The Cubs Need To Capitalize During Winter Meetings

By the time players start reporting for spring training in February, the Cubs will almost certainly have made a host of other moves.

It has already been a busy offseason for the Chicago Cubs. In the two months since their season ended with them one game shy of a playoff berth, the Cubs said goodbye to notable names like Marcus Stroman and Cody Bellinger and manager David Ross. Earlier this month, they hired Craig Counsell — arguably the game’s best manager — to take Ross’s place. As those changes were happening, they have been linked to Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani, Pete Alonso, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

And one of the biggest catalysts for significant offseason movement is right around the corner: The winter meetings. Front office staff and player agents are headed to Nashville, where meetings are set to begin on December 3.

That should be a time for the Cubs’ front office staff of team president Jed Hoyer and general manager Carter Hawkins to capitalize on the bubbling trade and free agent market. Already teams like the Padres are eager to find suitors for Soto, and Yamamoto posted over a week ago and has a January 4 deadline to sign somewhere. Things could move quickly on both of those fronts.

Both Soto and Yamamoto would address areas of need the Cubs have. They lack for left-handed power in the lineup and need depth in the starting rotation. And the aforementioned Alonso would fill a hole at first base that has essentially been open since Anthony Rizzo was traded to the Yankees in 2021. And Shohei Ohtani is a generational talent. He would fit any team’s needs.

All of this matters for a team that is on the cusp of contending again. The Cubs last made the playoffs in the truncated 2020 season but haven’t won a playoff game since 2017. The expected dynasty that seemed to have launched when Theo Epstein took the reins of the organization and then appeared to have taken off when they advanced all the way to the National League Championship Series in 2015 sputtered after the 2017 season. They lost the wild card to the Rockies in 2018 and missed the playoffs in 2019, and 2021-2023.

Last season, however, the Cubs demonstrated that they are legitimately on the verge of making a postseason appearance again. They finished 83-79 in 2023 and would have traded places in the playoff field with the Diamondbacks — who made it to the World Series — had they won just one or two more games during the season. It was razor close.

The Cubs are going to need to figure out their corner infield spots and their rotation in order to take another step forward. At third and first base, they’ve gotten by with several fill-ins, but no one who is a realistic sustainable option. One of the most consistent presences has been Patrick Wisdom, who recently signed for $2.75 million to stick around in 2024. Wisdom has played some at both spots, mostly third base, since 2021, but he is not the long-term option.