As a result of last night’s drubbing of the Pirates, the Chicago Cubs have reached 100 wins for the first time since 1935. That, to be semi-exact, was around 80 years ago. For the vast majority of us, then, we have just observed this Cubs team do something we’ve never seen before.
The next week and a half will be like a steroid-infused version of the preceding five months: a seemingly interminable march toward the thing that “really matters.” The playoffs. While I’ve urged – you and myself – to not think that way during the regular season because all it does is sap you of the fun you’re supposed to be having, I can’t urge you to think that way today. Sure, there could still be some fun bits over this final stretch (Kris Bryant just notched his 100th RBI, for example; Javy Baez hit his second grand slam; Kyle Hendricks pushed his ERA below two), but it’s hard to imbue the games with too much meaning when we are so close to the final contest.
Still, I can allow myself this moment at the top of the Bullets to enjoy that 100th win, and know that it was historic for the Cubs. It’s been an incredible season. [adinserter block=”1″]
Although it was reported yesterday that the Twins have found their new President of Baseball Operations in Indians’ AGM Derek Falvey (and not Cubs SVP of Amateur Scouting and Player Development Jason McLeod), the Twins aren’t yet confirming it (putting out in various reports that the process is still “ongoing”), and there is still a GM to be hired. That is to say, this story is not entirely over yet, though we have been given no indication that the President will not be Falvey, nor have we been given any indication that he’ll specifically be looking to bring in a Cubs executive – McLeod or otherwise – as his GM. In fact, a report from the Pioneer Press indicates that interim Twins GM Rob Antony and Rays VP of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom are the “most likely” candidates for the GM post. Cubs Director of Pro Scouting Jared Porter is mentioned once again – he grew up just outside the Twin Cities – but the report indicates he might have to take a pay cut to be the GM of the Twins, given how well the Cubs pay their executives. (That’s nice to hear.)
In any case, the long and the short of that previous bullet: this remains a story to follow, though the tentative sense is that the Cubs’ front office is probably safe. There will be other openings around baseball this offseason, though.
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This made me laugh a hearty laugh:
Bryant told Coghlan pregame he'd hand over all the money in his wallet if CC scored on 100th RBI. CC: “Don’t let him fool you, he’s rich.”
Pay up, Kris. And speaking of the other Chris, he continued his hot ways with another big night last night. For those who’ve made it a special project to dump on Coghlan this year – inexplicably, after he was so good in 2014 and 2015, and dealt with injuries and a tough adjustment to Oakland – I’d like to point out that he is now hitting .261/.395/.391 with the Cubs in 2016. That’s good for a 114 wRC+ … the same wRC+ he posted last year.
BP’s Harry Pavlidis is a friend of the program, and he had an incredible idea for honoring Jose Fernandez while also bringing in some more of the spirit he embodied:
we need a 'player who most embodies the spirit and joy of baseball' award named for Jose. Give it to Adrian Beltre this year.
The idea has since been picked up and championed by others (including KenRosenthal (who may have had the idea on his own, too, because it’s such a good idea)), and friend of the program Adam Brown put together a petition to actually get some signatures and send it to the various decision-makers. If you are interested and available, give it a sign.
Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here.
Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.
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NEWSLETTER
As a result of last night’s drubbing of the Pirates, the Chicago Cubs have reached 100 wins for the first time since 1935. That, to be semi-exact, was around 80 years ago. For the vast majority of us, then, we have just observed this Cubs team do something we’ve never seen before.
