The Chicago Cubs’ Kris Bryant says the team ‘couldn’t win without him.’

Joe Maddon, Kris Bryant - Chicago Cubs (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Joe Maddon, Kris Bryant - Chicago Cubs (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The Chicago Cubs’ Kris Bryant said the team wouldn’t win without Joe Maddon in 2016. So why did they have have to let him go?

The Chicago Cubs Kris Bryant said it best. We wouldn’t have won it if Joe Maddon wasn’t here. The question is, why did he have to go? Change. 2015 to 2017 was the culmination of a bunch of things. 2018 and 2019? Not good at all. And so, change was coming. Although Maddon didn’t know it. Well, he did. The writing was on the wall.

In a column by Paul Sullivan, he explained that they wouldn’t win without him. To be honest? They wouldn’t have. He was the right man for the right task. So the question is, why did he have to go?

"“He was the absolutely the perfect guy for that job for that time,” Bryant said. “And if he wasn’t here, I don’t think we would have been able to do it. Not at all.”More from Cubbies CribCubs should keep close eye on non-tender candidate Cody BellingerCubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North SideMake no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hittersCubs are giving pitcher Javier Assad a deserved shotCubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups"

But change was coming. They let go of three coaches. That’s quite a bit of your staff, and the reason was quite apparent.

"The Cubs fired three coaches after the 2018 season, but Maddon said the front office also “wanted to control more of what was occurring in just about everything.”"

So Maddon is back to his old ways, even inviting Charles Barkley to camp. As Barkley says, ‘He hates analytics.’ I don’t know if Maddon would go that far. He’s got some analytics on that card. Not many, but a few.

Tim Buss, who was a Cubs strength coach, is now a quality assurance coach. The way he got released or fired was peculiar. But Buss has found his calling, and Los Angeles has found its. Maddon fits with LA, as he did with the Rays and the Cubs.

Now, if he gets Mike Trout to produce (sarcasm here), it’s gravy. As long as Anthony Rendon, Tommy La Stella and Albert Pujols deliver on the side? They’re a force to be reckoned with. They finished fourth (72-90), but they’ve added a few. And to be honest, Houston won’t be as good, not with the cheating or lack thereof.

Maddon did some stuff wrong, and I’ll admit that. But was it deserving a better fate? Absolutely.

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