The Chicago Cubs finished the 2014 season with an uninspiring 73-89 record. Despite the fact that they are coming off of another last place season, there were plenty of success stories from 2014 that gives hope for the Cubs heading into next season. Most notably, 25-year-old first baseman Anthony Rizzo put up an MVP caliber season where he hit .286/.386/.527, while 24-year-old shortstop Starlin Castro returned to his All-Star ways, proving that his 2013 struggles are behind him. Castro and Rizzo are both great, young offensive players for the Cubs to build around, but they are just the beginning.
Rookie outfielder Jorge Soler ripped through the upper minor leagues before having an incredibly impressive debut in the big leagues. In his one month MLB debut, Soler was incredible hitting .292/.330/.573. Fellow rookies Javier Baez (21-year-old second baseman/shortstop) and Arismendy Alcantara (23-year-old infielder/outfielder) struggled in their first go around against big league pitching, but both players flashed incredible ability and upside.
The Cubs debuted some impressive young offensive talent this season, but perhaps none of them are as exciting as third baseman Kris Bryant, who hit .325/.438/.661 with 43 homeruns between Double-A and Triple-A in 2014. Bryant has won every Minor League Player of the Year award worth mentioning, and is the consensus top prospect in all of baseball. Bryant has yet to make his big league debut, but all signs point to that happening very early in the 2015 season.
Jake Arrieta was brilliant (2.53 ERA/2.26 FIP and 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings) in his 25 starts in 2014, making him a strong candidate to lead the pitching staff into the future. While most of the Cubs’ rotation outside of Arrieta was uninspiring after the mid-season trade of Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, rookie Kyle Hendricks used impressive control and command to have a successful debut season.
Hector Rondon (29 saves, 2.42 ERA), Neil Ramirez (1.44 ERA) and Pedro Strop (2.21 ERA) made up an electric, hard-throwing and seemingly unhittable back of the bullpen, and they are just the start fo the conversation. Justin Grimm, Arodys Vizcaino and Blake Parker are other young bullpen options who have shown big time upside. While the Cubs could certainly stand to add some arms to the mix in the rotation, their bullpen is stocked with some impressive young arms.
Guaranteed Contracts for 2015:
Starlin Castro, SS: $44 million through the 2019 season
Anthony Rizzo, 1B: $37 million through the 2019 season
Edwin Jackson, SP: $22 million through the 2016 season
Jorge Soler, OF: $20 million thorough the 2020 season
Tsuyoshi Wada, SP: $4 million through the 2015 season
Ryan Sweeney, OF: $2 million through the 2015 season
Arbitration Eligible Players:
John Baker, C
Wesley Wright, RP
Chris Coghlan, OF
Luis Valbuena, INF
Justin Ruggiano, OF
Travis Wood, SP
Pedro Strop, RP
Jake Arrieta, SP
Felix Doubront, SP
Welington Castillo, C
Contract Options:
Justin Turner, SP: $1 million club option (team accepted)
Kyuji Fujikawa, RP: $5.5 million club option (team declined)
Costless Agents:
Carlos Villanueva, SP/RP
large impact on the future of the franchise. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)
The Cubs have already kicked off this off-season with a bang, hiring Joe Maddon to be their new manager. Maddon is a perfect fit for this forward thinking organization, as he does an incredible job of using old school managerial techniques coupled with an incredible understanding of sabermetrics and new school styles. More than anything, Maddon’s past success with young teams makes him an obvious fit for the Cubs who could easily boast the youngest roster in Major League Baseball next season. Rick Renteria was good in his only season as Cubs’ manager in 2014, but Maddon is one of the best in the business, and will be a huge asset for the entire Cubs’ organization.
With a young roster full of payroll flexibility, the hiring of Maddon is unlikely to be the only high profile addition this off-season. The Cubs are in a prime position to spend this off-season, as they look to fill holes on their roster to complement their abundance of young and exciting talent.
The most obvious need for improvement is in the starting pitching department. President Theo Epstein and General Manager Jed Hoyer have let it be known the Cubs will be aggressive when it comes to acquiring help in the rotation this winter. There are three costless agent start pitchers who stand out above the rest in their own tier: Jon Lester, Max Scherzer and James Shields. These three are clearly the cream of the crop when it comes to costless agent starting pitchers this off-season.
The Cubs have already been connected to all three of these guys, with them clearly being considered the favorites to land Lester in the early going. It seems likely that the Cubs will land one of these guys to lead their rotation starting next season. While all three would be very welcomed additions, Lester seems like the most likely with his long history with the front office. There have also been rumors that the Cubs are looking to land two of the three starting pitchers in the top tier. That seems unlikely because of the very significant financial obligations that would take, but the Cubs certainly have a ton of payroll flexibility and the need is there. Anything is possible.
More likely than adding two pitchers from the top tier is the Cubs looking to round out their rotation with at least one mid-tier starting pitcher. Brandon McCarthy, Francisco Liriano, Justin Masterson, Jake Peavy or Japanese RHP Kenta Maeda could be less expensive mid-tier options for the Cubs to consider. If the Cubs can land one of the Lester/Scherzer/Shields combo and somebody like Liriano or Masterson to go along with Arrieta, Hendricks and a host of interesting fifth starter options (Wada, Wood, Turner, Doubront and Dan Straily), their rotation would not only be very productive, but very deep as well.
With so many young and talented position players on the roster, it is hard to see where the Cubs can make offensive improvements via costless agency this off-season. When looking at the roster, outfield is probably the most obvious hole on the diamond. Soler has seemingly locked down right field for the foreseeable future and the Cubs would love to give Alcantara the opportunity to do the same in center field. Coghlan had a great 2014 season, and would likely be the starting left fielder if the season started tomorrow.
As great as Coghlan was last season, he is probably suited better to be a fourth outfielder. Colby Rasmus is arguably the best costless agent outfielder on the market, and would appear to be a nice fit on the Cubs. Josh Willingham, Jose Tabata and Torii Hunter are other outfielders who would also appear to be nice fits.
With a fairly weak crop of costless agent outfielders, perhaps the trade market would be more enticing for the Cubs. A bad contract swap with the Cubs sending Edwin Jackson to the Atlanta Braves for B.J. Upton has been rumored before, and would make some sense for both sides. The Braves have also shown some interest in moving Jason Heyward or Justin Upton as they both become costless agents after the 2015 season. Denard Span also becomes a costless agent after next season, and if the Washington Nationals make him available, the Cubs would likely be involved. Armed with one of the best minor league systems in the game, the Cubs could certainly make a move in a trade for an outfielder if they wish.
Perhaps no one costless agent makes more sense for the Cubs than catcher Russell Martin. Castillo, the incumbent, has shown some nice upside throughout the past couple of seasons, but his .237/.296/.389 slash line in 2014 leaves plenty to be desired. On top of that, he has proved to be a liability defensively, as he has struggled to improve at handling a pitching staff and he is one of the worst catchers in the MLB at pitch framing.
Martin is coming off of a career year with the Pittsburgh Pirates where he hit .290/.402/.430. While some offensive regression is to be expected, Martin would be a very valuable asset to the Cubs in other ways. Defensively, he is one of the best catchers in baseball. His ability to handle a pitching staff is second to none, and he is one of the best in the business when it comes to pitch framing. Cubs’ pitchers would likely see much more success simply by having Martin behind the plate as opposed to Castillo.
As if that was not enough, Martin is known as a great veteran leader and clubhouse presence. The Cubs have such a young team and would certainly stand to benefit from adding Martin to the clubhouse. With the catcher options behind Martin severely lacking, expect the Cubs to have some serious interest in the veteran catcher.
This is a very exciting time on the North Side of Chicago. Epstein and his staff have done an incredible job of building this team, and they now have the ability to go out and try to build themselves a winner. It was a long rebuilding process, but there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel. This is going to be an busy and exciting off-season for the Cubs’ organization as they take the next step towards building a long-term competitive franchise.