Column: Chicago Cubs and their fans fete Anthony Rizzo in his return while waiting for Jed Hoyer to build another winner

Celebrating the past at Wrigley Field while worrying about the Cubs’ future is very much a Chicago thing.

Anthony Rizzo’s long-awaited homecoming three years after the trade to the New York Yankees began the teary tributes Friday, and the inductions of Kerry Wood and Aramis Ramírez into the Cubs Hall of Fame on Sunday will cap things off.

For a franchise with only one championship in our lifetimes, the Cubs have plenty of great moments to replay on the left-field video board.

But there is only so much nostalgia any fan can consume before remembering why the game is played in the first place — to win championships.

Which brings us to the present-day Cubs, who technically remained in contention for a National League wild-card spot heading into the three-game Yankees series.

The late-season offensive surge has made the coming offseason that much trickier for President Jed Hoyer to navigate. Hoyer has to decide who are the real Cubs — the team that floundered from May through July or the one that seemingly rediscovered itself in August, a day late and probably a dollar short.

Hoyer’s final assessment will determine whether wholesale changes are necessary this winter to make the Cubs a true contender.

“I think we have to really sit down and decipher that,” Hoyer said Friday before the Cubs’ 3-0 loss to the Yankees. “I don’t think it’s fair to say yes (to the status quo) because we’ve played really well and therefore … you can’t just take the good and eliminate the bad. We have to own the fact that we also were the May and June Cubs (as well as) this group.

“My hope is that with the emergence of Pete (Crow-Armstrong) and Miguel (Amaya) and some of those guys doing that, (the offense) is more stable. But you have to take it all and analyze it and make those decisions this offseason.”

Rizzo’s return, complete with the pregame tribute on the left-field video board and multiple standing ovations, made it a memorable day for fans. Rizzo was the last of the 2016 Cubs, following similar tributes for Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Jon Lester, Dexter Fowler, Javier Báez and the rest of the old gang.

Column: Chicago Cubs and their fans fete Anthony Rizzo in his return while waiting for Jed Hoyer to build another winner

Hoyer, of course, was the one who waved goodbye to many of them, including Rizzo, Báez and Bryant at the 2021 trade deadline . That was supposed to be the unofficial start of the second rebuild, but the Cubs have yet to make the postseason since, putting the onus on Hoyer to win or else in 2025.

The switch of managers, from David Ross to Craig Counsell , hasn’t done the job yet. The re-signing of Cody Bellinger in spring training hasn’t made the same kind of impact as the original signing of Bellinger in 2023.

The only prospect acquired from the summer sell-off of ’21 to come up and stick has been Crow-Armstrong , who came from the New York Mets in the Báez deal .

Whether Chairman Tom Ricketts will look at the lack of progress and hold Hoyer accountable for the lack of playoff teams is anyone’s guess. Ricketts has Hoyer and former team President Theo Epstein to thank for the end of the team’s infamous drought, which helped create the many new revenue streams that have significantly increased the value of the organization, now worth an estimated $4.2 billion.

Maybe that will buy Hoyer more time to figure things out.

Hoyer’s trades of popular veterans were unpopular at the time, especially dealing Rizzo. Hoyer admitted Friday that “I probably didn’t handle (negotiations) the best, and I think (Rizzo) might say that.”

What would have happened had the Cubs given Rizzo an extension in 2021? Would he have been happy and healthier during another rebuild? Would the Cubs have made the playoffs with Rizzo at first instead of the parade of replacements — from Frank Schwindel and Alfonso Rivas to Eric Hosmer and Trey Mancini and finally to Michael Busch?

Taking into account Rizzo’s declining stats and injuries the last two seasons, Hoyer seems to have made the right call, just as he did on Báez and Bryant. Schwarber? Not so much.

Rizzo, meanwhile, was lucky to have escaped when he did, joining a first-class operation that puts winning above everything else. He was born to be a Yankee, so even as Rizzo envisioned ending his career in a Cubs uniform, getting traded was the best thing to happen to him.

“Yeah, in hindsight,” he admitted Friday. “Obviously if you had asked me before I got traded, there is no way I would’ve ever wanted to go anywhere else but Chicago. But getting traded has taught me so much about life in general, and has helped me grow as an individual.

“Everyone should be able to experience playing and living in New York. It’s in a category of its own in this league. The city itself is in a category of its own. The franchise and the history there, it’s amazing.”

Rizzo likely will get a shot at another ring in October. Barring a miracle, the Cubs will miss the postseason again.

Hoyer noted Friday that “each year is different” and unpredictable things tend to happen.

“It never plays out as you expect, and if it did, it wouldn’t be captivating for fans and it wouldn’t be that interesting a job,” he said. “Dealing with those uncertainties is part of the job.”

Hoyer and Rizzo will forever be linked in Cubs history for helping to change expectations on the North Side.

One of them is gone.

How long will the other one get to fix things?