The Rise and Fall of the Chicago Cubs 

Out of Baez, Bryant, Rizzo, and Schwarber, who are the Cubs going to keep?

Oh well. Most importantly, they ended the 108 year drought. No matter what, this Cubs core was a success

Cubs fan here. The Cubs were THE biggest underachievers in baseball since 2016. Inconsistent hitting, inconsistent pitching, defense fell off a little. It's been tough watching my team struggle knowing they're way better than what they've shown. Beyond frustrating.

Funny how some of our worst contracts going into this year (Darvish and Heyward) turned out to be our best players in 2020. Pretty depressing

I'm French. I went to Chicago a few months after that World Series win. Didn't know much about baseball, but I bought a Cubs "world series champion" shirt because I knew about the broken curse. I remember a teacher saying that I better put this shirt in a frame because it was special and it might be a long time until the Cubs win a World Series again. He was right

As a cubs fan this hurts

Tom Ricketts looks like Ted Cruz's slow little brother

As a Cubs fan, believe me, I'm still trying to process what the hell happened. Was a literal flash in the pan. We should've been great with that core for at least another few years. The great years basically only were 2015, 2016, and 2017. 2018 was okay, and by 2019 it was over. Ultimately, pitching and defense win championships, and the Cubs former front office were horrible at developing pitching. Once our key great pitchers started aging and declining, that was it. There was no affordable option to replace them in the pipeline. We only won the World Series because we had so many rookie hitting mashers come up at the same time, it was like a brute-force blitz attack. The league couldn't properly prepare in just a few months....especially AL teams who aren't spending most of their time studying NL players. They really had nothing to go off of in terms of the rookies' major league experience. Can't properly and fully prepare a great scouting report for a guy that's only been up in the majors for 2-3 months. Looking back, the whole thing was just a castle made of sand, and it wasn't built to last. P.S. Maddon was used as Epstein's scapegoat for an inept roster construction.

Cards fan from illinois here. Was rooting for the drought to be broken and was happy to see them be so good

1:07 As a Cub fan Im disappointed in that Gatorade shower

Man this one stings 😞.. that core had SO MUCH potential, they were all so young when they won it all and the Cubs had plenty of years left of control in all of them, it seemed like it would be a dynasty run. Good news is, they're still relatively young, bad news is, it'll be extremely hard to keep that core.

Honestly I think most of us Cubs fans will cherish 2016 forever and now again it's just a matter of when the next one will come. Either way, Go Cubs Go!!!

Not long after the Cubs won the World Series, I told my friend my biggest fear is the 2016 Cubs would become the 1985 Bears. There are numerous reasons why things have never been the same since 2016. I put the biggest share of the blame on the young players underachieving. Over the past couple of seasons, the Cubs have been terrible with runners in scoring position. I look at the Dodgers with envy because that is what I thought the Cubs were going to be. Top young stars and regular trips to the Fall Classic. That being said, I still treasure the fun, the excitement, the highs, the lows and everything else of the 2016 season.

Why did you have to make this video? It’s just pain.

If someone actually believes that the Cubs failed to make a good team is totally ignorant. They did win the world series which most of the fans think will never ever happen. Despite being a young team they went all the way and still have a shot at going deep in the postseason if they can make a few good trades and a bit more consistency.

Another K. Bryant that won an MVP award

I remember when people were dubbing this team a dynasty before they had even won a single world series, funny how that turns out.

Primarily it was the inability to develop pitching along with an offense that was just not diversified enough. The lack of pitching required trading the farm system away which ended up not changing the roster too much after 2017. Also some of the free agents they got such as Darvish, Chatwood and Kimbrel took too long to get going and their contracts handcuffed the team. Hopefully Jed hoyer learned from Theo’s mistakes and doesn’t repeat them this time around

AYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Dawson's back. Missed your content my man.

As a cubs fan I’m happy we accomplished our goal and even though we underperformed in the last couple years I’m excited for the next decade of cubs baseball

Nice work

For all those saying the Cubs underperformed, the real underperformance was the front office and their lack of pitcher scouting. Only 7 of 124 pitchers drafted made it to the Majors with any team shows they didn’t draft and developed in a balanced manner.

Ironic title,we need the update me boy💓

2015: Mets beat the Cubs Mets management: *We’re gonna pretend we didn’t see that*

As a Cubs fan, you express the changes that needed to be made appropriately instead of bashing us, so I can confirm.

As a cubs fan what they have done in the past couple of years is making me sad but at least they won the world series.

Life long Cubs fan here, and to your point about the Cubs not always "putting their best foot forward," I was just thinking a couple of days ago about getting into arguments back in school because the Cubs, as an organization, obviously weren't trying to put a competitive team on the field some years. Trying to explain that back then just felt like a lost cause. When you're in school you get people who are huge band wagon fans. Their favorite teams in the 90s were the Bulls, the Yankees, the Cowboys... whoever the best teams are the band wagoners will swear they've been a fan their whole lives. Kinda like people saying they've been Golden State fans forever because they watched a couple episodes of Hangin With Mr. Cooper when they were kids. I would try to explain that the Cubs have a huge fan base across the country and that people would still go to games whether they won or lost, so there really wasn't a huge incentive to dump a bunch of money on the team's payroll because tickets and merchandise were going to sell no matter what, especially during the really lean years when the Tribune Co. owned the club. They'd ask, "Why even have a team if your goal isn't to win the World Series?" Because the goal of teams isn't to win the World Series, it's to make money.

The Rise and Fall of would be such a good series

More content, please!

Cubs just haven't done a good job in term of evolving over the past 3 years. Their glitz and glamour of 2015-2016 roster faded fast. Injuries, inconsistencies, and lack of smart moves have doomed this team. Even still, they won that championship so even if they end up going into a rebuild, it was worth it for what they did in 2016.

Its painful being a cubs fan

Just wait til 2120 we'll show you.

Hey Dawson I hope you’re going to do a video about Kevin Cash Pulled Blake Snell Early In game six Look forward to seeing it thank you

The only reason the Cubs won the division in 2020 was that they started 13-3. They played sub .500 ball the rest of the season. I easily could've told you they were gonna lose to the Marlins

As a true fan of the cubs born and raised in chicago this team should do one of two things try to make one last push and go all in or just revbuild

NOW THIS IS ON MY RECCOMMENDED ?!

I remember when this happened and I told my dad the Cubs were gonna come back in the series and win and I was right

Epstein should go work for Seattle. Would like to see what he can do there, just because.

U should make a video on how the rays became the team they are with such a low payroll

Good video

3:35 and again at 10:14 - The Cubs did not finish last five times in a row. They had losing records for five years in a row, but only finished last in 2013 and 2014. In 2010 the Pirates finished behind them, and the next two years the truly-awful Astros finished behind them.

If only they were the Dodgers and could simultaneously be the best team in the league and have an amazing farm system

Do a Braves video analyzing their rebuild.

As a Cardinals fan, I've always kind of HATED the Cubs. But I'm not gonna lie, the Cubs winning the Series was great to see for the city of Chi town as a whole. Those fans really deserved it

The Cubs management flaws began became evident with the ridiculous $184M Heyward deal even before the WS win. Fact is, Cubs were lucky to have won in 2016. The Giants blew it to Cubs in 2016 playoffs and Madden came close to blowing game 7 with inserting Lester over Hendricks and later overusing Chapman. After 2016 the spirit of 2015-16 was steadily eroding. They lost their hunger and drive. It was sad to watch.

Odd? No mention of Ben Zobrist! World Series MVP! Only one of seven men to win back to back WS with different teams! Especially since he played for Joe Madden at Tampa Bay!

One year wonders..

As a cubs fan it feels so declined yet at least nowadays they can make the postseason but this team has seriously declined. It is honestly very sad but nothing compared to what cubs fans back then dealt with even before I was born.

I was wondering when this video would come out.

This hurt

Nice video Dawson as a Sox fan I love this!

2 best teams in last 6 years, astros in AL, Dodgers in NL

Honestly, just blow it all up. Ik a lot of guys had tough years, but you could get SO much return for KB, Rizz, Baez, Contrereas, Schwarbs, Hendo, Kimbrel, & others. It would hurt like hell, but the cubs have shown how anti-clutch (and general bad-ness) they’ve been since winning it. I’d rather have two or three more years of pain to have another 6 year run, than stay average for the next ten years

Oh man we had no idea how fast things would change

Pain.

They did tail off too soon for that core they built, but at least they hit the pinnacle

We just underperform

Playoffs in 2015, 16, 17, 18 and 20. Three division titles, 3 straight NLCS appearances, a world title. How much better were they supposed to do? So many people think it was a disappointment

You can only see Cubs win once in your lifetime. 108 years. We are a lucky generation. Let's be thankful. People have lived and died without witnessing this.

Could you do one of these on the Astros?

One word: Underachieving

After his Cubbies blew a game Lou Piniella said "Some days I just want to shoot myself!"

Still waiting for Urinating Tree's Cubs song video for this year.

As a cards fan, congrats to Chicago for actually winning one. However y’all are screwed and will not be even competitive to win another for about 5 years at minimum and I am extremely happy for that.

I'm an Indians fan so the 2016 WS is a painful memory for me, but even with the obvious decline of the Cubs since 2016 the peak had to have been worth in for Cubs fans. I feel like they're going to be a more consistently contending big market team in the future like LAD or NYY after the win. The explosion in popularity the team has had since the win puts them in a pretty enviable situation.

Josh Caray (grandson) is the play-by-play guy for the Rocket City Trash Pandas. I'm ready for their first game!

All I got to say is the tree that we made for Jose quinntana was the beginning of the fall for me. Especially when Justin Verlander wanted to only be traded to Chicago before being talked into Houston. And he cost the same amount of money that they eventually sign Yu Darvish for the following year.

You are very smart

just got this from the algorithm after Baez to Mets, Rizzo to Yanks, and Bryant to Giants.

Their young players peaked too early. No more drive or desire after winning the WS

Do a vid on their division rival, the Cardinals. St. Louis was once a major destination for players, but it hasn't been the same for free agents since Albert Pujols left after the 2011 offseason.

Who’s here after they traded Rizzo and Bryant?

1:34 Carrie Muskat video bomb!

I have no way to confirm it, but I've suspected for a while that ownership pulled the rug out from under the front office regarding future payroll flexibility, especially once the Wrigley renovations started going way over budget. Another issue was that guys like Gleyber Torres got underrated, as I suspect prospect evaluators started getting burned out on the number of top prospects coming through the Cubs system, as Torres skyrocketed in prospect rankings once he was out of the system that had been so jam-packed with guys like Bryant, Schwarber, Happ, Jimenez, Dylan Cease, and so on; and this lessened their ability to get maximum returns on those prospects. While the offense has talented players, they also fell into the trap of having nearly everyone be a mediocre contact/high power/high OBP/high strikeout profile player, which while good when hitting well, is also the sort of roster that you can easily see fall into a collective slump. Doesn't help that CF and 2B haven't been held down consistently for more than 2 of the last 4 years, either. The biggest issue has been the absolute inability to develop in-house pitching. The only homegrown arm who looked decent in 2020 was Alzolay, beyond him it was guys having a rough go of it, or ones brought in from outside the organization, and there's only so many times you can get a Jake Arrieta or even just an Alec Mills from another team. can't forget the baseball decline and revelations of being an absolute scumbag that were the Addison Russell saga, either

Might want to update this lmao

Aight boys who is winning the World Series?

dude i was at the game the giants lost that sent the cubs ahead i thought they would actually pull it off since it was an even year but gg to the 2016 cubs they earned it

As a Cardinal fan, I was dreading those years of 2015-16 because I was hearing what the Cubs were stock piling in the minors the years leading up and would soon be coming to the big leagues and our ownership of the Central was over and was going to be over for a while. With that being said, this group were the ones to finally break the curse and win it for the Cubs, so can you really consider them a failure??

You should do the Rise and fall of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Because this franchise was rich with history tarnished by greed.

Yeeeeeeessss Dawson uploaded

3:58 with the right team any field manager can produce results….

The core is still good we just got no pitching😩

pain.

Surely do the Detroit Tigers from 2011 to now downfall plz I have been asking for this vid idea for 5 different RU-vid's like you but none have done the vid ideas been tho they all like the comment.

You’re right about 1 thing, Joe Maddon isnt the entire reason the Cubs went to shit so quickly. He’s not the one that signed Jason Heyward or John Lackey.

"while the cubs is going to be competitive in 2021" u sure abt that 😂😂

This video aged well…

Good video, but would have been much better if extended to 15-20 minutes. The shorter video length didn't give you enough time to discuss the failures of prospects like Addison Russell and Almora Jr. You also weren't able to mention the power shift that took place in 2015 when Chicago beat St. Louis in the NLDS, then proceeded to sign Jason Heyward and John Lackey away from them. All in all, still a solid video but it missed lots of potential.

Please do the reys too if they lose

I’m still scratching my head why they still hold onto Kris Bryant when he will be gone in free agency. They also should’ve shipped Arrieta out that winter of 2016 to restock the farm since he was getting way over paid and was clearly not in the Cubs future plans.

As a white sox fan, I am obligated to share this video with all of my cubs fan friends.

The way people talk about the 2016 Cubs reminds of how people used to talk about the 1990s Atlanta Braves. Everyone talks about what they should have accomplished rather than what they did accomplish. The 1995 Braves beat a stacked Indians team to win the World Series. And the Cubs broke a 100+ year championship drought. Should they both have won more? Sure, but it’s hard enough to win once. Celebrate what they DID accomplish rather than what you’d wish they’d done.

The Cubs need to rebuild like they did before and but they should still keep some of the really good guys who are the Cubs core

As a Phillies fan this timeline is nothing new

So regarding the pitching... many of us were insisting they should've sold high on Schwarber to get pitching... Cubs fans were so blinded by his power they said he was untouchable. That still bites them in the ass to this day.

Do the rise and fall of the roman empire next

I believe this team could be great in a few years if the did the same type of rebuild

Quintana trade fucked us up

Watching this video after the 2021 trade deadline.. poor cub fans

You know what really sucks they ended our cub era by trading so many good players even Joe maddon I don't think Chicago will ever have another world series and the greatest players on that team I'm a true Cubs fan to the heart with all our greatest players gone it's not worth watching baseball anymore.. it's so sad to see Rizzo Baez schwarber Bryant and the rest that got traded... Yes it hurts I know all of the Cub fans around the world are hurt... And yes there are more confidence in this world than any sports fan of all kinds.. this is how much we love our Cubs.. to all the conference out there in the world keep your head up and cheer to Chicago bears maybe we will win a super bowl and kick ass the Packers still suck and so do the Brewers....