I’ve held off on publishing this post for a couple of reasons. First, it’s been a very difficult week for everyone and I wanted to take a breath and hopefully provide a distraction after all, sports is entertainment. Second, I wanted the postseason to breathe a little as what’s happening does impact teams that have missed out on the postseason.
We all hope to see how the best teams achieve greatness. We all think our teams can replicate the secret formula with a snap of the fingers and few hundred million dollars. Some years, the final four teams share a blueprint, other years their paths are more distinct.
The Cubs Jed Hoyer has said that he’s talked with free agent Cody Bellinger & Company about his future with the Cubs. Nobody outside that room knows what was said, however.
What I do know is the following. Cubs ownership (and for that matter no team) will never spend enough money on salaries or free agency as Cub fans would like. Bellinger is a free agent represented by Scott Boras and will like to test the market for the first time after a couple down years before the Dodgers non-tendered him after the 2022 season. Juan Soto and Pete Alonso will be free agents after the 2024 season, unless they sign extensions with their current teams. Shohei Ohtani’s future as a pitcher is in doubt after he was shut down before the season ended. Nobody has any idea what kind of money he’ll fetch on the free agent market this offseason. The Cubs have already locked down two corner outfielders to multi-year extensions-Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki.
What’s a lot sketchier are the rumors surrounding the team, and for that matter, most every team in the league. Nobody wants to share too much information, rather bloggers and even some reputable journalists float ideas without substantiation to get clicks.
Bellinger and Marcus Stroman have talked about how much they enjoyed playing in Chicago and at Wrigley. Stroman has even given back to the city, but has proven to be a bit of a flake. Despite a dominant first half, he hasn’t proven to be as durable as he was years ago. He has a player-option of $21 million for next season which he might be forced to exercise after a most disappointing second half. During the first half, everyone was wondering why they weren’t negotiating for an extension.
Personally, I hope the Cubs target Cody although I’m not as certain of his return to form as the local media is. He was horrible the past two seasons. The biggest drawback to pursuing him is his agent. Boras is known for dragging out negotiations and signing late. I understand how that usually benefits his clients financially, but it also hamstrings the team that eventually signs them. They might be precluded from making other acquisitions or forced to make others. Editor’s note: Go back to last year’s offseason and the Carlos Correa mess. Had the Mets and Giants not wasted time and effort on him, they might have made better contingency plans.
The idea that the Cubs could trade for Alonso is crazy, especially if they were to resign Bellinger. On the surface, the Cubs would be better with a slugger like Pete. However, he’s only a first baseman/DH and Bellinger can only play first or OF. He’s best suited for center field, but the Cubs appear to be holding that space for rookie, defensive phenom, Pete Crow-Armstrong. I have no idea who started the rumor of Soto to the Cubs, but the likelihood is minimized by the Cubs crowded outfield.
One advantage to signing Bellinger is the cost-it’s only money, lots of it. Acquiring either Soto or Alonso would require money and capital in the form of talent. Speculating as to what the Mets or Padres and what the Cubs would be willing to give up is fodder for the Hot Stove League. I wouldn’t be against trading some of their ML talent if it means and upgrade.
Whether it’s fair or not, we tend to look at past free agent signings when we consider the upcoming offseason. We mistakenly believe that the two are necessarily connected. It would seem that the Bellinger signing (last year) bodes well for a return in 2024. The Cubs also did well by signing Dansby Swanson last year. He’s fit in beautifully with the team and appears to be a leader. I didn’t have strong feelings for him before he signed as I’ve never met him, nor followed his every at-bat. I think he makes the Cubs much stronger up the middle and partners well with my favorite current Cub, Nico Hoerner.
However, his season wasn’t a complete success and he’s the first to admit to that. Everybody chooses to remember what they want about a specific player or team, the high point(s) or the nadirs. And unlike past free agents, he got off to an excellent start, We all remember that he got off to a 7-12 start against the Brewers and continued that run against the Reds (10-17 to start the year). He definitely had several moments throughout the season, but he stunk up the joint both in the field and at-bat to end the season. Editor’s note: One of the baseball phrases I dislike is players playing to the back of their baseball card or reverting to those numbers-usually when the player is stinking up the joint. Unfortunately for the Cubs and Swanson, he reverted to form. In 2023, he slashed .244/.328/.416 which is more like his career slash of .253/.322/.417 than anyone would remember. After that first 5 games, he was projected to be the greatest shortstop since Dave Rosello.
It’s easy to concentrate on what the Cubs needs are and who is expendable, but one has to consider what the other 29 teams are doing and considering. I know several people (and maybe Cubs mgmt) who believe the Cubs starting rotation is set. I happen to think they have room for improvement and the bullpen always needs to be reconfigured. Getting back to the first fact I stated above, the Cubs have only so much money to spend and that they’ll have to figure how best to allocate their resources and that fans will always feel they haven’t spent enough.
It feels like half of us just want them to spend it wisely.
