One of my favorite weekends of the year has come and gone. It's the perfect look into the upcoming season and gives you a nice little taste of baseball in the middle of winter. The excitement was palpable as thousands of people piled into the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Chicago to chase autographs, celebrate the Cubs, and listen to various panels with some of our favorite players/front office personnel. There was a lot going on but lucky for you, we had a reporter on-site taking diligent notes to report back to you, our readers.
Jed Hoyer & Carter Hawkins
While we weren't graced with the presence of the Ricketts family, we did get the best panel every year with the Cubs President of Baseball Ops Jed Hoyer and GM Carter Hawkins. Some thoughts:
They spoke about Shota Imanaga and how translating stats from Japan is much like translating stats from AAA. However, they mentioned that the WBC makes it a lot easier because he played against some of MLB's best during that.
They said that they definitely have a few more moves in them. Jed compared the offseason to being in the 4th inning right now. Lot of time left and expect them to be VERY active over the next month+
Bullpen - Last year the pen got tired. They emphasized the importance of bullpen depth and not necessarily just 13 guys. I expect them to sign/trade for a big bullpen arm still (maybe Hader or Clase) but I also believe that we'll see a large number of arms filter through Wrigley, similar to last year.
Seiya - The teams that win always have a couple players that go beyond projections and this is what we saw with Seiya in the back half of the year. His struggle was never exit velocity; he has the power. It was about getting the ball in the air more and not just hitting 100mph ground outs. What changed for Seiya? Carter talked about how there was a moment where he was hitting against a position player in Spring and that really led him to figure out how to get out in front of the ball.
Morel - They both laughed at and shut down the rumor that he wasn't at the convention because of a trade. Carter compared Morel to Jose Ramirez when he was coming up. There's not a natural place for him on the field on paper but the kid can hit the cover off the ball so they're going to find a way to get him his ABs.
Jed believes there should be some sort of signing deadline. He says it all drags out way too long and it's not good for the fans or baseball which is something we can all agree on. The reason the Shota trade came together so fast was because there was a deadline for him to sign with a team. The sport would be much more exciting if the momentum for a Shohei Ohtani signing continued to build for a few months.
Craig Counsell - They spoke about their interview with Counsell and what stuck out was him saying "Don't hire me for strategy, hire me because of team building & player relationships." Counsell is obviously a good on-field manager as we've seen for years in Milwaukee but I think he's also going to be really good at getting the most out of players.
What do I think? I think they're going to resign Cody Bellinger, sign Rhys Hoskins as a power-hitting first baseman/DH, sign Josh Hader to strengthen the back-end of the bullpen, and possibly trade for a rotation piece (Cease?). That combined with the current roster and some prospects coming up and making an impact creates a real championship roster.
Craig Counsell
I had the pleasure of meeting a tired Craig Counsell Friday night as he entered the elevator. He seems like a really low-key nice guy who carries an underdog mentality with him wherever he goes. That's been his vibe throughout his career and I think, even though he got a bag to manage in Chicago, that'll be his vibe on the North Side.
Management Philosophy - Player evaluation is important but what's even more important is relationship building a creating a culture. Craig continued to harp on the importance of getting the most out of players before they put the cleats on and get on the field. Now I'm sure a lot of managers say this and I'm sure David Ross emphasized culture building, but it really felt like this was going to be a priority. And as a former NCAA (division 3) athlete, I can appreciate the importance of playing for a guy who believes in you and success coming from a locker room that is completely bought in.
Young Players v Veterans - His philosophy here was simple: The best players are going to play. I think this was a point of pain during the 2023 season as we saw so many at-bats go to guys like Trey Mancini, Eric Hosmer, and Tucker Barnfart when there were guys like Matt Mervis, Christopher Morel, and Miguel Amaya watching from the dugout/at-home.
Bunting Philosophy - Counsell said that history has shown he does not like to bunt (!!!) but he mentioned that if the situation calls for it and he has confidence in the person at the plate to get a bunt down, then sure. This was another obvious pain point in 2023 - wasted outs. So many sac bunts that failed with power hitters at the plate. Let's listen to Jonah Hill and Brad Pitt in 2024.
Lineup Building Philosophy - Craig's going to let the best hitters hit the most. Yet again, another pain point in 2023 was watching struggling hitters sit in the 3 hole coming up to the plate for the final out of the game as the leagues hottest bat, Cody Bellinger, watched from the on-deck circle. Shove the best players at the top of the lineup. Simple.
Hitters Session
The last session that I attended was the hitters session which was a little boring to be honest. It was headlined by Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner, Nick Madrigal, and Mikey Tauchman. If there was EVER an indicator that the Cubs need to sign a power bat it was the hitters session including a 5' 6" contact hitter and a nice kid from Arlington Heights. The only real highlight here was Dansby ending the session saying before we get to next year, we've got to resign belli...
General Convention Thoughts
They brought back STH only events at the Loews hotel. 4ish years ago they had panels for season ticket holders at the Loews which was super nice because the Sheraton Grand gets unbearably crowded. This year they had 3 autograph tables with sessions going throughout the day which was much less crowded and extremely easy to access. Huge addition.
They brought back a few memorabilia/card vendors in the basement. A few years ago this area was filled with vendors with the autograph sessions being shoved down in the basement but these disappeared when they brought the auto lines up to the 1st floor. The addition of the memorabilia vendors was nice but it would be great if they tripled this for people who hate waiting in lines but still like to spend dumb money on autographs and merch.
No prospect panel I less prospects overall
No Ricketts panel - Another year of the Ricketts hiding from fan questions. They like to show their faces when they're spending money but when the off-season is quiet and they miss out on the greatest baseball player of all time, they cancel.
No business Ops session - The business session is one of my favorites every year. You get a peak behind the curtain into everything going on at and around Wrigley field. Would've been nice to know what's going on with the new roof, any new marketing campaigns, and other general business operations.
Need Jacksbackstop march next year. More of a note for my future self but I need to have some jacksbackstop stress balls or keychains at the 2025 convention.
Need to get a media pass. Another note for myself basically but so many random people had media passes that I feel confident my team can get access to one. Opens up the doors to interviews and backstage access.
Couple Pro Tips:
The beer is a few dollars cheaper at the Loews lobby bar than it is at the Wrigley vendors at the Sheraton
Lunch is better and not that different in price at Lizzie Mcneils than at the Sheraton
All of the players stay at the Loews so if you just want to hangout and player watch, take a seat and order a beer from the lobby bar over there. It's also much quieter and much more relaxing than at the Sheraton so it's a nice little break from the chaos.
26 days until pitchers and catchers report...The Cubs convention is the perfect way every year to kick-off the baseball season. Look for the Cubs to make significant roster additions over the next month or so. Jacksbackstop will put out a full blog on the 2024 preview but for now, here's my prediction for the opening day starting lineup:
2B - Nico Hoerner
SS - Dansby Swanson
1B - Cody Bellinger
LF - Ian Happ
RF - Seiya Suzuki
DH - Christopher Morel
3B - Michael Busch
CF - Pete Crow-Armstrong
C - Yan Gomes
Wildcard - Rhys Hoskins signing
Starting Rotation
Justin Steele
Shota Imanaga
Jameson Taillon
Jordan Wicks
Kyle Hendricks