The Chicago Cubs have had a pretty miserable last 12 months, and things haven’t been easy on the fans either. It was widely expected that this Trade Deadline was going to be rough as well, and there were four players traded away.
Despite being sellers yet again, the Chicago Cubs managed to hold on to their two most prized assets, catcher Willson Contreras and outfielder Ian Happ. Contreras was seen as a top trade target before the season even began, and Happ joined that list by being an All-Star in 2022.
It was shocking to see the Trade Deadline pass and the Cubs to continue to have Contreras and Happ on the roster. There are no guarantees when it comes to trades, but it felt like at least one of those players would be playing in the postseason for another team in 2022.
There will be plenty of updates to this story over the coming days, and GM Jed Hoyer is going to have some explaining to do. He will need to let the fans know if this was a decision that he arrived at, or if he just simply couldn’t get a good enough deal.
Contreras and Happ have spent the entire 2022 season making it clear that they preferred to stay with the Cubs, but they also recognized that it was a business. It’s been an emotional week for both players, but each of them will get to step into the box at Wrigley Field yet again.
Time For Extensions
Regardless of the reason for the Cubs not trading away Contreras and Happ, there is only one course of action from this point forward. It’s time for the Cubs to offer an extension to both players, but especially Contreras.
Heading into the 2022 season it was made known that an extension was not close to happening, but it’s time for the team to keep their All Star catcher in Chicago. Happy is still under contract for next season, but it would be a great move to lock him up for longer than that.
There is no guarantee that this is the path forward for Hoyer and these two players, but it’s absolutely what should happen.
Bullpen Takes a Big Hit
There haven’t been many bright spots for the Cubs during the 2022 season, but the bullpen has clearly been the best overall unit. It’s no surprise that the Cubs were able to deal several of their best arms away as contending teams are always looking for bullpen help.
Closer David Robertson was the most notable name to be dealt, but the Cubs also traded away Mychal Givens, Chris Martin, and Scott Effross. Effross was the most surprising move of the past few days, but it also netted the Cubs a pretty good return.
Hoyer gets good marks for how he handled the bullpen at the deadline, but the Cubs might struggle to get some outs over the next few months.
