The big news coming out of Cubs camp today was the surprising release of 12-year veteran catcher Miguel Montero. As we all know, Montero had some harsh words for his battery mate, Jake Arrieta, after last night’s defeat against the Washington Nationals. Montero essentially blamed Arrieta’s slow delivery to the plate as the reason why Washington set a club record when they swiped seven stolen bases against the noodle-armed catcher.

Of course, Montero didn’t want to acknowledge 31 of 31 base stealers have successfully swiped a bag against him this year but apparently that wasn’t important to Miggy.

On his way out the door, Montero released a string of tweets showing his gratitude to the city of Chicago and Cubs fans everywhere.

To the city of Chicago
Dear fans, today I say goodbye to the greatest fans. I want to thank you for the support.

— Miguel Montero (@miggymont26) June 28, 2017

It was an awesome ride. Winning the World Series was simply fantastic. Thank you to my teammates – good luck to everyone of you.

— Miguel Montero (@miggymont26) June 28, 2017

Thank you also to each staff member, it was an honor to play for the Chicago Cubs organization.
Chicago will always be in my heart

— Miguel Montero (@miggymont26) June 28, 2017

I found these tweets to be quite ironic because one would think if you loved an organization as much as the tweets suggest, you would have figured out how to conduct yourself in a professional manner a bit sooner. I could see if this was the first time Montero went to the media before he went to the team but it’s not.

Most notably, after the 2016 World Series championship, Montero blasted Cubs manager Joe Maddon over his use of Aroldis Chapman as well as his own playing time. Mind you, HE JUST WON A WORLD SERIES. If you can’t be happy with breaking the longest championship drought in professional sports history then I don’t know what to tell you.

Maddon addressed the comments but never really discussed them with Montero until Spring Training when the two met for a few drinks. The caption suggests the meeting went quite well.

Looking forward to a great 2017 season
Ready to kick-Ass
Our goal is to win another #WorldSeries for the best fans @cubs #WeAreGood pic.twitter.com/8cj22HpDve

— Miguel Montero (@miggymont26) February 21, 2017

That relationship between the Cubs and Montero has been a rocky one that has now come to an end. For a team that was constructed on a “team first” approach, it should come as no surprise that the “me first” approach taken by Montero resulted in him being DFA’d. Joe Maddon addressed the media today to further clarify the real reason why Montero was released.

Per Jesse Rodgers,

“Joe Maddon said a deciding factor in designating Miguel Montero for assignment was the youth in the clubhouse. He didn’t think it set a good example to other players…”

Montero will turn 34 next week and unlike his predecessor, 39-year-old David Ross, Montero didn’t understand his veteran role on the team. Think about all the times David Ross could have bitched about catching Jon Lester who during every game had a runner at first base damn near performing a full dance routine to try and distract him.

Yes, Arrieta is slow to the plate and has lost his command on some of his best pitches. I understand that. Montero was probably frustrated with hearing how shitty he is at throwing out runners but instead of taking a “team first” approach, he took the low road. I don’t care how much a player like that is loved, eventually that behavior will destroy your clubhouse.

Maddon hit it on the head with his reasoning behind releasing Montero because behavior like that does have an impact on a team. The Cubs roster is littered with guys who are 25 and younger and people are quick to forget — those guys are still learning how to be professionals themselves.

So what does that say about your organization if you allow one of your veterans to trash a teammate? The younger guys will internalize that behavior and before you know it, you have a toxic clubhouse (pretty much the exact opposite of the 2016 Cubs clubhouse.) It doesn’t matter the level of sport you’re playing, putting the team before yourselves has proven time and time again to be the key ingredient in building championship teams. Now let’s hope the Cubs can move forward with one team goal in mind.

Could you imagine sitting at a Cubs game with your family, then out of nowhere, your six year old daughter gets hit in the head with a flying bat!? That’s what happened to Matt Hunnicutt, father of Ella who suffered a concussion after an accidentally thrown bat flew into the stands and hit her in the head last week.

“She swears she still loves her Cubbies, though Addison Russell definitely owes her one for his poor grip,” he shared with WGN.

During the 7th inning of a game versus the Padres last week, Addison Russell lost his grip on his bat and moments later Ella was diagnosed with a concussion after being rushed to the hospital via ambulance. It was her father’s “worst heart-sinking nightmare come to life.”

“She swears she still loves her Cubbies, though Addison Russell definitely owes her one for his poor grip.” Matt said.

The Cubs ended up losing the game, but because Ella had to be rushed to the hospital she missed the ending. With everything going on, she was still disappointed they lost.

“When I grow up I’ll be on the Cubs and we will never lose,” her father quoted her as saying.

Not only was she disappointed they lost and still recovering from her head injury, but she also added that she’ll be heading back to Wrigley when she gets the next opportunity. A thrown bat isn’t going to take away the passion she has for her team.

“She said, ‘Yes, I do want to go back, I just want to sit really high up,’” he told WGN.

In the midst of such an unfortunate event, the inspiration this young girl has provided for all of us is quite admirable.

Sometimes crazy things happen, and it takes strong willed people to stand back up after getting knocked down.

That being said, Russell get a better grip on your bat.

Cubs, get some better safety measures at the ballpark.

And finally, Cubs again, get this little girl anything she wants – she deserves it.

By the way, the family came all the way from Portland to attend the game.

The Chicago Cubs are in the midst of a very disappointing first half of the season. They are currently sitting only one game over .500 after almost every baseball expert in America (including me) predicted that they would run away with the NL Central. Granted, they still may be able to run away with the division in the second half of the season and to date, they are only a game out of first place, but there’s not a Cubs fan on Earth that will tell you they are pleased with the team’s record through the first half.

With that said, fans have a right to be frustrated with the team. That’s why they’re fans. Players, on the other hand, are expected to be professionals at all points through the ups and downs of the season. Yes they can get frustrated too but part of being a professional athlete is being able to conduct yourself in a professional manner at every point in the season.

12-year-veteran catcher Miguel Montero apparently doesn’t beleive in that philosophy. After last night’s game against the Washington Nationals, he acted in an unprofessional way that would eventually cost him his job.

After the Washington Nationals set a club record by recording seven stolen bases off of him, Montero decided to point the finger at his starting pitcher rather than acknowleding his arm is a wet noodle.

Here’s what he had to say.

“It really sucked, because the stolen bases go on me. But when you really look at it, the pitcher doesn’t give me any time, so yeah, ‘Miggy can’t throw anyone out,’ but my pitchers don’t hold anyone on.”

Yeah, ok Miggy.

Not counting the seven bases that were taken off of him last night, opposing baserunners were 31 for 31 in attempted steals. But that’s probably all the pitcher’s fault too huh?

I’m not saying that he’s completely wrong because certain pitchers are relatively slow to the plate but what is there to gain by deflecting all the criticism onto one of your teamates? Cubs leader and overall bad ass Anthony Rizzo heard enough of Miggy’s bullshit.

“We win as a team and we lose at a team. When you start pointing fingers, I think that labels you as a selfish player.”

If you recall, this isn’t the first time Montero cried like a baby to the media either. After last year’s World Series win, Montero critcized Joe Maddon for his use of Aroldis Chapman and also cried about his playing time during last year’s postseason.

“I expected to be treated a little better. I was expected to get communication. Just let me know. Put me in the loop. That was the toughest part for me because I never understood what my role was going to be.”

Well Miguel, your role is pretty clear now.

Montero was designated for assignment this morning and in a related move, called up his replacement Victor Caratini. The 23-year-old catcher is hitting .343 with eight home runs for AAA Iowa and many people in the organization beleive that he’s the team’s best hitter.

Now, is he ready to be a big league catcher? That remains to be seen. What is known very clear is that the Cubs front office will not put up with selfish “me first” bullshit like the crap Miguel Montero just pulled.

See ya later bud.