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Column: Shades of 2004 as the Chicago Cubs open camp waiting on a special someone

paul sullivan, chicago tribune
·5 min read

MESA, Ariz.— The first day of Chicago Cubs camp Wednesday looked and sounded a lot like every other opening day of the last several years.

Led Zeppelin blasted from speakers as players took batting practice on a playing field west of Sloan Park, President Jed Hoyer strutted around with the confidence of a hedge fund manager on payday, and a large media contingent was on hand to chronicle everyone’s opening thoughts.

But something was missing from the start of the Craig Counsell era, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what that was.

The centerpiece of last year’s lineup, Cody Bellinger, was the talk of camp even without being there. The unsigned free-agent slugger proved to be a ghostlike figure whose absence was brought up over and over again.

“The guys that played with Belli last year obviously want him here again,” starter Justin Steele said. “He was just such a great friend, great teammate, a great clubhouse presence for us and obviously what he did on the field was really special. … Pretty much everyone that played with him last year, it’s a widely known consensus that we would like to play with him again.”

Agent Scott Boras doesn’t mind playing the long game with Bellinger or any of his premier clients. The opening day of camp is not a real deadline, even if it feels like one to angst-ridden Cubs fans.

Hoyer said at last month’s Cubs Convention that free agency was only in the fourth inning thanks to so many unsigned players. A month later, the game is nearing its conclusion with camps opening around baseball and the “Boras Four” — Bellinger, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery and Matt Chapman — still available.

“The closer is definitely warming up at this point, you know?” Hoyer said.

In the words of Joe Maddon: “Poom. Poom.”

“We may well add one or more players to the roster, but at this point it is Feb. 14, it is the first day of spring training, and we’re trying to focus on the guys that are here,” Hoyer continued.

He repeated his praise for Bellinger for the umpteenth time while refusing to address the elephant not in the room.

Twenty years ago Cubs camp was in a similar predicament with an unsigned ex-Cub free agent represented by Boras and everyone clamoring for his return. The prevalent feeling in February 2004 was the Cubs would bring back Greg Maddux, and Boras even helped fuel the fever.

“Hey, we’re all former Cubs here,” Boras said. “It would be a delightful story.”

Boras was referring to his brief stint in 1977 as a minor-league infielder in the Cubs organization. He failed upward, turning into the agent you love to hate … until one of his players signs with your favorite team.

Going by the “Hey, we’re all former Cubs here” theory, Bellinger will be back in blue pinstripes before long. Maddux eventually signed a three-year, $24 million deal on the first day of spring training and declared: “It’s nice to be back. I know when I left Chicago, I wasn’t ready to leave the first time.”

Photos: Inside Cubs spring training camp

Bellinger, on the other hand, seemed ready to leave when he said his goodbyes to reporters in Milwaukee at the end of the 2023 season, thanking them for their professional coverage. We all expected him to sign elsewhere, but 4 1/2 months later, here we are.

Imagine if Pete Crow-Armstrong had not gone hitless in his call-up last September. Perhaps Cubs fans would’ve forgotten about Bellinger and been happy the team’s top prospect was getting a shot at the starting job in center.

Crow-Armstrong went 0-for-14 in his cameo, which was too brief to worry about but just long enough to make some jittery about handing the rookie a roster spot. But Counsell has a history of integrating young players onto the team, and his success doing just that in Milwaukee made him a coveted free-agent manager in November.

“It is the game today,” Counsell said. “We have to have those (young) players. That we have so many of them in camp is a great place to start.”

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Perhaps at this point it’s time to recalibrate and just assume Bellinger will not be re-signed, if only to ease the disappointment if he doesn’t. And if that was the case, are the Cubs as currently constituted still good enough to compete for a World Series?

“Our job is to get together with those guys that are in there right now,” catcher Yan Gomes said. “Whether we (add someone) or we don’t, we are excited with what we have here. It’s not up to us to make any kind of those decisions. That’s those guys up top.

“We’re extremely happy with the experience, the veterans we have on this team, and if we add it’s only going to be a plus.”

That wasn’t exactly a “yes,” but close enough. So would one of the Cubs’ leaders ask Hoyer to just sign Bellinger?

“I’m sure there’s somebody,” Steele said with a grin. “But speaking for myself, I don’t think I’m the guy.”

All the Bellinger banter on camp’s opening day could not harsh Counsell’s mellow. The new skipper with the record $40 million deal was eager to learn names and faces, to get used to wearing a Cubs hoodie, and to start the long trek that makes baseball a special game.

In the end, the journey is what matters, and you have to start somewhere.

“Forming the relationships that really start today on the first official day make you excited, make you scared,” Counsell said. “And it’s the right kind of energy you want.”

And that’s how the Cubs welcomed the 2024 season.

Belli or not, here they come.