Bernstein: Brewers' Moves Stir Up Cubs Fans
By Dan Bernstein --
670TheScore.com senior columnist
(670 The Score) The concept of "winning" the offseason is silly just to even hear it said, with enough evidence of disconnect to understand that news of trades and signings is all just noise until those players have to perform.
It was still jarring for Cubs fans Thursday evening, however, as their rivals to the north exacerbated some ongoing nervousness about Chicago's continued deliberate approach to their roster just days away from the start of spring training.
The Milwaukee Brewers traded a package of highly regarded prospects for Marlins outfielder Christian Yelich, a 25-year old under contract control through 2022, and that caused some local fans to take to Twitter all but demanding some kind of response. That indeed came just over an hour later, with news that outfielder Lorenzo Cain had agree to a deal for five years and $80 million, but the problem was that it was also with the Brewers.
That's a total of 8.6 wins of improvement in about 90 minutes of activity, with Milwaukee clearly ready to push in and accelerate its competitive phase after posting an 86-76 record last season.
Asking the Cubs to react to this by doing anything just because of the timing is ridiculous, of course, as they have been clear all along about their commitment to maximizing every opportunity to win another World Series, independent of the actions of opponents within the division or beyond. Their plan is their plan, with free agent powder still dry and sitting on all kinds of valuable trade pieces that can be used at any point before the midseason deadline.
In other words, give a polite nod to what the Brewers are doing and chill out.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Bernstein and Goff Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.