During a rain-out, news still can be made even if it is under the radar.
When the Cubs-Cards game was rained out, CSNChicago posted an interview with GM Jed Hoyer. It was about the Cubs spring training hero, Javy Baez, who is mired in a AAA slump after an injury.
“He’s in a big slump,” Jed Hoyer said. “He’s going to have to figure his way out of it. He’ll be
stronger for having to go through this. A team almost expects a little bit of a lag at the end of spring
training, and then early in the year because there
probably is emotionally a little bit of a letdown after you sort of
audition, if you will, in spring training. You have the adrenaline and
then you go down. But I think we’re past that point.”
He added, “Now it’s just a matter of Javy kind of figuring out what he needs to do to get through this.” Hoyer said.
Baez is only 21 years old. He was pushed through the lower levels of the minors with relative ease. But now with better competition at AAA, he has began to struggle. Pitchers are more experienced. Adjustments are made quicker.
But what Hoyer said is troubling about how he perceives the final stages of player development. Hoyer said that Baez was the one who has to "figure his way out of it."
When Dusty Baker managed the Cubs, he had a viewpoint that every player on his roster was a professional ball player. As a professional, it was up to the individual player to prepare himself for each game and each game situation. That was how he was taught as a player; he was expected to be ready without any coaching.
But the Cubs have preached about impressing a "Cubs way" in the minor league development of their players. However, what Hoyer said was more to the Baker spectrum that it is all on the player to figure things out on his own in order to learn from his mistakes and failures.
Just as a hot spring training can explode confidence, a long minor league slump can create huge doubts in a player. It is important that the teachers continue to teach players throughout their careers. I recall Ozzie Guillen as the White Sox manager teaching veterans infield drills before major league games in order to keep their skills sharp and to make sure they avoid bad habits.
A young player like Baez may not know how to correct his listing ship. But putting the burden on the player seems like the front office pulling away from responsibility if Baez does not pan out like the pumped up expectations that the Cubs have been selling for the past three years.
In another interview, Hoyer said “I’ll be really happy when we talk about our team only. But I get it. I totally understand why people want to talk about the
future and why people want to ask about our prospects and want to ask
about the draft. We are building for the future.”
Well, that's all the Cubs have been selling: THE FUTURE. Now, when the future is supposed to yield results, Hoyer and the team want to back away from talking about it? That is not a very good sign. It seems like the first step in a hasty retreat from the battlefield which the marketing department has created in the fan base.
