Giants All-Star Carlos Rodón Still Answer to Cubs Rebuild Question

Carlos Rodón: Still the answer to Cubs rebuild question originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

SAN FRANCISCO — Before the tears start flowing again with the actual trades of Cubs fan favorites who were feted with standing ovations in their final home game Tuesday, take a moment to consider what it might take to redeem the Cubs’ much-maligned ownership and beleaguered front office.

It might not take as much as much as you might think. But it starts with prying some of that big-market cash from the Ricketts family’s clenched fists that they haven’t loosened since the 2020 pandemic season ended.

So we don’t recommend holding your breath.

But if the Cubs wanted to put this latest, multi-year, roster-purging train wreck back on the rails with two key moves in one offseason — even after another ugly selloff of core players such as Willson Contreras — they should take a look, if not a walk, on the other side of the ballpark this week in San Francisco.

RELATED: Carlos Rodón: The answer to the Cubs' rebuild question

“I’ll say this: Chicago has a dear spot in my heart,” said Giants starter Carlos Rodón, who just made his second All-Star game in as many seasons for as many teams. “It’s the city where my wife and I kind of grew up together, became adults, where we had our two children.

“So Chicago has a special part in my heart.”

The former third overall draft pick of the White Sox spent his first seven seasons with the South Siders, including a breakout 2021 All-Star season after being non-tendered and signing back with the club at a steep discount on a one-year deal.

When a three-week injured-list stint in August for a sore shoulder contributed to health concerns by some teams as a free agent last winter, the hard-throwing left-hander signed a two-year, $44 million deal from the Giants — then in the Giants’ first game after the All-Star break, he reached the innings threshold that allows him to opt back into free agency at the end of the season.

Most expect him to opt out and let agent Scott Boras leverage this 2022 prove-it season into a long-term deal, though Rodón said he can’t focus on that now, even if “it sounds so stupid” to say that, he said.

He’s not even sure he won’t get traded by Tuesday’s deadline, considering the Giants went from certain buyers to possible needle-threaders or sellers after a seven-game losing streak they snapped by beating the Cubs 4-2 Thursday.

Reports in recent days suggested the Giants don’t plan to trade Rodón.

“All I know is that this game is a business, and I think teams’ minds can change quickly,” he said during a lengthy conversation with NBC Sports Chicago before Thursday’s series opener. “And if we’re being honest, we’re kind of on the teeter-totter, in between. Are we going for it or are we not? I would like to go for it. But I don’t make the decisions.”

At least until after the season.

Until then, he would only reiterate “that Chicago is a special spot for me; it has a special spot in my heart, for my wife and me and my children. “We love the city. I love it. I love it there; and I love it here, too.

“I’ll make that decision when the time comes.”

We said in this space almost a year ago to the week that Rodón might be the answer to the Cubs’ rebuild question.

It might be even more true now, with the emergence of homegrown second-year pitchers Keegan Thompson and Justin Steele as likely members of the Cubs’ 2023 opening rotation, along with Kyle Hendricks and Marcus Stroman (assuming the Cubs’ don’t trade the veteran right-hander).

MORE: Steele, Thompson earning key places in Cubs' future

A bona fide, frontline, veteran power pitcher added to that mix quickly changes the complexion of the Cubs’ competitive projections, even after the likely trades of Contreras, Ian Happ and all three back-end veteran relievers.

Rodón, 29, knows enough about the Cubs to recognize they spent $71 million on Stroman and $99.6 million on Seiya Suzuki last winter.

And enough to ask this when he was asked if he agreed with the premise that one frontline starter might dramatically accelerate the Cubs’ timeline:

“What’s the middle infield look like?”

Exactly. That’s the other big component. As well as Nico Hoerner has handled short this season, the Cubs are expected to explore another strong free agent shortstop class this winter with an eye toward shifting Hoerner back to second to produce what could be one of the tighter middle infields in the division, if not the league.

“There’s some good ones,” Rodón said.

All-Star Trea Turner of the Dodgers. The Twins’ Carlos Correa and Red Sox’ Xander Bogaerts, another pair of All-Stars, are expected to opt out of their contracts this winter and join Turner.

Some in the Cubs’ organization especially like Bogaerts, who doesn’t have Correa’s glove but brings a hitting profile and clubhouse demeanor the Cubs covet.

Add the big pitcher and the big middle infielder and spruce up the bullpen?

Where has Rodón seen that before?

“The Cubs right now are kind of like the 2017-18 White Sox, right?” he said. “I could be wrong. I don’t watch Chicago Cubs baseball that much and don’t know the depth of the whole farm system and everything that’s going on there. But we went through a rebuild with the Chicago White Sox, and you take your lumps and you take your bruises, and guys are going to really struggle and then all of a sudden they turn into superstars.”

Yoan Moncada went from leading the majors in strikeouts and struggling in 2018 to receiving MVP votes in 2019, he pointed out. Rodón went from struggling and shoulder surgery to producing on the other side of the injury, and Lucas Giolito went from one of the worst starters in the majors statistically in 2018 to an All-Star in 2019, receiving Cy Young votes the last three years.

“All the time before that it sucked. We sucked,” he said. “I remember in ’18 we were 62-99 and just trying not to lose 100 games. And we lost that last game.”

Sound familiar?

“The Cubs are kind of right there right now,” he said. “It takes a couple moves. If you look at the White Sox, they signed [Yasmani] Grandal, signed a couple starters [Dallas Keuchel after ‘19, Lance Lynn after ’20], solidified their bullpen.”

The White Sox were in the playoffs the last two seasons.

The Cubs have more money than the Sox, and chairman Tom Ricketts promised to spend it after team president Jed Hoyer gutted the roster of All-Star core players with deadline trades of Anthony Rizzo, Javy Báez and Kris Bryant.

Maybe now’s the time. For the Cubs to buy back a little redemption — if not give their gouged fan base something back, more quickly, for all that top industry dollar they spend at Wrigley Field.

To hear Rodón talk about Chicago, it might be time for him, too — especially after taking the short-term, prove-it contract when other teams balked at investing longer term last winter,

“I got the business part of it where you have to make an investment in a guy, and a guy that hasn’t had the best track record — I haven’t had the best track record; I get that,” Rodón said. “But I knew I was healthy. I knew what I was capable of. And I’m grateful for the San Francisco Giants for giving me the chance to show that.

“Without them, I wouldn’t be able to show you guys that, hey, I can still do this, even though you guys think it was only a one-hit wonder.”

He laughed a little when he said that.

“We still have 2 1/2, months, 3 1/2 months,” he said, “to show a lot more, not only myself, but my team.”

Hoyer should be watching with interest. And assigning somebody to try to wrestle some of that cash from those clenched fists.

Otherwise, keep the tissues handy for another few seasons of tears.

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