2018 Off-Season Needs for the Cubs

Anthony rizzo celebrates World Series win.

Surprisingly, this off-season has been a quiet one for the Chicago Cubs. This year’s 2018 free agency class wasn’t as strong as it was in previous years. The Cubs have been struggling to nd top tier back of the rotation talent. The 2017 season was a disappointment because of the lack of depth they had in the pitching rotation and this off-season they needed to make the rotation even stronger.

They did so by signing Tyler Chatwood into the mix. The California native came from the Rockies for $32 million for two years but the cubs still have some holes to fill in the rotation while already having Jose Quintana, Kyle Hendricks, Jon Lester as their top three starters. Having Mike Montgomery competing for the fifth spot in the rotation might be one option if they lose out on signing Jake Arrieta, Yu Darvish or Alex Cobb. All three are going to want big-time money in the 25 to 30 million dollar range The Cubs would have to open their pockets to sign another starter for the rotation, though it’s debatable if they want to open their pockets and pay these pitchers this kind of money.

The Cubs already established the bullpen by adding Brandon Morrow, Brian Duensing, Drew Smyly, and Steve Cishek to name a few. This year will be the fourth year in a row where The Cubs have had a different closer.

The Cubs have many Star players on this team and they already have a tremendous core of players. Adding star potential is not needed but they need players to ll in spots for more depth. Almost every position on the eld is secured. Though the next free agent class brings tremendous star power like Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and others, the Cubs could be waiting on next year’s free agent class to spend big

time money on free agents that could make the team even better than now. Bryce Harper has been rumored to be interested in the Cubs and reuniting with his former teammate Kris Bryant. He has also throwing hints here and there about joining the Cubs. Well let’s just say his dogs name is Wrigley… we will leave it at that.

The Cubs have yet to figure out who will lead off for the 2018 season. Last year there was an inconsistency in the leadoff spot. Jon Jay, Ben Zobrist, Kyle Schwarber, Albert Almora. The Cubs may be after free-agent players like and Lorenzo Cain or trading for a Christian Yelich from the Miami Marlins to solve the leadoff spot. The Cubs manager Joe Maddon will always find a way to solve issues like these. We have yet to see any improvement from last year‘s team but complements were to be given the Cubs it would have to be an A+ for upgrading the bullpen while they still need work in the rotation. Only time will tell.