CHICAGO, IL – APRIL 9: Willson Contreras of the Chicago Cubs adjusts hit helmet in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field on April 9, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Matt Dirksen/Getty Images)
One of the reasons is that they don’t manage their assets right anymore. They didn’t get max value for Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo, or Kris Bryant in 2021 which was just a shame to see. Now, they are in danger of more lost assets because of bad decision-making.
There is still some time to do okay in the trade market but they should have acted faster during the offseason before and after the lockout. Hindsight is 20/20 but these are the three players they should have traded over the winter:
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Patrick Wisdom
3B, Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs should have traded Patrick Wisdom over the winter.
Patrick Wisdom was a great story in 2021. He was a rookie that made it later in his career. He was also an impact player that increased his team’s chance to win on a nightly basis. He also broke Kris Bryant’s record for most home runs by a rookie which was really cool to see for him.
The big problem was that he wasn’t your traditional rookie. He was pushing 30 years old which means that he took all this time to become an MLB regular with the Cubs. There is usually a reason for that. You don’t get much better once you are on the wrong side of 30.
For Wisdom, he is off to a decent start here in 2022 which can’t be said for a lot of his teammates. However, this team is going nowhere. His value was never higher than it was over this last offseason and they should have traded him then. It is not too late to consider it as they might be able to get something good for him.