NEWSLETTER
Willson Contreras, an impending free agent, is very likely to be traded at some point in the next couple weeks by the Chicago Cubs, a rebuilding club. It could make for some awkwardness at a time when the guy undoubtedly just wants to enjoy being at the All-Star Game, especially with his brother there this year, too.
But you’d never know if Contreras is phased by the uncertainty of his future, because he always has such a positive, light, and even-keeled approach to discussing these things.
Even on the subject of his future with the very team that is likely to trade him soon, Contreras is so positive. Look at what he said about his relationship with the Cubs:
“[T]o be honest I don’t feel like this is gonna be my last [All-Star Game] with a Cubs uniform,” Contreras told reporters at media day for the All-Star Game in Los Angeles. “I don’t know why. I haven’t had talks with the team, I haven’t had anything, but it’s just a feeling that I have that this is not gonna be my last one with the Cubs. It’s something that I’ve been feeling throughout the year ….
“No matter what the future holds, no matter what the outcome is, I will always feel that I will always be able to come to Chicago and play there or even live there. Who doesn’t love Chicago, right? I just have a feeling that this is not gonna be my last time with the Chicago uniform.”
That. That tugs at my heart, man.
The logical part of my brain says this is just normal human emotion stuff, knowing how hard it is to move on from the only organization you’ve ever known. You tell yourself things, even in the face of logic that tells you everything else.
Of course, now I’m doing that to myself! Sure, the Cubs are going to trade Willson Contreras, but that doesn’t mean FOR SURE that they won’t re-sign him in free agency! It’s rare, but it does happen! And if they want to compete next year, they’ll sure as heck need his bat! Maybe! Maybe!
Ok. In all seriousness, it really is possible. I’ll be open to discussing it in the offseason as Contreras’s market develops (or doesn’t).
But I don’t want to go too far with Contreras’s comments, no matter how positive they sound or how hopeful they make a little corner of my fanatic brain. I don’t think Contreras is spilling any inside beans here, as he himself acknowledges that this isn’t the product of discussions with the team.
Moreover, we know how this is going to play out, at least over the next few months: barring an injury, Contreras *will* be traded by the August 2 deadline. That will give him his first exposure to a new organization, which opens a player’s eyes, and then he’ll hit free agency in November with the opportunity to be courted by a number of teams that aren’t the Cubs. Maybe someday Contreras returns, but in the interim, he has earned the right to seek out the best contract he can get – and I’m just not sure that’s going to come from the Cubs.
Then again, here’s how Contreras talked about his future, via Marquee:
That’s what’s been important to Contreras. He wants to be somewhere where he’s valued, where he feels at home — like Chicago has felt.
“It’s more where am I gonna be happy,” Contreras said. “Where I’m gonna be, where my family’s gonna be happy. I know that we all want to win, and I want to win. I love to win, but I also wanna be somewhere that I feel happy about it, that I know that the fans are gonna have my back and everything.”
Maybe the Cubs, and Chicago, will still hold the tiebreaker for him.
