Willson Contreras drama gives Cubs-Cardinals a whole new twist

All those days ago when Willson Contreras left the Chicago Cubs to sign with the St. Louis Cardinals, no one thought the questions around his return to Wrigley Field on Monday would be surrounded by so much drama.

Questions about Willson Contreras may dominate early portions of Cubs-Cardinals series

The man who earned three All-Star appearances as a member of the Cubs and caused plenty of angst in Wrigleyville with his comments about his old team this offseason returns to his old haunt to start a new chapter of the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry on Monday night.

Contreras will indeed be in the lineup on Monday night, slotting in as the St. Louis designated hitter at the fifth spot in the order. The DH role is one that has come about in recent days as St. Louis decided to pivot away from the 30-year-old behind the plate. It’s another early-season eye-raiser for the Cardinals, following the Tyler O’Neill hustle question that dominated part of April and the overall funk the defending division champions have been in all season, dropping them to the bottom of not just the National League Central, but the NL as a whole.

Even once the Cubs-Cardinals series begins, the majority of the focus will likely fall on Contreras. The questions before the game will be about his exodus from Chicago to St. Louis. The questions during the game will be about his new role and how both he and the Cardinals will benefit or be sent backwards by it.

If the Cardinals can somehow right the ship against their arch-rivals and get their season back on track this week, the focus will finally shift away from the topic du jour in Contreras. If not, expect plenty more drama to follow Contreras around while Chicago fans simply smile.

In the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry, it’s often as much how the rivals are failing as much as it is the other team succeeding. There is plenty of vindication for not signing Contreras being felt in Chicago right now. The question is how long will it last in another chapter in arguably baseball’s most bitter rivalry.