Sitting in the Wrigley Field home dugout, addressing reporters before the final game of the season, Cubs manager Craig Counsell could have taken the out that was built into the question.
Is it naive to think a manager alone can add wins to a team’s record?
“It’s never going to be about one person,” he said. “I mean, that is my job, to help us win baseball games. So I should be expected to do that, absolutely.
“We didn’t do it this year. We won 83 games. That wasn’t enough to make the playoffs. That wasn’t enough to give our fans October baseball. That’s what we should be striving to do. That’s what we should do on a consistent basis, in my mind. And that means we’ve got work to do.”
That offseason work starts now.
Last year, the Cubs came so close to making the playoffs that rolls of clear plastic were fixed to the ceiling in front of the lockers of the American Family Field visitors’ clubhouse in case they clinched a postseason berth the final weekend of the series.
This year, the Cubs still had a week of games to play after being mathematically eliminated. So, while the National League wild-card race was swept up in weather-induced postponements that forced a doubleheader Monday between the Mets and Braves, the Cubs quietly won two of three games in an anticlimactic series against the Reds this weekend.
“Always kind of weird,” second baseman Nico Hoerner said Sunday after a 3-0 loss in the 10-inning final game of the season. “Every year is different. I don’t really know what to do with myself right now.
“Obviously there’s going to be a lot of reflection in the coming days, and some that’s already started. It’s just a weird feeling knowing that, even though we have a sense of a core here, there’s just so many people that don’t come back every single year – players and staff and everyone involved. Everyone’s gone just really fast, so that’s always a little strange to process.”
There undoubtedly will be changes. Veteran Kyle Hendricks is headed into free agency after 11 major-league seasons with the Cubs. Outfielder Cody Bellinger has to decide whether or not to opt out of his contract.
Besides the obvious, even though Counsell emphasized that closing the gap is more about process than personnel, internal improvement alone generally doesn’t take a team from 83 wins to 90-plus.
“There was so much this year that had a lot of promise, and a lot of you know we were rolling,” shortstop Dansby Swanson said. “And then there were times where it felt like it was the complete opposite. So finding a way to just be our best more consistently is a big thing.”
Injuries played a role in the Cubs’ extended May and June slump, throwing hitters out of rhythm when they returned from the IL and shortening the bullpen at the back end. But the Brewers were as snakebitten as pretty much any team and won the division by 10 games. In second place, the Cubs and Cardinals both finished 83-79.
“We’ve got to figure out how to win baseball games,” Counsell said. “We’ve got a fanbase that demands it, that pushes us for it, that we want to provide that for them, absolutely. It’s putting together a roster. It’s getting through a 162-game season. It’s making decisions. It’s helping your players get better. That’s what this job and managing jobs are about.”
Beyond Counsell’s on-field duties, the Cubs front office has valued his input since they hired him last November. This offseason, he’ll be involved in team-building conversations from the beginning.
“I started [last] off season without really any knowledge of the organization,” Counsell said. “And so, from that perspective, the offseason for me was slow and late.”
After the Cubs swept as a surprise contender in the Counsell sweepstakes and won him over, Counsell would drive down from Milwaukee to the Cubs offices attached to Wrigley Field about once a week in the offseason, excited by the new challenge. Before the home opener this year, he mused about how much fun it would be walking into the Friendly Confines every day.
“That feeling just doesn’t go away,” Counsell said this weekend, calling Wrigley Field’s day games magical. “It’s grown. As much as anything, that fires me up. And it’s an internal thing that gets you going because it’s a great place to come. And that means, you naturally envision wanting to be great for all the people that love coming here, as well.”