I’m as guilty of thinking the following as anyone else who’s a Cubs fan:
“Well, maybe if they can just extend Anthony Rizzo and Javier Báez, even if Kris Bryant leaves as a free agent, we can still keep some of the guys together and they’ll win next year!”
In the end, reality bites. That was never going to happen. Not the “keeping together,” and not the winning.
Here’s one number I think is quite significant: Since the beginning of the 2019 season through Thursday, the last day all three of those players were Chicago Cubs, the team’s record was 168-158.