Cubs’ President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein Resigns
Nine years in Chicago will forever be defined by one season for Theo Epstein. He helped end the longest championship drought in baseball when the Cubs defeated the Indians in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series.
But that is not all that occurred during Epstein’s time in Wrigleyville. In fact, the highs were high and the lows were low. Before star players like Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo, and Kyle Schwarber burst onto the scene, Epstein had to inherit a Cubs roster that did not even break .500 during the previous two seasons.
Epstein arrived for the 2012 season, along with newly promoted General Manager Jed Hoyer. With Dale Sveum as Manager, the Cubbies went 61-101 in the trio’s first season together. Things did not get much better the following season, as the Cubs landed at 66-96 in 2013. Rizzo had finally played 160 games for the Cubs that year, but only mustered a 103 OPS+ and Cubs’ fans were uncertain as to what to look forward to from others on the club.
Epstein and Hoyer knew that a change was needed, so off they sent Sveum and in they brought new manager Rick Renteria. In 2014, some light shined from within a 73-win team. Rizzo maintained an OPS of .913 that season, cementing himself as the organization’s first baseman. Jake Arrieta, who was acquired by trade from the Orioles in the 2013 season, was moved into the starting rotation, where he excelled with a 2.53 ERA in 25 starts. Then there was 24-year-old Kyle Hendricks, who the Cubs received in return for Ryan Dempster in a deal Epstein and Hoyer made prior to the 2012 trade deadline. Hendricks started 13 games with a 2.46 ERA and appeared to be the next piece of the 5-man puzzle that is the rotation. The organization also called up one of its top prospects, Javier Baez, to play all over the infield during the season. However, possibly the brightest signs of the Cubs’ future did not even come from its major league roster that season. The club’s first round draft pick (2nd overall) from the 2013 MLB Draft, Kris Bryant, had won USA Today’s and Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year Awards and was flying through the Cubs’ system. To add to the prospect hype, the Cubs had acquired highly-touted shortstop Addison Russell from the Athletics in a trade that sent Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija out west. Epstein’s philosophy was made clear: acquire position players now and acquire pitching later. In the 2014 MLB Draft, Epstein and the Cubs selected Kyle Schwarber in the first round. Many believed his bat would get him to the big leagues, but some were skeptical that the oversized catcher would end up position-less on a National League team.
The Cubs fired Rick Renteria after the 2014 season and went out and hired the biggest managerial name on the market, Joe Maddon, for five years and $25 million. The move appeared to be the cultural turning point, where the organization established itself as a competitor, rather than stuck in a cycle of rebuilding and retooling. In December of 2014, ace Jon Lester arrived in the North Side of the city, inking a 6-year, $155 million deal. Russell, Schwarber, and Baez all played in The Show during the 2015 season. Kris Bryant won the NL Rookie of the Year Award and finished 11th in MVP voting. Starting pitcher Jake Arrieta pitched to a 22-6 record, with a 1.77 ERA, 3 shutouts, 229 innings, and 236 strikeouts during his Cy Young Award winning season. Cubs fans knew they were close, but they might not have realized they were in imminent proximity of their long-desired championship. That would not come to fruition without a little heartbreak. After winning 97 games in 2015, the Cubs defeated Gerrit Cole and the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Wild Card Game, thanks to an absolute gem by Arrieta. The next stop was the rival St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division Series. The Cubs advanced in four games and were one series win away from advancing to the World Series. As it turns out, the Cubs did not win another playoff game that year, as the Mets swept 4-0 in the National League Championship Series.
Epstein, Hoyer, and Maddon were well aware that the Cubs were on the brink of something special, but needed to add even more to make sure they reach their ultimate goal. Instead of looking for more youth, the decision-makers sought after veteran leadership and playoff experience. Jason Heyward headlined the offseason deals heading into 2016. The cubs brought him in on an 8-year, $184 million contract. John Lackey was signed to a 2-year, $32 million deal to reduce any concerns about starting pitching depth. Ben Zobrist, who won the previous World Series with the Royals, was given $56 million for 4 years. Zobrist was an icon at the time for his ability to play anywhere on the field, hit from both sides of the plate, and make tons of contact.
The 2016 season began and the Cubs were loaded, jumping out to a 35-15 record by the time May ended. They played .500 ball from that point through July 25th, as they sat at 59-39, with one of their weakest areas being the bullpen. Epstein and Hoyer were faced with an opportunity to acquire an elite reliever, but the price was steep. They pulled the trigger, resulting in the arrival of flamethrower Aroldis Chapman and the departure of top prospect Gleyber Torres to the New York Yankees. Chapman helped the Cubs get to 45 games over .500, finishing the season 103-58. He saved 16 games with a 1.01 ERA, solidifying Cubs’ front office members’ beliefs that the move was the right one. Chapman wasn’t the only Cubs player to perform well that year. Kris Bryant went on to slug 39 bombs and win the NL MVP, just two seasons into his career. Kyle Hendricks finished the year with a 2.13 ERA in 30 starts and finished 3rd in NL Cy Young Award voting. Rizzo quickly became one of the leaders of the team, doing so by example as he smashed 32 homers and 43 doubles in his 2016 campaign. Lester twirled over 200 innings with a 2.44 ERA, making himself worth every bit of the big contract. Everything that Epstein and Hoyer did to put together a championship caliber team was working, with the one uncontrollable exception that Kyle Schwarber suffered an injury during the first series of the season and did not play again during the regular season.
The Cubs flew past the Giants in the NLDS and the Dodgers in the NLCS, losing only a combined three games in the two matchups. Clinching a berth in the World Series was a huge accomplishment, but anything other than a championship was just going to be another year in Chicago. Down three game to one in the World Series, the Cubs scratched and clawed their way back to force a winner-take-all Game 7. After Rajai Davis pulled a 3-run game-tying homer off of Aroldis Chapman in the 8th inning, the Cubs were skating on thin ice. However, the team was able to pull through with a 2-run inning in the top of the 10th and eventually win the 2016 World Series on that groundball to Bryant that Rizzo tucked right in his back pocket.
Theo Epstein had done it. The Cubs had done it. The rebuild had turned into hopes of a dynasty with multiple championships ahead.
But that is not how it went. The Cubs sunk to 92 wins in the following season and were bounced in the 2017 NLCS in 5 games against the Dodgers, which was the last time the Cubs have won a Postseason game. In 2018, the Rockies eliminated the 95-win Cubs in the NL Wild Card Game. In 2019, the Cubs went 84-78 and that was all for Joe Maddon, who headed to Anaheim to manage the Los Angeles Angels. Epstein and Hoyer hired David Ross, who played on the championship team in 2016, to be the next manager of the Cubs in 2020. The team won 34 of its 60 games in the shortened season and were immediately knocked out by the Miami Marlins in the NL Wild Card Series.
That was the final series with the Cubs for Epstein, who gave his resignation today effective immediately. There has been much speculation over the past year that Chicago would have to “clean house” and get rid of some veteran names like Bryant, Rizzo, Baez, or Willson Contreras in an attempt to reduce payroll expenditures. Possibly Epstein does not want to be associated with the tear-down of the high-caliber team that he helped build.
“I do plan on having a third chapter leading a baseball organization someday, though I do not expect it to be next year.”
There are other rumors floating around too, as USA Today writer Bob Nightengale speculated that Epstein could become a major player in the push for a new MLB organization in Nashville, Tennessee. Epstein did hint that he “plan(s) on having a third chapter leading a baseball organization.” But one thing is for certain, tearing down the remainder of the 2016 Cubs will not be part of his second chapter.
Theo Epstein and Joe Maddon bask in all of their glory while receiving the Commissioner’s Trophy for winning the 2016 World Series.