Cubs have much at stake at Winter Meetings
SAN DIEGO – Joe Maddon came through the lobby Sunday night looking for a restaurant that was either out those doors, or those, or those.
His hair was white and thrown in every direction, matching his temporary disorientation. He wore a camouflage T-shirt. He looked leaner than he had just a month ago, despite just having opened a restaurant in Tampa called “Ava,” an Italian joint he swore serves the best ribeye you’ve ever had. Furthering his point, he put his thumb and forefinger together, closed his eyes and tilted his head back.
“You’re gonna be in Tampa for spring training, right? You gotta have the ribeye.”
I promised.
We laughed about his press conference, the one that ended with him shouting for the barkeep – nobody says “barkeep” anymore, but should – to pour beers and shots for the house, on the new Cubs manager. He said he was disappointed so few took him up on it. It’s a new day. Reporters don’t drink on the job. Certainly not in front of cameras.
“I get it,” he said. “They were working.”
Still, he said, it would’ve been fun. “Another time,” he mused. And there will be other times, he’s so sure of it. He’s come along at a time of rebirth for the Cubs. Or what could be. What looks like one. Oh, it can’t possibly be another North Side dumpster fire, can it?
We’ll all find out together.
Meantime, after posing with a few young men for awkward lobby photos, greeting another – “I just wanted to shake your hand and wish you luck.” – Maddon really had to find that door. He was told it was that one, through that door and across the street, you can see the place from here.
“Gotta meet Theo,” he said. “Team stuff.”
The Cubs are the interesting team here, their rebuild seemingly ahead of schedule, so that 2016 or 2017, whatever looked realistic at the time, could actually be 2015. If nothing else, another last-place finish and 89 more losses would be looked upon as catastrophe, which, you suppose, is progress.
They came to terms Monday with Jason Hammel, the right-hander who posted a 2.98 ERA in 17 starts for them last season, was traded to Oakland along with Jeff Samardzija in July, and like most everything else in Oakland over the second half went almost completely to pieces.
Then, they are the lobby favorites to land Jon Lester, who, if not Max Scherzer, is the best pitcher on the market. Lester could cost them $150 million or more. Scherzer could go beyond even that. Or, should they find themselves somewhat shallow in the pockets as compared to the Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers, the Cubs could opt for James Shields, if they really think now is the time. Yes, there is pitching available for an organization that believes now is the time, and that’s what the Cubs – Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer, Maddon – seem to believe.
They have the prospects to acquire Cole Hamels, Doug Fister, Rick Porcello, C.J. Wilson, Andrew Cashner, Ian Kennedy or Johnny Cueto. If they have the patience, they could try again next year, when Jordan Zimmermann, David Price, Mat Latos and Samardzija are due for free agency.
Or, you know, both. As in, get Lester (or somebody) now, angle for someone such as Zimmermann next, and have themselves a presentable pitching staff by the time Javier Baez, Jorge Soler, Kris Bryant and Addison Russell are up and running.
For now, it’s all conjecture and what-ifs and ripe for recalibration. But, it’s something. Wrigley Field is being made over. A new television deal is coming. Maddon is getting antsy to play. And there’s a hotel full of possibilities.
After years otherwise, no team today is more interesting than the Cubs. No team has as many options. No franchise has more to prove. The rest is left to the Cubs.
Now all they have to do is choose the right door.
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