Black Monday Special: 2020 MLB Edition
Chicago Fires
Rick Hahn – Chicago White Sox
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The Southsiders made noise last offseason when they put Bryce Harper in their promotional materials and came up short of signing Manny Machado. They haven’t sniffed .500 since 2012 and have toiled in the basement of the non-competitive AL Central. The White Socks have had a very active winter signing Dallas Kuechel, Yasmani Grandal, Gio Gonzalez, and Edwin Encarnacion.
They are bringing back emergent ace Lucas Giolito and will have injured but talented guys like Carlos Rodon and Michael Kopech back in the fold. Super prospect Luis Robert is slated to burst onto the scene at some point this year. Rick Hahn’s masterpiece is about to be unveiled and it will go a long way to determining his job security. If this team flops, it’ll be hard to justify him staying around.
Theo Epstein – Chicago Cubs
Once unthinkable after breaking the longest drought and curse in sports history, this season is a big one for Theo Epstein and company. The Cubs built an incredible core through the first-round draft picks like Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, and a savvy trade for Anthony Rizzo, and free-agent signings like Jon Lester. But every Chief has their misses.
Epstein traded now-emerged superstar Gleyber Torres for Aroldis Chapman back in 2016 as the Cubs search for an answer at 2B. He also traded now major leaguers, Dylan Cease and Eloy Jimenez for the inconsistent and maddening Jose Quintana. The biggest blemish on Theo’s record is that the Cubs have yet to produce a home-grown pitcher; Not ONE.
The organization now finds itself unwilling to spend more money after whiffing on free agent signings like Jason Heyward and Tyler Chatwood, and the escalating arbitration salaries of the core. The Cubs only won 84 games and had a collapse of epic proportions to the Cardinals and Yelich-less Brewers.
The Astros arrived a year after the Cubs and have been able to sustain themselves with new stars and revitalizing careers whereas the Cubs haven’t been able to replicate that model. Theo will always have his place in Cubs lore, but that doesn’t mean his seat can’t be hot.