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As the Cubs (and most other teams in the game) focus on the offseason, baseball operations president Jed Hoyer told reporters this week that improving and deepening his pitching team will be his “No. 1 Priority ”this winter (links via Russell Dorsey of the Chicago Sun-Times and Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago). That said, Hoyer also preached the importance of using the team’s considerable financial flexibility “in a smart way” and cited the Rays and Giants as examples of teams that have made moves under the radar to get started. in the playoffs.
As might be expected, Hoyer did not expressly rule out the addition of reputable free agents. However, he also pushed back on the notion of “winning” the offseason – noting that such aggressive surges can often “be a real negative” – and instead spoke of acting in a more “opportunistic” manner. While pitching may be the primary focus of the Cubs’ offseason relationships, it doesn’t look like Hoyer is embarking on an all-out quest for high-end additions.
The Cubs are to be expected to prioritize pitching – especially the starting pitch – after their starters were among the worst in baseball in almost every category in 2021. The last offseason saw Hoyer & Co . downgrade from Yu darvish To Zach Davies in a wage dumping deal with the Padres, followed by the signing of a year of Trevor Williams and Jake arrieta. Davies did not present well enough to generate commercial interest by the deadline. Arrieta was eventually released. Williams went to the Mets alongside Javier Baez. None of the three will be back in 2022 (unless the club re-signs Davies).
The result was a rotation that placed 23rd in the majors in pitched heats (781 2/3), 27th in ERA (5.27), 29th in FIP (5.21) and tied for 28th in SIERA ( 4.74). The Cubs starters had the third-lowest strikeout rate of any team in the MLB and the eighth-highest walk rate – a decidedly suboptimal combination. Things were going better in the bullpen, but not overwhelmingly, and the deadline for trading was Craig kimbrel, Ryan tepera and André Chafin also leaves a lot of work to be done on the relief side of the equation.
As for the 2022 campaign, the Cubs’ rotation currently plans to include right-handed Kyle hendricks, Alec mills and Adbert alzolay. left-handed Justin steele struggled for much of his nine-start audition, but he ended the year on a high note with seven shutout frames (albeit against a slim Pirates lineup). Right handed Adrien sampson has minor league options remaining and could take a look after making five starts. Generally speaking, there is ample room to add to the rotation – although the Cubs do indeed remain in the market for Robbie ray, Kevin Gausman, Max Scherzer and other best starters.
The impending offseason will present Major League teams with a vast collection of free agent starting pitchers to pursue – even beyond the aforementioned big names. The market also includes weapons established in mid-rotation, relatively young guns in need of a rebound, and strong but older veterans who will likely command relatively short-term deals. Free will will be clouded by the ongoing collective bargaining between the league and MLBPA, but whenever teams start making additions, the Cubs will be no shortage of options.
It’s also entirely plausible that the Cubs could tap more into the trade market to acquire younger arms in the spin or “pen.” Willson Contreras is one year away from free agency and should again spark interest among teams looking for a short-term option behind the plate. Voltigeur Ian happ has only two years of club control left and ended the season with a huge second half. Hendricks had the worst season of his career in 2021, but from 2017 to 2020 he pitched 597 innings of 3.27 ERA balls. He signed until 2023.
Whichever route the Cubs wish to take, there really is no target that should be out of their price range. The team have one of the biggest revenue streams in the game and only have Hendricks contracts ($ 14 million), Jason heyward ($ 22 million) and David Bote ($ 2.5 million) on next year’s books. Contreras and Happ are the only players to receive noticeable umpiring increases, and again, neither should be seen as a lock to return. We’re only two years away from the Cubs with an opening day payroll north of $ 200 million, which means it would be hard to sell fans at once to trade the core of the last roster. championship and follow it with another offseason punctuated by modest one-year deals.
Hoyer has repeatedly pointed out that despite the Cubs’ recent trade and lack of spending, this roster shuffle will not reflect the aggressive tanking process of their latest rebuild. The extent to which this is or is not actually the case will start to become clear over the next few months.
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