The $300M renovation to Wrigley Field "has made life easier for Cubs players, who moved into the second-biggest home clubhouse in baseball" when the '16 season opened, but opposing teams "still are cramped inside a tiny clubhouse," according to Paul Sullivan of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Dodgers P Clayton Kershaw said, "It's not as, uh, team-friendly, as it is elsewhere. But it's still baseball, and this is a pretty cool place to play." Kershaw "wasn't complaining," but with the Cubs "residing in the Taj Mahal of clubhouses and the visitors packed in like sardines, the home-field advantage at Wrigley never has been so glaring." Kershaw: "Every home team has a little bit of an advantage with the amenities. ... But I know they're re-doing it for next year." However, Sullivan noted the renovation of the visitors clubhouse actually begins in '18 and "won't be finished" until the start of '19. Cubs VP/Communications & Community Affairs Julian Green: "In no way are we trying to be malicious to the visiting team. But I don't think anyone would say the current visiting clubhouse framework is leading to a competitive disadvantage." Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein said it is "impossible" to know how much of a benefit the new clubhouse has been to the Cubs' success. Epstein: "We did win 97 games last year in the old clubhouse." But Sullivan wondered if the Cubs "owe it to other teams to upgrade the visitors clubhouse as soon as possible?" Kershaw "isn't the only one under the impression a new visitors' clubhouse was in the works" for '17. Several players and managers this season have cited a "supposed MLB rule that dictates a visitors' clubhouse must be redone within a year of a home clubhouse expansion." But an MLB spokesperson said "it's not a requirement" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 6/4).
