BCB After Dark: what’s the story? History of the Chicago Cubs Trevor

Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the underground bar for night owls, early risers, new parents and Bear cubs fans abroad. So glad you were able to join us again this evening. The hostess has reserved a prime seat for you. It’s bring your own drink. Hope you can get into the habit of quitting.

BCB after dark is where you can talk about baseball, music, movies, or whatever else you need to relax, as long as it’s within the site’s rules. Nightlife is encouraged to start the party, but everyone is welcome to join you when you wake up the next morning and in the afternoon.

The Cubs liked it tonight. Feel free to discuss the weather here if you wish.

Last time around, I asked you where the Cubs would end up picking in next year’s draft, which is just a sneaky way of asking how many teams you think will end up with a worse record than the Cubs this year. year. The winner, with 48% of your votes, was 6th or 7th, or pretty much where they are now. Another 37% believed the Cubs would fall to the 4th or 5th pick in the draft next year.

Also last time, we discussed actress Gloria Grahame and punk singer Su Tissue in the comments, as this space is poised to become dangerously a forum for the female artists I obsess over.

I’m doing a shortened version of BCB after dark Tuesday evening / Wednesday morning, although it was a bit long. Still, no discussion of a movie unless you want to in the comments. But I normally include a piece of jazz so you have something to listen to if you want. Or not. Either way, you won’t hurt my feelings.

We lost Charlie Watts today (or yesterday, depending on where you are), the legendary drummer of the Rolling Stones. He was 80 years old. Anyone who knows Watts’ past knows that his first love was jazz, not rock or blues. In fact, you could say that the most popular rock band in the world had a jazz drummer. Watts wasn’t a drummer like Keith Moon from The Who or John Bonham from Led Zeppelin who just pumped the speakers out. He left the bomb to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Instead, Watts provided a smarter, more subtle backbeat for the Stones’ biggest hits. Of course, Watts could blow the roof off the joint if he wanted to and sometimes he did. But he prefers to use his drums as scalpels and not as machetes.

Like I said, Watts’ first love was jazz and for the past several decades Watts has used his time away from the Stones to make jazz recordings and perform jazz concerts. So here’s one from the BBC from 2019 where Watts and his friends play the “Night Train” jazz standard. After the song, Watts and his childhood friend Dave Green talk about what jazz meant to them growing up.

Rest in peace Charlie Watts.

I’m not sure if Patrick Mooney is on something or if he’s just looking for a story, but yesterday he spoke to Rockies shortstop Trevor Story from Wrigley Field and the possibility of playing for the Cubs. (Athleticism under. required)

Story is a free agent at the end of this season and is pretty much certain to leave the Rockies. I think it would take a team sale and new top-down leadership to keep Story in Denver.

The Cubs haven’t really had a shortstop since the exchange of Javier Báez, although I would say they have two second basemen in Nick Madrigal and Nico Hoerner and both are injured. The Cubs are likely to be in the market for a shortstop this winter and with the Rockies in town, Mooney found an angle for a story while speaking to Story.

If you don’t have a subscription, Story calls Wrigley Field a “special place” and says he would listen to the Cubs’ offers if they called him. (Of course, this comment was made in the context of free agency and will listen to any team.)

But Story’s silver quote was:

From a distance, it is such a historic organization. I love to play here. The fans are great. Coming here over the past six years, this is a place you can’t wait to come for sure.

It’s clear that Story can be seen playing for the Cubs next year. Of course, the money talks in this game and it won’t give the Cubs a discount for signing here. But it sure looks like he’d be excited if the Cubs called.

Now do you think this is a good idea? From 2018 to 2020, Story was one of baseball’s best players. He hit 83 home runs out of those 2 ¹??₃ seasons and stole 65 bases. He also hit .292 with an OBP of .355. Story is also a great defensive shortstop.

But there are things to be concerned about. For one thing, he got quite a bit of help from Coors Field. He’s only hit 28 of those 86 road circuits in recent years. His career triple slash line at Coors is .303 / .368 / .607. His career road stats are much more mundane at .243 / .311 / .437. Now, yes, he must have played a lot of road games at some good pitching parks like Dodger Stadium, Petco Park, and Oracle Field, so those road numbers may not be as daunting as they seem. But he’s also hit Wrigley badly over the years, no matter what he says about the place.

Story is also having a pretty poor 2021 season with an OPS + of 100, which is the league average. You have to think that the overall situation with the Rockies could affect his game. He pulled out of the roster for one game despite not being traded at the deadline because he was having such a hard time making it. mentally deal with all this mess.

On top of all that, Story is going to fetch a lot of money and a lot of years. I doubt he’ll get the 10 years and $ 341 million the Mets gave Francisco Lindor, but he’ll be at least six and probably something close to $ 30 million a year. (Collective bargaining could drive that number up, but let’s not worry about that now.) The story will turn 29 next season. Do you want the Cubs to pay him $ 30 million a year when he turns 35?

Plus, Story won’t be the only free agent shortstop out there. (It might lower its price) There’s Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, and of course, Javier Báez. These three players are also younger than Story, although Báez is only a few weeks old. But Báez probably wouldn’t need as many years to sign as the other shortstops.

So, do you think the Cubs should sign Trevor Story? I’m giving the normal “Yay, Nay, and Meh” options that we often use here, but I’ll define them further:

“Yay!” means you think Story should be a go-to option for the Cubs this winter. That doesn’t mean you’d give him a blank check, but it does mean you think the Cubs should go to great lengths to sign him.

“No!” means you think Story is in decline and won’t be worth what he asks for during the term of his contract. You wouldn’t touch him unless he agreed to some kind of cheap, short-term deal. Otherwise, you think the money could be better spent elsewhere.

“Meh” means he’s not your first or second option in the free agent market, but if those targets go elsewhere and Story is willing to sign a reasonable contract (defined by you), then of course. Sign it. But you won’t be excited.

Thanks again for stopping by. See you tomorrow with another edition of BCB after dark.