You don't have to be a Cubs fan to be aware of the fact that they might cause their fans the most pain (omg he said the name of the blog title) out of all of the Chicago sports teams. I mean come on, it took those guys 108 years to win one championship. Just one. And now, it doesn't look like they'll be seeing another championship anytime soon. Sure, they'll be competitive in their weak division, but they definitely don't look like a team gearing up for a World Series title anytime in the near future. Over the past few weeks, the Cubs have lost the following players:
-Yu Darvish
-Jon Lester
-Jose Quintana
-Tyler Chatwood
-Victor Caratini
-Jason Kipnis
-Albert Almora
That's basically the entire starting rotation gone in one offseason. Thankfully, the Cubs still have Kyle Hendricks (For now. More on that later), Alec Mills, and Adbert Alzolay, who I think is gonna absolutely shove this season. They also brought back 2015-16 folk hero, Jake Arrieta. I'm not against the nostalgia signing of Arrieta at all. He was brought back on a cheap deal and he's absolutely built for the starting rotation still, but he won't be anywhere close to the Arrieta we saw in 2015-16. I think it's safe to say the starting rotation won't be nearly as good as it was last season and that's concerning, considering pitching is what carried the Cubs last year.
Joc Pederson is also a welcome addition to the team, but it's a little annoying that the Cubs have the third highest payroll in all of baseball and Pederson is the biggest free agent they've brought in this offseason. It's even more annoying when you look over and see the our hated rival, the St. Louis Cardinals, bringing in one of the best third basemen in the game, Nolan Arenado.
Speaking of great third basemen, there's talks of the Cubs trading theirs. Great! There's been heavy rumors of the Cubs trading Kris Bryant and Kyle Hendricks to the Mets. I know that Cubs fans are very split with their opinions on Bryant, but I think that losing him would hurt them more than it would help them. And if the Cubs trade Hendricks, you can pretty much kiss the starting rotation goodbye. There's also rumblings of a Wilson Contreras trade, but I've heard less about that than I have about Bryant and Hendricks, so I'll just refuse to believe it until I see it.
The Cubs might be hard to watch this upcoming season, especially if the bats are as cold as they were last year. In the worst case scenario that they lose Bryant, Hendricks, and Contreras, then we may need to prepare ourselves for another "lovable losers" era. If that's what's gonna happen, then I'm ready. While we're bringing back nostalgia players like Arrieta, then let's bring back Jeff Samardzija, Darwin Barney, and Starlin Castro too, baby! All aboard the loser train choo choo! (In case you couldn't tell, this is sarcasm and I will actually be very sad if all of this happens.)
Now that my Cubs pity party is over, time to check in on our other beloved franchises.
The Blackhawks and Bulls each only played a couple games since the last blog, but they're still looking okay. Both teams are very on and off, but they're also both very young. Like I said last week, I'm hopeful and optimistic about each of them and I'll try not to complain too much unless something actually terrible happens.
The Bears quarterback situation for next season is still up the air and it's making me anxious. I wake up every morning and check my phone hoping to see that sweet ESPN notification that reads "BREAKING: Bears trade for Deshaun Watson and sign JJ Watt" or something like that. The Watson stuff is still so murky though. Everyday it's a different report coming out of Houston. The latest is that the Texans organization says that Watson is still their QB and that he won't be traded, but that's interesting to me considering how all Watson has talked about since the Texan's season ended is wanting to be traded. Sounds like a toxic relationship to me, Houston. Don't worry, just send him our way and all will be right! No matter who the Bears QB is next season though, I'm actually very optimistic about JJ Watt being in a Bears uniform next year. Multiple reports have cited the Bears being one of Watt's top landing spots, he loves Portillos, and his wife is already a soccer star in Chicago. I can't guarantee anything, for I am just some college kid blogging about sports from his bedroom, but I will say that I like Watt's chances of ending up on the Bears.
As I wrap this up for the week, I want to remind everyone that it's the GOAT's birthday today. No not you, Tom Brady. Chicago's own, Michael Jordan, turns 58 today. Even though that sounds old, I would still gamble (See what I did there?) some good money on Jordan being able to beat some of today's guys 1v1. Happy birthday, MJ!
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