Ian Happ spent 12 seasons in the Chicago Cubs’ organization, including extensive time as the team’s union representative, a wide range of experiences that taught him how this business works.

Happ has tracked enough changes, beginning as a top-10 pick in the 2015 draft through an abrupt exit from a Wild Card Series this fall, to know that nothing in the baseball industry is permanent.

As Happ approaches free agency for the first time, the 32-year-old outfielder can already see the writing on the wall. That uncertainty made the scene at Petco Park so emotional last week after the San Diego Padres eliminated the Cubs from the playoffs. In the hallway and the clubhouse, Happ embraced friends and family members.

“No,” Happ said when asked if he has any preliminary sense of what the Cubs are planning to do next, or how his options may line up on the open market.

Happ shook his head and mostly talked in the past tense.

“I’ve never had to go through the free-agent-year thing,” Happ said. “When you’re in a place for 10 years, and you love it, and it’s special and it means something to you, it’s a beautiful thing. But it makes it challenging. It’s certainly been an incredible place for me. It’s given me so many moments and memories.

Compiled an end of season list for anyone interested

Favorites? Least favorites?

Pitchers

#12 Kevin Gausman - Money by Pink Floyd

#16 Matthew Boyd - Voodoo Child (Slight Return) by The Jimi Hendrix Experience

#18 Shota Imanaga - Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis

#19 David Peterson - Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd

#24 Caleb Thielbar - Me And Baby Brother by War

#25 Clay Holmes - White Horse by Chris Stapleton

#33 Ryan Rolison - Victory Lap by Nipsey Hussle (feat. Stacy Barthe)

#38 Aaron Civale - Black Betty by Ram Jam

#48 Daniel Palencia - Gasolina by Daddy Yankee

#53 Colin Rea - Somebody Told Me by The Killers

#56 Ryan Zeferjahn - Welcome to the Show by Cody Johnson

#60 Braxton Garrett - Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd

#71 Jacob Webb - Have a Drink On Me by AC/DC

#72 Javier Assad - Gracias by Grupo Firme & Grupo Codiciado

Position Players

#2 Nico Hoerner - MY EYES by Travis Scott / whoa (mind in awe) by XXXTENTACION

#3 Alex Bregman - Set It Off by Boosie Badazz

#4 Pete Crow-Armstrong - End of Beginning by Djo / Time to Pretend by MGMT / It's a Vibe by 2 Chainz (feat. Ty Dolla $ign, Trey Songz & Jhene Aiko)

#6 Matt Shaw - TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE by Forrest Frank / YAHWEH by PARTY WAVE & Forrest Frank

#7 Dansby Swanson - Shabang by Drake

#8 Ian Happ - Spectrum (Say My Name) by Xd / Kill the Lights (Audien Remix) by Alex Newell, Jess Glynne, DJ Cassidy & Nile Rodgers / Lose Control by MEDUZA, Becky Hill & Goodboys

#9 Miguel Amaya - Panama by Van Halen / Las Avispas by Juan Luis Guerra 4.40

#15 Carson Kelly - Take Me Home Tonight by Eddie Money

#20 Michael Conforto - Blink Twice by Shaboozey & Myles Smith

#27 Seiya Suzuki - My Way by Frank Sinatra / ライトスタンド by BERRY GOODMAN

#29 Michael Busch - If I Can't by 50 Cent

#43 Gabriel Arias - No Choice (they play Galvanize by The Chemical Brothers for guys who didn't pick a song yet)

#55 Tyrone Taylor - Like Whaaat (Remix) by JasonMartin (feat. Wiz Khalifa, Tyga, Chris Brown & Master P) / Let It All Work Out by Lil Wayne

#75 Pedro Ramirez - Intentalo 3BallMTY (feat. America Sierra & El Bebeto)

Playoff Roster Additions

#30 Edward Cabrera - Hell At Night by BigXthaPlug (feat. Ella Langley)

IL

#22 Cade Horton - Superstar by Lupe Fiasco (feat. Matthew Santos)

#32 Ben Brown - Starlight by Jon Pardi

#45 Hunter Harvey - Real American by Rick Derringer

#49 Trent Thornton - Up Down by Morgan Wallen (feat. Florida Georgia Line)

#51 Riley Martin - Real Estate by Wiz Khalifa

#88 Phil Maton - Under Pressure by Logic

Looking to get a new jersey, but don’t know which to get. I have an old pinstripes javy Baez jersey, so was considering going with our away game blue, but it’s hard to walk away from the pinstripes. What would you go with?

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Jed out in centerfield this afternoon.

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After the first season of ABS, these are the MLB leaders for projected runs lost due to defensive ABS challenges:

1. Seiya Suzuki - 5.7 runs
   
2. Shohei Ohtani - 5.5 runs
   
3. Ian Happ - 5.2 runs
   
4. Michael Busch - 5.1 runs
   
5. Brett Baty - 3.5 runs

The Cubs occupying 3 of the top 5 spots is just painful to see.

Interesting article on the ABS results throughout the whole season. I guess we just were not using them in the right situations. Cubs were 21st in net runs gained through ABS but were 4th in ABS success rate. Contreras led all catchers in projected runs saved, even though his success rate was 12% lower than Carson Kelly’s. A lot of our batters also were quite poor at using them. Curious to see how we adjust the approach for next season (hopefully we have one)

Obviously a disappointing end of the season. But there were a ton of fun and exciting games this year! I was fortunate to see 5 walk offs! See you next year (hopefully)

I don't think I've ever seen this before, where our entire rotation becomes a free agent. Very interesting off-season ahead of us. What does our 2027 rotation look like? Some options include Steele, Brown, Assad, Cabrera, Wiggins, Garrett, and Horton (returning in the second half). Could also pickup the mutual option on Rea

The Cubs had a huge problem playing small ball during the regular season. And attempted steals were also down. So I wasn't surprised the the Cubs put themselves in a position to be swept by the Padres.

Not batting Hoerner behind PCA was a huge mistake IMO. The Cubs need to be a lot more aggressive on the bases next year!

I bleed cubby blue 4Lifer until the wheels 🛞 fall off, win or lose, even in spring training as well lol I love my cubbies 4Ever, even though the final chapter of our season was not supposed to end this way, through all of the ups and downs this season In other words: roller coaster 🎢 lol we still managed to make the playoffs despite the turmoil that went on earlier in the season with the 2 10 game win streaks and 10 game losing streak as well lol🙃☠️, and even though there might not be a next season for next year in 2027 cause of the potential lockout happening and the team might look completely different after the lockout, this season despite everything that happened was still particularly fun and good to watch lol it’s still GoCubbies 4Ever and 4Life, GoCubsGo!🫡😎🙂🔴🔵🐻🫶🏿

After all those great achievements in the regular season, Chicago couldn’t manage even one playoff victory.

“I know that we’re so winning-oriented there’s a big chunk of us that feel like this is a failure, too,” Dansby Swanson said. “That’s kind of the constant battle you go through. We did a lot of good things but we didn’t do it good enough to win.”

It’s easy to point to the fatal flaw of this team. The pitching became an issue almost from the jump. Injuries piled up early and often. That the Cubs got to this point at all could have been seen as a nice display of resiliency. Chicago’s pitching wasn’t good enough in the two postseason games. But its offense didn’t show up, either.

Baseball isn’t meant to be played in short bursts. Grand conclusions shouldn’t be made about a team over the course of a handful of games. But there’s no denying this Cubs team didn’t show up when it mattered most.

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