ST. LOUIS – Cubs catcher Willson Contreras summed up the trade deadline nicely:
“Obviously, there was a huge difference between last year’s and this year’s.”
After a much calmer deadline than expected, Contreras and outfielder Ian Happ will return to Wrigley Field on Friday, after an emotional goodbye tour in Chicago a week and a half ago.
Neither said then that it was definitely their last homestand as Cubs.
“But I would have regretted it if I didn’t take it in that way,” Happ said then.
Now, after already receiving a warm welcome from the smattering of blue-clad fans in the Busch Stadium stands this week, they’ll reunite with the Wrigley Field faithful.