Power Ranking The Best Italian Beef Baptisms We've Seen All Year
Bleacher Bum TV is back for episode 22. Our second-to-last episode of the year and with it comes this broad realization that this has been just about the most forgettable season of my life. And that includes the Ronny Cedeno days when Josh Vitters was routinely sat atop the organization's prospect rankings. Those were lonely, forgettable days and yet even so, they pale in comparison to this 2022 season.
Point fingers? Waste of time when you consider the last couple seasons. Jed inherited weak infrastructure, a severely disabled budget amidst massive expectations and even bigger egos in the conference room. We knew it would get worse before it would get better. I guess the one thing I didn't anticipate was just how meaningless and forgettable it would be to consume a dog-day 162 from start to finish.
It's the nature of the game. You need more than good players and an analytical edge. You need culture and depth and guys pushing each other at every level available. It has to be like a machine that gets turned on in the morning and just runs all day. And there's a whole big group of smart people that do nothing but make sure that machine is running at full capacity, conducting maintenance as it goes so as to never shut it down for an extended period.
That's where I sincerely think Jed Hoyer is trying to take the Chicago Cubs. Theo pushed his machine to the max for years until one day it fell apart with all repair parts on back order until 2023. Now Jed's in the shop every day trying to build a new one based on improved blueprints and a more fundamental understanding of the industry and what a new machine should look like.
We all knew this was coming. And it's all very much deserved. But going back to my original point - I just didn't realize it would be so boring. That's probably because it's the first time we're back to square one after building up a world champion organization. Like going back to the trailer park after winning the lottery and blowing all your money on hookers. Probably a great time but admittedly not the best approach long-term.
That's where I'm at with the 2022 Cubs which is why I had no problem breaking away this week to power rank the best Chicago Bears baptisms from Sunday. Just an unbelievably big day on our collective calendars and you guys showed up in spades.
Thank you to our winners. Please shoot me a DM and I'll get your prizes in the mail this week. Fingers crossed by this time next year we're baptizing beefs for the 2023 NL Central championship. I can't make any guarantees but that feels like a safe promise.
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