Really curious to see who they target in free agency and what kind of trades they may be able to pull off. Traded a lot of top prospects away the past 2 years so any big trades may involve a current player on the 25 man roster at this point.
I don't know if Arietta and Davis will price themselves out of the Cubs budget, early in the season it was looking like Jake would have to take less than the had hoped for then he turned it back on in the 2nd half and probably will cash in on a big deal now. Davis stayed healthy and had a great season, closers always get overpaid coming off of good seasons though. Problem is there is no good internal option to use at closer because I sure don't trust Edwards, Rondon, or Strop to get 3 outs consistently in the 9th right now. Getting at least 1 good starting pitcher is a must as well as a guy or 2 that can be solid in middle relief.
I still think they need to do something to acquire a top of the order bat that can hit around .300 to help even out the free swingers they have on this roster. How and who that may be I don't know but I don't think they can just stick with the status quo with the every day lineup and expect the offensive problems to just go away. Don't need to gut the roster but OF would seem to be the place that has room to acquire another bat for the lineup.
I don't know if Arietta and Davis will price themselves out of the Cubs budget, early in the season it was looking like Jake would have to take less than the had hoped for then he turned it back on in the 2nd half and probably will cash in on a big deal now. Davis stayed healthy and had a great season, closers always get overpaid coming off of good seasons though. Problem is there is no good internal option to use at closer because I sure don't trust Edwards, Rondon, or Strop to get 3 outs consistently in the 9th right now. Getting at least 1 good starting pitcher is a must as well as a guy or 2 that can be solid in middle relief.
I still think they need to do something to acquire a top of the order bat that can hit around .300 to help even out the free swingers they have on this roster. How and who that may be I don't know but I don't think they can just stick with the status quo with the every day lineup and expect the offensive problems to just go away. Don't need to gut the roster but OF would seem to be the place that has room to acquire another bat for the lineup.