The Cubs need stars at Wrigley Field, where Marcus Stroman and Seiya Suzuki are making a strong first impression – The Athletic

On the night the Cubs finalized Marcus Stromans three-year, $71 million contract, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer called Seiya Suzukis agent, Joel Wolfe, with a reminder before Major League Baseball imposed a lockout: Dont forget about us. We will be waiting for you on the other side.

While Stromans decision-making process appeared to be rushed, the Cubs used the unstructured time to reassess their scouting and R&D evaluations of Suzuki and focus on the personal touches in the next phases of their recruiting efforts. Like Suzuki, Stroman had mentally prepared to sign after the lockout until the Cubs saw they were running out of options for their rotation and realized they couldnt afford to be so patient and passive. Stroman needed to board a red-eye flight from Los Angeles International Airport to reach Chicago in time to close the deal before the Dec. 2 transactions freeze.

Staggering those signings and shutting down the industry for 99 days created zero momentum for the Cubs business operations department and MLB as a whole. The Cubs announced 35,112 as their Opening Day attendance and that number dropped to 30,369 and 32,858 for the seasons first weekend at Wrigley Field. Casual fans must be wondering: Who are these guys? Nine Cubs made their first appearance on an Opening Day roster, and 11 of those 28 active players were not with the club last season.

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The Cubs need stars at Wrigley Field, where Marcus Stroman and Seiya Suzuki are making a strong first impression - The Athletic