Off-Topic Forum

Cubs got some good prospects, better than would have been expected for a guy they were NOT going to resign him this offseason, because they are paying his remaining salary.  Big risk for Yankees, now very curious to see where he signs this offseason.

Vvvvergeer said it best above - a world series win, 6 years of excellent baseball - as a fan you have to take that.

Very sad to see Rizzo go.  Plays the game the right way and seems like a great guy.  I still can't believe the Cubs did this because it last time they blew it up, somebody else had the tv rights. They just launched their own network which is now going to be unwatchable. The team they will be rolling out the rest of the year will be awful.  I am still holding out hope that they are letting the Yankees rent Rizzo and then going to resign him next year. 

I Thank Rizzo & the Players , Mangement and ownership I do not. Madden and the Cubs should have sent a couple of the players down to the minors for a bit to learn Plate Discipline. same thing when we had Corey Patterson. Later on the Orioles tried it with him but by then it was too late and he was stuck with the bad habits. I would agree on the WS but 2020 I don't hold against anyone shortened season, but great baseball 2018 , & 2019 they literally imploded twice under Madden , again I don't hold it against the players. But 1 lousy championship just to try and be like the Marlins. NOPE  SORRY I will take OLD WRIGLEY FIELD  everytime. Rizzo is a CLASS ACT wish I could say the same for the Cubs. They are back to their old ways of not spending ways.

I just posted my tribute to Rizzo on my blog. https://bumpandruncards.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-beginning-of-bryzzo-brexit.html?m=1

There will be more to come. It hurt to watch everybody go, that's for sure.

Nope. Won't fall down this rabbit hole again. The Cubs didn't perform in the playoffs, but they went 5/6 years and were over .500 for six straight seasons. I have been a fan since 1971. Do you know how many times I've seen them be over .500 three years in a row before this? Once. And that ended at three. They  finally got to sustained excellence. Then these players, all of whom might have additional all-star seasons, just weren't working as a unit. We kept it together longer than we should have, based on sentimentality of 2016. But, painful as it was, it was time to break them up. Rizzo is one of my all-time favorite players. I wish the Cubs had done better by him. But I'm not gonna say the Cubs have screwed the fans or given up or gone back to their old ways. It's just too early. We'll see in a few years. 
I'm sticking with basking in the good past and hoping for a good future. And now I'm done. 
V3

To make matters worse, Rizzo was one of the players I PC.  When I was a kid, I idolized Ryne Sandberg. The 1983 Topps sticker book was my gateway to baseball cards and he was the first player I wanted to collect.  Since childhood, there have certainly been Cubs that I was a big fan of (Dawson, Grace, Sosa, Wood, ARam, DLee for example) but not until Rizzo came along did I have another Cubs idol.  He is the Mr. Cub of the last decade.  He is "Face of the Franchise" exemplified.

I'm tempted to turn over all my Rizzo cards to the FS/FT list but I also want to hold onto them in case he returns.  Unfortunately since the Ricketts are all too busy peddling their money into politics and being cheapskates with the big-market sports team they own, I'm not hopeful that he'll be back. If they wanted to re-sign him, they would've extended him in the off-season. I guess it won't hurt to keep the cards until next season just to be certain.

It's great to see him immediately energized by a new atmosphere and getting the production we all know he's capable of. While I don't like the Yankees, I don't really hate them either. He looks weird in that uniform, but I really hope the Yankees fans treasure him and that he does well for them in return! (Yanks have a nice 3 out of 4 former-Cub infield going on, there...)

I hope this all works out for the future.  This core group of players are forever enshrined as Cubs legends for what they brought us fans. But more than anything, I want to feel the thrill of victory again.  That same feeling these guys brought us.  I look at the '04 Red Sox when they broke their "curse" (god I loathe using that word).  Three years later the '07 WS team was quite a bit different.  The '13 and '18 teams even more so.  So if it's a different group of guys that do it for the Cubs, it won't be any less sweet. It doesn't matter what the names are on the back of the jerseys as long as the front looks the same!

Anyway, RIP (for now) my Rizzo PC.

As a White Sox fan I want to just let loose but out of respect for my fellow tcdb peeps I'll just leave you with this.  Bryant and Baez both refused long term deals with the Cub so you had to get something for them.  I believe Rizzo did too. So there's enough blame for the implosion to go around.  I'll miss Nickey Two Strikes but those 2 relievers sure look good in Sox colors. October baseball in Chicago will finally be fun again for me.