Cubs May Have Very Long Wait After Weird Season Ends in Futility

At the risk of being obtuse, watching last night’s Cubs game felt a little like losing a loved one after a long battle with a terminal illness. A lot of us have known for quite some time now that the end was coming, so it was just a matter of when. And though they had moments of clarity that offered hope in the moment, provided you chose not to adopt a broader perspective. In the end, the Padres helped the Cubs to shuffle off the mortal coil of the 2026 season and into the unknown.

This offseason could be much longer than most, with a lockout and subsequent wrangling over the collective bargaining agreement meaning that Jed Hoyer and his front office may have that much more time to stew in their shortcomings. Not that they need it, as they’re already fall-off-the-bone tender from years of being pounded by the Brewers. With a much higher payroll and Milwaukee’s old manager.

Would things have been different if the Cubs didn’t have an entire pitching staff on the IL, including their former ace, their rising ace, and another guy who unexpectedly became an ace? Yeah, probably. But we don’t live in a hypothetical world — even if it does often feel like a simulation — and neither does Hoyer. The president of baseball operations needs to stop acting like a rich douche in a supercar who gets his doors blown off by a hoopty-looking sleeper because he can’t figure out launch mode.

Despite carrying a payroll that’s nine figures lower and a roster full of guys who would go unrecognized in a Milwaukee bar even in uniform, the Brewers keep showing the Cubs their tail lights. That’s not just a matter of managerial prowess, though you have to wonder whether Pat Murphy and his endless supply of pocket pancakes were the secret sauce behind Craig Counsell‘s success.

Counsell is like Coach Klein from The Waterboy, except that he hasn’t been able to win even with the reincarnation of that titular character in Pete Crow-Armstrong. Of course, Bobby Boucher actually showed up to the Bourbon Bowl when the SCLSU Mud Dogs needed him most. PCA went 0-for-7 with four strikeouts in the Wild Card loss, followed by Alex Bregman going 0-for-8 with four Ks of his own. Michael Busch and Ian Happ were also hitless.

“It feels like we got beat in two games, and bad answer, but none of it feels good,” PCA said after being eliminated. “And that’s it, so just feeling pretty disappointed in myself. But that’s for me to work on…It is clear to see that I didn’t contribute.”

Whatever happens over the winter and perhaps into spring and summer as well, we know for certain that Crow-Armstrong will be back with the Cubs. The same can’t be said for Happ, whose contract has expired. A recent “report” from Pat Ragazzo of FanSided got a little traction for indicating that Happ might be willing to take a discount to remain in Chicago, though the way it’s worded makes it nothing more than speculation. A source “familiar with Happ’s thinking” said they “could see” the outfielder opting for a lower deal than he could get elsewhere.

Without diving into the quagmire of warring opinions on Happ’s value to the Cubs or just in general, we’re talking about a veteran who’s been a cornerstone of the team for a decade now. That said, it would not be surprising in the least to see the team move in another direction. Between having to platoon him against lefties and having Josiah Hartshorn rising through the system, I highly doubt that Happ and the Cubs would be able to reach an amenable agreement even with a massive discount.

His comments following Wednesday’s game certainly felt like they were coming from a man who knows this particular chapter of his career has come to a close.

“All I can say is that I love being a Cub,” Happ told reporters in the locker room. “I’ve loved my time. I’ve loved the place, the people, Wrigley Field, the fanbase. And it’s been truly special. I don’t think there’s a better place in baseball to play.”

Seiya Suzuki is likewise at the end of his contract, and he might be moving on to greener pastures following a tenure in Chicago that has been better than most realize. He posted 15.7 fWAR with a 128 wRC+, and his 113 home runs trail only Kris Bryant (138) and Ernie Banks (136) for the most as a Cub through the first five seasons of an MLB career. Ah, but that brings us to this team’s fatal flaw.

The Cubs were at or near the top of the league in home runs for most of the season, which was just one facet of a dynamic offense that reached base and scored runs better than anyone else. Except that they didn’t produce on a consistent basis, padding their numbers with blowouts that masked fallow periods like we saw over the last week of the regular season and into the playoffs.

To wit, the Cubs hadn’t won a game in which they failed to hit a home run since July 30 in St. Louis. That is a streak of 15 games, the longest in MLB and the longest for the Cubs since 2010. I asked the other day whether this team could win with small ball, and the answer was a resounding no.

There’s no point in further litigating the season, not that it’ll stop anyone from doing so, and there could not be a more futile endeavor than trying to plot a course for 2027 and beyond right now. Whether this site will even be around by the time Cubs baseball is back is yet to be determined, but I will probably end up taking a little time to decompress. To that end, I’m actually glad things ended early.

Thanks for hanging out with us through this weird season with its fun and futility, and maybe we’ll see you on the other side.