Aufträge » Jonathan Daniel/Getty ImagesTwo years after the Chicago

Cubs threw a World Series party 108 years in the making Chris Sale Jersey , their returns diminished to an unceremonious exit from the National League Wild Card Game.The Cubs played 13 innings against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field and scored in just one of them en route to a 2-1 defeat. Thus their season ended only a day after the Milwaukee Brewers strolled into Wrigley and beat them 3-1 in the National League Central tiebreaker.So for the first time since 2014, the Cubs will go into the winter with zero postseason wins to show for a campaign.The one bright side to this is that president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer have more time to answer the questions before them.The less bright side is how many of them there are.The biggest and scariest is what the heck just happened to the team's offense. It had a huge hand in carrying the Cubs to 195 wins and NL Central titles in 2016 and 2017. But in 2018, it fell off a proverbial cliff:2016: .772 OPS and 5.0 R/G2017: .775 OPS and 5.1 R/G2018: .744 OPS and 4.7 R/GIt only got worse as the year went along. The Cubs slumped to the tune of a .705 OPS and 4.1 runs per game in the second half. They were down to a .663 OPS and 4.0 runs per game by September and Game No. 163 against Milwaukee.To be fair, it didn't help that Kris Bryant wasn't hitting like his MVP-caliber self even before his left shoulder started acting up in June. He was even more of a shell of himself after he returned July 11, and there was no hiding it in either Game No. 163 or the wild-card contest.Otherwise, it's difficult to assess additional "to be fairs."Stacy Revere/Getty ImagesThe Chicago offense lost its identity in 2018. Cubs hitters walked in only nine percent of their plate appearances, down from 10.4 in 2016 and 9.9 in 2017. They also went from 223 home runs last year all the way to 167 this year.Only Javier Baez (34 HR and a National League-high 111 RBI) surpassed expectations. Anthony Rizzo endured a down year. And rather than taking steps forward, young stars Willson Contreras, Kyle Schwarber, Ian Happ and Albert Almora Jr. either regressed or were basically stuck in place.The solution for this problem might be as simple as showing hitting coach Chili Davis the door. Perhaps with better tutelage Steven Wright Jersey , a 2019 Cubs lineup with all the same ingredients (plus a healthier Bryant) as the 2018 Cubs lineup will have little trouble rebounding.Trouble is, the Cubs may not have much choice but to go this route.The free-agent market will be crowded with talented hitters鈥擝ryce Harper and Manny Machado chief among them鈥攂ut the Cubs already have $179 million committed to 2019. That's by far more money than any other team.This is counting all the club options the Cubs hold, including $20 million for veteran left-hander Cole Hamels. Unless they're comfortable trusting that Yu Darvish will return strong from the elbow injury that derailed his season, it seems all but certain Hamels' tab will be picked up.Ed Zurga/Getty ImagesWhat that $179 million doesn't include are arbitration costs for Bryant, Baez, Schwarber, Kyle Hendricks and others. Once those are factored in, the Cubs will be bumping up against the luxury tax just when other rich teams (e.g., the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers) are getting under it.If so, the Cubs won't have much spending flexibility to improve their offense. Or Tyler Thornburg Jersey , for that matter, to patch a bullpen with the highest walk rate in Major League Baseball over the last two seasons.One option is to cut some bad contracts, such as those belonging to Jason Heyward and Tyler Chatwood. But given how far gone their trade values are, that will be easier said than done.The Cubs could also resort to the trade market to find impact players, not unlike the Brewers did with NL MVP favorite Christian Yelich last offseason. But with only MLB's No. 29 farm system to pull from, that will also be easier said than done.Because the Cubs just won 95 games and notched a fourth straight postseason appearance, it's a tad soon to declare their supposed dynasty dead and buried.Yet whatever they were building has hit a major snag. And it's not clear how they're going to get around it. Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs. CHICAGO (AP) — Jose Quintana dazzled all night long.The Chicago Cubs had the right guy on the mound for a big game against the Milwaukee Brewers.Quintana pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning, Victor Caratini drove in two runs and the Cubs beat the Brewers 3-0 on Tuesday to regain their two-game lead in the NL Central.Quintana (13-9) continued his mastery of Milwaukee in a huge spot, improving to 6-2 with a 1.60 ERA in 10 career starts against the Brewers. The veteran left-hander struck out seven and walked two in 6 2/3 innings in his second straight victory over Jhoulys Chacin, also winning at Milwaukee last Wednesday.“He always throws well http://www.redsoxproshops.com/authentic-jackie-bradley-jr-jersey , it seems, against the Brewers,” manager Joe Maddon said.Quintana received a standing ovation from the crowd of 37,017 when he departed with the bases loaded after a replay review awarded an infield single to pinch-hitter Hernan Perez. Justin Wilson then struck out pinch-hitter Manny Pina on three pitches, preserving Chicago’s 2-0 lead and drawing another loud roar at Wrigley Field.Jorge De La Rosa pitched a perfect eighth and Pedro Strop finished the three-hitter for his 13th save in 17 chances. Shortstop Addison Russell made an outstanding backhanded stop to retire Ryan Braun for the second out of the ninth, drawing a jaw-dropping reaction from teammate David Bote at third base.“My goodness,” Maddon said.Milwaukee (83-63) had won seven of eight, including a 3-2 victory in the series opener that trimmed Chicago’s division lead to one game. Chacin (14-7) pitched five innings of one-hit ball, but some sloppy play in the second proved costly for the wild card-leading Brewers.Ben Zobrist led off with a grounder that skipped by second baseman Jonathan Schoop for an error. With one out and runners on second and third, Chacin threw the ball into center field in an apparent miscommunication with shortstop Orlando Arcia while trying to pick off Javier Baez at second.“I got a sinker on my hand and just the ball sailed a bit more Roger Clemens Jersey ,” Chacin said. “But like I said, I was trying to set up the pickoff there and was just waiting for Arcia to get on the base.”Zobrist scored on Chacin’s error and the Brewers brought their infield in with Caratini at the plate. The backup catcher then hit a soft liner on the 10th pitch of his at-bat that went off the glove of a leaping Schoop for an RBI single.Caratini added a run-scoring double against Brandon Woodruff in the seventh, providing some sorely needed production at the bottom of Chicago’s lineup. It was Caratini’s first game since he had three hits and four RBIs in a doubleheader at Washington on Saturday.“I felt really good up there,” Caratini said through a translator. “I was just trying to have quality at-bats and luckily I had really good results.”Quintana threw 108 pitches, 68 for strikes. He is 3-0 with a 1.84 ERA in his last five outings overall.“We’ve been unable to solve him for sure,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.STATISTICALLY SPEAKINGBrewers star Christian Yelich reached safely for the 27th straight game when he walked in the fourth. It’s the longest active streak in the NL and matches his career high set in 2014.TRAINER’S ROOMCubs: LHP Jon Lester, who left his start on Monday night with lower back tightness, said he didn’t feel great on Tuesday, but he didn’t think he would miss any time. If the Cubs are rained out Thursday in Washington — the forecast is a bit dicey — they could adjust their rotation to provide more rest for Lester. … OF Kyle Schwarber (back) was unavailable. … RHP Brandon Morrow (right biceps inflammation) is scheduled for another bullpen session on Wednesday. “One moment at a time, try to evaluate it afterwards and see where we’re at http://www.redsoxproshops.com/authentic-andrew-benintendi-jersey ,” Maddon said.UP NEXTBrewers RHP Chase Anderson (9-7, 3.95 ERA) and Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (11-10, 3.71 ERA) pitch in the series finale on Wednesday night. Anderson is unbeaten in his last nine starts, going 3-0 with a 4.34 ERA since his last loss on July 14 at Pittsburgh. Hendricks is 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA over his last three outings.