Cubs waited too long to sell and are now left holding the pieces

Graduation goggles derailed any chance the Chicago Cubs had at turning a long-awaited 2016 World Series championship into a dynastic run. The front office refused to the see fault in their core players – and, now, have no chance at recouping any real value by trading Javier Baez, Kris Bryant or Anthony Rizzo.

Ownership has seemingly decided that profits reign supreme and taking care of players is an afterthought. Instead of extending even one of those three All-Star this spring, the Cubs came in with an insultingly low offer to Rizzo, who has anchored this franchise for the better part of a decade.

With the team off to a 5-7 start thanks to a historically bad offense, Chicago can’t feel good about where it stands right now. David Ross keeps telling us that these guys are too good for the team to keep performing this way, but after three years of this type of inconsistency, the simple truth is this Cubs’ roster is deeply flawed and we’re seeing that on full display right now.

Cubs have boxed themselves into a corner with the roster

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I’m not here to tell you the Cubs won’t trade some key guys this summer, because they inevitably will. The start of those moves could end up coming well shy of the July trade deadline if the offense doesn’t get things turned around soon – but what I am telling you is the returns will send Cubs faithful into a blinding rage.

When you’re talking about trading Kris Bryant – a former National League MVP, Rookie of the Year and three-time All-Star – you’re thinking blue chip prospects. But after struggling through the worst season of his career in 2020, that will not be the return Jed Hoyer nets in a trade. Not even close.

Then you’ve got Rizzo who is heading into his 30s and has a history of back issues flaring up. He, like every other guy we’re talking about here, didn’t perform well last year and his stock definitely tumbled. What he does offer, though, is an unquestioned sense of leadership – one that a team on the rise (perhaps the Miami Marlins) would love to add to the mix.

Finding takers here won’t be an issue. But getting the types of returns that help drive the next era of Cubs baseball certainly will be. The perfect example? Javier Baez, who looks utterly lost at the dish right now, striking out in 44.7 percent of his at-bats this season.

Coming off a year during which he was the worst offensive player in baseball more often than not, everyone pegged Baez for a bounce back year. Instead, they’ve seen him revert to a free-swinging approach we haven’t seen from him to this extent since his early years with the team.

Chicago will find ways to unload guys here and there – especially if Craig Kimbrel continues his resurgence in the late innings – but they’ve missed their window to re-tool on the fly and I fear we’re nearing the start of another lengthy rebuild on the North Side.