Column: Anthony Rizzo has no regrets over his ‘bad breakup’ with the Chicago Cubs — ‘I wish them well’

Time heals all wounds, so it wasn’t surprising to hear Anthony Rizzo has gotten over his “bad breakup” with the Chicago Cubs.

Rizzo on Thursday returned to Chicago, the town he once owned, as first baseman for the New York Yankees, who opened a four-game series against the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.

He was booed loudly by Sox fans, just as Kyle Schwarber was last season with the Boston Red Sox. Once a Cub, always a Cub.

It has been more than nine months since Rizzo was dealt to the Yankees with cash for minor-leaguers Kevin Alcántara and Alexander Vizcaíno, a move that signaled the beginning of the end of the Cubs’ relevance. He quickly was followed out of town by Javier Báez, Kris Bryant, Craig Kimbrel and others in the biggest sell-off in Cubs history as President Jed Hoyer went about building what he called “the next great Cubs team.”

When Rizzo left, he was puzzled by Hoyer’s post-trade comment that he could sleep well knowing he made fair offers to try and retain the stars from the 2016 championship team.

“I’m kind of confused on why. Why say that?” Rizzo told WMVP-AM 1000 the next day. “Sounds like a bad breakup and the person saying they’re fine when they’re not fine. … I know it comes down to a business, and when you want your cake and you want to eat it, too, that’s kind of how it seemed.”

In other words, the Cubs had no problem making loads of money off the popularity of Rizzo, Bryant and Báez. But when it came time to compensate them for what they brought to the organization, the Cubs couldn’t find common ground with even one of their stars.

Everything has worked out well for Rizzo. He’s one of the leaders on the best team in the American League, playing for a team his dad grew up loving and feeling rejuvenated at the plate.

It has also worked out well for the Cubs, financially speaking. They’re averaging 31,655 fans at Wrigley Field, which is well below the 38,208 in 2019, the last full season before the pandemic. The season ticket base is still rather impressive for a team that easily could lose 100 games.

And the Cubs haven’t significantly lowered ticket prices while paring payroll, so it’s basically a dream scenario for Chairman Tom Ricketts.

During a media session in the Yankees dugout before the game, Rizzo was asked if he hashed it out with Hoyer.

“Yeah, I think with our relationship with Jed, Theo (Epstein) and Jason McLeod, those three really saw me grow up,” he said. “They know who I am. They know who my family is and (wife) Emily is. And I know who they are. I don’t think it was ever necessarily (acrimonious). It’s business. … They had to make tough business decisions.

“As a human being, was I (ticked) off? Of course. But as a baseball player who sees what happens and (knows) this is a business, that’s the way it is. As far as hashing it out, I don’t think there’s much to hash out. …

“I wish them well. I want Jed to have success being the president there. He was the GM and under Theo for a while. So for him to build the next great Cubs team would be great for him and (his wife) Merrill and his family.”

The “next great Cubs team” is a ways off. This season’s team might be worse than the 2012 team that began the rebuild. That was when the Cubs brought Rizzo up from Triple-A Iowa and heralded him as the first of a wave of talented prospects who would change the culture of the organization.

Rizzo was as good as hyped, and Epstein and Hoyer did exactly what they promised, winning a title in five seasons. But this rebuild is much different. There is no “Rizzo-esque” player in the Cubs clubhouse to build around. Their best player, catcher Willson Contreras, is in the same boat Rizzo, Baez and Bryant were in last year at this time, waiting to be dealt because the Cubs don’t believe he’s worth what he thinks he is.

Seiya Suzuki, Nico Hoerner and Keegan Thompson might be the next wave, but it’s too soon to say they’ll be future All-Stars or players who can change the culture.

What if the Cubs had signed one, two or all three of their stars? Last June I asked Rizzo if the Cubs could afford them all.

“If they want to, absolutely they can,” he replied. “The game is thriving with all the TV deals, the revenue (streams). If that’s their out and it’s time to go, so be it.”

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That was their out. Ricketts recently considered buying Chelsea, a Premier League soccer team that eventually sold for $3.1 billion, so he can’t say he didn’t have the money. He just didn’t care to spend it. So for Rizzo, Baez and Bryant, it was time to go.

Rizzo turned down multiyear offers from the Cubs and was dealt to the Yankees for two prospects who might not make it to Wrigley for years — if ever. He signed a two-year, $32 million deal in March to return to the Yankees, which seems fair for someone at this stage of his career.

“I helped build that culture and have a lot of friends there,” he said. “It’s cool to see the traditions that were built during our whole time there still there.”

Rizzo is lucky he’s not with the Cubs, having to be the spokesman for a team going nowhere and already playing meaningless games in mid-May. He still can return to Wrigley some day and be greeted like a hero without having to play here. Rizzo can ask Jake Arrieta how bad things can go when you attempt a second act with the Cubs and can’t rekindle the magic of those 2015 and ‘16 seasons.

Rizzo was happy to be back but happier to be in first place wearing Yankees pinstripes, playing on a beautiful night on the South Side.

“We’re sitting at, I call it ‘The Cell’ … so it’s a lot easier to just be here and enjoy Chicago the city,” he said. “Next time I go to Wrigley, when and if that happens, it definitely would be more emotional, especially on a weekend like this. The place would be insane.”

Life goes on, and no one can erase the memories.