I’ve been at the return game for every 2016 Cubs hero, and they’ve all delivered. The montages put together by the Cubs were on point. The crowd understood the assignment and delivered long standing ovations. Occasionally there were chants, like the crowd chanting “Javy!” when the Tigers came to town earlier this year. But none of those homecomings held a candle to the welcome reserved for Anthony Rizzo this past weekend at Wrigley Field.
The videos were incredible and just a snippet of the love all of us have in our heart for the undisputed captain of the 2016 squad. When he ran out to the outfield to acknowledge the bleachers (in a move reminiscent of how Dexter Fowler returned to Wrigley Field) you could tell he felt it too. It seemed like fate that the baseball gods conspired to have Anthony Rizzo lead off the second inning on Friday afternoon. Allowing the DJ to play an extended version of his highly clappable walk-up song, Intoxicated, as Cubs fans cheered for their captain again:
Unlike previous 2016 World Series Champion Cubs returns, it was a scene that played out all weekend. With Rizzo basking in long ovations before his first at bat each game as his music played. On Sunday, as the Cubs inducted former greats Aramis Ramirez and Kerry Wood into the Hall of Fame it seemed clear that some day in the future Anthony Rizzo would join them there, as he should:
But that grandeur pre-game and really every moment Rizzo engaged with fans over the weekend highlighted something else: it’s really unclear that the current iteration of the Chicago Cubs have even one player, manager or front office type who could join that crew in a decade or two. The person who seems most likely destined for the Cubs Hall of Fame in the 2024 fold by my eyes is color commentator Jim Deshaies. I’m unsure anyone else has come remotely close to crossing that threshold.
And therein lies the problem with the construction of the 2024 team (and the 2023 team that preceded it). As the Yankees sent franchise changing stars to the plate like Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, the Cubs have who, exactly?
This screengrab from ESPN’s rankings came across my Twitter feed over the weekend and really put an exclamation mark on that lack of durable star power for me:
There are some plus players. There are some solid players. There is no elite talent waiting in the wings to be honored in the Cubs Hall of Fame someday. Bellinger has that star power, but as of now his best years were with the Dodgers. Plus, his deal is structured in such a way that the article concedes he may opt out for a longer term shot somewhere else. Of the players named there, Pete Crow-Armstrong seems to have actual star potential. Shōta Imanaga, if he can repeat his 2024 over the duration of his contract (and remains a Cub through the complicated set of options over the life of the deal), could also be in that inner circle conceivably. I’m less convinced that Jordan Wicks will be the ace the crew at ESPN sees, but a girl can hope. However, keep in mind how young Armstrong and Wicks are and, well, a lot can go wrong on the way to the Cubs Hall of Fame.
It was evident on the field as well. The Yankees held the Cubs scoreless for two games while eking out enough offense to demonstrate, decisively, that there is a large gap between the team with the best record in the American League and the Cubs middling chase to finish slightly above .500 within shouting distance of a Wild Card spot again.
These were must-win games for a Cubs team that briefly flirted with the third Wild Card spot before going just 2-4 on the homestand while the team they are trying to chase down put together a nine-game winning streak. That winning streak was snapped on Sunday, but not before the Mets Baseball Reference playoff odds rose to 62.1 percent. Meanwhile, the Cubs will take their 4.1 percent chance to make the postseason into a make or break series in Los Angeles, where they face off against the team with the best record in MLB.
Cubs fans show up and cheer for whoever represents the North Side of Chicago at the cathedral of baseball at the corner of Clark and Addison. But in conversations throughout the weekend, it became clear: We all miss being able to cheer for a hero or star in that group. It was wonderful to celebrate the legacies of Anthony Rizzo, Aramis Ramirez and Kerry Wood this weekend, but it was a striking contrast with the teams Jed Hoyer has assembled in their wake. And I can’t help but notice all of those teams at the top of the standings have legitimate stars on their rosters who will be in their respective teams' Halls of Fame someday.
