated that the Cubs offense “broke” at some point down the stretch in 2018. Kris Bryant’s lingering shoulder injury is partially to blame, though not enough to shoulder all the blame (no pun intended).

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In 2018, the Cubs scored one or zero runs 39 times (40, if you count the National League Wild Card game). Between this and Epstein’s comments, the general thought was that big changes were coming to the team’s position player group.

“Change” came in Daniel Murphy leaving in free agency, trading Tommy La Stella for next to nothing to the Los Angeles Angels and signing veteran infielder Daniel Descalso. Thus, the Cubs brought back largely the same offensive group entering 2019.

Change is coming

Although they’ve had plenty of big performances, the Cubs still have battled inconsistent stretches at the plate far too often in 2019. It’s naive to think any one offseason addition could’ve helped this.

Still, it felt like big moves were coming after the dismal ending to 2018. What would D.J. Lemahieu — who signed a two-year contract with the New York Yankees for just $24 million — look like atop the Cubs lineup?

The front office’s loyalty to the Chicago Cubs position player group, those who helped break the World Series drought, is admirable. However, one can bet that change definitely will come this offseason, whether you’re ready for it or not.