Well, this is possibly bad. From Joe this morning:
Cubs News:
Jed Hoyer went on the radio yesterday and basically said the Rizzo/Báez/Bryant camps all weren’t reasonable in extension negotiations. Anthony Rizzo went on the radio this morning and basically said that if all three guys reached the same outcome with the Cubs, that points towards the Cubs being the unreasonable ones.
Cubs Thoughts:
I wish Hoyer hadn’t said that. My impression, based on the leaks, is that he’s right, but I wish he hadn’t said it. Emotionally and from a baseball perspective, the Cubs have a place for Rizzo next year in a way that makes sense fiscally, but if he and Hoyer are now at odds, it’s a lot harder to see that happening, since presumably the Cubs won’t offer over-market and now Rizzo would presumably want to take another at-market offer over that of the Cubs, even if they’re identical. I don’t know. We’ll see. But if I had to guess, Hoyer was feeling the heat from this weekend’s emotions and lost his cool on air or made a bad public relation calculation or is pissed enough that he doesn’t want to re-sign any of the three. And each of those three is sad, but they’re also potentially bad, because the Cubs probably need a first baseman who can hit, and I don’t think Freddie Freeman’s leaving Atlanta and I think there might be a big run for Brandon Belt’s services with the DH coming to the NL and behind them, I think it’s basically just Rizzo on the market unless I’m really missing someone.
Anyway, that’s sad, and while we’re at it I wish the Rizzo camp hadn’t leaked the extension offer from this spring (they were the ones that leaked it, right?) but I’m also kind of glad they did, because it’s held up pretty well so far and now we at least know the Cubs probably aren’t full of shit.
As tends to be the case for reasons integral to the existence of this blog, I agree with Joe, although I’d add a few points:
Hoyer saying what he said feels particularly unnecessary after Kris Bryant carried a lot of water for him, Jed Hoyer, personally, in his first press session in San Francisco. Why put that relationship in any sort of jeopardy? Why not preserve that a little harder?
I’m glad Rizzo played through that messed-up ankle in 2019 for selfish reasons, namely that it’s such an easy counterpoint any time my brain asks if Rizzo has any flakiness to him.
If the Cubs aren’t going to be competitive in 2022, or if they’re going to do the arguably smart thing, also known as the Brewers thing, and aim for an 85-win roster that they can upgrade at the deadline if the division’s within reach, I don’t know that first base is a concern in free agency because I don’t know that anything is necessarily a concern in free agency.
It feels like Anthony Rizzo wanted to be paid for things Anthony Rizzo had already done, as opposed to things Anthony Rizzo was going to do. Rizzo took a great deal for the Cubs early in his tenure, but it was also a great deal for Rizzo. It accelerated him on the track to massive wealth and provided a guarantee in that field while he was still a ways from security through the arbitration system and as susceptible to a downturn or injury as anyone else. He made a calculus. The Cubs made a calculus. It was a team-friendly deal, but it was a Rizzo-friendly deal at the same time, and it now seems like Rizzo wanted to cash his check belatedly and the Cubs didn’t want to give an inch and I don’t know, but if I’m the Cubs and I’m taking heat for falling flat with a core of which Rizzo was a part I understand not wanting to overpay the guy and hamstring yourself elsewhere in the payroll department.
Overall, it’s sad. It’s just more sadness. There was nothing stopping Hoyer from saying, “Obviously, there was a disconnect on value, and we made offers we thought were fair, and I know the fans don’t believe that but we aren’t going to leak details after the fact because we respect these guys and we wish them the best,” and maybe the guys see that and say, “good guy, Jed,” or maybe other free-agents-to-be see that and say, “good guy, Jed.” But maybe I’m overblowing this. Most likely, it doesn’t matter in any practical sense and it’ll be a few years at least before there’s any reason for Jed Hoyer and Anthony Rizzo to reconnect and by then the good memories will outweigh the tension, and even if it’s more immediate, maybe these two guys—who’ve spent their professional careers in tense, exhausted, highly competitive environments in close contact with dozens of other men—are quick to let bygones be bygones and move on from this (or maybe Theo Epstein can play mediator, which is such a melodramatic, silly thing to write). Hopefully it doesn’t become a “thing.” Hopefully it isn’t a thing already. Hopefully it just feels like one.
