CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs have recently completed a very successful April, getting off to their best start, at 17-5, since 1908. The beneficiaries of excellent starting pitching, plate discipline and timely hitting, the Cubs have outscored their opponents at a record clip and have won 13 of their first 17 wins by at least four runs.
One member of the 2016 Cubs team, however, is not particularly thrilled with their hot start. Closer Hector Rondon, who has been perfect in a smattering of save situations this season, has only four saves and is on pace for a very mediocre save total.
Rondon's agent Todd Brenson (CCD Sports Management) has recently reached out to Cubs management to express his client’s displeasure with his current role, “Hector Rondon is a premier Major League closer and deserves to be playing for a team that can properly utilize his talents. As he prepares to enter his years of arbitration eligibility, Hector cannot afford to endure a season with so few save opportunities and needs to be traded to a more fairly balanced contender.”
Some fans echo Brensons’ sentiment as the first month of the season has seen so many blowout wins that the excitement of close games has been nearly nonexistent. Season ticket holder Justin Gollender put it best, “No one expects the Cubs to win all of their ballgames - but running up the score on the other teams simply deprives fans of the heart pounding excitement that makes us such fans of the game.”
Jed Hoyer has been rather tight-lipped on the topic, saying only, “Hector Rondon has appeared in over 180 games as a Cub and has never gotten a hit. How much could we ever expect to get in return for him that would make any sense for this ball club?” Cubs’ management is understandably on shaky ground as cracks continue to appear in their 2016 campaign.
Good stuff!
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