Column: The architects. The albatrosses. Even the Twitter gaffes. The White Sox and Cubs rebuilds have a lot in common. – Yahoo! Voices

The Chicago Cubs and White Sox rebuilds were completely different in many ways and eerily alike in others.

With the Sox clinching their first postseason berth since 2008 and battling for the top seed in the American League, and the survivors of the Cubs championship season trying to stage one last hurrah, heres a tale of two successful rebuilds.

The architects

During Year 3 of Cubs President Theo Epsteins rebuild, the teams social media department sent out a tweet saying theyd lost a game to the Rays. The problem was the Cubs had yet to hit in the bottom of the ninth, making the tweet an educated guess, albeit a good one.

That premature tweet was one of several uninspiring moments during the early years of Epsteins rebuild. He weathered the storm while repeating his mantra of building a foundation of sustained success, and ultimately those low points were forgotten when the rebuild resulted in a World Series championship in 2016.

Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer deserve an assist for inadvertently helping Sox general manager Rick Hahn pull off his rebuild and not just for sending the South Siders top hitting prospect Eloy Jimenez, their most improved player, and a top starter in Dylan Cease for Jose Quintana.

Sox fans might hate the Cubs, but they couldnt avoid seeing Epstein tear down his roster in 2012, go through three unwatchable seasons and become champions in his fifth. So Hahn didnt have to do much convincing when he decided to execute his plan. Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf also bought in.

It took a lot of faith from him to buy into a plan that was going to require some sacrifice, Hahn said Friday in a teleconference. Jerry is as passionate a White Sox fan fundamentally as anyone Ive ever been around. He knew there was going to be some likely bad baseball, and there was Its nice to be able to see him witness some of the benefits of that, especially given that hed frequently point out his age when mentioning whether this was worthwhile for him personally. Tongue in cheek I think.

Story continues

Sox fans trusted the process, and believed in the prospects Hahn acquired, including Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Lucas Giolito and Jimenez. Theyve now been rewarded with the biggest surprise in baseball, a team whose young core is under contract for several years.

The managers

After two dreadful seasons under Dale Sveum, the Cubs hired Padres bench coach Rick Renteria as manager in 2014, the third year of the rebuild. Renteria went 73-89 before being fired one year into his three-year deal so Epstein could hire Joe Maddon.

It was a cold move, but it worked. Maddons hiring completed the rebuild and helped make the Cubs contenders before losing his job in October.

The Sox have had Renteria for five years, including one as bench coach under Robin Ventura when the Cubs were still paying him. Going into Fridays game, Renteria was 234-301 as Sox manager, a .437 winning percentage, but has guided the team from 17 games under .500 in 2019 to 16 games over.

Renteria expressed his philosophy to me as Cubs manager in September 2014.

Anytime youre trying to develop a club, an identity, and still develop players at the major-league level, sometimes you do things that might seem odd, he said. But theres a big picture to it and things end up working out.

Some have questioned his philosophy, but its hard to argue its not working out with the Sox.

The placeholders

The Cubs rebuild had its share of Mike Olts and Joe Mathers below-average players holding down the fort until the kids were ready. Likewise, the Sox had their fill of Matt Davidsons and Mike Pelfreys. Someone has to keep the seat warm.

Olt turned third base over to Kris Bryant in 2015, suffering a wrist injury after Bryant had been in the minors long enough to avoid starting his service-time clock. Bryant became National League Rookie of the Year in 15 and NL MVP the following year.

Davidson was a highly touted Sox infielder who hit three home runs on opening day in Kansas City, Mo., in 2018 and quickly became a media darling. But he never hit consistently and was gone after the season and out of the majors until signing with the Cincinnati Reds this summer.

The one-hit wonders

The Sox were high on right fielder Daniel Palka, who was picked up off the scrap heap in 2018 and hit 27 home runs, touting him as a blue-collar star. But Palka started 0-for-32 in 2019 and hit .107 before being released.

Center fielder Arismendy Alcantara was given a prime opportunity by the Cubs in 2014 but hit .205 in 278 at-bats.

The Cubs' rebuild started in 2012 with a first baseman named Bryan LaHair, who already was scheduled to be replaced by top prospect Anthony Rizzo when he shockingly made the National League All-Star team. The Cubs made the move anyway.

LaHair had a walk-off RBI single in the final game of what turned out to be the last at-bat of a three-year career.

The mistake signings

Epstein made the colossal blunder of signing starter Edwin Jackson to a four-year, $52 million deal in 2013. Jackson lost 18 games in his first year and finished 16-34 with a 5.37 ERA in two-plus seasons before being dumped.

Hahn dropped $18 million on veteran reliever Kelvin Herrera in a two-year deal in 2019 before cutting him loose this summer after two appearances. Herrera had a 6.54 ERA with the Sox before his release and was signed by the Cubs, who in turn released him three weeks later.

The Twitter lapses

The Cubs endured a player-related Twitter controversy in 2013 when Ian Stewart complained about being left to rot in the minors, suggesting Sveum didnt like him.

Its pretty obvious that its not appropriate to criticize your manager on Twitter, Epstein said upon issuing a suspension.

The Sox had their player-related Twitter controversy in 2018 when it was discovered top pitching prospect Michael Kopech sent bigoted tweets about Blacks and Mexicans and used homophobic slurs as a 17-year-old in 2013.

Michael has been very upfront about his tweets from high school several years ago, Hahn said.

Kopech apologized for being stupid and an immature teenager.

The oddities

The Sox played an all-Garcia outfield in 2017 consisting of Avisail, Willy and Leury. It was the first outfield in history to have players with the same last name.

The Cubs had a deal to send Ryan Dempster to the Atlanta Braves for 22-year-old Randall Delgado in 2013, but Dempster nixed it, hoping to go to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The deal was reported on the Braves website before Dempster angrily denied it. It turned out to be good news for Epstein, who ultimately dealt him to the Texas Rangers and got in return a future star in Kyle Hendricks.

The albatrosses

The untradable contracts of Cubs left fielder Alfonso Soriano and Sox starter James Shields made both albatrosses early on in the rebuilds. The Cubs eventually dealt Soriano to the New York Yankees in 2013 while eating a chunk of his eight-year deal.

But despite diminishing skills, both players were widely admired by their teammates and imparted some wisdom that proved helpful down the line. Sorianos joie de vivre rubbed off on Rizzo, while Shields bulldog mentality can now be seen in Giolito.

Everyone plays a part, no matter if its quantifiable.

2020 the Chicago Tribune

Visit the Chicago Tribune at http://www.chicagotribune.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

See original here:
Column: The architects. The albatrosses. Even the Twitter gaffes. The White Sox and Cubs rebuilds have a lot in common. - Yahoo! Voices