Here are the career stats for two of the Cubs best players. One player is so beloved that no matter what bonehead things he does the fans still love him. The other player just goes out and does his job, better than almost everyone on the team, and yet he is treated like the plague. Here are their career stats. Which guy do you want going forward?
Player WAR BA RBI HR OBP SLG OPS K/BB
"A" 23.9 .280 408 140 .380 .507 .887 2.03
"B" 17.6 .264 377 118 .304 .474 .778 5.99
Most rational fans would say they want player "A", especially when they find out he amassed his numbers in one less season than player "B". Cubs fans want player "A" to be "Fired to the sun." They feel he should be traded for spare cleats and and old rosin bag since he is completely worthless. "What good is this guy?" they scream, "Aren't the Cubs better off without him?"
Let me introduce you to the players.
Player "A" was the rookie of the year, MVP, and a three time all-star. Say hello to Kris Bryant.
Player "B" is a two time all-star and strikes out six times more than he walks. Say hello to Javy Baez.
The current lunacy of some Cubs fans demanding that the team get rid of Kris Bryant has me completely flummoxed. One of these players, not named Javy Baez, will likely end up in the Hall of Fame, and the other will likely end up with a nice baseball career, and will get a wonderful job doing color on ESPN Desporte`.
Clearly the Cubs can't sign all their upcoming free agents, and they may lose one of these guys. The question becomes, who gives you the best long term opportunity to win more playoff games? I don't think there is any question who that guy is.
Last night Bryant finally addressed the negative comments he has been getting for the past three years on social media with this perfect answer.
Awesome answer to a stupid happening surrounding him. I also don't understand the love affair with Baez, as I've outlined in several previous columns. Today's fans are so caught up in metrics and fantasy baseball stats that they've never learned how to actually watch a baseball game and see with their own eyes who is good and who is average.
It drives me insane when Ian Happ has a good week and fans crown him as the next Willie Mays. This guy isn't even the next Willie Mays Hayes for crying out loud. I still don't understand David Ross picking him over Albert Almora as the everyday center fielder this year, but whatever.
Let me just make sure I'm clear on this. If it comes down to the Cubs only signing one of the Bryant/Baez players then it must be Bryant that stays. The problem I see is that the fans have so brutalized him that he may say, it's not worth staying here and move on. That would be the tragedy in all this.
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