When the Chicago Cubs elected to take an aggressive approach as sellers at the MLB trade deadline earlier this season, it indicated to many that the team would now undergo a rebuilding period. However, this may not be the case after all.
On Friday, Cubs team president Jed Hoyer revealed his early plans for the upcoming free agency period, where he noted that the team's front office will be spending in the offseason.
“We plan to be really active in free agency,” Hoyer said. “We plan to spend money intelligently. We're scouting that market heavily. We're going to analyze that market heavily.
“There's offseasons when free agency is something you do a little bit of, and obviously we have to be a little more active than usual to fill out our roster, because we have a lot more open spots.”
Pitching is expected to be a notable need for the Cubs in free agency. The Cubs' pitching struggles ahead of the trade deadline in July were essentially one key reason behind their call to throw in the towel on the season and trade the likes of Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo to playoff contenders.
As it stands, the Cubs currently boast a 4.85 team ERA, which ranks at 26th in all of baseball.
While Chicago has had several key performances as of late from the likes of Keegan Thompson and Adbert Alzolay, Hoyer is open to multiple options with the team's long-term plan for pitching.
“Free agency and the trade market will help determine that,” Hoyer said. “Have they [young pitchers] proven enough that they will be a big part of the team next year? Yes. What role? We haven't determined that yet.”
An unpredictable free agency period may be ahead for the Cubs. They will have plenty of options, especially as they are currently locked into only $41.0 million in contracts for the 2022 season.
Follow Us
Subscribe