Chicago Cubs: 3 decisions from 2021 that went up in smoke
It doesn’t take a genius to know the 2021 season didn’t play out in the fairy tale fashion the Chicago Cubs – or their fans – had hoped for. An early hot start was erased by not one, but two, double-digit losing streaks. So where did it all go wrong? There are plenty of culprits on that front, make no mistake.
It’s no secret that by the trade deadline the Cubs had thrown in the towel. Anything and anyone of value was shown the door, with the lone exception being catcher Willson Contreras. To throw salt in the wound that came from watching Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez get traded, the bullpen too was ripped apart in an effort to bring back more young prospects and hopefully shorten the rebuild. Personally, I still can’t help but wonder if the Cubs have made a second-half run if they bought pitching at the trade deadline. Bryant and Rizzo finished with decent years, while Baez went on a roll in the second half and crushed it in the Big Apple.
Regardless, that was then and this is now. The question that now looms is just how soon the Cubs become aggressive and return to being a postseason contender. After adding Wade Miley and Marcus Stroman before the lockout, the answer may be sooner than you think. Though still soured by the recent loss of their core, what Cubs fans must now realize is that signing Miley and Stroman, along with serious Carlos Correa rumors, tells us this team isn’t going to sit back and wait. They’re going to be back in the hunt sooner rather than later.
Did it have to go down this way? Not necessarily. Per usual, money gets in the way as one side thinks a player is worth a certain amount while the player, justified or not, decides he is worth more and wishes to take his talents elsewhere. As fate had it, both Baez and Rizzo had a better second half at the plate than they did in Chicago in the first half.
Regardless of what happened with the Cubs deciding to keep absolutely no one from the 2016 core, there were other key decisions that took place that sent this team into a downward spiral 2021. Looking back, let’s take a look at 3 decisions made by the Chicago Cubs last year that frankly, went sideways pretty quickly.
Chicago Cubs: 3 2021 decisions that went up in smoke – #3: Ian Happ at leadoff
The leadoff position has plagued the Cubs since Dexter Fowler packed his bags for St. Louis. It’s been a revolving door for Joe Maddon and David Ross – often dictated by who’s swinging a hot stick at any given moment. That’s not necessarily where you want to have your best hitter in the as this can cause a lack of production in the middle of the order. Needless to say, your best hitter should be swinging out of the three or four spot with the hopes of somebody being on base.
Having to explain that proves just how dysfunctional the leadoff spot has been in recent years. Rafael Ortega did a nice job in 2021 once it became his role. However, earlier on, sometimes you saw Rizzo, who has always been strong out of the leadoff spot, but is more valuable as a run producer. Other times you saw Bryant, Ian Happ – the list goes on and on.
As for Happ, he had the most brutal start to a season imaginable. In fact, the entire first half of the 2021 season was the worst stretch of his career, with him batting just .183/.296/.330 with a well below average 73 wRC+. In all fairness, Ross shouldn’t have continued to pencil Happ into the lineup at all, let alone as the table setter, given his struggles.
Happ is not a leadoff hitter – whether he’s hot or not. With more consistent at-bats and a regular spot in the middle of the order, the switch-hitter turned his season around in the second half with a slash of .268/.350/.536 while improving his wRC+ to 133 coming primarily out of the three spot. More than likely, we’ll see either Ortega, Nico Hoerner or Nick Madrigal lead off in 2022 – and hopefully one of them emerges as a long-term solution.
Chicago Cubs: 3 2021 decisions that went up in smoke – #2: Dismantling the core
Arriving at another decision that proved hard to swallow and provided brutal short-term results, both on the field and with the fans, was the dismantling of the core at the trade deadline. It was a bitter moment as key members of the team that brought home the club’s first championship in 108 years was abruptly scrapped for parts that hopefully serve as a new core for the Cubs years down the road should they pan out.
Digging deeper, starting with Bryant, he slashed .262/.344/.444 between the Cubs and Giants in 2021 to go along with 25 home runs and 73 batted in. As much as Bryant was adored by Cubs fans alike, these numbers are just nowhere near the realm of his Rookie of the Year and MVP campaigns he started his career with. That being said, these numbers were still far better than just about anyone else in a Cubs uniform put up.
Rizzo, on the other hand, put up a .248/.344/.440 line with 22 long-balls and 61 driven in. Though a down year for the veteran first baseman, his numbers as recent as two years ago saw him slash .293/.405/.520 and he undoubtedly still provides Gold Glove-caliber defense at first. The three-time All-Star reportedly balked at the team’s extension overtures last spring, but a reunion on a shorter pact could prove valuable if everything aligns just right after the lockout. His presence in a young clubhouse would be invaluable.
Baez is a fantastic example of a move that so far has screamed, “that figures!” In the first half of the season while with Chicago, Baez slashed just .248/.292/.484, nowhere near being worth the $200 million contract he was seeking. After getting sent to Queens at the deadline, naturally he slashed .299/.371/.515 with the New York Mets. Had Baez put up those numbers in 2021 with the Cubs, odds are he would still be wearing blue today.
Regardless, dismantling the core lead to a complete downward spiral in 2021. Not that the front office was willing to pay all three long-term, but completely dismantling everything you had worked for over the last decade was nonetheless heartbreaking to see. Keeping around at least one of the big three could have paid dividends, especially if one of those go on to have a fantastic season next year the way Baez rebounded in the second half. Hindsight will always be 20/20.
Chicago Cubs: 3 2021 decisions that went up in smoke – #2: Re-signing Jake Arrieta
Although Jake Arrieta was a rotation anchor in his first run on the North Side, re-signing him to a one-year deal was perhaps one of the worst free agent signings in recent memory. Since 2015 when Arrieta was absolutely elite and nearly untouchable, his ERA has spiked and spiked year after year.
Coming off a three-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies in which he pitched to the tune of a 22-23 with a 4.36 ERA, Arrieta signed a one-year pact to return to the Cubs, who had holes to fill in the starting rotation, to say the least. At first glance, those numbers are not half bad until you see they got progressively worse as this tenure with Philadelphia went on.
In 2020, Arrieta recorded a 5.08 ERA and 4-4 record over 44 1/3 innings pitched. The regression signs were already blinding by the time he came back to Chicago. The right-hander had a couple decent starts earlier in the season but quickly unraveled as time went on. In the first half of the season, he was allowing a slash line of .284/.363/.515 to opposing hitters on average to go along with a 6.13 ERA. Things went from bad to worse in the second half – during which he was ultimately released.
Though no longer with the Cubs, Arrieta was picked up by the Padres, who also dumped him after just four starts. He finished the year with a 5-14 record and career-worst 7.39 ERA. The main reason Arrieta takes the cake at number one on this list is simply because he should not have ever been picked up again by Hoyer to begin with.
Regardless of sentiment, Arrieta certainly wasn’t coming off the type of success that a team looking to compete should have been targeting. With the starting rotation being the catalyst for the downfall of the 2021 season, signing Arrieta proved to be one of the bigger hiccups in recent Cubs front office history.