Whereas the 2014-18 seasons were all some form of success for the Cubs — from building a winner to winning a championship to sustaining 90+ wins and continually playing October baseball — 2019 was a flop. Winning 84 games as a luxury taxpaying team simply doesn’t cut it. For that failure, Joe Maddon was allowed to sail west to California and the Theo Epstein / Jed Hoyer regime received a condemnation from the Chicago media and the Cubs’ fan base.
Thankfully, baseball provides a great reason for optimism: 2020 is coming! Sure, there may be some anxious free agent negotiations and even some snowstorms along the way, but 2020 will arrive soon enough.