As the Chicago Cubs decided to head toward the seller direction before the 2021 trade deadline, their roster has a ton of gaping holes on their squad. They decided not to seriously compete anymore for the wild card berth at the very least as they finished their campaign with a 71-91 record. Kris Bryant was traded to the San Francisco Giants, Anthony Rizzo took his talents to the New York Yankees, and Javier Baez departed for the New York Mets just to name some of the big names that departed their organization recently.
As they are in the rebuilding stage of their franchise, they could add any sort of talent, and they would instantly have an impact with the Cubs. Andrelton Simmons has signed with Chicago already to fill in the hole vacated by Baez, but they still need a plethora of arms to bolster their pitching rotation and bullpen, along with other positional players players. With that in mind, these are a few individuals who would fit perfectly in the Windy City.
As one of the top outfielders in the market, Nick Castellanos would bring the offense and power the Cubs lineup have drastically wanted since their 2016 World Series run. Their offense has been subpar over the past few years, but Castellanos' mix of contact and power would be an incredible addition to the middle of the order.
The outfield depth of the Cubs as of the moment are limited to Jason Heyward and Ian Happ as the only proven commodities, so having Castellanos manning right field would benefit their team immensely. Moreover, Castellanos already suited up for Chicago for 51 games in 2019 before signing with the Cincinnati Reds for the 2020 season. He is already familiar with the environment as he could be one of the foundational parts of revitalizing the Cubs franchise.
Trevor Rosenthal
There was a certain juncture in his decorated MLB career that Trevor Rosenthal was one of the best closers in the National League. He throws his fastball at close to 100 MPH, but he also has a tremendous slider and changeup to mix things up. In 2014 and 2015, Rosenthal had 45 and 48 saves, respectively for the St. Louis Cardinals because of his willingness to step up in high leverage situations.
Even if he is entering his 10th season in the majors, Rosenthal is still 31 years of age with the major task of being the key cog of the Cubs bullpen. Their rotation is formidable with Kyle Hendricks and newly-signed Marcus Stroman leading the charge, but their bullpen has been a massive weakness after they traded Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin, and Craig Kimbrel before the trade deadline. Retooling is now vital for the Cubs, and starting with Rosental to construct their bullpen would not be a bad idea at all.
Kris Bryant
Why not get him back? When Kris Bryant returned to Wrigley Field with the Giants, he received a standing ovation as the Chicago fans do appreciate and love him donning the Cubs uniform. It seems unlikely for him to decide going back to an organization that is not contending for the World Series, but from Chicago's perspective, they must at least schedule a meeting with their ex-superstar.
The all-around skill set of Bryant cannot be taken for granted as the Giants were searching for his offense in the postseason when nothing seemed right. Additionally, Bryant was a key catalyst in the postseason success of the Cubs in 2016 as a lethal threat in the middle of the order. Trevor Story or Carlos Correa would have fit as well on their roster, but signing Simmons as the everyday shortstop already gives them the opportunity to focus on bolstering other positions in their depth chart.
Cubs President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer will have enormous hurdles to overcome in the midst of this whole 162-game season. With the losses looking like to be similar from last season, the roadblocks and hurdles will not plummet, but this is part of another learning process for an organization who does not want to wait another 108 years before claiming another World Series crown.
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