Cubs Week In Review: Matthew Boyd Aboard, New First-Base Coach Rounds Out Staff

[RavenCub30]

To be a Cubs fan is to be both unmoved by the front office's reluctance to make big, splashy moves, and to itch for them, anyway. As we stand at the outset of the MLB Winter Meetings, the Cubs badly need to do something to change the complexion of a not-quite-competitive team.

Image courtesy of © Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

With the offseason's biggest pieces beginning to find their places in the puzzle, please bear in mind, my loyal reader, this unshakable truism: our best-laid plans don't always come together as neatly as a jigsaw would have them do. I'm not saying that coveted free agents like Corbin Burnes and Roki Sasaki shouldn't be on your Cubby wish list, but I am saying that sometimes, you've got to work with what you've got.

Through the hiring of new first base coach José Javier and the signing of southpaw starter Matthew Boyd, the Cubs are shooting for the playoff stars with pedigree and reliability. Politely ask one of Matthew Boyd's former clubs, the Detroit Tigers, if an absolute murderer's row of talent guarantees desired results. Back in 2014, two years removed from their latest World Series appearance, the Tigers rolled out a starting rotation featuring three Cy Young Award winners in Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello, and the still dynamite Max Scherzer. Along with an offense featuring two-time MVP Miguel Cabrera, power/speed dynamo Ian Kinsler and star supporting sluggers Victor Martínez and J.D. Martinez, that team... got swept out of the first round of the playoffs by the Baltimore Orioles. They did win their fourth straight division title that year, and there's plenty to say for that, but it would be their last venture into October until a whole different version of the team made a surprising run to the 2024 postseason.

Sex appeal does not a healthy baseball franchise make. It's become more evident than ever that the moves we want this team to make aren't the ones they're going to make. Maybe it's time to work with what we've got.

Of course, depending on if and when Cody Bellinger is traded (and to whom; I'm putting my money on the Yankees), all of that could change. Bellinger and his $27.5 million figures to alter things more than just a bit for Craig Counsell's squad, but if there's a move (and a second move after it) coming, we haven't seen it yet. What has happened is the arrival of a left-handed pitcher, Matthew Boyd, from 2024 ALCS participant Cleveland. Boyd's injury-riddled half-decade renders him a weird form of upside play. He's not a fortune-shifting pitcher, but his solid ERA from the Guardians' playoff run in 2024 made him an attractive back-end starter target. Of the smallish moves this squad has made thus far in the offseason, I actually kind of like this one. 

From a coaching standpoint, the Cubs are set to have a brand-new individual on "one," bringing on first-base coach José Javier. The former Yankee farmhand, at age 32, further reinforces the club's youth movement in personnel who hope to bring analytically charged, fresh ideas to a squad that stumbled at every crucial moment last season. Having most recently served as a defensive coach for the Yankees' Triple-A team, Javier will primarily be helping the team dominate with great infield defense. In conjunction with third-base and baserunning coach Quintin Berry, though, he'll take on some responsibility for abetting base stealers during the games.

Putting together these recaps is a true joy. I get to both react with you (the audience and my fellow esteemed writers), and respond to what's to come. With some huge free-agent prizes still at large, the Winter Meetings loom in such a way as to make this time of year wonderful—or, if the Cubs strike out, anything but.

View full article