Chicago Sports Exchange: Bombshell Trades Proof of Cubs Rebuild, No Matter How Hoyer Spins It
Plus, the Sox fuel their World Series fire, Ayo’s a Bull (yay?) and the Hawks look to capitalize on the moment
Just keep it a buck, Jed Hoyer.
Swapping Anthony Rizzo, Javier Báez and Kris Bryant for five prospects who aren’t ready to contribute in the big leagues isn’t a retool. It’s blowing to bits three pillars of your organization and praying the foundation doesn’t cave in on itself.
Within the debris (besides highlights of Rizzo, Báez and Bryant paying immediate dividends for the Yankees, Mets and Giants, that is) is the need for lots of elbow grease and the front office’s hope against hope that the next on-ramp to success is shorter than the last.
Whether he uses the dirty seven-letter word or not, Hoyer is overseeing a rebuild. Plain and simple.
Hoyer conceding the difference wouldn’t have made Rizzo’s postgame lap around Wrigley Field Thursday or Bryant’s tearful reaction to being traded Friday tug any softer on the fanbase’s heartstrings. An 11-game losing streak that caused the Cubs to take a tumble from the top of the National League Central last month pointed to Rizzo, Bryant or Báez being moved. But for Hoyer to part ways with not one, not two, but all three stung like the sucker-punch that it was.
(In hindsight, the fact that neither Rizzo nor Bryant made it onto the field in what was their last appearance in the home team’s dugout hits even harder today than when it happened Thursday.)
It’s okay that Hoyer turned the page from what was one of the two most successful eras in team history. But he could’ve saved himself some trouble and diehards from an onrush of resentment issues.
All he had to do was tell it like it is.
BUY — Sox Use Crosstown, Intra-Division Boosts to Push Pennant Push
It’s out of Rick Hahn’s hands now.
After the White Sox general manager turned toast of the town reinforced his roster with Ryan Tepera, Craig Kimbrel and César Hernández before the trade deadline Friday, the baton was passed back down to the field.
With an uptick in timely hitting, some tighter defense, the Cleveland and North Side exports holding up their ends of the bargain, and a little luck, the Sox will carry it deep into October.
BUY — Dosunmu’s Fit With Bulls Runs Deeper Than The Soil
Hate it or love it, Ayo Dosunmu’s staying home.
While he may not possess a preternatural gift like Sharife Cooper, who a faction of Bulls fans swear they would’ve selected with the 38th pick in Thursday’s 2021 NBA Draft instead, Dosunmu’s full complement of skills will come in handier for Artūras Karnišovas and Marc Eversley’s unsettled roster. To say nothing of how the former Morgan Park Mustang and Fighting Illini guard fits into the corner Karnišovas and Eversley painted themselves this off-season.
That braintrust had a faster track to postseason contention in mind when they traded Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr. and two first-round picks to Orlando for Nikola Vučević in March. Cooper might prove to be every bit the playmaking savant who many pegged to be a first-round lock. But, quite frankly, Karnišovas and Eversley couldn’t afford to gamble on the pocket-sized point guard who is likely to see opposing defenses triple dog dare him to shoot.
Cooper would’ve turned more heads, but Dosunmu’s a better match with the Bulls.
BUY — Flurry Of Moves Leads Hawks In Right Direction
Patience is a virtue.
Or, is it simply just a waste of time?
Less than a year in, Stan Bowman’s youth movement is no more. His sudden burst of roster transactions over the past two weeks are indicative of a general manager who’s looking to go for broke while he still has franchise pillars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews under contract.
With a vastly improved blue line (Blackhawks fans are looking at you, Seth Jones) and Marc-André Fleury now officially in the fold this season, Bowman’s banking on the Hawks making a gorge out of what’s largely been an evaporated well of playoff success lately.
And so now, he waits.
BUY — Dolson’s Olympic Break Worth Her Wait in Gold
Burabö, Stefanie Dolson.
Helping Team USA take gold in the debut of three-on-three Olympic basketball with seven points, nine rebounds and four critical free throws, the Sky center deserves praise in every language. Particularly in the host country’s native tongue.
Women's 3x3 Team Wins Olympic Gold—And Wins Over Fans in the Process (SI.com)
“Winning a national championship was amazing,” Dolson, who won back-to-back titles with Connecticut, told reporters via Zoom after beating the Russian Olympic Committee Wednesday.
“All the other individual accomplishments, great. But to win this one for my country, for the U.S., is something I’ve dreamed of and wanted for a long time. To accomplish it is really special. Ranks? I’d say this is at the top.”
Now there’s just one more prize for Dolson to try and collect before the calendar year flips. One that might just rival her Olympic gold medal but would need to be shared with her stateside basketball family.