Cubs Officially Eliminated From Playoff Race

One of the best teams over the past four years has been the Chicago Cubs. They won the World Series in 2016. It was their first victory in the Fall Classic since 1908. They had made the playoffs each of the past four years. That had never happened before in the history of the franchise. However, all good things must come to an end. The Cubs will not be going to the playoffs in 2019. This is the first time that has happened since Joe Maddon took over as the manager of the team. This is also the first year that Kris Bryant will not be going to the playoffs since he was called up to the Cubs in 2015.

The Cubs have been in a tailspin that has seen them lose nine games in a row. Five of those losses have come at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals. This stretch of losses allowed the Cardinals to pull away in the division. It also enabled the Milwaukee Brewers to pass the Cubs. Three weeks ago, the Cubs had a five game lead on the Brewers. Now Milwaukee has already locked up a playoff spot.

The Cubs had one of the biggest payrolls in baseball this year. They spent almost $230 million on players this year. Only the Boston Red Sox spent more. The Cubs have made some very bad free agent signings over the past few years that have hurt the performance of the team. For example, they gave a $184 million contract to outfielder Jason Heyward. They shelled out another $126 million for starting pitcher Yu Darvish. The $43 million they gave closer Craig Kimbrel was more money down the toilet. He has performed terribly since he arrived in Chicago in the middle of the season. He had a huge blown save against the Cardinals where he gave up a pair of home runs. He is not the dominant pitcher he once was.

Where will the Cubs go from here? It is unclear at this tine. Joe Maddon’s contract is going to expire at the end of this year. Some people believe that the fact that the team has not given him an extension speaks volumes. It does not seem likely that Maddon will not be back next year. However, the Cubs have enough money to offer Maddon a huge contract if they want to. It remains to be seen if they will do that.

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