Yu've Got to be Kidding Me

I know I said in my first post back that I'd be covering all the Cubs players who have been added to the roster since I've been away, but I've got to interrupt myself.  Somewhat.

Today's post will involve a guy who was added to the roster since that June sabbatical began; however, we're going to leapfrog seven months and rant... errrr... talk about a transaction that occurred just a couple of days ago.  I'm alluding, of course, to the "blockbuster" trade that occurred between the buckwild Padres and the club who is truly putting the "W" in white flag - the Cubs.  In case you somehow missed the news, GM Jed Hoyer announced his intentions to save the Ricketts family some debt by trading the ace of their already weakened pitching staff, Yu Darvish, to a club who actually seems interested in competing (understatement) in 2020, in exchange for a bunch of teenagers.  As if that wasn't a strong enough signal of their intentions, they also threw in Yu's personal catcher - Victor Caratini - AND paid off some of Darvish's contract, on top of that absolute gift.

All I can say is I'm mad at baseball again.

As a fan-base, we were promised at the onset of the last rebuild that we would never have to suffer through another stretch of baseball as bad as that was.  After all, Chicago is about as major of a market as you can get, the Ricketts had deep pockets, and the new television channel and Wrigleyville renovations were basically going to print money for the franchise.  Of course, now, even after saying at the end of the 2020 season that a total rebuild wasn't going to occur, Tommy Boy is crying poor and auctioning off stars at bargain bin prices.  I understand a change needed to happen, especially with the offense, after a couple of lackluster, but competitive seasons.  However, retooling the roster does not involve swapping your Cy Young caliber ace and high-quality back-up catcher for a bunch of players who might be good in four years.  And now there's rumors of trading Willson Contreras away... excuse me, what?

Now, your offense is exactly the same, the pitching staff is measurably worse, your actively gutting your catchers, and instead of getting young players who could help fill those black holes from one of the best farm systems in the league, you got a handful of lottery tickets that aren't redeemable until the middle of the decade.  All so you can save your "billionaire" owners some money... to which I say, sell the damn team!  But, what else can you expect from the same ownership group that worships at the altar of the ultimate fake billionaire, Donald Trump.  Fuck 'em.

Although, the Cubs did get ONE Major League piece back from the Pads - Zach Davies, aka store brand Kyle Hendricks.  Sure, Davies isn't a bad option to plug into the back of a starting rotation, but Yu Darvish he ain't.  Plus, with Hendricks and Alec Mills being your only other predictable rotation options, the starting staff is now almost exclusively populated by soft-tossers, as Davies' fastball barely averages in the high 80's these days.  Opposing offenses are going to be absolutely teeing up at Wrigley this summer.  maybe the Ricketts are counting on increased souvenirs in the bleachers to bring fans in the gates next year?

Anyway, in a division where the Reds and the Pirates are already tearing themselves down to the studs, the Cubs should be taking advantage at an almost guaranteed playoff spot.  Instead, they seem to be up to the challenge of racing to the bottom.  Jesus, I almost wish that I was a Brewers fan.  Maybe I'll follow Yu and Vic to San Diego?

#CoupleGoals

*Sigh* Well, that was cathartic anyway... I feel a TOUCH better after that rant.  I still won't be spending any money on the Cubs this year.  No Marquee network (even if I could), no game tickets (if we ever get back to that point), no merch, no nada.  I'm sure they'll miss my pittance, but it's the principle of the thing.

That said, I am still a slave to my collection - I still begrudgingly love baseball and will continue to follow my favorite team.  It might be a toxic relationship until the Ricketts are ran out of town on a rail, but if I could jump off of the train, I would have already.  With that in mind, I guess I need to acquire a card of Zach Davies for my Cubs All-Time Roster Collection.  Again, he's somehow the only one I'll need after trading away the guy who finished second in the Cy Young voting in 2020.  Those prospects can wait until they've at least graduated A-ball.

In preparing for the arrival of my son - the only good thing to happen in 2020 - I offloaded a the majority of my collection on Nick from Dimeboxes, as you might have seen through his blog.  By collection, I really mean bloat, as it was all the cards that didn't really fit into my ultra-niche collections, including my stores of active players whose cards I held onto just in case they might end up as Cubs one day.  I'm sure there was a Davies in there, as he's a six-year veteran who has exclusively pitched as a regular starter.  However, as with any new addition to the active roster from here on out, I'll have to take it as it comes.  Maybe after I've recovered from COVID, I'll mask up and pop into my local card shop for a spell and calm my nerves. Maybe I'll get impatient during this quarantine and overpay for a single on EBay.  At any rate, Zach's got some options.

As far as Davies' base cards go, I think these are my favorite two options - I guess I'm in a GQ mood lately.

In the end, thanks for sticking with me through this therapeutic rant.  I felt like I had to cover this trade on the blog and that I had to do so before it faded from the spotlight - I've already neglected Wrigley Roster Jenga for long enough.

For the first time since this blog's infancy, here's to another season of rebuilding roster jenga.  I'm sure I'll be busy chasing down cards of random scrubs, AAAA filler, and waiver claims for the first time since this competitive streak began in 2015.  I guess the blog is - begrudgingly - back to living up to the inspiration behind it's name.

If you enjoyed this content - don't worry - I'm sure there'll be more unhinged rants when the team deals away Contreras and Kris Bryant for some Bed Bath & Beyond coupons.