The Return of Hope

Hamilton, Greinke, Napoli...As each free agent left the market and as the Cubbies countered with yet another pitcher coming off Tommy John, I felt another little piece of my positivity die.

I went into this offseason with a lot of positivity (see earlier posts). No, I didn't think we'd be champions next year and no, I didn't think we'd be in on the Hamilton or Greinke sweepstakes, and you know what? I didn't want them anyway. I wasn't too impressed with any of this year's free agent crop. In fact, I entered the offseason hoping only for Anibal Sanchez, but not expecting him.

When the Cubs signed the Tommy John brothers known as Scott 1 and Scott 2, I believed our rotation complete. I began fantasizing about one of the Scotts working out good enough for a Maholm like prospect trade at the deadline. Dreams of Anibal Sanchez had officially died.

But when the Dodgers signed Greinke and the Royals traded for Shields, I began to feel a little down. Ok, more than a little down. I know we're not supposed to compete this year, but why should the Royals have a better pitching staff than us? Why?

Then the Angels signed Hamilton, and better yet, they only have to keep him for 5 years. LA fever was in full effect this morning and I was damn jealous.

But then came surprise word that the Cubbies were one of the final two teams bidding for Sanchez. At the time of this writing, the Cubs have a firm offer on the table and now we're all holding our collective Cubbies breath to see if the Tigers will match or beat it.

Chances are, the Tigers will beat it, or at least match it. I know this. 15 million a year is not bad for Sanchez. But it's the return of hope that I'm enjoying right now. It's knowing that if the right player comes along right now, even though we're not quite ready for our run, we'll try to get him.