A baseball season is a six-month journey with some lulls in between, but seldom does a stretch define a team like this one could define the 2025 Chicago Cubs.
From the finale of the City Series to the showdown with the Milwaukee Brewers to the trade deadline to Friday’s and Saturday’s tributes to Ryne Sandberg at Wrigley Field, the Cubs went through a whirlwind of emotions over the last week.
They added four players at the deadline and said goodbye to a popular clubhouse voice in reliever Ryan Pressly, along with infielder Vidal Bruján and reliever Chris Flexen. Not acquiring an impact starter or third baseman at the deadline was an indication the front office believes in the group that got the Cubs to this point, but it also means the players have to justify President Jed Hoyer’s faith in them.
They learned during Monday’s game in Milwaukee of the death of Sandberg, and though most of the players had minimal interaction with him outside of spring training, they graciously reflected on his impact on the organization and themselves as though he’d been with them all season. The comment by former Cub Shawon Dunston that the current Cubs are a “lot like Ryno” was both a compliment and a challenge.
How do you emulate one of the greatest players in franchise history? By playing for the team and not yourself, a legacy of Sandberg’s storied career.
Off the field, the announcements of Hoyer’s contract extension and the All-Star Game coming to Wrigley Field in 2027 put the Cubs in the spotlight. Hoyer’s new deal showed the Ricketts family’s belief in a plan that included the departure of stars from the 2016 championship core to begin a new chapter, while MLB showed confidence the Cubs can pull off a major event in a smallish ballpark not particularly suited for an overflow of international media and corporate sponsors.
There’s no time for the Cubs to catch their breath after such an eventful week, but here are some things we learned this weekend at Wrigley.
Mike Royko’s family held a private memorial at Wrigley Field shortly after Royko’s death in 1997, and we listened to emotional eulogies from Studs Terkel, Rick Kogan and other friends while sitting in the box seats behind the Cubs dugout. It was a perfect send-off for the legendary columnist who made the Cubs and Wrigley part of many memorable columns.
The Sandberg family hasn’t announced its plans, but hopefully they include a memorial at Wrigley for the Cubs great, who helped take the ballpark on a new course with the dreamlike 1984 season. Ernie Banks and Ron Santo died in the offseason with no opportunity for fans to gather at Wrigley for a send-off. This would be a perfect way to say goodbye to a legend.
When I asked about a contingency plan for the All-Star Game in case of a work stoppage in 2027, Commissioner Rob Manfred replied: “My contingency plan is to make an agreement with the players and play the ’27 season.” I don’t think he knows the meaning of the word “contingency.”
The chance of a lockout in 2027 is real. The players union won’t accept any type of salary-cap proposal, and MLB reportedly won’t accept anything less than a cap. “It’s natural when you get to the end of a collective bargaining agreement that glass-half-filled people have trepidation about what’s going to happen,” Manfred said. “I’m optimistic that we’ll find a way to make a deal.”
Few share that optimism on the players’ side. While no one wants to hear this, the players have leverage with the option of walking out in the second half of the 2026 season, forcing the owners to present a fair deal with no cap. Facing the loss of postseason money, the owners would have to decide whether it’s worth it.
Otherwise, the players might be waiting to get locked out after the season, when they’d have no leverage at all.
Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper became a folk hero when he told Manfred to “get the (bleep) out” of their clubhouse if he wanted to talk about a salary cap, as ESPN reported.
“I don’t talk about those player meetings,” Manfred said Friday. “Let me say this: I think more has been made out of this than needs to be made out of it. Bryce expressed his views. At the end of the meeting we shook hands and went our separate ways.”
The union needs more Bryce Harpers who are willing to speak their minds to power. At least it has one.
Regarding the bollards plan for Wrigley Field, Manfred confirmed the “perimeter security program was kind of the last issue that needed to be resolved” before awarding the Cubs the All-Star Game. Yet when asked about security around the ballpark, Manfred punted, saying it’s not his “level of detail” and advising reporters to “talk to the Cubs.”
So we did. Will they have to block off Waveland and Sheffield avenues for the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game for security reasons? “I don’t think we’ve gotten that far yet,” Chairman Tom Ricketts said. “We’re just happy to get to this day and get the announcement done.”
It will be an interesting decision, considering the lure of a Home Run Derby baseball and the cost of standing on a public street in Chicago. Last we heard, it’s still free. Would the city even let the Cubs shut it down if they wanted? Stay tuned.
Mayor Brandon Johnson had the most ridiculous line at Friday’s news conference, insisting that “being able to attract large-scale events like this further substantiates corporations’ confidence in my leadership.”
The awarding of the All-Star Game had nothing to do with Johnson’s leadership, which is questionable, and everything to do with the Cubs not hosting one at Wrigley since 1990. It has been their turn for quite a few years.
Johnson also embarrassed himself by calling Chicago “the best freaking city in the world,” a line he likes to repeat as if he’s still in high school. The next mayoral election is in February 2027, so Johnson probably won’t be around to further embarrass Chicagoans during the All-Star festivities.
Ricketts told the story of living in an apartment above the Sports Corner bar at the corner of Addison and Sheffield in the early 1990s. “My brother (Pete) thinks he remembers we were there for two years,” Ricketts said. “I don’t remember. It was a long time ago, and it was my misspent youth.”
Ricketts said he couldn’t snare a ticket for the 1990 All-Star Game and walked around the neighborhood during the game instead. Apparently he didn’t ask his billionaire father if he could borrow a few bucks during his misspent youth.
Maybe in honor of his days as a regular Cubs fan on a budget, he can reserve a few hundred tickets to the 2027 All-Star Game for real fans, instead of letting corporations, season ticket holders and friends of the family gobble them up.